On Saturday evening, health care reform passed the House of Rep. with a 220 to 215 vote.   Despite Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R) promising protesters on Friday that there would be no support behind the bill from the Republicans, a lone GOP vote from Joseph Cao (R-LA) brought screams of “bipartisan” support from the house floor.

Gao posted this on his website:

Of his vote, Cao said: “Tonight, I voted to keep taxpayer dollars from funding abortion and to deliver access to affordable health care to the people of Louisiana.

Cao said: “I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at all. Louisianans needs real options for primary care, for mental health care, and for expanded health care for seniors and children.

Whether or not Republican discipline will occur against Cao remains to be seen, however Eric Cantor in the eyes of many will lose credibility and support over allowing Cao to stray away from party lines.

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WASHINGTON – House Democrats voted down an attempt Tuesday to remove Rep. Charles Rangel as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee during an ongoing ethics investigation.

The action came on the same day the House ethics committee voted to reauthorize a subcommittee of three Democrats and three Republicans to investigate Rangel, a New York Democrat who has served in Congress for nearly 40 years. The investigation began last year — at Rangel’s request — but the subcommittee needed reauthorization because a new Congress was sworn in last month.

The ethics committee is looking at Rangel’s failure to pay taxes on about $75,000 in rental income from a beach house he owns in the Dominican Republic and his use of three rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem, including one for a campaign office. Also under scrutiny are letters Rangel wrote on congressional stationery looking to drum up donors for the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York.

The resolution to remove Rangel as chairman said he “has dishonored himself and brought discredit to the House.” With no public debate, the House voted to table the resolution, effectively killing it, by a vote of 242-157.

Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, introduced the resolution, saying he knew it would be defeated by majority Democrats, but he wanted to “put sunlight on the issue.”

Rangel, who has said he broke no laws, requested the ethics committee investigation after the issues were first raised in the press last year. In a recent interview, he dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, calling them “a mosquito on an elephant’s back.” The Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over tax policy.

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Delay in Holder Confirmation Illogical and Unreasonable, Whitehouse Says

January 23, 2009

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former U.S. Attorney and Attorney General for Rhode Island, today sharply criticized the argument some Republican members of the Committee are making for delaying a vote on the nomination of Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder:

“Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have asked Eric Holder to make a commitment, before he is even confirmed, that he will not prosecute any Bush Administration officials for their involvement in acts of torture during the last administration.

“Anyone familiar with the criminal justice system – especially those with experience as prosecutors or judges – should know that a prosecutor should make no determination about who to prosecute before he or she has all the facts, and particularly not in response to legislative pressure.

“After all we have recently been through at the Department of Justice, I would hope and expect that upon calm reflection, no one on our Committee would expect the Attorney General of the United States to make prosecutive decisions based on legislative pressure.”

Source:  Senate Press Release

–

I have three letters for this:  WTF

– AC

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” (CNN) — The Senate will vote Thursday on whether the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue package is released, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said late Wednesday.
Barack Obama is facing bipartisan opposition to his plans for the bailout funds.

Barack Obama is facing bipartisan opposition to his plans for the bailout funds.

A senior leadership aide says Democrats are hopeful but acknowledges that they are still not sure they have the votes to give President-elect Barack Obama the money he says is essential to fixing the economy.”
Source

Just becase the Bush administration did not hadle the Bailout funds particularly well does this mean that it should be taken away from the Obama team?

I agree that more oversight should be on these funds and alot more accountability both by the companies recieving them and the depertments handing them over.

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http://www.veteranreportcard.org/reportcard.pdf

Notables:

Hillary Clinton – A

Barack Obama – B

Joe Biden – B

John McCain – D

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