O tempora, o mores! O Cicero, if thou couldst be with us now! The corruption of our age is approaching that of your own! But who speaks for the ancient Roman—and modern American!—virtues of civic duty and personal responsibility?
House Budget chair Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) says there's a growing sentiment among House GOP caucus members that Congress ought to make larger defense spending cuts as a way to relieve the national debt. Speaking after his foreign policy address last night, Ryan said he attributes this libertarian or…
Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, told reporters and business leaders this morning at a breakfast on Capitol Hill that House Republicans have returned from their town hall meetings “energized” about their 2012 budget. "I talked to dozens of members yesterday…
Perhaps it's sour grapes, or perhaps it's a recent reawakening, but in a speech by Nancy Pelosi at Tufts University earlier this week, the former speaker of the House had some advice for her Republican colleagues in particular and some reflections on elections in general:
Texas senator John Cornyn plans to introduce a resolution in the Senate that would “[express] the sense of the Senate that United States policy should be to remove Muammar Qaddafi from power in Libya, and [cal] on the President to submit a plan to achieve that goal and to seek congressional…
Connecticut senator and former Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, on Paul Ryan's budget:
Here's the PDF of the House Republicans' budget that cuts $6.2 trillion in spending compared to the president's budget over the next decade. Some excerpts from Paul Ryan's introduction to the budget:
Two days ago, I wrote that Republicans should be bold on entitlement reform. They should aggressively and sensibly make the case that, with mandatory spending by itself now surpassing total federal revenues (for this year, according to the president’s projections), we cannot in good conscience…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained the text of a letter freshman senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sent tonight to the Senate majority and minority leaders. In it, Rubio proposes that the Senate authorize the president’s use of force in Libya, and that the authorization state that the aim of the use of…
In a recent call with liberal college groups (at 6:14 on the podcast), Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, regarding Obamacare: “Now, it’s really disappointing that some in Congress are still trying to repeal the law and argue the results of the last two years.” Hmm. Well,…
Fred Barnes writes in the Wall Street Journal:
Perhaps one of the most impressive victories in the November 2010 election was when Vicky Hartzler unseated Ike Skelton, a 17-term congressman and then chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, in Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District.
“It was more than a hobby,” Rep. Chuck Fleischmann says, talking about his interest in politics. “It was a passion.” From an early age, Fleischmann volunteered on political campaigns, “knocking on doors, passing out pamphlets,” he explains.
Of all the developments worth following these days, from the vigorous Republican insurgency to the apathetic Obama presidency, I’d like to add another: the relationship between the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Republican freshman Allen West of Florida.
The new Rasmussen poll of likely voters shows that, by a margin of 15 percentage points (54 to 39 percent), Americans favor the repeal of Obamacare. This marks the 22nd straight week that Americans have supported repeal by double-digits.
The phone rang just now at home, where I was (and am) writing this week's editorial on Libya. The voice at the other end said, "Bill, this is John Boehner." We've been so swamped with automated fund-raising calls recently that I started to hang up—but fortunately I realized that automated callers…
The Obama administration’s taxpayer-funded, pro-Obamacare TV ads directed toward seniors don’t seem to be working. The new Kaiser Health Tracking Poll shows that, by a margin of 27 percentage points, seniors have an unfavorable, rather than a favorable, view of Obamacare. That’s the highest margin…
House Republican leadership is all in with Budget chairman Paul Ryan and has green-lighted the inclusion of entitlements in the budget he will produce later this spring. The move comes after a lengthy behind-the-scenes debate about the risks of going first on entitlements and against the advice of…
For Republicans, losing Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona is a bit like the Chicago Bulls when Michael Jordan retired. Not only is Kyl the MVP among Republican senators, but he also makes the other senators look good and perform better. I can’t think of a member of Congress who will be missed more than…
Gallup's party identification figures now show that a lower percentage of Americans consider themselves to be Democrats (28 percent) than at any point over the whole span (early 2004 to early 2011) for which Gallup shows results. Republicans are also only at 28 percent, but being tied with the…
In strong remarks on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell points out that President Obama’s spending “freeze” at current levels will result in a bigger deficit this year than last. Simply to put the budget “on cruise control,” as McConnell puts it, ensures ever…
Republicans have announced their proposed spending cuts for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, but the press corps is hardly painting the whole picture — or even reporting the actual dollar amounts that Republicans would cut.
If the House were composed solely of independents, it would pass the same conservative legislation as Republicans on Obamacare, the individual mandate, purchasing health insurance across state lines, spending, offshore oil drilling, and Social Security reform.
In the wake of yesterday's federal district court decision in favor of 26 states, which ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional in addition to being unpopular, USA Today reports that all 47 Republican senators have now signed onto Sen. Jim DeMint's repeal bill. Senate minority leader Mitch…
The old Washington axiom that congressional staffers are often more powerful than their bosses will not apply to Marco Rubio and those who work for him. But, as the tremendous number of resumes submitted to his office suggests, Rubio’s staff will be important. And in a move that brings an end to…
For days, Democrats have made clear their displeasure with the Republican leadership's decision to begin the new House term with a reading of the U.S. Constitution. But Democrats' specific grievance, immediately before the reading commenced, was a surprise: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and…
Paul Ryan will soon sit down for a conversation with Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot. e21 and the Manhattan Institute are sponsoring the event, which will be at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. from 12-1 p.m. Bill Kristol will be introducing Ryan and Gigot. You can…
House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) issued the following statement with respect to House Republicans’ continued efforts to repeal and replace the Democrats’ costly government takeover of health care:
Speaker of the House John Boehner's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
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When Republicans officially take over the House of Representatives today, a small group will begin playing an influential role. It’s not the tea parties (which aren’t small). Nor is it establishment Republicans. It’s the meager Republican class of 2006.
Soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner praises a $35 million cut in spending in his first press release of the new year. Sure, it's a drop in the bucket as far as federal spending goes, but it's a good start. Here's the release:
On January 12, the House of Representatives will vote to repeal the unprecedented centralization of power, massive increase in spending, and disquieting affront to liberty known as Obamacare.
Having recently praised Michele Bachmann, and remaining a fan in general, I think it appropriate to register disappointment at her embrace of a silly position. On several conservative websites, you'll find a web ad featuring her and promoting a petition: "Tell Congress, 'Don't Raise the Debt…
Once upon a time, there was success and there was failure, and one could usually tell the difference between them—the first had a thousand fathers and the second was an orphan—but those days are over: The Democrats of 2010 have come up with a new variant, catastrophic success. That’s what…
According to an editorial in the New York Sun, the 112 Congress will begin with a reading of the Constitution. As the editorial says, "It will be a fitting capstone to an election in which the cry of constitutional conservatism was heard throughout the land." The Sun urges members of Congress to…
Two weeks before taking over control of the House of Representatives, Republicans have already succeeded in starting to defund Obamacare. As Ezra Klein, a zealous Obamacare supporter, writes in the Washington Post, "The Senate passed the Continuing Resolution [by a vote of] 79-16.... Another way of…
A source on the Hill tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that ABC's Diane Sawyer is trying to line up freshmen Republican congressmen for a segment the night before the new Congress begins its new session. This is the email from ABC producers to the freshmen Republicans:
James C. Capretta, on "Priorities for a New Congress," in National Affairs:
I can't believe the Democratic Congress will be foolish and hubristic enough to go ahead and jam though the omnibus appropriations bill with its 6,488 earmarks totaling nearly $8.3 billion. But if they do: Shouldn't the Republican House leadership commit to making H.R. 1 in the next Congress a bill…
Did America hold an election last month? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Congress is back in town, and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate are acting as though the shellacking of 2010 never happened. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, oblivious as usual, have stuffed this Christmas turkey of a…
House Republicans are pushing full speed ahead for the repeal of Obamacare. Rather than trying to sift through the president's "comprehensive" overhaul and separate the morsels of wheat from the warehouses of chaff, the Republicans will wisely repeal the whole thing and start over. If there's…
Well, this is just depressing:
Signs of a new political culture abound. Call it the era of “reverse pork barrel.”
The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that Republican Ann Marie Buerkle's lead has grown to 567 votes over Democratic congressman Dan Maffei, and it's hard to see how Maffei could pull this off:
In a piece at National Review Online, Tevi Troy reveals what Republican leaders in the House are reading, and what this might mean. Troy concludes: "conservatives can take comfort from the fact that their new leaders are serious readers, and that when they do read, they are paying attention to what…
But apparently there is crying in politics:
Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, the favorite to be the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has come under attack by some conservatives as a mushy RINO (Republican In Name Only). But take a look at what his agenda as chairman would be. It’s anything but what a RINO would…
Rep. Buck McKeon, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, is set to deliver in the next hour the following remarks in Washington on foreign policy in the 112 Congress:
In the summer of 2009, Bill Kristol urged Republicans not to try to improve Obamacare but to “kill it.” That advice is equally trenchant today.
On November 7, 2006, the Democrats marked their takeover of Congress with a raucous celebration at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Capitol Hill. Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling as the party’s leaders stood on the stage arm-in-arm, beaming with joy. “Tonight is a great victory for the…
On Tuesday, Republicans in the Senate (as well as those who are about to join the Senate) will vote in a closed door session on whether to support an earmark moratorium, which has been recommended by Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn. The most comprehensive list of the current whip count has been…
Readers of a certain age will remember Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), the Republican senator from Maine who enjoyed a certain renown in her day as the first woman whose name was entered into the nomination process for president by a major party (1964), and for her daily habit of wearing a fresh…
Ben Smith has a good piece on John Thune’s vulnerabilities as a 2012 presidential candidate. Smith’s post raises the central question: Is Thune too “establishment” for the current political environment?
Conservatives nationwide must still be in shock over this news:
In the midst of a resounding national rebuke at all levels of government, the Democrats have been taking some solace in having held the Senate. But to put the Republicans' Senate gains this week into perspective, Republicans won an even higher percentage of Senate races than House races (they won…
THE WEEKLY STANDARD was already in good cheer after Tuesday’s election. But then came the news at the end of the week, as the magazine went to press, that Nancy Pelosi has decided to try to retain her position as the top House Democrat, and will stand for House minority leader in January.