The single most dramatic change in the complexion of our government emerging from the midterm election is the impending leadership change in the House of Representatives. Republican John Boehner will be replacing Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. He will be seated next to Joe Biden behind President Obama for the State of the Union Address in early 2011. You may want to take some time now to adjust the tint and color intensity on your hi-def flat screen.

My 2010 election prediction: The GOP wins 8 or 9 more Senate seats outright, then takes majority control by flipping Lieberman and/or Nelson. They fall a few seats short in the House and Nancy Pelosi continues as Speaker of the House.

Of course you always want to be in power, right? Well…not according to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal…and I have to say that the points are intriguing if the GOP wants to win the White House in 2011. From WSJ: If Republicans win control of the House, which is the big prize this [...]

Finally, bipartisan cooperation! From CNN: Washington (CNN) – With midterm elections on the horizon and the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to block pay raises for members of Congress for the next fiscal year. The vote was 402-15. Rules approved by Congress in 1989 provide for an [...]

If I were to guess what the American people are looking to buy, it would be something that can be articulated pretty simply and emerges from some basic American values of fairness and common sense. I’d say it is really about these three things:

1. Every American gets a baseline level of solid health care. No one is left behind.
2. No American need be at risk of financial ruin or bankruptcy because they get sick.
3. The program is manageable and fiscally responsible. Americans want to feel reasonably certain we won’t see mushrooming costs like with Medicare and the prescription drug plan.

That’s it, Mr. President. We don’t need “Free! Free! Free! Preventive Care!” or a set of Ginsu steak knives to sweeten the deal. Put together a package that does these three things, pitch them clearly and simply, and you’ll close the sale.

You have to feel for Rep. Mike Castle. Because dealing with loons like this has to make him question what’s going on with the Republican base. Especially when everybody starts clapping for the birther and booing Castle when he says Obama is a citizen. And then she convinces everybody and pledge allegiance to the flag! [...]

The big story here is that the House put forward a single bill from three separate committees with competing interests. That’s significant since this was one of the biggest problems in 1994…each committee put forward their own bills and chaos ensued. Also, the estimates says it’ll eventually cover 97% of folks who aren’t covered already, [...]

House Dems are bound and determined to make a public option their first priority, and I can understand why. This has been a long time coming and they’re convinced that only the federal government can compete with private industry. But what she’s missing is the idea that Kent Conrad brought up…which is the public option [...]

Has the controversy surrounding Nancy Pelosi’s statements on torture made the Speaker vulnerable to a coup? John Feehery of Politico thinks so. Feehery compares Pelosi to Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott, two former leaders in congress whose declining popularity intersected with controversial statements and resulted in political ouster. Pelosi is already a toxic name for [...]

Given all the press the AIG bonuses have garnered, you’d think our only economic problem was a few nearsighted/greedy execs at one insurance firm. Today, the House took AIG backlash to the next level by passing a bill which would levy heavy taxes on such bonuses. Specifically: The bill would levy a 90 percent tax [...]

I strongly support a massive fiscal stimulus to restore an atmosphere of confidence, avert a continued, severe downward spiral, and give the economy a big enough jolt to jump start a recovery. But the $819 billion plan (really a $1.2 trillion plan including interest on the debt) adopted by the House of Representatives yesterday isn’t it. A [...]