The Hill News

Congress and the White House are on a collision course in what may be the last Great Engine Battle. But the stakes are far greater than deciding which engines will power the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), America’s all-in-one fighter jet. At stake is the environment of innovation that will be created or destroyed by this decision and the effect it will have on the brain trust that equips America’s war fighters with the best capabilities possible.

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Congress is often accused of failing to execute the business of the nation either effectively or efficiently. This might be true when it comes to matters of legislation, but I’m not here to critique the machinations of party politics. A critical and yet overlooked verdict on the business of the nation lies in the internal leadership and management of congressional offices, which typically suffer from a lack of clear strategy, with no real organizational structure or developmental opportunities.

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Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has reportedly cut a deal just before his House Ethics Committee trial, according to New York media.

WCBS TV reported that Harlem friends of Rangel said a deal had been struck, and details of the deal could be unveiled when the ethics panel meets as scheduled at 1 p.m.

The network reported that Rangel will admit to wrongdoing as part of the deal.

The new world of biomedical science and advances in genetic and molecular testing is bright with promise for patients.  These new tests will improve healthcare by allowing doctors to detect, diagnosis and treat many chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, earlier when they are easier to treat.

As healthcare grows more reliant on more complex and effective treatments, primary care physicians and specialists will increasingly rely upon the pathologist’s ability to conduct and analyze genetic and molecular tests.

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Daytime TV talk show "The View" earned its highest ratings ever from President Obama's visit last Thursday, according to Nielsen.

The episode averaged 6.6 million viewers, a bump from the standing record of 6.2 million on the day following the 2008 presidential election.

A record number of female viewers tuned in: 516,000 women between the ages of 18 and 34, and 1.3 million from 18 to 49. The two brackets represent key demographics for both the show and for Democrats headed into the midterm elections.

Obama's was the first appearance ever made by a sitting president on a daytime talk show.

On Saturday, a DNC-sponsored group that seeks to coalesce support for President Obama's agenda announced an event to celebrate Obama's birthday.

In an email, Organizing for America Deputy Director Jeremy Bird invited supporters to a "birthday event" to take place in two shifts the night of August 4. It will be hosted at the DNC headquarters on Capitol Hill.

"Connect with others who support the President’s Agenda. The 2010s play a critical role in keeping our Democratic Majority in both the House and the Senate," the invitation reads.

The group has held similar campaign-oriented events in the past.

A resolution approved by the Senate Thursday night has authorized the staff of embattled Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the lawmaker's alleged criminal misconduct.

Ensign is accused of violating federal rules in finding lobbying work for Doug Hampton, the husband of the former campaign staffer with whom he was having an affair.

Without special permission, staffers are prohibited by Senate rules from testifying outside of Congress.

Ensign colleague and former campaign adviser Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said July 24 that he had provided emails for the Justice Department's probe.

The Senate ethics committee is also investigating Ensign, whose term expires in 2012.

Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin (R) criticized President Obama's appearance on The View Thursday via Twitter, challenging him to visit the US-Mexican border. 

Some critics have panned Obama's recent trips -- to Maine with the First Family, and to New York, for the 'View' taping and two fundraisers -- saying that distressed areas like the border and the Gulf Coast require more attention.

Palin tweeted:

President w/no time to visit porous US/Mexican border to offer help to those risking life to secure us,but lotso' time to chat on The View?

I'm headed to border in near future... let's see how quickly his travel schedule will allow that border visit after all! .

A strategy manual recently released by the House GOP conference directs members to "retweet" a link to GOP materials every weekday until mid-September as a strategy for educating voters.

The 22-page packet -- aimed at helping Republicans campaign during August recess -- also encourages members to send Facebook messages and create YouTube videos promoting GOP policy positions.

The materials for linking, it reads, may come from the "America Speaking Out" website, a forum launched by the GOP to solicit policy ideas, although the manual emphasizes certain policy topics -- like job creation, national security, and healthcare -- as "priorities."

According to one section, AmericaSpeakingOut.com has netted more than 600,000 votes on 12,000 policy ideas since its May 25 launch. 

A social-media push makes sense for the House GOP on the verge of election season. Republican members have already outpaced their Democratic colleagues in Facebook an! d Twitter usage, and that infrastructure was strengthened by the six-week "New Media Challenge" modeled after the NCAA's March Madness.   

"The purpose of the contest is to help our members do better," a conference spokesman said, adding another goal was to "showcase members who are developing creative and innovative and otherwise novel new media tactics."

Critics, however, say that GOP's new-media messaging lacks imagination and that their online web presence allows fringe opinions to gain traction.

Democrats launch their own new-media challenge in June, saying at its conclusion that they had gained more than "43,000 new fans, followers and subscribers," or 900 more than the GOP had gained.

Two-term governor of Minnesota and potential GOP 2012 contender Tim Pawlenty visited Iowa Saturday, where he spoke at three fundraisers for statehouse Republicans. 

Although he has launched fundraising organizations in Iowa and New Hampshire, Pawlenty faces low name recognition in both states. In June, a poll conducted by the Des Moines Register found that 53 percent of Iowa Republicans did not know enough about him to find him favorable or unfavorable.

Still, that number represents a 20-point increase in familiarity from November, when 73 percent of the same pool said they knew too little about him to express an opinion.

He released his first web video Thursday.

The trip marks his fourth to Iowa since the 2008 presidential election when he campaigned there for Sen.! John McCain (R-Ariz.). He will stay for events on Sunday and Monday.

Grassroots connections are necessary for success in the Iowa caucuses, which have marked the beginning of the presidential nomination process since the late 1970s. 

Officials released statements Friday urging Iran to release the three American hikers detained one year ago.

Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) introduced a resolution to "immediately and unconditionally release" the three and allow them to return to the United States.

They also sent a letter to President Obama urging him to redouble his efforts on the hikers' behalf.

Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal were detained by Iranian authorities while hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan last July. According to reports, they have been held without either charges or a pending trial.

Obama also released a statement Friday in which he noted the one-year anniversary of their capture and clarified to Iran that "Sarah, Shane and Josh have never worked for the United States government."

"As a signatory to multiple conventions on human rights, the! government of Iran should act in line with the principles of justice, and allow Sarah, Shane and Josh to be reunited with their families. This call has been echoed by people in many countries, and is shared by all who respect human freedom and decency," the statement read.

It went on:

"They are simply open-minded and adventurous young people who represent the best of America, and of the human spirit. They are teachers, artists, and advocates for social and environmental justice. They have never had any quarrel with the government of Iran, and have great respect for the Iranian people."

Protests noting the one-year anniversary are to be held across the country and in Paris on Saturday.

Controversial RNC Chairman Michael Steele backed out of an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Friday, citing food poisoning.

Later than evening, the RNC alerted donors via email that an August fundraiser featuring Steele alongside conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart would be postponed.

The event, entitled "RNC Election Countdown," was to take place in Los Angeles between August 12th and 14th.

In response to Steele's absence at the NABJ convention, the RNC released a statement.

"He is disappointed to miss the opportunity to take part in this valuable dialogue and looks forward to engaging with NABJ in the very near future," it read.

Observers question whether Steele's schedule modifications indicate a desire to avoid the criticism recently leveled at Breitbart, who came under fire for publishing a misleading video clip of former USDA official Shirley Sherrod that led to her firing.

Sherrod announced her intention to sue Breitbart in remarks to the NABJ convention on Thursday. 

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) took Senate Democrats by surprise late Friday when he announced that he'll oppose Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court.

Nelson's opposition makes him the first Democrat to oppose an Obama pick for the Supreme Court. He had previously supported Kagan for her confirmation as solicitor general, and Sonia Sotomayor for her current seat on the high court.

"I have heard concerns from Nebraskans regarding Ms. Kagan, and her lack of a judicial record makes it difficult for me to discount the concerns raised by Nebraskans, or to reach a level of comfort that these concerns are unfounded," he said in a statement.

He added that he would not support a filibuster of the final vote.

Five Republican senators -- Olympia Snowe (Maine), Collins (Maine), Richard Lugar (Ind.), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) -- have said they will vote for Kagan's confirmation. All had also voted to confirm Sotomayor. 

Kagan was nomin! ated by President Obama in May. Her approval is expected in early August, before the Senate recesses.

According to a new poll out Friday, governors nationwide tend to face the lowest approval ratings when compared with President Obama and the senators from their states.

In 52% of states examined by the latest Public Policy Polling survey, the governor ranked lowest of the four in popularity. In another 12%, they ranked second-to-last.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has the highest unfavorables among his peers, at 71-19. The survey notes that his popularity has sunk eight points in the last two months.

The exceptions to the rule include New Hampshire Governor John Lynch (D), Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R), Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe (D), and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D).

Obama ranked least popular in Texas, Louisiana and Kentucky.

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today's question:


Is it a good political strategy for Democrats to try to tie Republicans to former President George W. Bush this November?

Some background reading here.

Read more...

Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) had to cut short a radio interview Friday morning after a Virginia police officer pulled him over for speeding.

Lungren, who had called into Sacramento station KFBK to discuss internationalizing Megan's Law, stopped moments after the interview began, saying "Uh, uh, I have to get off the phone just a moment here. ... I'm sorry, I'm talking with a police officer here." 

While the officer was deciding whether to cite him, the congressman called the station back, and completed the interview in a few minutes.

He was issued a warning.

The "International Megan's Law," sponsored by New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith (R), passed the House Tuesday. It encourages other countries to adopt versions of Megan's Law, which allows for public access to information about where convicted sex offenders live. It also would require officials to notify other countries when offenders who pose a risk travel abroad. 

Meanwhi! le Lungren has been criticized in his district by Democratic challenger Ami Bera, who says the highway incident shows that he thinks "the rules don't apply to him and he can get special treatment."

A Lungren campaign adviser fired back with a quip.

"He was in a hurry to get back to the Capitol to save his constituents from Nancy Pelosi."

Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today's question:


Is it a good political strategy for Democrats to try to tie Republicans to former President George W. Bush this November?

Some background reading here.

Read more...

Republicans could pick off enough support from wayward Democrats to take control of the House, even if they don't win an outright majority, a member of the GOP leadership suggested this weekend.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the GOP's chief deputy whip and director of recruiting new candidates, suggested Republicans could win the speakership or, at the very least, enjoy de facto control of the House, even if they don't win the 39 seats needed to gain an outright majority.

"We need 39 seats. Take it, for instance, say we win 34," McCarthy said in an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program, which is scheduled to air this weekend but was posted online Friday.

He suggested that if that happens some Democrats might not support Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to be speaker, and might instead opt to vote with Republicans ! to pursue their priorities.

"Why would they want to keep her [Pelosi]? And why wouldn't they want to go with other people to be able to produce it?" McCarthy asked. "Why do you think that if we don't win 39, we still couldn't be able to get speaker?"

His musings suggest the GOP is looking at options to make now-House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) the speaker of the House by pursuing a coalition with Democrats.

Pelosi won the speakership in the last two Congresses with unanimous support from Democratic lawmakers. But some members have suggested they are willing to oppose her.

Rep. Walter Minnick (D-Idaho), a first-term lawmaker in a conservative district, may not vote for her again. His campaign told The Hill in May that the congressman would not commit to voting for Pelosi if Democrats maintain control of the chamber. And Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who also represents a conservative district, has said his support for Pelosi as speaker would hinge on how Democrats fare during the election.

Both Minnick and Boren are top GOP targets this cycle and Republicans are using their previous support of Pelosi against them.

Even if Republicans can't manage enough defectors to cobble together support for Boehner as speaker, they might be able to effectively control the floor of the House if they win enough seats in the elections, McCarthy said.

"What if we win 34? Our ideas will be so strong, you look at the bipartisan vote on every bill that majority's produced -- we would then have a majority on the floor. Much as Ronald Reagan, when he was in the presidency and Democrats had the majority, he ran the floor of the House," he said. "Our ideas are stronger than their mismanagement. So we would be able to ha! ve our ideas move through."

Republicans have boasted during many of the leading legislative fights over the past year and a half that the only thing bipartisan about Democrats' bills have been the opposition.

Eleven House Democrats opposed the $787 billion stimulus package, 44 opposed the climate change bill, 33 opposed healthcare reform, and 19 opposed Wall Street reform.

McCarthy said he expected Pelosi to! face a challenge to her speakership regardless of how many vo! tes Repu blicans win this fall.

And, as for Republicans, McCarthy said the only candidate to lead the House GOP next year would be Boehner, a leader who had been seen as vulnerable to a challenge but has shored up his support in recent months.

"Why would it change?" McCarthy said of the position of Republican leader. "We're gaining seats."

And despite rumors of a rift between Boehner and GOP Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), McCarthy said Cantor would become majority leader under a GOP-controlled House. McCarthy downplayed any interest he might have in a leadership position next year.

Supporters of extending the unemployment benefit unconvincingly argue that the extended benefit will stimulate the economy and thereby create jobs.

This macroeconomic benefit would be more convincing if unemployment benefits were not a zero-sum transfer of money from the productive sectors of the economy.

Realistically, these payments come from taxes on the employed, who must reduce their consumption to pay the taxes; or from investors who finance the increasing federal deficit rather than financing productive companies that create jobs.

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Republicans could pick off enough support from wayward Democrats to take control of the House, even if they don't win an outright majority, a member of the GOP leadership suggested this weekend.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the GOP's chief deputy whip and director of recruiting new candidates, suggested there are scenarios in which Republicans could still win the speakership -- or, at the very least, enjoy de facto control of the House -- even if they don't win the 39 seats needed to gain an outright majority.

"We need 39 seats. Take it, for instance, say we win 34," McCarthy said in an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program, which is scheduled to air this weekend but was posted online Friday.

He suggested that if that happens, some Democrats might not support Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as speaker, and may o! pt to vote with Republicans to pursue their priorities.

"Why would they want to keep her [Pelosi]? And why wouldn't they want to go with other people to be able to produce it?" McCarthy asked. "Why do you think that if we don't win 39, we still couldn't be able to get speaker?"

His musings suggest the GOP is looking at options to make now-House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) the speaker of the House by pursuing a coalition with Democrats.

Pelosi won the speakership the last two Congresses with unanimous support from the Democratic Caucus. But some members have suggested an openness to bucking the powerful speaker.

Rep. Walter Minnick (D-Idaho), a first-term lawmaker in a conservative district, may not vote for her again. His campaign told The Hill in May the congressman would not commit to voting for Pelosi if Democrats maintain control of the chamber. And Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who also represents a conservative distric! t, has said his support for Pelosi as speaker would hinge on how Democrats fare during the election.

Both Minnick and Boren are top GOP targets this cycle and Republicans are using their previous support of Pelosi against them.

Even if Republicans can't manage enough defectors to cobble together support for Boehner as speaker, they might be able to effectively control the floor of the House if they win enough seats in the elections, McCarthy said.

"What if we win 34? Our ideas will be so strong, you look at the bipartisan vote on every bill that majority's produced -- we would then have a majority on the floor. Much as Ronald Reagan, when he was in the presidency and Democrats had the majority, he ran the floor of the House," he said. "Our ideas are stronger than their misman! agement. So we would be able to have our ideas move through."

Republicans have boasted during many of the leading legislative fights over the past year and a half that the only thing bipartisan about Democrats' bills have been the opposition.

Eleven House Democrats opposed the $787 billion stimulus package, 44 opposed the climate change bill, 33 opposed healthcare reform, and 19 opposed Wall Street reform.

M! cCarthy said he expected Pelosi to face a challenge to her spe! akership regardless of how many votes Republicans win this fall.

And, as for Republicans, McCarthy said the only candidate to lead the House GOP next year would be Boehner, a leader who had been seen as vulnerable to a challenge but has shored up his support in recent months.

"Why would it change?" McCarthy said of the position of Republican leader. "We're gaining seats."

And despite rumors of a rift between Boehner and GOP Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), McCarthy said Cantor would become majority leader under a GOP-controlled House. McCarthy downplayed any interest he might have in a leadership position next year.

“The play's the thing,” Hamlet said as he went to work to find out who killed his father, “wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”

Play and work. Work and play.

If you Google “play,” you get 1.93 billion hits. If you Google “work,” you get 2.3 billion. Work usually beats play.

If you play at work, you could get fired from your job.

If you work at play, you could turn out to be Eric Clapton.

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The February 12, 2009 crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 outside Buffalo occurred in Congressman Chris Lee’s district (NY-26). In the year and a half since, he’s worked closely with the families who lost loved ones that night to pass long-overdue aviation safety reforms. These reforms are included in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that is being bogged down by unrelated issues. Congressman Lee published the following open letter to Chairman James L. Oberstar urging a quick resolution to strengthen aviation safety for all Americans.

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Today, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-chair Congresswoman Woolsey and I co-hosted a briefing to discuss the most pressing foreign policy issue facing our country today â€" the war in Afghanistan.

As the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus’s Afghanistan Taskforce, I am very interested in ensuring that the Progressive Caucus and the rest of my colleagues in Congress have sufficient information to make informed decisions about this war.

We are at a very dangerous and difficult time in this war.

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Two-thirds of voters support building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

Sixty-eight percent of probable voters want the U.S. to continue building the fence that was halted in March when the Obama administration cut funding. Support has jumped 9 percent since that decision.

Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," joined Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. He will tweet from @ChrisMatthewsHB.

His first tweet read:

Finally decided to join Twitter!

Matthews also anchors NBC's "The Chris Matthews Show," which airs weekends.

Two man-made disasters have hit the Gulf Coast: the BP oil spill and the president’s moratorium on energy production. A third disaster is scheduled for a vote in the House today.

Two hundred twenty-six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig collapsed, the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act was introduced in the House. A repackaged version is now being sold as a response to the BP oil spill.

This bill has much less to do with preventing another spill than it does preventing domestic energy production and destroying jobs.

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Gertrude Stein famously said of the Oakland region, there is “no there there.” The question the Bay Area must ask today is this: Is there any there there yet?

Recently, Jeff Adachi has been attempting to solve problems the old fashioned way, through self government. San Francisco is at a crossroads, writes Adachi. There’s a fiscal train wreck just around the corner. In fact, it’s already here. With our city’s failing infrastructure and roads, a $787 million deficit next year, $1.2 billion in city employee pension costs that are projected to double in five years, the term “go for broke” takes on a new meaning. Will San Francisco become the next Vallejo?

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The great coming issue is privacy. The great sucking sound you hear is government and business wanting to know what you write in e-mails, what condoms you purchase at the pharmacy, what books you read in the library and what credit cards you use at the store. Privacy is the issue that should unite Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) and Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (D) while bringing together Matt Drudge and Frank Rich.

Google is one of the great inventions of modern history. But do you want anyone willing to pay and the government that wants to watch what you have Googled or searched for on the Internet? This is a great debate that needs to happen.

Read more...

“Ms. Grafenstine will be an independent voice in continuing our efforts to ensure accountability and transparency in financial matters and the management of House operations," said Pelosi in a statement.

"Her decades of experience in government, including 12 years in the House’s Office of Inspector General, will ensure that the people’s business is conducted with efficiency and that public funds are used responsibly. She will play an essential role in the House and all of us are grateful for her energy and experience."

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) announced today that he will vote to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court.

Gregg becomes the fifth Republican, along with Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and Susan Collins (Maine) to announce their support for Kagan's nomination.

“Ms. Kagan and I may have different political philosophies, but I believe that the confirmation process should be based on qualifications, not ideological litmus tests or political affiliation," Gregg said.  

The New Hampshire Republican said he Kagan "has pledged that she will exercise judicial restraint and decide each case that comes before her based on the law, with objectivity and without regard to her personal views."

Though some Republican have argued that Kagan's lack of judicial experience is troubling, Gregg said her experience as a policy aide to President Clinton and Solicitor General under President Obama means she "is qualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court."

 

Pat Toomey has maintained a modest six-point lead over Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) in the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to a new Rasmussen poll.

Toomey garnered support from 45 percent of likely voters, compared to 39 percent for Sestak. That's more or less unchanged from Rasmussen's poll two weeks ago.

More from Rasmussen:

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Pennsylvania voters regard Toomey as politically conservative, and 42% place his views in the mainstream. Twenty-seven percent (27%) see him ! as an extremist, with 31% undecided.

Forty-five percent (45%) feel that Sestak is politically liberal, while 27% characterize him as a moderate. But 39% regard his views an extreme, while nearly as many (37%) think his views are in the mainstream. But roughly one-in-four voters (23%) aren’t sure.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of conservative voters in the state support Toomey, while 86% of liberals favor Sestak. Moderates are closely divided between the two candidates.

Twenty percent (20%) of Pennsylvania voters hold a Very Favorable opinion of Toomey, while 12% view him Very Unfavorably.

Sestak is viewed Very Favorably by 19% and Very Unfavorably by 18%.

Embattled oil giant BP on Thursday established a $100 million fund to support unemployed rig workers displaced by the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The federal government enacted the deepwater drilling in response to the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, which killed 11 rig workers and caused one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history. 

BP announced that the newly-established Rig Worker Assistance Fund (RWAF) "fulfills the commitment BP announced on June 16 to provide $100 million in assistance as a gesture of good will for the people of the Gulf Coast region." It will be operated through a supporting group of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. 

“BRAF has a strong track record of meeting community needs, and we are confident the foundation will respond effectively to assist the rig workers who today are struggling to make ends meet,” said BP Managing Director Bob Dudley. 

BP has come under pressure from the Obama administration and Congress to work more efficiently to provide aid to Gulf coast residents affected by the spill. 

But some members of Congress, including many who represent Gulf coast districts, have called on the administration to lift the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling, arguing that it has caused economic damage to their constituents. 

Senate Democrats are going to ask for unanimous consent to approve a bill that would fund claims settlements for black farmers and Native Americans on Monday.

On a conference call with reporters Friday, John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the Senate will try to move a stand-alone bill authorizing funds for the settlements.

One resolves black farmers' discrimination claims against the Agriculture Department while the other resolves Native Americans' claims against the federal government for misuse of tribal land trust accounts, known as the Cobell settlement. The total price tag for both settlements is $4.6 billion over ten years.

"We see it as a last-ditch effort here before Congress goes into recess mode," Boyd said. The black farmers' advocate said he was frustrated by the bitter partisan fighting on Capitol Hill. Funds for both settlements have already passed in the House but have been continually b! locked in the Senate after they were attached to much bigger bills, like the small business lending bill or the tax extenders bill.

Senate Republicans have stopped the settlements' funds and Boyd is calling on them to vote for it this time.

"We need Republicans to stand up and vote for this. That’s the bottom line," Boyd said.

A Senate leadership aide confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will ask for unanimous consent to fund the settlements Monday.

Updated 3:58 p.m.

A non-partisan ethics watchdog on Friday criticized House investigators for recommending that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) be reprimanded for his alleged ethics violations, saying it's too light a punishment.

David Vance, a spokesman for the Campaign Legal Center, said that the 13 ethics violations the ethics investigatory subcommittee with which Rangel has been charged warrant a greater punishment.

"We are concerned about reports that the investigatory subcommittee has recommended nothing beyond a reprimand for Rep. Rangel in light of the very serious allegations against him," he said. "Should these allegations prove true â€" and Rep. Rangel has already admitted to conduct that would support many of them - the recommended penalty does not seem commensurate with the violations.  A slap on the wrist for what the allegations paint as a very disturbing pattern of behavior would be more of the same from the long dormant ethics committee."

Rep! . Gene Green (D-Texas), chairman of the ethics subcommittee, told reporters Friday of his panel's recommendation, which was not included in its original report.

An official reprimand is a lighter punishment than some observers expected the panel to recommend.

Rangel's ethics trial is set to begin in September; the charges have hovered over the heads of congressional Democrats, who pledged to run the most ethical Congress in history upon taking power in 2006.

The Campaign Legal Center previously praised the proceedings against Rangel for its comprehensiveness.

"Yesterday’s announcement by the Committee was an encouraging indication that it was making an effort to reestablish its credibility," Vance said. "But if a reprimand is the full extent of any recommended punishment for all the alleged violations in this case, then it would appear that little has changed on the Committee after all."

The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a research briefing Friday knocking President Barack Obama for referencing a character from MTV's "Jersey Shore" show. 

Republicans argued Obama should strike a more serious tone in the midst of a struggling economy that has been slow to recover from a crippling recession.

The RNC's release is titled "LESS GTL, MORE GDP MR. PRESIDENT," referring to an acronym characters use on the show that stands for "gym, tan, laundry."

On Friday, Obama is appearing at Chrysler and General Motors auto plants in Michigan, making the case that the government bailout of the companies helped save them and stabilize the economy. 

The release came on the same day second quarter gross domestic product came in at 2.4 percent growth, which was less than economists had expected. 

"What’s clear is that while the president took bold action to pull our economy out of the ditch that Republicans had left it in, the GOP! sat on the sidelines playing political games that didn’t do a thing to help American families. So, thanks, but we’ll pass on advice from a party that spent more time helping the Southern California sex club economy than the American economy at large," responded DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.  

During a speech before the National Urban League on Thursday, Obama said "I was on the 'The View' yesterday, and somebody asked me who Snooki was. I said, I don't know who Snooki is."

Republicans also pointed out that Obama made a joke about Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi during his comedy routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner earlier this year. 

A Democratic aide also points out that, last month, the RNC endorsed Snooki's stance against the tanning bed tax in the healthcare law to criticize President Barack Obama. 

The committee's official Twitter account retweeted this message from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) "RT @SenJohnMcCain: @Sn00k! i u r right, I would never tax your tanning bed! Pres Obama's ! tax/spen d policy is quite The Situation. but I do."

This post was updated at 2:28 p.m. 

The Obama administration conceded Friday that it would unlikely be able to muster political support for a second stimulus package, even if it wanted one.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the administration had gotten all it could out of Congress, in terms of another major stimulus package.

"Look, I think if you look at the politics of what’s going on on Capitol Hill right now, I think we got everything we could," Gibbs said in a gaggle above Air Force One, when asked if there was any consideration of a second stimulus by President Obama.

Obama is in Detroit Friday to promote the benefits of his signature $787 billion stimulus, as well as his decision to extend assistance to struggling automakers GM and Chrysler.

Republicans have assailed the stimulus as a failure, leaving the White House and congressional Democrats to launch a PR blitz on its behalf. Vice President Joe Biden, who's spearheaded the so-calle! d "Recovery Summer" effort, has toured the country and made appearances with lawmakers to tout local programs funded by the stimulus.

Those efforts were undercut to a degree by GDP numbers for the second quarter showing growth had slowed in recent months. The GOP has also hammered away at persistently high jobless numbers.

Still, some Democrats, as well as outside groups â€" many in organized labor â€" have long pushed a second stimulus to support the economy and create jobs. While there has been no formal second stimulus bill put forward, House and Senate Democrats have pushed a number of individual spending bills, including extending unemployment insurance, and measures to provide a tax credit for new hiring and small-business lending.

Gibbs pushed lawmakers to set aside politics and focus on economic growth.

"I mean this shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and if it was a partisan issue yesterday, I hope that that caucus will tak! e a look at the statistics that we’ve seen today, reacquaint! themsel ves with the 8 million people that have lost jobs ... and hopefully do some thinking over the weekend to put aside some of their partisan and ideological bents to help the American people make some progress in this economy," he said.

New York's congressional delegation is standing behind Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), one of its long-time members told reporters Friday.

Following what he said was a regular meeting of the delegation Friday morning, Rep. Edolphus Town (D-N.Y.) repeatedly praised Rangel for being a "war hero" and  said that the lawmakers will be "supportive of the [ethics] process" as it moves forward.

{mosads}"I think the New York delegation feels very supportive of Charlie Rangel, he's our leader," Towns said, later adding. "Whatever happens, I am supportive of Charlie Rangel."

The congressman's comments are a sign that Rangel's closest allies are sticking with him despite other Democrats' calls on him to resign in the wake of 13 ethics charges made against the Harlem lawmaker. 

Rangel this week acknowledged that Demo! crats could distance themselves from him as his ethics trial goes forth. But Towns downplayed that talk, saying "I don't think it's at that point yet."

Towns also said members did not pressure him to settle with the committee to avoid a public trial. 

A few backbench House Democrats have called on Rangel to resign, including some running in tough reelection campaigns. 

The ethics investigatory subcommittee accused Rangel Thursday of improperly using his office to solicit donations for a school of public policy in his name at the City College of New York (CCNY); of using a rent-stabilized apartment in Harlem for his campaign office; of failing to report more than $600,000 on his financial disclosure report; and of failing to pay taxes on rental income from a villa he own! s in the Dominican Republic.

But Towns said that ! Rangel h as "indicated some sloppiness" but that there "is no criminality here.

"He didn't do anything that Charlie Rangel would have benefitted from," he added.

Voters should attribute some blame to the debt crisis in Europe for the lower-than-expected growth numbers this quarter, a top Democrat on financial issues said Friday.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said that the European crisis in recent months were in part a reason for the figures released this morning showing that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.4 percent between April and June.

"The concerns about the European economy clearly slowed us down," Frank said during an appearance on MSNBC.

"[T]he concern over Europe slowed us down, and I'm hoping now that we will be resuming growth," Frank said.

The figures reflected a slowdown in the rate of recovery afte! r the economy grew at 3.7 percent in the first quarter, and 5.7 percent at the end of 2009.

The numbers also aren't of political help to the Obama White House, which has been dogged by still-high jobless numbers in an election year. President Obama will travel to detroit today to defend his stewardship of the economy, in particular his administration's decision to extend assistance to the American auto industry.

Several members of the European Union had to receive outside assistance after high debt levels put them on the brink of collapse. Fears of default roiled the Euro and global financial markets, causing fear that a second financial crisis could spread globally.

In the U.S. in particular, the prospect of another financial crisis spurred fears of a so-called "double-dip" recession, where the economy would again begin to shrink.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), who is known for his theatrics on the House floor, ripped Republicans Thursday night for voting against a healthcare bill for 9/11 respondents. 

The $4.7 billion aid legislation failed to pass the House Thursday night. Under House rules, it required a two-thirds vote to pass because it was placed on the suspension calendar, meaning that no amendments could be added. The procedure is usually used to pass non-controversial bills. 

Republicans objected to its placement on the suspension calendar, but Weiner accused Republicans of "wrapping their arms around Republicans, rather than doing the right thing."

Weiner becam! e angered after his New York colleague, Rep. Pete King (R), a co-sponsor of the bill, asked him to yield his time. 

"The gentleman will observe regular order and will sit down," Weiner yelled, pointing at King. 

During the debate over the Democrats' massive healthcare reform legislation, Weiner took to the House floor multiple times in similar fashion to rail against Republicans. 

King later responded during a solo interview on Fox News.

“Anthony can rant and rave all he wants on the House floor, he did not answer one point that I made last night," he said. "I've done everything I possibly can. The fact is this should not be a partisan issue, I have been very, very critical of the Republican Party.

“The bottom line is the Democrats control the House and they pulled a procedural gimmick starting ten days ago, and they lost the nerve to bring it to the floor on a real vote," he added. 

WATCH:

h/t TPMDC

This post was updated at 11:14 p.m. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) finds himself in a virtual tie on Friday with GOP candidate Sharron Angle in Nevada's Senate race.

Reid led Angle by one point, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal poll released this morning, well within the margin of error.

43 percent of Nevada voters said they'd opt to reelect Reid if the election were held today, while 42 percent said they'd vote for Angle, a former state assemblywoman. Two percent said they'd choose someone else, seven percent said they liked neither candidate, and six percent were undecided.

Reid has made up ground against Angle, a favorite of conservative Tea Party activists, since earlier this year, when polls showed him trailing a number of potential GOP foes, and showed an upside-dow! n approval rating.

But the poll on Friday, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, also showed Reid's margin over Angle tick downward from a high earlier this month.

A survey by the same organization conducted July 12-14 showed Reid at 44 percent and Angle at 37 percent.

The race is sure to only become more hotly contested in the weeks to come, as Reid returns from Washington to spend the August recess in Nevada, where he's expected to campaign heavily.

Republicans have had high hopes for the race in Nevada, where a rough economic situation and high jobless numbers plague a number of incumbent Democrats. If they were to knock off Reid, it would be a repeat of history in 2004, when John Thune (R) knocked off Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle in the South Dakota Senate Race.

The LVRJ poll released Friday has a four percent margin of error.

Republicans sought Friday to dub Democrats' impending August recess a "run for cover" summer, trying out a new line of attack during election season.

Both House GOP leader John Boehner (Ohio) and Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), blasted out emails on Friday looking to frame August recess as a time during which Democrats will find themselves on their heels.

"Now, in what was originally billed as the 'Recovery Summer,' Democrats plan to spend the next month asking voters to overlook their job-killing policies by distracting them with dishonest attacks on Republican candidates," Sessions wrote in a memo released to the press, referencing the slogan under which President Obama and other Democrats are barnstorming the country to tout their economic accomplishments.

"Soon, 'Recovery Summer' may well be known as the Democrats’ 'Run for Cover Summer,'" the NRCC chairman added.!

Boehner echoed the new meme in an NRCC fundraising appeal with the subject line: "Democrats Run for Cover."

"Democrats have been forced to play defense in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's backyard," Boehner wrote, referencing Democrats' move to reserve air time for this fall in reliably liberal markets like San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

"Every dollar they spend in liberal bastions like San Francisco and Washington is a dollar that isn't helping the many other vulnerable Democrats looking for cover for rubber-stamping ObamaCare, the 'stimulus' that didn't work, the 'cap & trade' energy tax, and the rest of the jobs-killing Obama-Pelosi agenda," Boehner added.

The move by these top Republicans comes on the last official business day of the month for the House, before it breaks for August recess, a period during an election year sure to be fraught with intense campaigning.

Both Democrats and Republicans have sought to define! the battle ahead of them in the press this week, with Democra! ts promi sing coordinated, weekly themes they'll use to attack the GOP, and to warn voters of the consequences of a return to Republican control.

Republicans, meanwhile, plan to highlight the economy's continuing struggles during Democratic stewardship, while warning of impending tax hikes at the end of the year if all of President George W. Bush's tax cuts expire.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs doubled down on Friday on his election prediction, saying Democrats would keep the House and the Senate.

Gibbs said that Democrats were running stronger campaigns right now than Republicans, and that, despite having previously said there was "no doubt" the GOP could win the majority, Democrats would maintain theirs.

"I think it's a fairly simple choice come November," Gibbs said on "Good Morning America" on ABC. "I think Democrats will be successful, and we'll keep the House and the Senate.

Gibbs had previously backtracked off of his words cautioning that Republicans could be successful in their midterm efforts, an admission that angered many Democratic leaders in Congress.

But Democrats have also been working furiously to protect their majorities, bracing for a tough election cycle this fall with the added competition from freer corporate spending this year. The House Democrats' campaig! n committee has already reserved airtime for the final two weeks of the campaign, and plan an aggressive August strategy seeking to fight back against Republicans.

Gibbs, like those other Democrats, framed the choice facing voters as being between Obama's policies and the previous policies sought under President George W. Bush and last decade's Republican-controlled Congress.

"I think right now Democrats are running better campaigns than the Republicans are," he said. "I think this November is going to come down, quite frankly, to a choice: do you want to continue to move forward and make progress as we have in the Obama administration, or do you want to go back to the economic policies that got us into this mess."

The press secretary also rejected the notion that a GOP-controlled House or Senate might be better for the country, by forcing Democrats and Republicans to come to the bargaining table in a more concrete way.

"Nobody h! ere at the White House believes that. I think this president h! as a pla n for getting this country back on its feet again," he said. "[H]e hopes that come next November and next year when we swear in the new Congress that there are a majority of those that support that agenda."

According to Twitter, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is ready to feed his base what they want Thursday at a luncheon sponsored by the American Conservative Union.

He punned Tuesday:

Looking forward to speaking at @ACUConservative lunch on Thursday. No quiche served at this lunch...just red meat!

According to the invitation, Jordan will speak to "conservative interns and staff" at the Capitol Hill Club starting at 12 pm.

The president’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget director, Jack Lew, faces a daunting task. Lew must take the reins of a budget that has been horribly battered from the effects of the Great Recession and nearly a decade of mismanagement. And that budget is about to suffer the onslaught of twin tsunamis: an aging population and our uniquely inefficient healthcare system. Yet these obstacles may not be the biggest barriers to getting a handle on the federal balance sheet. No, that dubious dishonor goes to the Peacock Caucus.

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Democrats celebrated the 45th anniversary of Medicare becoming law by linking it to the healthcare reform President Obama signed into law earlier this year.

The party released a video tying President Lyndon Johnson's signing of Medicare into law 45 years ago from Friday to Obama's signing of health reform, casting them both as historic domestic policy accomplishments in the same vein.

The video features clips of the signing of both laws.

"Both clips tout the historic nature of these strides in health reform and the positive benefits these laws delivered to Main Street Americans across the nation," said a Democratic National Committee (DNC) official.

Democrats feel more confidence in linking the two after a poll showing a new high in support for the healthcare law Obama had sought. Party officials say they take solace in their predictions about growing popularity for health reform coming into fruition.

House GOP leaders expect “very strong” Republican support for the emergency war supplemental set for a vote on Tuesday afternoon.

After voting against the measure when it was weighed down with extra spending for teachers and other domestic items, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he intended to support a cleaned-up version of the bill approved by the Senate.

Boehner’s deputy, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said that he anticipated a strong GOP aye vote.

“We expect a very strong Republican support of this supplemental,” the House GOP’s top vote-counter told reporters on Tuesday morning.

Americans across the country continue to ask the same question: How does Washington plan to address the ailing economy? During a tele-town hall I held last night, job creation and the weak economy remained the No. 1 concern for Northeast Georgians. One lady from the southern portion of my district noted that Washington’s agenda fails to reflect this realty. Americans are speaking out. Unfortunately, Washington is not listening. Instead, Congress is heading home for the next six weeks without considering legislation to prevent a $3.8 trillion tax increase that is scheduled to occur at the end of the year.

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Colorado Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff (D) joked Tuesday on Twitter about making financial sacrifices to fund his campaign.

He said:

This morning a radio host asked me, "Are you going to sell your dog?" Absolutely not! But I am willing to rent him for a while ...

Romanoff, who seeks to defeat Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in the Democratic primary, sold his house in Denver in order to loan the campaign $325,000. Bennet's fundraising, meanwhile, has totaled $7.5 million.

The primary is August 10.

I ran into Congressman Jimmy Duncan in the hall of the Capitol and we had a little chat.

Duncan is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, a savvy politician who is completely honest and, to the untrained eye, just an aw-shucks, country-lawyer type of person.

Duncan has taken some tough votes in his career. He votes against pretty much all spending bills and he voted against the Iraq war, votes that in hindsight look pretty smart. He is an old-time conservative, but he isn’t one to beat his own chest or pontificate too much.

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With our national debt at $13.2 trillion and climbing, the Senate last week inflated that number even further by refusing to pay for an extension of unemployment benefits. I voted against the bill because I will not contribute further to the runaway train of federal spending that has been tearing through Washington. Let me be clear: I know people are out of work, and I don't know a single Senator in Washington who didn't want to see these benefits extended. But unless we get serious about reining in our spending, our short-term unemployment problem will be just a fraction of a long-term financial nightmare.

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Liberal populists in the Congress should join the Tea Party Caucus and propose that it sponsor an amendment to enact a tax on 2008 and 2009 bonuses for executives at bailed-out banks and Wall Street firms, and use the revenue to pay down the deficit and national debt.

Let’s see if Tea Party aficionados such as Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) join progressive populists in the anti-bailout bonus amendment.

Those on the right who oppose this amendment would be exposed as socialists for the wealthy, enemies of American capitalism, supporters of the budget deficit and believers in the worst aspects of the bailouts.

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One of the key issues during the meeting between Prime Minister David Cameron and  President Obama last week was how to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme.

The new British Government is deeply concerned.  And our suspicions are only exacerbated by Tehran’s refusal to engage with the international community on the nature of this programme.  Responsible countries cannot just ignore Iran's refusal to abide by its obligations under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT); there must be consequences for this reckless intransigence.  That is why the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1929 in June,   its fourth set of sanctions against the Iranian regime.

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(This post is being published before the charges against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) have been published by the House ethics committee subpanel. I will try to update this post after the charges have been published.)

â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-

Have we learned nothing from the recent rush-to-judgment travesty of Shirley Sherrod?

Charles Rangel stands accused by a House ethics subcommittee, composed of both Democratic and GOP House members, of violating House rules â€" and of course that should be taken far more seriously than the original tape clip that led everyone to jump to a premature conclusion before taking the time to view the entire tape or even to talk to Sherrod.

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced today that he's asked the FBI to join the Wikileaks investigation, vowing to prosecute whomever is found to have played a role in the leak.

Gates said he has brought in the FBI to ensure that the investigation can "go wherever it needs to go," potentially to subjects outside the military sytem. He would not address whether journalists or Wikileaks founder Julian Assange might be charged.

But Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, did lash out personally at Assange and his source, saying they might "already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family."

Both Mullen and Gates said the leak would force the mlitary to review how it distributes intelligence to the front lines.

The military's practice in recent years, Gates said, has been to "push as much information as far forward as possible."

The question now is, "Should we change the way we apporach that,! or do we continue to take the risk?"

A Democratic lawmaker on Thursday said his party's new initiative tying the Tea Party platform directly to Republicans is not "relevant" to his reelection campaign.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) launched an effort Wednesday arguing the Tea Party and the GOP are one and the same and said they would take the country in the wrong direction.

Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), who has been endorsed by Tea Party groups, said that's not the message he'll take to his constituents.

"I don't think it's very relevant ... I don't think that message is going to reach many people in my state," he told The Hill. " It's not the frame through which I tend to campaign."

Minnick is one of many centrist to conservative House Democrats who represent right-leaning districts who face tough reelection campaigns in the fall.

The DNC held a press event to announce the campaign at party headquarters Wednesday. Several liberal Democrats appe! ared at the event to tout the initiative, which will likely represent part of the Democrats' message heading into the August recess.

Asked if he believes the DNC's effort will help or hurt candidates like him, the Idaho congressman replied "it depends on the district. In my district, that's not the message ... generally speaking."

Minnick has renounced the endorsement he received from the Tea Party Express group due to racially insensitive statements by the group's head, but added that he still agrees with the movement's tenets.

Kentucky's Democratic Senate candidate wouldn't commit on Thursday to supporting Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as Senate majority leader if he's elected.

State Attorney General Jack Conway (D) said he didn't know if he would support Reid for another term as leader of the party in the Senate, citing Reid's own tough reelection battle this year.

"I don't know.  We don't know the outcome of that race in Nevada.  I don't know the outcome of a lot of these races and that kind of falls in the category of 'measuring the drapes,'" Conway said on WHAS radio in Kentucky.

Several centrist Democrats have had a history of bucking party leaders as an appeal to constituents. Rep. Parker G! riffith (D-Ala.) had questioned whether he'd support Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as speaker before he switched parties, and other members have expressed some skepticism toward leadership.

Conway's remarks say much about his race against Republican physician Rand Paul, too. The attorney general has run against Washington in some ways -- for instance, by opposing cap-and-trade legislation -- and his campaign may see Reid as a liability in Kentucky.

"What I will do is I will go up there and cast my ballot for someone that I respect, someone that I think will be a good leader, and someone who will always listen to me when it comes to representing the interests of Kentucky," Conway said.

Leaked classified documents about U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan underscore why troops should be withdrawn, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said Thursday. 

Feingold, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee and an advocate for drawing down troops in Afghanistan, condemned the release of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks, but said the leaked documents proved his point. 

“I’m deeply troubled at the release of this kind of information,” Feingold said during an appearance on MSNBC. “That doesn’t change the fact that this information [that] came out reinforces why this war is a mistake.”

Feingold is among a handful of Senate Democrats to force the administration to set a timetable on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. He opposed President Obama’s decision to surge troops into that country. 

The WikiLeaks documents, which led to a story in the New York Times, detailed coordination between the intelligence agency in Pakistan and Taliban and al Qaeda.

“I’m unhappy about its release, but it does reinforce the view that I’ve had for a long time about our Afghanistan policy,” Feingold said, adding that the leak of the materials should be “held responsible.”

Most Americans believe taxes on the oil industry would be passed along to consumers at the gas pump, an industry-backed poll found Thursday.

Eighty-two percent of registered voters believed increased taxes on the oil industry would be passed along to consumers in the form of high prices at the pump, according to a poll commissioned by the American Energy Alliance.

The poll also said 81 percent agree new taxes on oil companies would disadvantage American companies over foreign-owned oil companies such as BP, while 76 percent said they believe a tax on American oil companies would hurt U.S. companies that are trying to compete against foreign government-owned companies.

The poll was conducted by Voter/Consumer Research on behalf of AEA, the advocacy arm of the conservative Institute for Energy Research, which receives donations from oil companies, among other funding source.

The survey comes as lawmakers mull an energy bill to r! espond to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and to support increased alternative energy. AEA is hoping to mobilize the public against new taxes for the oil industry and for the companies being allowed to continue offshore drilling.

The poll found 71 percent of responders oppose banning all offshore drilling, and 60 percent oppose banning drilling in deep waters, along the lines of the operations BP had conducted before the accident leading to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Conversely, other polls have shown voters now believe it is too risky to increase offshore drilling, as President Obama had called for in a limited capacity, and for which Republicans have pushed.

The survey, conducted by telephone interview from July 25-27, has a 3.1 percent margin of error.

Kentucky’s Democratic Senate candidate wouldn’t commit on Thursday to supporting Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as Senate majority leader if he’s elected.

State Attorney General Jack Conway (D) said he didn’t know if he would support Reid for another term as leader of the party in the Senate, citing Reid’s own tough reelection battle this year.

“I don’t know. We don’t know the outcome of that race in Nevada. I don’t know the outcome of a lot of these races and that kind of falls in the category of ‘measuring the drapes,’ ” Conway said on WHAS radio in Kentucky. 

Several centrist Democrats have had a history of bucking party leaders as an appeal to constituents. Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) had questioned whether he’d support Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as Speaker before he switched parties, and other members have expressed some skepticism toward leadership. 

Conway’s remarks say much about his race against Republican physician Rand Paul, too. The attorney general has run against Washington in some ways â€" for instance, by opposing cap-and-trade legislation â€" and his campaign may see Reid as a liability in Kentucky.

“What I will do is I will go up there and cast my ballot for someone that I respect, someone that I think will be a good leader, and someone who will always listen to me when it comes to representing the interests of Kentucky,” Conway said.

Vice President Joe Biden kicked off a donor campaign on Thursday aiming to counteract expected outside spending on behalf of Republicans this election cycle. 

Biden e-mailed Democratic Party supporters to announce the creation of the “By the People Fund,” an account meant to offset the $200 million Biden said he expected “Republican-aligned special interests” to spend on the elections.

“We’re not going to sit back and let that happen,” the vice president wrote to members of President Obama’s political arm, Organizing for America. “Today, Organizing for America is announcing the By the People Fund with the goal of getting 3 million citizen donations to fuel our grassroots campaign for the upcoming election.”

A variety of groups, ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to other socially conservative groups, have pledged more than $200 million in spending in the elections, with much of it intended to help defeat Democrats. Aiding this year’s election spending was a Supreme Court decision allowing more direct corporate and labor spending on electoral contests. (Democrats have failed to conjure the votes to pass legislation abating that ruling.)

Democrats say the By the People Fund has no specific dollar amount it is looking to target, but is also intended as a voter education and organizing initiative ahead of the elections, during which most observers expect the Democrats to sustain losses in both the House and Senate.

“With our By the People Fund, we’re going to make a statement this fall â€" strengthening our grassroots efforts on the ground, focusing on getting first-time voters from 2008 back to the polls this year, and holding the Republicans and their special-interest allies accountable,” Biden said.

Americans view Democrats’ signature health reform bill more positively now than at any point since it was signed into law, a new poll found Thursday. 

50 percent of the public say they view the new healthcare law favorably, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll that has been tracking public opinion about the legislation since it became law. 

35 percent of adults said they view the law unfavorably, while 14 percent had no opinion. 

The July numbers mark the strongest support for reform since it reached a low in May, when the Kaiser poll found the public opposed the law 44-41 percent. 

The positive numbers play heavily into this fall’s impending midterm elections, in which Republicans and Democrats will jockey over the reforms in the healthcare bill. Most Republicans have said they want to repeal the legislation and replace it with different reforms, while Democrats have opted to highlight the benefits in the bill that would be threatened by a GOP-led repeal. 

27 percent of the public overall said the law should be repealed, while seven percent said that while they dislike the law, it should be given a chance to work. 

Also important for the elections is the support for the law among self-identified independent voters. 48 percent of independents view healthcare reform favorably, compared to 37 percent who view it unfavorably. 15 percent had no opinion.

The Kaiser poll, conducted July 8-13, has a three percent margin of error.

The House on Wednesday evening passed legislation that provides funding for more U.S. Border Security agents along the southern border after a federal judge knocked down key parts of Arizona's controversial immigration law.

The legislation would authorize $701 million for hiring over 1,200 Border Patrol agents, 500 Customs and Border Patrol agents and other additional personnel and resources for border security. It passed the House by voice vote, sending it on to the Senate.

{mosads}In July, the House passed the funds as part of the supplemental appropriations bill, but the Senate stripped it along with other domestic spending items last week. That bill, which contained funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, passed the House on Tuesday.

Twelve House Democrats from Southwestern states co-sponsored the bill. Its passage came on the same day U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton enjoined key portions of Arizona's controversial immigration law, specific! ally language that required police to check the identification of people they suspect are in the country illegally.

It is not clear if or when the Senate will take up the legislation, but the bill ensures that lawmakers will continue to debate legislative remedies to the immigration system through the August recess.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday praised the legislation and blamed Republicans for blocking it in the Senate.

“This legislation honors our first responsibility to protect the American people by giving law enforcement the tools they need to address the threat of violence near the U.S.-Mexico border," she said. "Unfortunately, Republicans in the Senate blocked it and therefore the supplemental sent to the president’s desk this week does not include funding for border security. With Mexican drug cartels engaging in unprecedented levels of violence, we can’t afford to play politics with the security of the American homela! nd."

"Nice try, but the future former speaker knows bett! er than anyone else that when she tied border funding to a package of veto threatened extras she was dooming it to failure in the same way she doomed half her caucus by forcing them to vote on cap & trade last summer," a Senate GOP aide chimed in.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), a co-sponsor of the suit and a supporter of her state's law, said in a statement Wednesday, "The Senate cannot stand in the way of protecting our communities again.

"We have had enough with the endless delays and failed policies endangering our state â€" it is time for Congress to do what is necessary to secure the border. If they are truly concerned with our national security, they will put passing this legislation at the top of their agenda."

Updated 11:34 a.m.

In a major education speech Thursday, President Obama defended his controversial "Race to the Top" program from criticism that its emphasis on competition hinders poor and minority students.

He also denied claims by teachers unions, many of which have been unhappy with the program, that it unfairly penalizes educators working in underperforming schools.

"I am 110 percent behind our teachers," he said. "All I'm asking in return â€" as a president, as a parent, and as a citizen â€" is some measure of accountability."

Addressing the convention of the National Urban League, a leading civil rights group, he added that critics who use the program as an excuse to blame teachers are "missing the point."

The Urban League and six other civil rights groups released a report this week criticizing the program and saying the quality of education offered to minority students reflects a "state of emergency" in the system.

Even as he acknowledged these concerns Thursday, Obama challenged teachers, parents, and student alike to embrace "increased accountability," and likened the program to his administration's efforts to reform healthcare and Wall Street. 

"Race to the Top" was unveiled last July, and offers large grants to states whose schools improve their performance based on a set of recommended standards.

Obama called it the "single most ambitious education reform effort attempted in this country in generations," praising the two states â€" Delaware and Tennessee â€" that were awarded money in the first round.

"Co! mpetition leveraged change at the state level," he said, adding "the states that didn't win have strengthened their applications for the second round … and even those states that haven't gotten a grant, their students have benefited from the reforms." 

Addressing the concern that the program doesn't do enough for struggling minority students, he said that "what's not working for [minority] kids is the status quo."

"What's not working is what we've been doing for decades," he continued. "Lifting up quality for all our children … is the central premise of 'Race to the Top.'"

He also drew a contrast between his education program, which he said "directly incentivizes states to address failing schools," and the one championed by former President George W. Bush.

"Unlike No Child Left Behind, this isn’t about labeling a troubled school a failure one day and throwing up our hands the next," Obama said. "It’s about investing in that school’s future, recruiting the whole community to help turn it around, and identifying some viable options for how to move forward."

He added that "the controversy [over the program] reflects a general resistance to change."

"It's easy to get comfortable with the status quo even when the status quo isn't good â€" to make excuses for why things have to be the way they are," he said, at the same time asking for patience as the reforms are implemented. 

"It may take a decade for these changes to pay off, but that not a reason not to do them. It's a reason to do them with more urgency." 

In a very interesting way, the immigration quandary poses a deep question about the nature and viability of American democracy as we know it.

On the one hand, Americans continue to view citizenship within the nation-state as a prerequisite to the full enjoyment of the rights, privileges and responsibilities that have come to characterize the American way of life. On the other, the basis of our economic system seems to require labor input at conditions of less than perfect liberty. Whether in the form of outsourcing jobs abroad or the tacit agreement between government and corporate America to turn a blind eye to undocumented workers, we find ourselves deriving a large part of our livelihoods and consumer goods from cheap labor.

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In the fourth of a series of hearings in the Senate Rules Committee, today we heard from my colleagues, Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) about proposals for fixing Senate rules. Their proposals included a lot of good ideas that I believe would go a long way to making the Senate work for the American people again.

A trend you see in these proposals is that they're not limited to just reforming the filibuster. The filibuster is a symptom of a larger issue. And that issue is a system of rules in a Senate where dysfunction reigns and accountability suffers.

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Vice President Joe Biden trotted out a new line of attack against Republicans on Thursday, terming the nation's current economic difficulties the "Bush recession."

The vice president sought to explicitly link the recession plaguing many Americans to President George W. Bush as Democrats ramp up their attacks on the previous administration as part of their election year strategy. 

"There's never enough until we've restored the 8 million jobs lost in the Bush recession," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show when asked if the administration had done enough to address unemployment. "Until that happens it doesn't matter -- it matters, but it's not enough."

Democrats have increasingly invoked Bush in their campaign messaging, sensing that blaming the former Republican president helps explain why so many problems haven't been resolved despite over a year and a half of Democratic control of government. They also use Bush as a shorthand for the kind of er! as and policies that, Democrats warn, GOP lawmakers and candidates would revive if they were given power in November's elections.

Another top Democrat, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), has said that there is essentially no limit to how long Democrats could credibly invoke Bush, as long as hangover effects from his presidency plague the U.S.

"Well, it runs out when the problems go away," Pelosi said in early June when asked if there was a limit to how long Democrats could blame Bush.

The former president, who's stayed largely out of the public spotlight since leaving office and avoided strong criticism of President Obama, is likely to become only more of an election year issue, as well.

Lawmakers are still yet to wrangle over the fate of the tax c! uts Bush sought during his administration, which are set to expire at the end of the year. The former president's memoir is set for release a week after the election, as well, meaning that any excerpts that might leak before then could cause a political firestorm on the campaign trail, so close to Election Day.

Still, Biden told the still-large number of jobless Americans to "keep the faith" when it comes to finding employment in the shifting economy.

"My message is keep the faith. We are moving in the right direction," Biden said when asked what his message to the jobless was. "We are not going to let you go without food or basic services. That is not going to happen in this country, in this administration."

November's elections will play a big role in Congress's ability to address tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year, Sen. Evan Bayh (Ind.) said Wednesday evening.

Bayh, a Democrat who favors extending all tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest individuals and households, said the looming elections were adding to uncertainty over how lawmakers might address taxes.

"Frankly, the election will play a role," Bayh said on CNBC. "Depending on what happens, either something will get done -- an agreement will be reached before the first of the year to avert this problem -- or it'll get kicked over to the new Congress, with perhaps a temporary extension."

Bayh is among the handful of centrist Democrats in the Senate who favor extending all the tax cuts approved during the administration of President George W. Bush, including cuts for the highest income bracket. Those taxes are set to automatically expire at the end of the year, which wo! uld cause rates to spike upward for all brackets unless legislative action is taken.

President Obama has said he favors extending the cuts for households earning less than $250,000 a year and individuals earning less than $200,000 per year. Obama and many other Democrats would let the tax rates for those higher-earners revert to pre-2001 levels. Republicans want to extend all the cuts, reasoning that the high income bracket could choke off small business owners who count their company's income as their own.

Bayh said he would support an amendment to the small business package before the Senate to extend all the tax cuts if it were offered, but acknowledged it was unlikely such a thing would happen.

In the meanwhile, the Indiana centrist said, the impasse and looming elections would only add to uncertainty.

"We're just going to have to wait and see, and regrettably, that creates more uncertainty, which, as you know, in this envi! ronment, is not helpful," he said.