Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

113th Congress To Be Sworn In Today - the big question is; will it be as ineffective as the 112th?  The odds are it will.  The Washington Post has a list of the new members of Congress, here.





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House Election for Speaker 12:45 PM ET - in a short time, it is likely John Boehner (R-Ohio) will be reelected as Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) will remain as Minority Leader of the House. TheHill.com has more here.

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Peter King: "I Really Don't Know Why People Need Assault Weapons" -  New York Representative King became the latest prominent Republican to say he will support a ban on such firearms.  TPM.com has a video of King appearing on NBC "Morning Joe", here.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calf.) has stated she will be introducing a bill to ban the sale of assault weapons as soon as the new Congress convenes.

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Obama To Begin Push For Immigration Reform This Month - In spite of the battles on looming spending cuts, the debt ceiling and a ban on assault weapons, the President intends to push forward with legislation on comprehensive immigration reform.  The Huffington Post has more here.

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Al Jazeera Buys Current TV - It is being reported that Al Gore's Current TV has been sold.

Rather than simply use Current to distribute its existing English-language channel, called Al Jazeera English and based in Doha, Qatar, Al Jazeera will create a new channel based in New York, according to people with knowledge of the deal negotiations. Potentially called Al Jazeera America, roughly 60 percent of the programming will be produced in the United States while the remaining 40 percent will come from Al Jazeera English.

Al Jazeera may absorb some Current TV staff members, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But Current’s schedule of shows will most likely be dissolved in the spring.

The plan will bring Al Jazeera, which is financed by the government of Qatar, into closer competition with CNN and other news channels in the United States.  The NY Times has more here.

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Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

House Passes "Fiscal Cliff" Bill 257-167 - 85 Republicans joined 172 Democrats to pass the Senate bill.  President Obama signed the bill and is headed back to Hawaii to rejoin his family who are on holiday vacation.

The NY Times has more here.

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Markets Up After "Fiscal Cliff" Deal - The stock market surged Wednesday after Congress finally agreed on a package to avoid portions of the "fiscal cliff."
 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped more than 200 points in the first minutes of trading, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both posted gains above 1.5 percent. TheHill.com has more here.
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Christie, Cuomo Criticize House for Failure to Act on Sandy Relief - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Wednesday released a joint statement in which they criticized the House of Representatives for adjourning on Tuesday night without voting on legislation to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

"With all that New York and New Jersey and our millions of residents and small businesses have suffered and endured, this continued inaction and indifference by the House of Representatives is inexcusable. It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a bipartisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even bring it to the floor. This failure to come to the aid of Americans following a severe and devastating natural disaster is unprecedented. The fact that days continue to go by while people suffer, families are out of their homes, and men and women remain jobless and struggling during these harsh winter months is a dereliction of duty. When American citizens are in need we come to their aid. That tradition was abandoned in the House last night."

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Obama Urges House To Pass Hurricane Sandy Relief - President Obama issued a statement on Wednesday urging House Republicans to immediatelly pass Hurricane Sandy relief funds.

"It has only been two months since Hurricane Sandy devastated communities across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut as well as other eastern states. Our citizens are still trying to put their lives back together. Our states are still trying to rebuild vital infrastructure. And so, last month, working closely with the Governors of the affected states, I sent Congress an urgent request to support their efforts to rebuild and recover. The Senate passed this request with bipartisan support. But the House of Representatives has refused to act, even as there are families and communities who still need our help to rebuild in the months and years ahead, and who also still need immediate support with the bulk of winter still in front of us.

When tragedy strikes, Americans come together to support those in need. I urge Republicans in the House of Representatives to do the same, bring this important request to a vote today, and pass it without delay for our fellow Americans."

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Haley Sets Special Election Dates for S.C. House Seat - South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki R. Haley on Wednesday signed an executive order setting a May special election to fill the soon-to-be-open 1st District seat.

Haley said she had set the primary for March 19, the primary runoff for April 2 and the general special election for May 7.

The Charleston-area Republican-heavy district is currently represented by GOP Rep. Tim Scott, whom Haley appointed to the Senate to replace resigning GOP Sen. Jim DeMint.
Among the many ambitious Republicans eyeing this race: former Palmetto State Gov. Mark Sanford and his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford.  RollCall.com has more here.
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Happy New Year!

Wishing all a Safe, Healthy, Prosperous and Fun New Year!

Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Senate Passes Budget Deal 89-8, - finally, in the early morning hours, a stop gap "fiscal cliff" deal was passed by the Senate and now moves to the House for a vote.

In the legislation, which is still being examined, taxes would go up for individuals making over $400,000 and unemployment benefits would be extended for one year.  Also, 27% reduction in payments to doctors under medicare would be stopped.

In addition, scheduled sequester spending cuts would be delayed for two months, an expiring dairy policy was extended to avoid a spike in mike prices and scheduled pay raises for congress were cancelled.

Exra Klein of The Wsahington Post has details of the deal here.

The eight senators voting no were Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Richard Shelby (R-AL).

Not voting were Jim DeMint (R-SC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).

The Dow closed up 166 points the end of Monday.

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Biden, Man of the Hour - when "fiscal cliff" negotiations broke down between Senate Majority Leader Harry reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), it was Vice President Joe Biden who helped forge the New Years Day deal in the Senate.

Now, Biden is meeting with House Democrats as he works to gain their support for the bill that passed 89-8 in the Senate.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Next Battle: Debt Limit, Tax Reform and Spending Cuts - while, a tax hike for over 98% of Americans was averted by the Senate deal, and hopefully confirmation by the House, huge Congressional battles remain over scheduled sequester cuts and the national debt limit.

Both issues will come to a head by the end of February and promise to be a huge debate in Congress.  NBC.com has more here.

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Stop the gun madness - a good read by Eugene Robinson.  "...In 2010, guns took the lives of 31,076 Americans. Most of the deaths were suicides; a few were accidental. About a third of them — 11,078 — were homicides. That’s almost twice the number of Americans who have been killed in a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
 
In Britain, by comparison, the number of gun homicides in 2010 was 58....."

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