Man Behind Run Away Toyota Prius Has Questionable Past

The man who became the face of the Toyota gas pedal scandal this week has a troubled financial past that is leading some to question whether he was wholly truthful in his story.

On Monday, James Sikes called 911 to report that he was behind the wheel of an out-of-control Toyota Prius going 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. Twenty-three minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer helped guide him to a stop, a rescue that was captured on videotape.

Since then, it's been learned that:

— Sikes filed for bankruptcy in San Diego in 2008. According to documents, he was more than $700,000 in debt and roughly five months behind in payments on his Prius;

— In 2001, Sikes filed a police report with the Merced County Sheriff's Department for $58,000 in stolen property, including jewelry, a digital video camera and equipment and $24,000 in cash;

— Sikes has hired a law firm, though it has indicated he has no plans to sue Toyota;

— Sikes won $55,000 on television's "The Big Spin" in 2006, Fox40.com reports, and the real estate agent has boasted of celebrity clients such as Constance Ramos of "Extreme Home Makeover."

While authorities say they don't doubt Sikes' account, several bloggers and a man who bought a home from Sikes in 2007 question whether the 61-year-old entrepreneur may have concocted the incident for publicity or for monetary gain. - FOX News Story

Health Care Bill Not So Healthy for Middle Class Taxes

A nonpartisan study is casting new doubt on President Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.

The Senate health care bill crucial to saving President Obama's signature domestic initiative will hit the wallets of a quarter of all Americans making less than $200,000 per year, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee that assessed the way the bill would hit taxpayers directly through new taxes and fees and indirectly through taxes levied on health care providers and passed on to consumers.

The committee also determined that the bill would subsidized insurance premiums for 7 percent of taxpayers -- about 13 million people -- while some 73 million people would face higher costs from the new fees and taxes.

The potential tax increases in the bill could pose significant problems for the president as he makes his final push for health care reform because he promised to protect middle-class Americans from any tax hikes. Republicans already are pouncing on the committee's analysis.

"For every family that gets some benefit from this program, in other words, a premium subsidy, three families are going to get a tax increase and those three families obviously include the bulk of people you'd call middle class America," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News.

Democratic leaders are scrambling to gather enough votes to pass the bill in the House later this month so that changes House members want can be added in the Senate through reconciliation, an unusual tactic that allows a simple majority in the Senate to counteract a filibuster by the minority. The steps are part of Obama's final push to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill.

The analysis comes as the Congressional Budget Office updated its cost tally of the Senate bill, estimating that the last-minute changes made to the bill before it was passed Christmas Eve upped the price to $875 billion, from $871 billion. The CBO also estimates that the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $118 billion over a 10 year period, revised down from $132 billion.

But the projection could be undermined by future spending needed to administer parts of the bill, including up to $10 billion for the IRS, up to $20 billion for Health and Human Services and up to $50 billion for "grant programs and other provisions."

The new analysis highlighting the tax burdens of the Senate bill could undercut the president's push. - FOX News Story

Foreclosure Rate to Increase Dramatically

The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize.

About 5 million to 7 million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale. Some economists project it could take nearly three years before all these homes have been put on the market and purchased by new owners. And the number of pending foreclosures could grow much bigger over the coming year as more distressed borrowers become delinquent and then, if they can't obtain mortgage relief, wade through the foreclosure process, which often takes more than a year to complete.

As these foreclosed properties add to the supply of homes for sale, they could undercut housing prices, which have increased modestly through December, according to the most recent figures in the S&P/Case-Shiller home prices index. That rise partly reflected a slowdown in the flow of foreclosed homes onto the market.

The rate at which J.P. Morgan Chase seized properties, for example, peaked in the middle of 2008 and fell steadily last year, according to a February investor report. But the bank expects repossessions to increase this year, nearly doubling to 45,000 by the fourth quarter.

"Some of the positive housing data may not be signaling a true turning point, as many servicers are holding back on foreclosures and the related houses are not yet being offered for sale," said Diane Westerback, a managing director at Standard & Poor's. Westerback said it could take 33 months to clear the backlog. - CBS News Story

GMAC Bailout Costing Billions to Taxpayers

A bailout watchdog warned Thursday that the three infusions of federal for troubled lender GMAC could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

In a new report, the Congressional Oversight Panel said it is "deeply concerned" that the Treasury Department has not insisted that GMAC "lay out a clear path to viability or a strategy for fully repaying taxpayers."

To date the government has dished out $17.2 billion for GMAC, giving taxpayers a 56 percent stake in the credit arm of General Motors. The latest infusion of federal funds for GMAC came in late December, shortly before the lender announced a fourth-quarter loss of $5 billion.

While the watchdog acknowledged that the government bailout of GMAC "played a major role in supporting the domestic automotive industry," the Panel cautioned that the bailout "came at great public expense" and may also have obstructed "the growth of a more competitive lending market." - ABC News Story

Pelosi Legacy - BS

New cuss word......

Years ago when I sometimes used unsavory language, I often used the expression "Bull S***." As I grew up a bit and discovered it was not necessary to use such crude language, that expression became "BS." What did I really mean when I used those expressions? I meant that something was ridiculous, or idiotic or a half truth or just stupid. It covered any number of negative formats. The dictionary defines it as: nonsense; especially: foolish insolent talk... I have decided that I no longer will use either of those expressions in the future. When I have a need to express such feelings, I will use the word "Pelosi." Let me use it in a sentence. "That's just a bunch of Pelosi.." I encourage you to do the same. It is such a nasty sounding word, it really packs a punch, we are no longer being vulgar, and it clearly expresses our feelings. If enough of us use it, perhaps the word could be entered into the dictionary. When on a ranch watch your step and don't step in Pelosi. It will get on the bottom of your boot and won't go away until next election. What a fitting and descriptive legacy for the Speaker of the House! Pass it on to at least 10,000,000 people. Do not break this chain or you will get more Pelosi than you can shake a bull at. P.S. Betcha when this new word reaches D.C., the PELOSI WILL HIT THE FAN! This is an email that I got......Gotta Love it!!!!

More Closed Door Out of the Public Meetings on Health Care

Democratic lawmakers say they are close to a final deal on a health care bill, but serious questions remain as to whether the final legislation can be passed by President Obama's deadline of March 18, when he departs for Indonesia and Australia.

The president was on the road this week selling his health care proposal in Glendale, Pa., on Tuesday and St. Charles, Mo., on Wednesday.

House and Senate Democrats continue to negotiate intensely on writing a compromise bill, the drafting of which in committee could happen as soon as Friday. But some Democrats are pushing back hard on the president's deadline, even as White House officials insist that imposing a deadline is the only way to get Congress to act. The Congressional Budget Office is also slated to release its cost assessment of the White House health care bill any day, which could alter the dynamics.

Late Wednesday night, Democrats emerged from a closed door meeting and said they were close to an agreement on a compromise bill that could pass both the House and the Senate. - ABC News Story

Republicans Polling Good in Illinois Governors Race

Illinois Republicans finally have a gubernatorial candidate, and for now at least he holds a 10-point lead over incumbent Democratic Governor Pat Quinn.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds State Senator Bill Brady leading Quinn 47% to 37%. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

The survey follows last week's announcement by the state elections board that Brady was the winner of the February 2 Republican Primary. He won by just 193 votes out of 750,000 that were cast.

Quinn, who is running for his first full-term after assuming office following Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, also ran a very close primary race with state Comptroller Dan Hynes for the Democratic nomination. Just before the primary vote, a poll found Quinn trailing Hynes 43% to 37%. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Pushing Health Care - Polling Numbers Plummet

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 22% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21. That matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).

Forty-two percent (42%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 72% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 17% Strongly Approve and 45% Strongly Disapprove.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) believe that passage of the proposed health care legislation will hurt the economy. Just 25% believe it will help. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Judge Pick Under Intense Scrutiny

The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed the hearing for a controversial Court of Appeals nominee after the panel received a letter from a home-state prosecutor blasting the candidate as a judicial loose cannon and after Republicans raised concerns about bias in favor of sex offenders.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny gained notoriety in 2005 for his role in trying to fight the execution of convicted serial killer and rapist Michael Ross, also known as The Roadside Strangler, whom Chatigny had described as a victim of his own "sexual sadism."

His conduct in that case, which included threatening to go after Ross' attorney's law license, as well as his ruling in 2001 against sex offender registries created under Megan's Law, has caused a commotion among Republicans on the judiciary panel.

"I've never seen conduct like this," said a Republican source. "I'm shocked that the White House vetted this guy ... and still put him up for a judgeship."

The nomination is relatively fresh. President Obama submitted his name Feb. 24 for a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, calling him a "first-rate" legal expert and "faithful" public servant.

With the hearing originally set for Wednesday, Republicans led by their ranking member, Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said they wanted more time.

"Senator Sessions and the Judiciary Republicans have asked for a delay in light of the nominee's extremely lengthy record and the fact that he was brought up so unusually quickly," Sessions spokesman Stephen Miller said.

Behind the scenes, Republicans are taking a hard look at Chatigny's role in the Ross proceedings which they say could be disqualifying -- particularly on the Court of Appeals, the last line of review before the Supreme Court. - FOX News Story

Chief Justice - State of the Union is a Pep Rally

Chief Justice John Roberts told students at the University of Alabama Tuesday that President Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he singled out a recent Supreme Court decision on campaign finance law for criticism, was “very troubling” and said the annual event has “degenerated into a political pep rally,” the AP reports.

Taking a question from a law school student, Roberts said anyone is welcome to criticize the court. “I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court - according the requirements of protocol - has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling."

Roberts also questioned the attendance of Supreme Court Justices at the State of the Union speeches. “I’m not sure why we’re there,” he said.

Update: White House Secretary Robert Gibbs responded to Roberts in a statement Tuesday night, saying of the decision in the Citizens United case : “What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections – drowning out the voices of average Americans. The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response.” - Politico Story

What is troubling is that when a Republican shouts out "you lie" during a joint session of Congress at Obama, they cry foul over decorum. But when the "Chosen One" calls out the Supreme Court Justices outside of proper Decorum it is OK.

The President's Staff says he was saying what he believes, well!!!!! I don't think the "you lie" comment was out of left field.

Eric Massa - Has he Opened the Door to what Happens behind them?

He’s spent only 431 days in Congress, has never seen any of his bills pass out of subcommittee and was best known for voting against major pieces of legislation because they weren’t liberal enough for him — at least until he was accused of sexually harassing a male staffer.

Meet Eric Massa, conservative media hero.

The New York Democrat’s weekend radio rant against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has his star rising on the right even as he resigns from Congress under an ethical cloud.

Rush Limbaugh vowed to make a “national story” out of Massa’s claims that Democrats orchestrated his downfall because he voted no on health care reform — adding that Massa is “going to have so much support from people.”

Matt Drudge led his site for much of the day Monday with all-caps links to POLITICO’s coverage of Massa’s statements: “RAHM ‘WOULD SELL HIS OWN MOTHER,’ ‘SON OF THE DEVIL’S SPAWN.’”

And Glenn Beck took to Twitter to announce that he’d have Massa on his show for “the full hour” Tuesday because “all Americans need to hear him.” - Politico Story

Pelosi Losing Control of House

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not accustomed to the word she’s been hearing far more frequently in recent days: “no.”

Over the past two weeks, Pelosi has faced a series of subtle but significant challenges to her authority — revolts from Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Blue Dog Coalition and politically vulnerable first- and second-term members.

The dynamic stems from an “every man for himself” attitude developing in the Democratic Caucus rather than a loss of respect for Pelosi, according to a senior Democratic aide. But it’s making Pelosi’s life — and efforts to maintain Democratic unity — harder.

And it’s noteworthy, in part, because Pelosi’s signature strength has been a firmer hand than past Democratic leaders — an aptitude for wielding raw power in a consensus-minded caucus.

But her inability — or unwillingness — to dictate when Rep. Charles Rangel would resign his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship and who would replace him is one sign that she is commanding the caucus with less authority.

Although he would give up his gavel the next day, Rangel defiantly pronounced he was still chairman after leaving a come-to-Jesus meeting last Tuesday night in Pelosi’s ceremonial office next to the House floor. Her first choice to succeed him, Pete Stark of California, was rejected by the Ways and Means Committee members, as was her plan to split power on the committee between Stark and Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan. Pelosi’s backers said that what she really wanted was to avoid a fight for the gavel — and that she succeeded by refusing to apply a heavy hand.

But a veteran Democratic lawmaker told POLITICO the denouement was “an indication that things aren’t all hunky-dory.” - Politico Story

Wisconsin Charges 5 in Election Fraud Including ACORN Workers

Five Wisconsin residents, including two who worked for community organizing group ACORN, were charged Monday with election fraud relating to the 2008 presidential election.

State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced felony charges against Maria Miles, Kevin Clancy, Michael Henderson, Herbert Gunka and Suzanne Gunka.

Miles and Clancy worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and are accused of submitting multiple voter registration applications for the same individuals, including each other, to meet voter registration quotes imposed by the community organizing group.

Henderson is charged with one count of voting by a disqualified person and providing false information to election officials. The allegation claims he was on a felony probation and prohibited from voting at the time.

Herbert and Suzanne Gunka are each charged with double voting -- a felony -- by allegedly absentee voting and then going to the polls to vote.

"The integrity of elections is dependent upon citizens and officials insisting they be conducted lawfully. Wisconsin's citizens should not have to wonder whether their vote has been negated or diminished by illegally cast ballots," Van Hollen said.

My FoxMilwaukee reported that neither could immediately be reached for comment, and it was unclear whether they had lawyers.

Each individual charge carries a potential penalty of imprisonment up to three and a half years and a $10,000 fine. They are scheduled to appear in court on April 20. - FOX News Story

Obama Changes his Tune from Campaign to President on Reconciliation

With President Barack Obama calling for Congress to move toward a reconciliation bill on health care (which would require only a simple majority of 51 votes in the Senate rather than the customary supermajority of 60), many conservative opponents have posted pre-presidential Obama quotes that they say expose his hypocrisy on the issue.

We'll examine the context of some of the more popular quotes being cited, and then weigh in with our 2 cents on whether Obama has flipped on reconciliation.

The quote that seems to be making the widest rounds is one Obama made during the presidential campaign in an interview with the Concord Monitor on Oct. 9, 2007. It has been featured in segments by pundits Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.

Here's how Beck presented it on his show March 3, 2010:

Beck: "In fact, you know, one of the big people that was really outspoken on reconciliation, said it was a really big mistake, especially using it for health care, you can't use the 50-plus-one option and still govern. That person was Barack Obama."

Beck then played a clip in which Obama said the following: "You've got to break out of what I call the sort of fifty-plus-one pattern of presidential politics. Maybe you eke out a victory of fifty plus one. Then you can't govern. You know, you get Air Force One, there are a lot of nice perks, but you can't deliver on health care. We are not going to pass universal health care with a fifty-plus-one strategy."

This turns out to be a splice of Obama's comments. Obama actually said a good bit between the first sentence and the rest of the quote. That added context doesn't make this one as cut-and-dried as it may appear.

Obama was talking about the differences between himself and his then-opponent in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton.

"I think it is legitimate at this point for me to explain very clearly to the American people why I think I will be a better president than Hillary Clinton, and to draw contrasts," Obama said.

"But that's very different from this sort of slash-and-burn politics that I think we've become accustomed to. Look, part of the reason I'm running is not just to be president, it's to get things done. And what I believe that means is we've got to break out of what I call, sort of, the 50-plus-one pattern of presidential politics. Which is, you have nasty primaries where everybody's disheartened. Then you divide the country 45 percent on one side, 45 percent on the other, 10 percent in the middle -- all of them apparently live in Florida and Ohio -- and battle it out. And maybe you eke out a victory of 50-plus-one, but you can't govern. I mean, you get Air Force One, there are a lot of nice perks to being president, but you can't deliver on health care. We're not going to pass universal health care with a 50-plus-one strategy. We're not going to have a serious bold energy policy of the sort I proposed yesterday unless you build a working majority. And part of the task of building that working majority is to get people to believe in our government, that it can work, that it's based on common sense, that it's not just sort of scoring political points. - Politifact Story

ACLU Attacks Obama in Ads

The possibility that President Obama could send the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks to a military tribunal has earned him the highest insult from the left -- that he's another George W. Bush.

A full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times left no doubt as to how the American Civil Liberties Union feels about the possibility of the president reversing the decision to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators to civilian court.

"What will it be Mr. President?" the ad asks in boldfaced type. "Change or more of the Same?"

In the middle of those words are four photos that show Obama's face morphing into Bush's.

"Many of us are shocked and concerned that right now, President Obama is considering reversing his attorney general's decision to try the 9/11 defendants in criminal court," the advertisement continues. "Our criminal justice system has successfully handled over 300 terrorism cases compared to only 3 in the military commissions."

The ad follows a series of reports that reflect a softening of the administration's position that the accused Sept. 11 architects must be tried in federal court instead of military tribunals.

The public softening is part of a test, a source told Fox News, to gauge how infuriated the left would be by reversing course. The White House knows Republicans like the idea of the tribunals being used -- and needs their support on other key national security matters -- but a shift on this issue could poison the waters between the president and the liberal base, as demonstrated by the ACLU ad. - FOX News Story

What is Obama Doing? North Korea says it is ready to blow up South Korea and U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack.

South Korea and the U.S. — which normally dismiss such threats as rhetoric — began 11 days of drills across South Korea on Monday morning to rehearse how the U.S. would deploy in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea argue the drills — which include live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training — are purely defensive. North Korea claims they amount to attack preparations and has demanded they be canceled.

The North's People's Army issued a statement Monday, warning the drills created a tense situation and that its troops are "fully ready" to "blow up" the allies once the order is issued.

The North also put all its soldiers and reservists on high alert to "mercilessly crush the aggressors" should they encroach upon the North's territory even slightly, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The communist country has issued similar rhetoric in the days leading up the drills. On Sunday, it said it would bolster its nuclear capability and break off dialogue with the U.S. in response to the drills.

South Korea's military has been closely monitoring Pyongyang's maneuvers but hasn't seen any signs of suspicious activities by North Korean troops, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier Monday.

"We see it as (North Korea's) stereotype denouncement," Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters.

About 20 anti-U.S. activists held a peaceful protest near a joint drill command center south of Seoul on Monday, chanting slogans such as "Stop war rehearsal." - FOX News Story

Obama Goes on the Road to Sell Health Care

WASHINGTON -- With the fate of his signature legislative initiative far from certain, President Barack Obama is taking his last-ditch push for health care reform on the road.

In a speech Monday in Philadelphia, Obama will try to persuade the public to back his plan to remake the nation's health care system, while also urging uneasy lawmakers to cast a "final vote" for a massive reform bill in an election year.

Obama's pitch in Philadelphia, along with a stop in St. Louis Wednesday, comes as the president begins an all-out effort to pass his health care proposals. Though his plan has received only modest public support, Obama has implored lawmakers to show political courage and not let a historic opportunity slip away.

Despite staunch Republican opposition, Democratic leaders are cautiously optimistic they can pass a bill without GOP votes.

"I think the trend is in the right direction because people see that the status quo is absolutely broken," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union".

Party leaders are narrowing in on a strategy that calls for House Democrats to go along with a health care bill the Senate passed in December. Obama would sign it into law, but senators would promise to make numerous changes on issues that have concerned House Democrats. Because Senate Democrats lost the 60-seat majority needed to stop GOP filibusters with the Massachusetts Senate race, the changes would have to be made under rules that require only simple majority votes. - FOX News Story

Obama and Democrats Ready to Ram Health Care Through

Republicans took to the airwaves Sunday to lament President Obama's latest deadline on health care reform.

On ABC's "This Week," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., coined names for the deals that helped net the votes of key senators: "The Cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana purchase, the Gator-aid."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., pleaded on CBS, "Please, don't do this -- just, please!"

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, punctuated his words with a pointed index finger on NBC, saying, "You cannot ignore the fact we're talking about, the first time in history, sweeping social legislation will be passed, if they get their way, by a totally partisan vote, one-sixth of the American economy. If we do, that ... bar the door, I've got to tell you."

Prompting the GOP backlash was a new deadline: Ten days to health care reform. - ABC News Story

Senate Majority's Son Way Behind in Run for Governor

Republican frontrunner Brain Sandoval now has an 18-point lead over Democrat Rory Reid in Nevada’s gubernatorial race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Nevada voters finds Reid, son of Senator Harry Reid, trailing Sandoval 53% to 35%. Seven percent (7%) prefer another candidate, while five percent (5%) are undecided.

Sandoval, a former Nevada attorney general and ex-U.S. District Court Judge, led Reid by 12 points - 45% to 33% - in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the contest early last month.

Another GOP hopeful, North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, posts a 42% to 37% lead over Reid. In the previous survey, Reid led Montandon 40% to 36%. Thirteen percent (13%) like some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Senate Majority Leader a Longshot for Re-Election

Two of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Republican challengers have again crossed the 50% threshold and now hold double-digit leads in Nevada’s U.S. Senate race. One big hurdle for the incumbent is that most Nevada voters are strongly opposed to the health care legislation championed by Reid and President Barack Obama.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Sue Lowden, ex-chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, with a 51% to 38% lead on Reid. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate, but just three percent (3%) are undecided.

Businessman Danny Tarkanian posts a similar 50% to 37% lead over the embattled Democratic leader. Nine percent (9%) opt for another candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

Last month, Reid earned 39% of the vote against both Republicans, while Lowden picked up 45% and Tarkanian 47% in their respective match-ups with him. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Obama Not Winning the Polls - Steep Drop Again

Rasmussen Reports Polls

Democratic Leadership after Massa for NO Vote on Health Care?

Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) says the House ethics committee is investigating him for inappropriate comments he made to a male staffer on New Year's Eve — and that he's the victim of a power play by Democratic leaders who want him out of Congress because he's a "no" vote on health care reform.

"Mine is now the deciding vote on the health care bill," Massa, who on Friday announced his intention to resign, said during a long monologue on radio station WKPQ. "And this administration and this House leadership have said, quote-unquote, they will stop at nothing to pass this health care bill. And now they've gotten rid of me and it will pass. You connect the dots."

Massa insisted that he did not know the basis of a House ethics committee investigation into his conduct until after he announced his retirement last Wednesday, and he took House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to task for going public with information related to the probe before it is completed.

In the monologue — an audio recording of which has been posted by Rochester's WHAM-TV — Massa said he first heard that the ethics committee was questioning his staff in early February but had no idea why.

He said he now understands the basis of the committee's investigation — and dismissed it as a matter of "political correctness" gone awry.

"I have to come find out that on New Year's Eve, I went to a staff party — it was actually a wedding for a staff member of mine," Massa said. "There were 250 people there. I was with my wife, and in fact we had a great time. She got the stomach flu, I went down to sing Auld Lang Syne. And with cameras on me — I'm talking three of them — filming me, I danced with the bride, and I danced with the bridesmaid. Absolutely nothing occurred. - Politico Story

Senate Democrats Position Themselves to Replace Reid

Democrats are hungry for a hardball strategy against a resurgent Republican Party, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin is positioning himself as a leading aggressor — a move that could help him in a potential run for majority leader.

Durbin (D-Ill.) led the scorched-earth strategy against Sen. Jim Bunning’s one-man blockade of jobless benefits, and he’s now open to making Republicans actually hold the Senate chamber for real filibusters.

Durbin’s newly pugnacious strategy comes as more congressional insiders are whispering about the possibility of a Durbin vs. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) race for Senate majority leader if Nevada Sen. Harry Reid loses reelection.

Durbin won’t talk about his strategy in the context of a potential majority leader race, describing himself instead as a “catalyst” in the charge against Bunning. Durbin’s audience is mostly inside the Senate chamber — a new generation of Democratic senators flustered by the plodding pace of the upper chamber.

“I think you’ll see more of it,” Durbin told POLITICO, referring to confrontational tactics against a recalictrant GOP minority.

If Durbin finds himself in a race to become the next majority leader after this fall’s elections, his position as aggressor-in-chief could appeal to the 17 Democrats elected in the past two election cycles, who are calling for a bare-knuckle strategy against the GOP. Many of those new senators are generally seen as closer to Durbin’s potential rival for the leadership spot, Schumer, who helped them win their seats when he ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2006 and 2008. - Politico Story