The tension between the Republican establishment and the Tea Party insurgents erupted on the House floor for the first time Wednesday when 110 GOP representatives -- mostly freshmen and some longtime conservative gadflies -- broke from their leadership and most of their caucus in order to kill a defense contract. The vote highlighted an establishment-versus-Tea Party split that was glaring during the campaign season, and brought to the fore the uncomfortable question of defense spending. The amendment, killing the contract for a backup engine for the F-35 fighter, passed 233-198 Wednesday, but 130 of the 240 voting Republicans opposed the cut, including House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor. This puts the GOP majority and its leadership at odds with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who doesn't want the backup engine, and former President George W. Bush, who also tried to kill it.
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Brian Hughes - Obama's patience irksome but often effective
President Obama has dipped his toe in a pool of contentious policies -- tax breaks, a health care overhaul, allowing gays in the military and, most recently, entitlement reform -- opting to quietly cobble together coalitions instead of issuing decrees.
And the strategy of patience and negotiation, so far, has produced a series of feathers in his political cap -- just not on the time frame demanded by others. While the president was widely criticized for punting on politically unpopular decisions in his latest budget
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Susan Ferrechio - Senate may add long-distance flights to Reagan National
A decade-long effort to increase flights to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport may gain new life Thursday when the Senate considers a compromise amendment that would add two dozen long-haul trips to the airport's schedule.
A fight over whether to boost traffic at Reagan National has stalled passage of Federal Aviation Administration legislation intended to improve safety and enhance consumer rights. One GOP senator, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, has threatened to vote against the FAA bill unless it includes a provision to increase Reagan's flights to Western states. But lawmakers from Maryland and Virginia say increasing flights will hurt the region economically while serving mainly as a convenience for senators who want to get home more easily.
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Hayley Peterson - Maryland’s debt per resident twice Virginia’s
ANNAPOLIS - Maryland's soaring pension deficits are racking up $3,069 in debt for every taxpayer in the state, while their Virginia neighbors are paying only $1,362, according to a report from Moody's credit-rating agency.
Maryland taxpayers also owe nearly twice as much as Virginians in state-issued bonds, or long-term debt, the report found.
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Timothy P. Carney - The first rule of the Obama administration's meeting with lobbyists: You don't talk about the Obama administration's meetings with lobbyists
The Obama administration has a reputation for "transparency," but that's almost entirely because Obama talks a lot about how transparent his administration is. When it comes to actually being transparent, it's a different story.
The latest: lobbyists meeting with the Department of Housing and Urban Development are being required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Here's part:
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Mark Tapscott - Unions' investment in Senate Democrats pays off in TSA vote
Senate Democrats turned back an attempt by Senate Republicans to bar federal employees at the Transportation Security Administration from becoming unionized as members of either the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) or the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).
The 51-47 vote Tuesday came as no surprise because unions are the biggest contributors to Democrats and public sector unions like AFGE and NTEU are the big bosses in labor land.
Neither should anybody be surprised by the cold, hard data on union campaign contributions in 2010 to senators.
The 59 Democrats in the Senate during the 2010 campaign cycle received a total of more than $4.1 million in union contributions, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics on its OpenSecrets.org web site. The average union total for the Democrats during 2010 came to more than $70,000.
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Sara A. Cater - Protests in Libya growing
Protesters clashed with police Wednesday in Libya as anti-government demonstrations spread onto the streets of Tripoli, news outlets in the region are reporting.
Libyan opposition groups, inspired by events unfolding in throughout the region are calling for “A Day of Rage” scheduled for Thursday, in an effort to oust long time leader Moammar Qaddafi. Qaddafi came into power in 1969, after leading a coup against the previous monarchy. The opposition, mainly comprised of young people, "is not well organized," one local observer said, leading to concerns that the demonstration will be smashed by security forces.
Read more at the Washington Examiner
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