Wealthy Political Newcomers Are Spending Big
The Associated Press reports: “In the midst of one of the worst recessions in decades, a host of former corporate leaders are spending millions in their quest for elective office, using their personal wealth to push past the political machinery and their own lack of experience.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will welcome the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints to the White House at 9:05 a.m. ET. He will depart from the White House at 9:45 a.m. ET, and depart from Andrews Air Force Base at 10 a.m. ET, and will arrive at 1:05 p.m. ET in Austin, Texas. He will deliver remarks at a 2:05 p.m. ET Democratic National Committee fundraiser. He will then deliver remarks on higher education and the economy at the University of Austin at 3 p.m. ET. He will depart from Austin at 4:30 p.m. ET, arriving at 5:20 p.m. ET in Dallas, Texas, and will attend a 6:25 p.m. ET Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser. He will depart from Dallas at 7:35 p.m. ET, will arrive back at Andrews Air Force Base at 10:15 p.m. ET, and back at the White House at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Smoot’s Charge: Hold At Least 50 Senate Seats
CQ profiles Brian Smoot, the director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure efforts. “I like a challenge,” said Smoot, a Dem operative whose job is now to minimize the party’s losses int he Senate, and maintain a Democratic majority.
GOP Sees Balanced Budget Amendment As Campaign Weapon
The Hill reports: “Senate Republicans are planning a new push for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution when lawmakers return to Washington after the August recess. GOP Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) will lead the charge in the fall, when Democrats plan to debate raising taxes on families that earn more than $250,000 a year. It’s the latest foray in a crusade that conservatives have waged for two decades. They believe the proposal, which came within one vote of passing Congress in 1995, will gain new political traction in the weeks before the election, when federal deficits are a chief concern of many voters.”
GOP Gets Tough on Filibusters
Roll Call reports on the increasingly successful use of filibusters by Senate Republicans: “The enhanced GOP unity has given Republicans 10 victories on 20 filibuster attempts over the past four months. The GOP’s ability to stick together comes after the minority blocked Democratic legislation only five times in the previous 15 months. Until January, there were only 40 Republican Senators, one shy of the number needed to filibuster. But even with the addition of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), only recently has the party begun taking advantage of the power of 41.”
The Tea Party’s Growing Money Problem
Politico reports: “Some leading tea party activists are concerned that their efforts to reshape American politics, starting with the 2010 elections, are being undermined by a shortage of cash that’s partly the result of a deep ambivalence within the movement’s grassroots over the very idea of fundraising, and partly attributable to an inability to win over the wealthy donors who fund the conservative establishment.”
