Vander Plaats: ‘I am not the voice of the tea party’

As GOP presidential prospects prepare to announce their candidacies and eye the Hawkeye State for supporters, members of Iowa’s tea party movement are vetting which candidates will best carry their message of regaining fiscal responsibility and limiting government.

Yet, a highly decentralized movement and diversity of political interests within Iowa’s More…

Former Social Security recipient Paul Ryan called out for proposed cuts to gov-assistance programs

PoliticsUSA points out that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), whose 2012 budget proposal (PDF) presents significant cuts and alterations to welfare programs, put himself through college using, in part, Social Security benefits he received following the death of his father.

“Representative Paul Ryan is one example of the millions of More…

Sen. Brown’s wishy-washy stance on defunding Planned Parenthood confuses all, including PP

U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) has been called out for flip-flopping on the House-backed/Senate-opposed proposal to strip all federal funding from Planned Parenthood — and, in conjunction, Title X funding — after the senator on Tuesday sent out the following press release:

“I support family planning and health services for

More…

Lame duck preview: The last hurrah for a Democratic Congress

The midterm hangover having finally worn off, the 111th Congress returns today to kick off the lame-duck session, its last hurrah before its successor takes over. And the 112th Congress will look radically different, with Republicans in control of the House and the Democratic majority in the Senate significantly reduced. More…

Lack of trust may derail DISCLOSE Act in lame duck

Despite widespread public opposition to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and multiple exhortations by the president for Congress to act, Senate Democrats were unable to overcome a Republican filibuster to pass the DISCLOSE Act, a bill requiring interest groups to name the donors behind their campaign ads, More…

Democrats Consider Vote on a Bare Bones DISCLOSE Act

The Hill is reporting that Senate Democrats are considering putting the DISCLOSE Act on a diet and sending it up for another vote as early as next week. Under the new strategy, supplemental provisions prohibiting political spending by some government contractors and companies with 20 percent of more foreign More…

DISCLOSE Act Receives Calls For an Encore

Now that Congress is back in session, so too are calls to revive the DISCLOSE Act, a bill intended to mandate disclosure of the primary donors behind political spending — and one which fell just two votes shy in the Senate before recess. The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne notes More…

DISCLOSE Act is Not Dead Yet

I wrote before the recess that it appeared likely that the DISCLOSE Act wasn’t dead yet, but now it’s official: Senate Dems plan to bring it up for another vote when Congress resumes next month.

As always, the usual GOP suspects are being singled out in hopes that More…

Lunchtime Links

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemns D.C.’s most famous psychic octopus.

Rod Blagojevich is not corrupt; he’s just not the “sharpest knife in the drawer.”

Now it’s Republicans who need to “support our men in uniform.”

Massachusetts approves a plan to bypass the electoral college.

Voters More…

Lacking Votes, Dems Press Ahead With DISCLOSE Act

On Monday afternoon, President Obama convened a press conference in the Rose Garden to promote legislation that would counteract the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which held that corporate spending on campaign ads can’t be restricted under the First Amendment. The DISCLOSE Act would require corporations, unions and nonprofit groups More…