Good afternoon, Daily Kos readers. This is your afternoon open thread to discuss all things Hill-related. Use this thread to praise or bash Congresscritters, share a juicy tip, ask questions, or post manifestos. We will be open and checking comments all weekend.
I'm sure that Kos' open thread is far superior to this one, but this is a chance to catch up on Congress news and ask questions about the doings on Capitol Hill. This is a cross-post of the Congress Matters Open Thread.
Here's some of my thoughts. Feel free to add your own.
It looks like the House health care reform bill will come to the Floor with a closed amendment.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) essentially decides whether to allow amendments. Technically the decision is up to the House Rules Committee, but the Speaker controls the committee through appointments.
On Thursday, Pelosi signaled a reluctance to allow amendments.
"I’d have to be talked into it, I think, but — let’s put it this way — I’m open to it," Pelosi said in a conference call with liberal bloggers.
A closed rule means that amendments are generally not allowed from the floor. That means no sneaky defunding ACORN in the health care reform bill.
The story also notes that the bill will be available online for three days prior to a vote. Of course, it has been available on line for months if you know where to look.
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And now the bad news on the health care reform front:
The health package released Thursday by House leaders would increase federal spending on health care by nearly $600 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, a dramatic increase that dwarfs the expansion envisioned by the latest Senate bill.
That's not going to go over well with many House Blue Dogs.
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On the Senate side, Tom Harkin indicated that Joe Lieberman should carefully consider how much he likes his committee chairmanship and place in the Democratic caucus before he joins a Republican filibuster of health care reform.
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The problem with that? The Dems will probably need Lieberman's vote on Global Warming legislation.
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Meanwhile, John Murtha is all about raising taxes to send more soldiers to Afghanistan.
"This is an expensive proposition," Murtha (D-Pa.) told The Hill. "If we send more troops over, how are we going to pay for them? We should raise taxes."
In a subsequent interview on Thursday, Murtha said he is not recommending raising taxes, but stressed it should be considered.
Murtha’s comments are significant. As chairman of the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, he controls the purse strings for any troop surge in Afghanistan.
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Someone on Capital Hill -- someone who I am guessing is looking for new work today -- placed a confidential report on a publicly available server. Naturally, the press are telling us what was in that report:
House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.
Seven of those members under investigation sit on the Defense Appropriations Committee (including the aforementioned John Murtha).
The document obtained by The Post offers the most detailed picture yet of a widening inquiry into the relationships between lawmakers and PMA, a lobbying firm founded by Paul Magliocchetti that has been under criminal investigation by the Justice Department. A year ago, the FBI raided PMA's offices and carted away boxes of records dealing with its political donations and the firm's efforts to win congressionally directed funds, known as "earmarks," for clients.
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Barney Frank says and overhaul of the Federal Reserve System can wait until next year. Probably not a bad idea considering all of the other work Congress has done yet to do.
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GMAC is nearly broke, but it did find nearly $1 million to use for lobbying Congress to get more bail out money. An investment is and investment, I guess.
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Charles Krauthammer is a WATB. Short version: Leave Britney George W. Bush alone.
In the Barack Obama version, there are 50 or so such blame-Bush free passes before the gig is up. By my calculation, Obama has already burned through a good 49. Is there anything he hasn't blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad -- everything but swine flu.
It's as if Obama's presidency hasn't really started. He's still taking inventory of the Bush years. Just this Monday, he referred to "long years of drift" in Afghanistan in order to, I suppose, explain away his own, well, yearlong drift on Afghanistan.
The problem, of course, is that all of those things except swine flu were indeed W's fault. (And I am not completely willing to let him off the hook for the flu, either.)
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Finally, are you planning to be dead for the next election? Do you still want your vote to count? CQ Politics offers How To Vote From Six Feet Under.
Have a good weekend.