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DCCC slams Shadegg for suggesting Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped'

Washington(CNN) - A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized a Republican congressman Tuesday for suggesting that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped by terrorists, calling it evidence that the GOP has been taken over by "Right Wing extremists."

"In case there's any doubt of the Republican Party being taken over by the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann and other Right Wing extremists, last night Republican Rep. John Shadegg actually suggested that Mayor Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped by a terrorist," DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said in a statement.

"This is what happens when you have a Republican Party undeterred by their embarrassing loss in the NY-23 Special Election and desperate to win over the Right Wing fringe," he added.

On the House floor on Monday night, Shadegg criticized Bloomberg for supporting the Obama administration's decision to have the suspected 9/11 terrorists face a trial in New York City. Bloomberg said last week that it's "fitting" to have them tried close to the World Trade Center site and that the city has "hosted terrorism trials before," but Shadegg warned of other repercussions.

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GOP boycotts start of Senate committee debate on climate change bill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republicans boycotted a Senate committee hearing Tuesday on a major bill to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Only one of the seven Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee - Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio - showed up for the panel's opening session. He left the meeting after delivering an opening statement.

Committee rules require at least two minority party members to be present to reach a working quorum. However, an exception could allow the committee to proceed without any Republicans, according to committee staff members.

Matt Dempsey, a spokesman for the committee's Republicans, told CNN that applying the exception would be a "nuclear option" by Democrats that would worsen the panel's already strained political climate.

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"It's a very simple plan," Grayson said in the speech Tuesday night. "Don't get sick. That's what the Republicans have in mind. And if you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: die quickly."

The after-hours speech, which included prominent banners behind the congressman to reinforce his point, drew immediate calls from some Republicans for an apology.

"That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Tennessee Republican Rep. Jimmy Duncan told the Politico.

Grayson has not issued an apology, and a spokesman for the congressman said no additional statement on the matter is forthcoming.

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National Democrats new TV ad is aimed at trying to convince senior citizens that Republicans are perpetuating falsehoods about President Obama's efforts to reform health care.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – National Democrats will begin airing a new TV ad Wednesday aimed at trying to convince senior citizens that Republicans are perpetuating falsehoods about President Obama's efforts to reform health care.

"Republicans are trying to scare seniors about health reform," a narrator says at the opening of the ad as pictures of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner flash on the screen.

"The truth is health reform will help seniors by enhancing their drug coverage, reducing the premiums they pay for drugs and medical care, and helping keep Medicare solvent," adds the narrator.

The Democratic National Committee is financing the 30-second spot, which will air on national cable and in Washington, DC. A DNC official would not say how much money was being spent on the ad, but described it as a "substantial buy."

The new push by the DNC to woo seniors comes as a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows that 54 percent of people age 65 and older oppose Obama's health care plan, while 41 percent favor it.

Follow Mark Preston on Twitter: @prestoncnn

Gov. Rick Perry is currently battling Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for the GOP nomination.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry was originally included on 2012 Presidential Straw Poll ballot at this weekend's Values Voter Summit in Washington, but his staff requested that his name be removed.

A spokesman for Perry's re-election campaign told CNN that the request was made because the two-term governor is not thinking about running for President, but is instead "focused on running for governor." Perry is currently battling Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison for the GOP nomination.

The governor, however, is still attending the conference and is slated to speak on Saturday.

The potential Republican candidates on the straw poll ballot are: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Just 20 minutes after the release of July's unemployment report, The Republican National Committe released a statement slamming President Obama for taking a "victory lap" over some better-than-expected economic indicators:

"While President Obama was taking a victory lap to celebrate the economy's performance, more Americans lost their jobs and the budget deficit soared to a record $1.3 trillion in July. In the month of July alone 247,000 Americans lost their jobs, which means more than 2.8 million Americans have lost their jobs since the president took office," said RNC Chairman Michael Steele in an e-mail. "The president said his stimulus bill would keep unemployment from rising higher than 8 percent. It hasn't. Now he expects Americans to believe his trillion-dollar health care experiment will improve their health care? It won't. America simply can't afford more of the president's costly experiments."

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Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, says his party may have enough votes to stall Democratic health care reform.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As Democrats continue to splinter over President Obama's proposed health care reform plan, Republicans are taking the opportunity to home in on a key argument: A good bill deserves more time and deliberation.

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Georgia, said Friday that Obama's rush to put a bill together is "totally irresponsible."

"Most of us believe that the decision as to major reform of how Americans get their health care in this country deserves at least as much time and deliberation as it would take to select a puppy to live in the White House," he said. "It took the president six months to decide how long and which puppy he was going to have. ... To expect Congress to do something on major health care reform in six days is totally irresponsible."

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, speaking on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio show recently, was asked about whether his party had enough votes to block health care from going forward. His answer: "I think so. I really do."

"If he is unsuccessful, which I anticipate and will predict he is, on getting a vote prior to the August recess, then I would say there's no way in the world they're going to get this done this year," he added.

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President Obama again Thursday accused top Republicans of playing politics with health care reform.

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio (CNN) – President Barack Obama took his health care offensive on the road Thursday, ripping top Republicans for playing politics with his top domestic legislative priority.

"We have never been closer to achieving quality, affordable health care for all Americans," Obama said in a packed town hall meeting outside Cleveland, Ohio.

"But at the same time, there are those that would seek to delay and defeat reform. ... We had one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill.'"

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At Tuesday morning's weekly GOP conference meeting, Republicans were shown a video parody of the Lady Gaga hit 'Just Dance.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Politics may make for strange bedfellows - but even for this town, this may be the oddest couple to ever make beautiful music together: House Republicans...and pop diva Lady Gaga.

At Tuesday morning's weekly GOP conference meeting, Republicans were shown a clip of a video parody of the Lady Gaga hit, "Just Dance" that replaces the popular song's refrain with "Just Tax."

The parody video was developed by Peter Cowman, a 23-year-old who just graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle, outside Rep Dave Reichert's district. A spokeswoman for Reichert said the congressman wanted to show his colleagues the video to encourage them to get young people involved using new media, and noted his district is home to a cluster of technology companies.

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'The world suddenly did not become safer on January 20, 2009,' House Republican Leader John Boehner said at a press conference Thursday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The GOP is sending a strong message to the Obama administration: Don't bring former Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States.

House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday aimed at stopping the release or transfer of terrorists at GITMO from being imported to the United States.

"The world suddenly did not become safer on January 20, 2009," House Republican Leader John Boehner said at a press conference Thursday. "We ought to make clear that none of these detainees should be brought to the United States until such time as the President has had a conversation with the American people, which is the essence of the bill that we are bringing forward."

The Keep Terrorists out of America Act opposes transfer of any detainee to the United States, but requires that governors and state legislatures pre-approve the import of terrorists from the prison camps to their respective states, if such a process should occur.

"Guantanamo was chosen for a specific reason. It is isolated," Texas Rep. Lamar Smith said Thursday. "That all fundamentally changes when you take them off of an island, away from Gitmo, and plunk them down in the middle of Michigan, in the middle of Kansas, in the middle of Virginia, or in the middle of New York."

No time frames or announcements have been made by the White House concerning what to do with some 240 detainees. The review that President Obama ordered at the beginning of his administration continues.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican congressional leaders tore into President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 budget Thursday, arguing that his spending cuts will do little to stem a rising tide of red ink.

The White House released details earlier in the day outlining $17 billion in cuts from 121 federal programs. The total savings amounts to roughly 0.5 percent of the more than $3.5 trillion in spending approved for next year, or 1.2 percent of next year's projected $1.4 trillion deficit if the president's overall budget is adopted.

"With Democrats in Congress adding to the national debt at the rate of more than $100 billion every month already this year and with a budget that triples the already unsustainable public debt over the next decade, it is clear that there is not much more that we can do to protect our children and grandchildren from the unprecedented trillions in additional debt proposed by this administration," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said on the Senate floor.

New Hampshire GOP Sen. Judd Gregg, who withdrew as Obama's commerce secretary-designate earlier this year, also criticized the cuts as minuscule in the face of current spending and deficit projections.

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The California Democrat offered her own analysis of the political environment for her political opponents, asserting Republicans across the country are more willing to work with Democrats than their leaders on Capitol Hill.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Speaker Nancy Pelosi marked President Obama's 100 days in office with some unsolicited advice to Republican voters: "take back your party."

The California Democrat offered her own analysis of the political environment for her political opponents, asserting Republicans across the country are more willing to work with Democrats than their leaders on Capitol Hill.

"Yes, there is, shall we say – a 'radical right-wing' element with whom they identify. But by and large, I say to Republicans in America: take back your party. The party of protecting the environment. The party of individual rights. The party of fairness. This is not the Grand Old Party."

Pelosi concluded her long riff about the GOP by saying, "our country needs a strong diverse Republican party." Without missing a beat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chimed in, saying "not too strong."

As Pelosi, Reid and other Democratic leaders ticked off a list of legislative accomplishments passed largely without GOP support, the Speaker insisted she's tried to reach out to Republicans in Congress, but said it hasn't been easy.

Updated after the jump

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Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe likened moderate Republicans to participants on a reality television show known for isolating its members and picking them off one-by-one.

(CNN) - Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe called fellow colleague Sen. Arlen Specter's party defection disconcerning Wednesday, and likened moderate Republicans to participants on a reality television show known for isolating its members and picking them off one-by-one.

"Being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of "Survivor" - you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you're no longer welcome in the tribe," Snowe wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.

The remarks follow Pennsylvania veteran Sen. Arlen Specter's unexpected defection to the Democratic Party on the eve of President Obama's 100th day in office. A member of the Republican Party since 1966, Specter announced his change of political affiliation to Democrat, citing the GOP has shifted too far to the right of his views and that his chance of winning the state Republican primary next year was bleak.

"It is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party," Snowe says. "It didn't have to be this way."

The moderate Republican senator from Maine blamed the GOP emphasis on conservative social values over the party's core fiscal principles as the reason for Republican voter losses.

"Ideological purity is not the ticket back to the promised land of governing majorities – indeed, it was when we began to emphasize social issues to the detriment of some of our basic tenets as a party that we encountered an electoral backlash," she writes. "We should view an expansion of diversity within the party as a triumph that will broaden our appeal."

"We cannot prevail as a party without conservatives. But it is equally certain we cannot prevail in the future without moderates," Snowe warns.

A new ad paints Republicans as 'the party of no.'

(CNN) – One of America's largest labor unions is teaming up with a prominent liberal interest group to target congressional Republicans' economic polices, calling the GOP the "party of no" in a new national ad buy coming only days before President Obama's first 100 days comes to a close.

In the new television commercial called "Timeline," the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Americans United portray target Republicans over opposition to Obama's stimulus package, the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and legislation seeking to allow women to sue for equal pay for equal work.

"There have always been those who said NO to progress. But in times of crisis, Americans have never taken NO for an answer," an announcer says in the 30 second spot.

The groups say the ad, described as a "mid five-figure buy," will begin airing Friday nationally for five days on MSBC and on all the cable news stations in the Washington, DC area.

The TV spot comes the same day the Democratic National Committee is launching a Web ad that declares, "After 100 days, the Republican approach is 'just say no.'"

This new DNC web video is the latest in a series that portray Republicans in Congress as a party devoid of new ideas.

Republicans disagree, and state that in saying no to President Obama and the Democrats in Congress, they are trying to save American taxpayers money and are attempting to rein in what they consider out of control government spending.

So what do Americans think?

Fifty-eight percent of those questioned in a recent CNN/Opinion Research Coporation national poll said that President Obama had a clear plan for solving the country's economic problems. That was more than double the 24 percent who felt Republicans had a clear prescription for fixing the country's economic mess. Three out of four polled said the GOP didn't have a clear plan.

The same survey also suggests that 62 percent felt President Obama is doing enough to cooperate with the other party, while only 37 percent thought Republicans were doing enough to reach out to the other side.

The DNC is out with a Web video hitting GOP leaders.

(CNN) – National Democrats will release a new Web video Tuesday criticizing two House Republican leaders who have disparaged President Obama’s budget plan.

The Democratic National Committee accuses House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, of being hypocrites for voting for former President Bush’s budgets, but now publicly opposing Obama’s proposal.

“Over eight years, Republicans nearly doubled the national debt,” reads text that flashes across the screen of the 30-second video. “John Boehner and Eric Cantor were with Bush every step of the way. Now, Washington Republicans want you to forget what they did.”

The video – "Party Of Hypocrites" – uses short sound bites from Boehner and Cantor knocking the Democratic president’s budget and then notes that Boehner voted for nearly $10 trillion in budget spending, and Cantor supported slightly more than $12 trillion during the Bush years.

Update:

House Minority Leader John Boehner's spokeswoman and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor's spokesman respond to the DNC video.

"We missed the part of the video where they defend the President’s massive, fiscally-irresponsible budget that will double the debt in five years and triple it in 10. When the President’s Budget Director concedes they are raising the deficit to unsustainable levels, I guess they have to blame everyone else."

– Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for House Minority Leader John Boehner

*

"As we close in on President Obama's first 100 days, I would ask Virginia's Governor Tim Kaine if his partisan attack ads and disinformation campaigns are a calculated rejection of the President's attempts to change Washington.”

– Brad Dayspring, spokesman for House Minority Whip Eric Cantor

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor criticitized the Obama administration's plans to strengthen the housing market as Republicans debuted their own proposal.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republicans criticized Democrats for not using "common sense" as they proposed an alternative solution to address the nation's ongoing housing crisis on Wednesday.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor blasted the administration's plans to strengthen the housing market, saying they are pushing "policies that frankly don't make a lot of sense."

GOP leaders propose expanding tax credits for home owners and buyers while cracking down on fraud in the housing market. "We are committed to trying to pull the agenda back to mainstream," said Cantor, calling homeowner assistance central to reviving the economy.

Provisions in the new proposal, which would be affective until July 2010, include a $5,000 tax credit to help families refinance their homes, whether or not they are backed by the ailing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; tax incentives for mortgage lenders who help homeowners refinance these homes; and a $15,000 home buyer credit to all home buyers who can put at least 5 percent down.

Republicans also proposed working with the FBI, Department of Justice and other government housing agencies to fight fraudulent mortgage companies and borrowers.

GOP leaders were unable to provide an estimate of how much their proposed plan would cost.

New radio ads to target Republicans on stimulus vote.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – House Democrats will begin running a series of radio ads Tuesday targeting 28 Republicans who voted against President Obama’s economic recovery plan.

It is the latest political ad campaign launched in the past week directly related to the stimulus bill. The weeklong radio campaign coincides with a more direct voter contact approach designed to reach three million people through email and another 100,000 by telephone, according to an official with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

One of the ads accuses Republicans of helping to bail out banks, while another highlights support for rebuilding schools in Iraq, and then casting a vote against the stimulus package. The Republican congressmen are mentioned by name in the ads that run in their districts.

Not one Republican supported the bill when it came up for a vote in the House, because they argued it was flawed by among other things, wasteful spending. But it still passed, because of the Democratic Party's strong majority in that chamber. The Senate begins debate on it Monday.

Full list of Republican's targeted after the jump

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wants Congress to holds hearings on the stimulus package.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Top congressional Republicans cautioned Democrats not to rush through a massive stimulus package that lawmakers hope to send to President-elect Barack Obama shortly after he takes office next month.

A House Democratic leadership aide told CNN on Tuesday that Congress will likely take up a stimulus bill the second week of January.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said the Congress must prove to taxpayers that the stimulus bill, which some economists suggest could amount to $1 trillion, "is not wasting their money."

"We should have a simple test: will the yet-unwritten, reportedly trillion-dollar spending bill really create jobs and grow the economy - or will it simply create more government spending, more bureaucrats and deeper deficits?" McConnell said in a statement Monday.

McConnell's $1 trillion figure for the stimulus bill may be an overestimate, however.

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Four congressional races have yet to be decided.

(CNN) – One month after Election Day, four congressional races have yet to be decided.

Two of those contests could come to conclusion this weekend.

Saturday is election day in Louisiana's 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts, where contests were delayed due to Hurricane Gustav.

The race in the 4th district is to replace retiring 10-term Republican congressman Jim McCrery. Democrat Paul Carmouche is facing off against Republican John Fleming in a campaign that's attracting national attention and money.

In the 2nd Congressional district, nine-term Democratic Rep. William Jefferson is running for re-election against Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao. Jefferson's been battling scandals and a federal indictment for the past three years, but the district, in and around New Orleans, is mostly African-American and heavily Democratic.

In two remaining districts, the vote counts are in dispute. In Virginia's 5th Congressional district, Republican Virgil Goode is calling for a recount. The nine-term Congressman trails Democrat Tom Perriello by 745 votes out of nearly 310,000 cast.

And the battle to succeed eight-term GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce in Ohio's 15th Congressional District is headed to court. Republican Steve Stivers leads Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy by 149 votes out of nearly 260,000 cast. Ohio's state Supreme Court will rule on whether to count thousands of disputed provisional ballots.

But at least one fight whose results were up in the air nearly a month after voters headed to the polls has officially drawn to a close, with the GOP holding on to a closely-contested House seat.

Republicans held on to a seat in northern California when Democrat Charlie Brown conceded defeat Tuesday to Republican state senator Tom McClintock in the battle for California's 4th congressional district. Brown's concession came a day after the counties in the district turned in their final vote counts.

Those tallies gave McClintock a lead of more than 1,500 votes out of nearly 370,000 cast. Given his narrow loss, Brown could have asked for a recount, but opted to concede. The seat was held by retiring nine-term Republican congressman John Doolittle, who was under investigation in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

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Republicans will present Obama with economic policy principles.

(CNN) –- Republican governors are set to present President-elect Barack Obama with a list of key policy areas that they feel are vital to helping their states recover from the recent economic downturn at the annual National Governors Association meeting Tuesday.

"Today’s meeting represents an opportunity to come together and forge solutions to the current economic crisis,” said RGA Chairman Governor Mark Sanford. “It is important these solutions be based on the same common sense principles that have made America the economic envy of the world for generations.”

"We are committed as members of the RGA to working with the incoming Administration to make America more competitive in the global marketplace, and we believe the best route to strengthening America’s economy lies in focusing on things like lowering the tax burden on Americans, holding the line on spending, and bettering our business climate,” Sanford says.

The annual meeting takes place Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET in Philadelphia.

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