Each of the top presidential candidates already has at least one super PAC raising unlimited funds to support his or her campaign. Now some members of Congress are getting in on the action, too.
Several new super PACs have sprung up in recent months with the explicit aim of helping a particular lawmaker, including Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.). There are also super PACs that have formed to oppose the reelections of Sens. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.).
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For six years, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter pressed her colleagues to co-sponsor legislation that would ban them from using information they gleaned on Capitol Hill to guide their trades in the stock market.
Most lawmakers bristled, offended by the mere suggestion that they would ever engage in such behavior. Others politely listened but walked away — some as recently as last month. Slaughter (D-N.Y.) never expected to hear from them again.
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Ron Paul’s latest target is Gingrich, Herman Cain is still reassessing, Nikki Haley is going to endorse, and Sean Bielat might run again.
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SCRANTON, Pa. — Pushing the latest provision of his jobs bill in this hardscrabble, blue-collar town, President Obama stepped up his campaign Wednesday to politically damage his Republican rivals by suggesting that their core values do not square with those of ordinary Americans.
Obama called on a crowd of 1,000 cheering supporters to pressure Congress to support an extension of a payroll tax cut that is set to expire at year’s end, costing working families $1,000 next year. The Senate, which has supported only one of Obama’s jobs bill measures this fall, could vote on that proposal as early as Friday.
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House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Wednesday suggested that the sweeping across-the-board cuts that will be enacted in 2013 due to the failure of the debt “supercommittee” could be re-worked.
The suggestion by Boehner at a Capitol news conference would appear to be at odds with the speaker’s earlier statement that he would feel “morally bound” to abide by the “sequester,” the formal term for the $1.2 trillion cut to defense and non-defense spending set to take effect in 2013.
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DAYTON, OH – Herman Cain gave no indication Wednesday afternoon that he is planning to drop out of the presidential contest over an allegation that he carried on a longterm extra-marital affair, despite having said earlier in the day that he was “reassessing” his candidacy.
In a 30-minute campaign speech, Cain repeatedly referred to a future Cain administration and at one point said “I want to be president.” He dismissed what he called attempts at “character assassination” and made a plea for the American people to “raise some Cain!”
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When Newt Gingrich proposed a “humane” approach to immigration in last week’s Republican debate, Mitt Romney pounced. Amnesty, he cried, claiming major disagreement with the former House speaker. Romney’s only problem is he can’t explain the disagreement.
That was evident when Romney was asked about immigration by Fox News anchor Bret Baier during an interview Tuesday. The interview showed how uncomfortable the former Massachusetts governor can be when pressed to say where he stands on issues where he’s changed his views. The immigration segment was particularly revealing.
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The lasting, hopeful legacy of that awful January day in Tucson is that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords lived. Walking and talking again, however haltingly, she has become an inspiration to people far and wide.
But the tragic aftermath of the shooting — six dead, 13 wounded — lingers on Capitol Hill and beyond. This week, the House is expected to honor one of its own lost in the tragedy with a vote to affix Gabe Zimmerman’s name to a room in the Capitol Visitor Center.
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Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee spends more time talking on the floor of the House than just about any of her colleagues (Roll Call in 2008 named her the second most-loquacious member). So one would think the Lone Star Dem would have the rules that govern House speeches down pat.
But it seems Jackson Lee was vamping a bit too hard for the C-SPAN cameras for the comfort of the House.
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