I couldn’t think of a more fitting story on my last day of blogging to symbolize the nature of our government than the aborting of Plan B, wherein House Republicans couldn’t even pass a messaging bill with no chance of advancing. Sometimes we’ve seen Speaker Boehner miscount the votes – the most notable time I [...]

This clown show on the House floor just got more hilarious. At some point in the last four hours or so, Freedomworks, a key tea party group, abandoned their support of Plan B, this Boehner proposal to create what looks like a conservative wish list. They wrote a long encomium to Plan B at 9am [...]

House Republicans will wait until tonight to pass “Plan B,” and while I think ultimately it will pass, the reason they’re waiting so long is that they have to figure out what to put into it to get conservative votes. Erick Son of Erick has a whip list of 34 no votes and 12 leaners, [...]

John Boehner may not even have the votes for today’s “Plan B,” a bill that effectively raises taxes on people making over $1 million a year. He was seen gladhanding on the House floor last night, whipping votes for his side. He can only lose 24 votes to reach 217 (there are a couple vacancies [...]

House Speaker John Boehner’s latest offer sheet to the President in the fiscal slope negotiations includes an increase in tax rates on people earning $1 million a year, the first time that the Republican leader has proposed any tax rate hike. The White House, seeking rises on tax rates above $250,000, rejected the offer. Boehner [...]

As I noted, John Boehner got as much flak from his right flank on his three-page “counter-offer” as he did from his left. Conservative groups groused at the inclusion of $800 billion in revenue collection increases, even as it followed the Romney campaign pattern of lowering rates while broadening the base. Obviously they would rather [...]

The Congressional resignations have begun early this cycle. The new Congress has not even been sworn in, and already we have two resignations. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned in the wake of medical admissions for depression and an imminent arrest on political fundraising violations. Now, Republican Jo Ann Emerson will resign from the House in February, [...]

Since returning to the control of Republicans, the House has returned to the “Hastert rule,” (named for the former House Speaker, Denny Hastert) where only legislation that has a majority of votes among the majority, rather than a majority of votes overall, will get a vote on the floor. The Senate’s tax bill, which extends [...]

Republican Senators introduced an alternative version of the DREAM Act today, and all you need to know about it is that the two sponsors, Jon Kyl and Kay Bailey Hutchison, are retiring. Marco Rubio hasn’t even signed on as a co-sponsor yet. The well-publicized GOP outreach on immigration hasn’t yet surpassed the need to placate [...]

Backed by a larger caucus, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will stay onin the post for another two years. She will make the announcement at this hour. Nobody will challenge her for the Democratic leadership position. A delay in leadership elections and the rumor mill pointed to the possibility that Pelosi would step down from [...]

Former House Speakers don’t typically spend a lot of time in Congress after their ouster. Nancy Pelosi felt she had a chance, aided by the coattails of the President, to win back the House in 2012. It turns out that the Democrats picked up, if all the current too-close-to-call races hold, eight seats. Key states [...]