August 10th, 2011 by John Feehery
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell put some real thought into their picks for the Joint Super Committee that will decide the fate of so many spending programs and perhaps the financial health of the country.
Harry Reid? Not so much.
Boehner picked two real deal-makers in Dave Camp and Fred Upton, and a guy who learned how to drive a hard-bargain from the best hard-bargainer in the business (Phil Gramm) in Jeb Hensarling.
Neither Camp nor Upton are partisan bomb-throwers. Upton ran into some resistance from the hard right to his ascension to the Energy and Commerce Committee because he was viewed as too moderate, although Fred has been a very reliable conservative in his role as Chairman.
Upton has long experience in budget politics, having served at OMB under Reagan. He is also an expert on entitlement programs, and his appointment shows that Boehner is serious about getting serious on spending.
Camp has been very thoughtful in his new role as Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He said that he wasn’t going to jam the Ryan Medicare bill through the House only to see it die in the Senate, a signal to the world that Camp was no Kamikaze pilot on smashing the Republican Majority into a Senate cliff. Read more...
Tags: America, Arlen Spector, Barack Obama, Chris Van Hollen, Congress, Dave Camp, election, Energy and Commerce Committee, Fred Upton, Harry Reid, Jan Schakowsky, Jeb Hensarling, John Boehner, John Kerry, John Lewis, Joint Super Committee, Jon Kyl, Max Baucus, Michelle Bachmann, Minority Leader Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, moderate, Nancy Pelosi, Pat Toomey, Patty Murray, Phil Gramm, Politics, Presidential election, Reagan, republican party, Republicans, Rob Portman, Ryan Medicare bill, Senate Majority Leader, spending, Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, Tea Party, Texas Senator Gramm, Ways and Means Committee, Xavier Beccera
Posted in GOP, Government, History, Politics, Promises, Theory, election | No Comments »
June 29th, 2010 by John Feehery
If there is any iron rule to the political game, it should be: Expect the unexpected. Things change, and sometimes they change rapidly.
At the beginning of President Obama’s term, the conventional wisdom declared that the Republican Party was going to splinter and collapse. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) even openly mocked the plight of the GOP, saying that she hoped that the Republican Party would be strong again someday. Well, be careful what you wish for, Madam Speaker, because that day is just about here.
The conventional wisdom at the beginning of this year held that while Republicans had a shot at capturing the House, the party had no shot at regaining control of the Senate. But with the sudden passing of Senate President Pro Tem Robert Byrd (W.Va.), the declining health of some other Democratic senators and the fading political fortunes of such stalwart liberals as Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Patty Murray (Wash.), that assumption has been turned on its head. The Senate has a clear shot, while the House looks like a sure thing.
The conventional wisdom coming from Washington after the Arizona immigration law passed was that the American people would believe it went too far. In fact, many Republican strategists made that exact point. Read more...
Tags: Barack Obama, Barbara Boxer, David Petraeus, House, Nancy Pelosi, Patty Murray, Republicans, Stanley McChrystal, Strom Thurmond, Tem Robert Byrd
Posted in Government, Politics, Theory | No Comments »
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell put some real thought into their picks for the Joint Super Committee that will decide the fate of so many spending programs and perhaps the financial health of the country.
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