House of Representatives

Stories 841 - 860 | << Prev   Next >>

50% Approval Rating Just Another Number: Silver
50% Approval Rating Just Another Number: Silver
ANALYSIS
Aug 31, 2009 3:11 PM CDT

50% Approval Rating Just Another Number: Silver

Obama likely to win re-election, Dems to keep House majority with current numbers

(Newser) - Much has been made of President Obama’s 50% job-approval rating, but that number in and of itself is “not particularly newsworthy,” writes Nate Silver for FiveThirtyEight.com. Obama could probably win in 2012 even with approval below 50%: George W. Bush was re-elected with the approval of...

Democrats Could Lose Big in House in 2010
Democrats Could Lose Big in House in 2010
Analysis
Aug 31, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Democrats Could Lose Big in House in 2010

Experts say GOP could pick up more than 20 seats

(Newser) - Top political analysts are predicting a dismal 2010 election for House Democrats, who could lose more than 20 seats, Politico reports. Acclaimed handicapper Nate Silver gives the GOP a 25% to 33% chance of winning the 40 seats they’d need to take over the House. Democratic newcomers face “...

Oops: GOP Lawmaker Retracts 'Great White' From Hopes

(Newser) - As if the GOP wasn't already a bit too lily white for the 21st century, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Kansas Republican, had this to say about her party at a town hall forum last week: "Republicans are struggling right now to find the great white hope. I suggest to...

Dems Hope George Washington Can Tame Town Halls

(Newser) - Democrats are taking some unconventional steps to keep town halls civil, the Hill reports. Rep. Betsy Markey plans to hand out copies of George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior to attendees, in a nod to their patriotic zeal. The first rule? “Every Action done in Company,...

White House Sought to Weaken Whistleblower Law
White House Sought to Weaken Whistleblower Law
investigation
Aug 7, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

White House Sought to Weaken Whistleblower Law

(Newser) - The Obama administration appears to have attempted to water down the whistleblower protection law the president himself championed on the campaign trail. In an e-mail obtained by the Washington Times, a lawyer in the White House counsel's office sent a new draft of the bill to the Senate. That draft...

Health Care Debate Readies for Road Trip

Democrats will spend recess targeting insurance companies

(Newser) - With the House already on break and the Senate readying for the August recess, the health care debate has moved to the court of public opinion, the New York Times reports. Both sides are launching campaign tours and waves of TV ads, with Democrats attacking the insurance industry and Republicans...

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker
ANALYSIS
Aug 2, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

House Health Care Vote Looks Like a Squeaker

But slim margin could vanish if bill moves left or right: Silver

(Newser) - A compromise health care bill will likely squeak through the House by about two dozen votes, Nate Silver writes on FiveThirtyEight.com. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Friday night 31-28 vote is a good model, with its similar balance of Republicans, liberal and Blue Dog Democrats. The committee passed...

House Votes to Add $2B to Clunkers Program

(Newser) - The House voted today to beef up the "cash for clunkers" program to the tune of $2 billion, but that doesn’t mean shoppers and dealers are any clearer on the federal program, the Detroit Free Press reports. “It is an absolute total mess,” one dealer says....

Health Industry Rains Cash on Blue Dog Dems

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs—the 52 fiscally conservative Democrats who have been fighting to kill health care reform proposals the industry doesn’t like—receive far more money from that industry than their non-coalition-member counterparts, the Washington Post reports. The reform push has been a boon for the lawmakers' ledgers; the...

Houses Passes Sweeping Food Safety Bill

(Newser) - The FDA would gain broad new powers to oversee food safety under a far-reaching bill passed by the House yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The measure—representing the first major changes to food safety laws since the 1930s—would give the agency vastly increased oversight of the nation's food chain...

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now...

Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform
Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform
ANALYSIS
Jul 27, 2009 3:32 PM CDT

Communication Is What Ails Obama on Health Reform

(Newser) - President Obama’s failure to get health-care reform on a faster track, despite early legislative victories, is a personal one, Sam Youngman writes in the Hill. “While it is shocking to consider that Obama is anything less than one of the best communicators in modern political history,” Youngman...

Why Are Blue Dogs Derailing Health Reform?

(Newser) - The Blue Dogs are threatening to sink health care reform in the House for reasons that don't seem to add up, Paul Krugman writes in the New York Times. The coalition of conservative Democrats—whose support President Obama needs—is crying loudly about fiscal responsibility, Krugman writes, while at the...

Gingrich: Waxman Lets Health Care Fraud Flourish
Gingrich: Waxman Lets Health Care Fraud Flourish
OPINION
Jul 24, 2009 10:52 AM CDT

Gingrich: Waxman Lets Health Care Fraud Flourish

(Newser) - America’s health care system is riddled with so much fraud that eliminating it would pay for universal coverage, but Congress doesn’t seem to care, writes Newt Gingrich in the Washington Examiner. He singles out as his particular villain Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee....

Blue Dogs Raking In Campaign Donations

(Newser) - Blue Dog Democrats may be ticking off President Obama and party leaders with their opposition to health care overhaul, but the move is doing wonders for their campaign coffers, reports CQ Politics. The Blue Dog Political Action Committee has pulled in $1.1 million for the 2010 races, more than...

Pelosi: I've Got the Votes on Health Care

(Newser) - Nancy Pelosi says she's got enough votes lined up in the House to pass health care reform by the end of the month, the Hill reports. Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats beg to differ, but Pelosi says there's "no question" she's right. On the chance she's wrong, however, she...

Health Care Surtax on the Chopping Block

Dems waffle on high-income tax; timetable cloudy

(Newser) - Democrats are growing queasy about their plan to tax the wealthy to help pay for health care reform, the New York Times reports. Nancy Pelosi yesterday suggested revising the contentious provision so that fewer households would have to pay the surtax. Under the current House draft, individuals earning more than...

Dems' Tax Plans Raise Fears of Rich Rebellion

(Newser) - Over the last few elections Democrats have captured House seats from the GOP in some of the wealthiest constituencies in the nation, from northern Virginia to suburban Denver. But as the White House and leaders in Congress look to tax hikes to fund the health care overhaul, recently elected congressmen...

House Votes to Block Dealership Closings

(Newser) - A spending bill passed by the House last night includes a provision to reopen hundreds of Chrysler dealerships and prevent the closing of over 2,000 more planned by GM, the Detroit News reports. The measure, opposed by the White House, will force the automakers to give dealers targeted for...

Hill Aide Threatens Pesky War Widow With Jail

(Newser) - An apparently harried congressional aide picked the wrong woman to threaten with police action, Fox News reports. Marianne Stringer, widow of a Vietnam veteran, was petitioning congressmen to oppose a decrease in benefits for veterans’ spouses. When she politely emailed the office of a reticent lawmaker, the aide shot back...

Stories 841 - 860 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser