BEYOND THE TEA PARTIES: For all the press interpretations of the Tea Party conclave in Tennessee last week that was highlighted by Sarah Palin’s address, a better way to understand it—and the Tea Party movement in general—emerged from a just-completed nationwide survey. According to the Rasmussen Poll, a whopping 75% of voters are at least “somewhat angry” at government policy in Washington. That figure is 4% higher than it was when Rasmussen asked the same question in November and 9% higher than it was in September. Of that 75%, 45% consider themselves “very angry” at government policy. Only 19% of Americans said they were “not very angry at all” at government, down 8% from November and down 11% from September.
18-R, 12-D IN HOUSE VACANCIES: For all the national polling figures showing Republicans on the verge of a good year in House races, more Republicans are leaving the House than Democrats. Last week, nine-term Representatives Vern Ehlers (Mich.) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (Fla.) became the latest GOP incumbents to call it quits in 2010. Their exit announcements came days after Rep. John Boozman (R.-Ark.) told reporters he was leaving the House to enter the crowded Republican primary for the seat of Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln. Those three GOP retirements bring the number of House GOP “no-goes” up to 18 so far, while the death of Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha means that there are now 12 open Democrat-held House seats.
KOOP GETS IT RIGHT: During and after his stint as U.S. surgeon general in the Reagan Administration, C. Everett Koop disappointed many conservatives with his support of tax dollars for condom distribution and drastic programs to demonize smoking. But recently, at 93, Koop seems to have gotten it right: The retired pediatrician appeared in a commercial for the conservative 60 Plus Association calling for the defeat of the Democrat-backed health care bill in the Senate. Noting that he has “two artificial joints, two pacemakers to keep my heart in rhythm, as well as a stent to keep my coronaries open,” Koop warns that in some places like the United Kingdom, “we would be considered too old and the cost to the state too high.” As for the Senate version of health care “reform,” Koop warns that “Democrats are keeping the discussion and specifics secret” and that “the administration promised transparent deliberation which has not been forthcoming. America deserves better than this.” The spot closes with an announcer urging viewers to “call Congress and tell them to start over and get health care right.”
BECKER WARS: Republicans in the Senate last week effectively blocked Obama’s appointment of labor lawyer Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board. Fifty-two Democrats and no Republicans voted in favor of cloture, short of the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. In his first vote since taking office, Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts did not disappoint conservatives, as he voted to block Becker. The sharpest response to the Senate vote came from the head of America’s largest union—who is also Becker’s former boss. “Craig Becker is as qualified and brilliant a nominee as they come,” declared Andy Stern, head of the radical Services Employees International Union, which Becker formerly served as counsel. “But when it came time to voting to even debate his appointment to the National Labor Relations Board, Congress forgot—or ignored—the needs of the people they were elected to serve, and thwarted the will of the majority of the Senate.” Stern went on to charge that the Becker vote “was a clear signal that too many members of Congress are invested in the failure of this administration” and that “by refusing to even debate the issues, [Republican senators] are silencing the voices of working families—and preventing our country from working.” Stern did not mention that during the Bush Administration, Democratic senators took the lead in stopping votes on at least ten nominees to the federal courts as well as such key Administration appointees as John Bolton to be UN ambassador.
JINDAL SAYS ‘NO MORE LT. GOVS’: Although Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal is entitled to nominate a successor to Democratic Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu (who was elected mayor of New Orleans last week), Republican Jindal has another idea: He wants a constitutional amendment to abolish the second-highest of Louisiana’s six statewide offices and save the taxpayers money. Aside from presiding over the state senate, the lieutenant governor oversees the state office dealing with tourism and that function, Jindal says, could easily be transferred to the state Department of Economic Development.
‘SNOWZILLA’ STOMPS STIMULUS: In bringing Washington to a grinding halt last week, the estimated 12-to-16 inches of snow that hit the Nation’s Capital also stopped some liberal legislation. With only three of 100 senators able to make it to the Capitol, the Senate did not have the quorum required to deal with the second Obama-backed stimulus package, including TARP-funded government loans to small businesses. The Las Vegas Sun reported that national labor chieftains were pushing Senate Democratic leaders to include in the stimulus package the controversial “card-check” proposal, which would destroy the secret ballot in union elections. But none of it came up for a vote. With the Senate scheduled to recess following President’s Day, taxpayers will not be burdened with a second big-spending stimulus package for at least two weeks.
