New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been an outspoken supporter of banning insider trading in Congress, but she and her husband profited by betting against the housing and real estate market during the 2008 financial crisis…

“We are entrusted with a profound responsibility by the American people to look out for their best interests, and nothing else, certainly not our own financial interests,” Gillibrand said in a release after the STOCK Act passed the Senate last week. “Today, we took the first step toward restoring the trust that’s been lost in Washington by ensuring that members of Congress play by the exact same rules as everyday Americans.”

And yet…

A Wall Street Journal report on congressional trading during the 2008 financial crisis found Gillibrand’s husband had “shorted” housing stocks—meaning he bet that prices on home builder stocks would fall—at least 34 times before the housing market imploded.

Gillibrand’s husband made more than 250 transactions in 2008, when his wife was in the House, and almost all of them were put options on homebuilder stocks such as Beazer Homes USA Inc., Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., Meritage Homes Corp., and Ryland Group Inc.

The Gillibrand’s also shorted the property market. Gillibrand’s husband bought options of ProShares UltraShort Real Estate; these options earned $2 for each $1 fall in real-estate stocks.

The transactions helped Gillibrand and her husband rack-up a net worth of more than $1.3 million, according to disclosure filings.

So while Americans were watching their chief investments collapse, feeling the pain of owing more than their homes would be worth, Senator Gillibrand was betting against the American economy and raking in the dough.

Congressman Wally Herger (R-CA), who has represented the 2nd district since 1987, will reportedly announce his retirement tomorrow. He will serve out the remainder of his term but won’t seek reelection this November.

The same report indicates Congressman Herger will endorse California State Senator (and conservative) Doug LaMalfa.

LaMalfa served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008, when he easily won his election to the State Senate despite being heavily outspent.

The district is heavily Republican, going to McCain over Obama in 2008 by a double-digit margin.

The administration had lobbied against the sanctions, arguing they could somehow jeopardize American relations with allies and fund Iran’s nuclear program. Exactly how the sanctions would so isn’t clear.

In fact, the sanctions specifically target funding for the country’s nuclear program and follow similar sanctions imposed by European nations and our staunch ally the United Kingdom.

“The sanctions would prohibit financial institutions that do business with the bank of Iran from opening or maintaining correspondent banking accounts in the United States,” explained the office of one of the bill’s sponsors, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., in a press release announcing the vote results. “If we are serious about stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, we must be willing to follow the money that feeds its nuclear ambitions and to take real action against the Central Bank of Iran, starving the regime of the resources it needs to advance its terrorist agenda,” Menendez said in a statement.

Just the latest blow to an increasingly unpopular administration with ever-decreasing political capital.

Members of Congress — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — have raked-in millions of dollars on stock trades that would land anyone else in prison.

They take advantage of insider knowledge, gained through their positions of power, to buy or sell shares as it may benefit them financially.

You or I would be in prison. They not only get away with it, they make millions of dollars doing it. As of right now they’re effectively above the law.

But that may well soon change. Following national outrage, more than 138 members of Congress have signed-on to a bill that would make such insider trading illegal. The measure has bipartisan support and, unusually for a grid-locked Washington, has been put on the fast track for passage.

It’s called the “Stock Act” and it would explicitly ban members of Congress and staffers from profiting on non-public information gained through their work on Capitol Hill.

“We must make it unambiguous that this behavior is illegal,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

“We should not be shielding Congress from laws that apply to other Americans,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) notes there hasn’t been one prosecution despite assurances that the SEC already has the power to handle such cases. He will support the legislation, joining an increasingly bipartisan coalition.

As for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who it was revealed profited handsomely from insider trading? She now says she’ll support the bill. What serendipitous timing.

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced on Tuesday his support for the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a significant portion of President Obama’s health care overhaul. Frank…became the 12th Democrat, and the 212th member of the House, to co-sponsor Tennessee Republican Rep. Phil Roe’s bill aimed at repealing the IPAB.

IPAB is the unaccountable board established under ObamaCare that will effectively ration care for millions of American patients. Their decisions would have to be overturned by an act of Congress and approved the president, making them effectively unaccountable to any branch of government.

Here’s how difficult it would be for Congress to overturn the decisions of the ration board:

Under the law, there are only a few ways for the board’s cost-control recommendations to be amended. Congress can pass alternative measures that reduce Medicare spending by at least as much as the IPAB proposal; or, three-fifths of the Senate can vote to override the IPAB proposal entirely. If Congress fails to pass its own version by a certain deadline and the Senate doesn’t waive the requirement with a three-fifths vote, the board’s recommendations automatically become law.

So effectively unaccountable. Except for the most outrageous decisions imaginable, any rationing moves the board makes would become law automatically. It effectively creates another Congress, but one unaccountable to voters, taxpayers, or really anyone. Stacked with bureaucrats who can pass laws without accountability.

Democrats, of course, will reject the plan. They’re less interested in actually creating jobs and fixing infrastructure than they in talking about creating jobs and fixing infrastructure. If they were to take the Republican proposal seriously they’d have to admit Republicans are putting forth job plans and not simply “obstructing”. And that wouldn’t jive with the left’s political narrative going into next year.

“I hope that they cannot reach an agreement,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said, according to Capital New York.

Some Democrats have suggested that they might have the upper hand in the negotiations because of the rare opportunity for deep reductions in defense spending — something some Democrats have wished for before.

By all means, our biggest fiscal issue by far is entitlement spending, with more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. But let’s try to “fix” (read: ignore) our real problem by gutting national defense — one of the only explicit responsibilities of the federal government. Priorities.

Democratic Sen. Jim Webb hesitates when asked if he’s going to campaign for President Obama next year.

“Are you going to be campaigning for President Obama?,” ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked the senator from Virginia in the latest installment of the “Subway Series.”

“We’ll see what that looks like next year,” said Webb.

“But you won’t say you will, at this point,” said Karl.

“I’m not saying that I won’t,” said Webb, later adding, “I’m saying I’ve been out there all this year for state races. I’m a Democrat.”

This is a United States Senator talking about his own party’s president.

David Axelrod, please pick up the red courtesy phone. David Axelrod to the red courtesy phone.

The final vote was 51-49. Sixty votes are needed to move on to debate and final passage.

The legislation sought to borrow $60 billion for “infrastructure” spending — you know, the stuff that was supposed to be covered by the first, $820 billion stimulus package. Apparently that original money went, er, elsewhere.

Support was so bipartisan in nature that hard-left liberals like Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Lynn Woolsey, and Alcee Hastings joined with almost every Republican in reaffirming the motto. It was a rare display of overwhelming bipartisanship in a Washington frozen by a divided Congress and White House.

In an interview late last week, House Minority Leaeder Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told CNBC that Boeing should either unionize its production facilities in South Carolina, or shut them down entirely.

“Do you think it’s right that Boeing has to close down that plant in South Carolina because it’s non union?” asked host Maria Bartiromo. Pelosi’s reply: “Yes.”

The minority leader quickly added that she would rather it simply unionize and stay open. But barring unionization, by Pelosi’s reasoning, it should simply shut down.

Pelosi isn’t simply anti-job — she’s anti-democracy. Why? Because workers at the South Carolina plant voted to decertify their union two years ago. They voted overwhelmingly (199-68) in favor of ending their union status. So what Pelosi is saying is that the workers should be forced to unionize against their will or have their jobs slashed.

If you’re wondering what sentient being isn’t aware of diapers, you’re missing the point: Connecticut representative Rosa DeLauro is raising awareness of the need for diapers in order to, as Politico reported, “push the Federal Government to provide free diapers to poor families.” Congresswoman DeLauro has introduced the DIAPER Act — that’s to say, the Diaper Investment and Aid to Promote Economic Recovery Act. So don’t worry, it’s not welfare, it’s “stimulus.”

Yes, apparently her legislation seeks to stimulate the economy by having taxpayers provide diapers for lower-income families. Because nothing stimulates the economy like taking money from the private sector to give to another part of the private sector after being washed through the federal bureaucracy and its massive overhead costs.

But hey, at least it’s better than borrowing a half-billion dollars from China to create jobs in Finland, which the Obama Administration did through its stimulus loans program. So hey, at least the imbecile, er, congresswoman from Connecticut is looking to waste the money here on fruitless stimulus efforts. Baby steps. Baby steps.

This is actually the 17th jobs creation provision passed by the House of Representatives, controlled by Republicans, but ignored by the United States Senate, which is controlled by Barack Obama’s Democrats. Senate majority leadership has actually stopped Republicans from voting on the president’s entire jobs bill, even while Democrats accuse Republicans of being the obstructionists.

House Majority Leader Eric Canter (R-VA) is getting tired of the president’s hypocrisy:

 “The President has traveled the country telling Americans, ‘We Can’t Wait’ to pass some jobs bills,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.). “Well, we aren’t waiting. We continue to pass jobs bills. Perhaps it’s time for the President to deliver the ‘We Can’t Wait’ message to the other body in the Capitol.”

Ah, but Eric, that would destroy the “Republicans are obstructionists” narrative and place blame where it belongs: on the president’s own party in the Senate. We can’t have that now, can we? No, much better to continue attacking Republicans for obstruction when they’re the ones actually passing and considering bills. It’s Obama’s strategy for next year: Lie, lie, and lie some more.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran told The Daily Caller on Thursday evening that President Obama should “refinance every home mortgage” without congressional approval in order to “reset the economy.”

Even this White House would be unwilling to suggest that the president can unilaterally refinance every home mortgage. Moran is talking about giving the president the power to seize control of assets, change contracts, and force private companies to change their policies — all by executive action.

Moran is no backbencher, either. He serves on the House Committee on Appropriations and was co-founder of the supposedly moderate New Democrat Coalition. He’s been a close ally of Nancy Pelosi for many years and, until Democrats lost control of the House, previously chaired powerful committees with big budgetary power.

So this is a mainstream House Democrat openly advocating granting Barack Obama dictatorial powers to seize control of assets, change contracts, and intervene in the operation of private companies. All supposedly in the name of the greater economic good. Scratch a Democrat, find someone who yearns for absolute power.

Among those who sided with Republicans on the bill include:

• Michael Bennet of Colorado
• Al Franken of Minnesota
• Kay Hagen of North Carolina
• Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
• Joe Manchin of West Virginia
• Claire McCaskill of Missouri
• Robert Menendez of New Jersey
• Ben Nelson of Nebraska
• Bill Nelson of Florida
• Jon Tester of Montana

Most of these senators still voted with the White House on the unfunded Stimulus 2.0 legislation, which relies on the same old failed tax-and-spend policies that have left is with 9% unemployment and a $1.65 trillion deficit.

But, and this is crucial, ten Senate Democrats broke with their own party and supported Republican legislation to stimulate the economy through tax breaks — a proven method to create jobs and get the country back on track.

We’re making progress. Keep up the good work. Keep pressuring members of Congress to oppose failed tax-and-spend policies and to support proven, free market solutions. It’s starting to have an impact.

The vote was 50-50, falling well-short of the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture.

Republicans only hold 47 seats in the Senate, meaning three Democrats joined them in opposition to the unfunded legislation.

Meanwhile, the left-wing media is kicking its shilling operation into hyperdrive.

The Associated Press calls it a Republican filibuster while labeling a massive tax increase on businessmen and investors as a “surcharge”.

They’re coming up with all sorts of interesting terms to avoid repeatedly saying “tax hike”. How creative and helpful of them.

More: Interestingly, a Republican proposal to end 3% withholding on contractors also failed cloture attainment this evening. But that vote was 57-43, just three votes short of cloture.

Put another way, Republican jobs legislation is now getting closer to passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate than Barack Obama’s proposals. That should have the White House concerned.

President Obama is against repealing the health law’s long-term care CLASS Act and might veto Republican efforts to do so, an administration official tells The Hill, despite the government’s announcement Friday that the program was dead in the water.

“We do not support repeal,” the official said Monday. “Repealing the CLASS Act isn’t necessary or productive. What we should be doing is working together to address the long-term care challenges we face in this country.”

And what better way than to quickly repeal the previous attempt that proved so fiscally disastrous that even its advocates suspended it? Seems like a good stepping stone moving forward. Wipe the slate clean and start again.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday in a blog post on the liberal Huffington Post web site that the administration did not see a way to make the program sustainable. Sebelius indicated her agency hadn’t been able to figure out a way to ensure the program providing long-term care paid for itself as required by law.

Later in a call with reporters on Friday, an HHS official said work on the program was being suspended.

“We won’t be working further to implement the CLASS Act … We don’t see a path forward to be able to do that,” Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee told reporters on Friday.

But don’t repeal it because…why again? Because it would be prominently conceding that the administration’s attempts to takeover health care have already been disastrous? Because it would place front and center the fiscal disaster that is ObamaCare? There must be some reason, and “Because this program is just so awesome!” ain’t it. And the CBO says repealing the program won’t add to the deficit. So why not repeal it?

Legislation to repeal the CLASS Act now has the sponsorship of nearly one-third of the United States Senate and 48 members of the House, including one Democrat from Illinois. Congress should move quickly to end this horrid program. And the rest of ObamaCare while they’re at it.

Senate Republicans were joined in opposition to cloture on the bill by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE). Other Democrats who have talked openly about opposing the bill — including Senators Manchin of West Virginia and Baucus of Montana — voted in favor of cloture.

Multiple Senate Democrats have expressed opposition to the bill itself barring changes. In fact, that’s why Majority Leader Harry Reid has been opposed to bringing the legislation up for a vote. He knows that as of now he’d lose the vote. And for good reason.

Update: Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) also voted against cloture. The bill didn’t get anywhere near enough votes to clear that procedural hurdle. Two Democrats and all Republicans voted against it. Barring significant changes, it’s dead in the water.

The vote is being held open until Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) can return to Washington from some awards ceremony tonight. But it won’t make a difference — not tonight anyway. The final  tally should be something like 52-47 or 51-48. Obama needed 60 “aye” votes to start debate on his latest monstrosity.

But as we’ve learned, such bipartisanship is only expected when Republicans are in power. Now Democrats are in control they don’t want the silly minority standing in their way.

In a shock development Thursday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) triggered a rarely-used procedural option informally called the “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules.

The surprise move stunned Republicans, who did not expect Reid to bring heavy artillery to what had appeared to have been a hum-drum legislative knife fight.

Reid appealed a ruling from the chair that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not need consent to force a vote on a motion to suspend the rules to consider an amendment after cloture has already been approved.

The maneuver is highly arcane but momentous. If a simple majority of the Senate votes to uphold Reid’s appeal, the Senate’s rules will have been changed by the unilateral action of one party.

Well, Democrats have been saying we need less democracy and more unilateral action. So here we are. Senate Democrats shutting down dissent to make it easier to ram their agenda through. The minority is now stopped from offering amendments.

Note to Republicans: Shut the emer-effer down. Don’t stand for this.

Update: What is this about? Republicans want to vote on the president’s jobs bill tonight. Reid knows he doesn’t have the votes and it would embarrass him, so he’s shutting down the minority’s rights. Which flies in direct contrast to his promises. “As majority leader, I intend to run the Senate with respect for the rules and for the minority rights the rules protect.” That was Reid on December 8, 2006. My how times have changed.

Update X2: It’s done. Rules are changed. Rights of the minority party denied. Rules can now be changed by a simply majority vote, destroying years and years of precedent.

All so Reid could avoid voting on Obama’s jobs bill tonight. Democrats actually did tonight what they screamed blue-bloody murder over Republicans considering just a few years ago.

Hey, Gang of 14? Guys like McCain, Collins, and Graham who helped Democrats keep power while in the minority? Screw you all. Have we learned our lesson? Democratic politicians are not to be trusted. They’ll demand rights today and deny you the same tomorrow. It’s about power for them. Stop helping them get it.

Back in May, Holder testified before the House that he only learned about Fast and Furious in recent weeks, as the news media began covering the story. The administration has also repeatedly insisted that the scandal didn’t go to the top of the Justice Department.

But here’s the problem: House investigators and CBS News have acquired emails showing Holder was briefed on the operation by the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center in July 2010. That was months before the scandal broke or was even shut down.

So either the Attorney General isn’t paying attention to his own high-level briefings, in which case he’s not competent to serve as Attorney General. Or he knew about the operation while it was ongoing, did and said nothing, and then proceeded to lie under oath to Congress.

Landra Reid, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has been diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer and is being treated in Washington, DC.

Reid’s office confirmed the diagnosis this morning when I called. Landra Reid is receiving treatment, including chemotherapy. Reid’s folks emphasized that he is by her side but that his work as majority leader will not be compromised.

“Senator and Mrs. Reid appreciate the thoughts and concerns expressed during this time.” Reid spokesman Zac Petkanas said in response to my inquiry. “They ask that they be afforded the respect and privacy that any family would want.”

According to WebMd, the eight-year-plus survival rate for women diagnosed with stage-2 breast cancer is upwards of 70%. Apparently she’s still at the point where treatments can be quite effective, so that’s very promising.

We must hope for the best for Mrs. Reid. Best of luck in her treatments and (hopefully) recovery. You can help find a cure for breast cancer here. Another area that truly needs help is childhood cancer research. St. Jude does great work.

 ”My point was one of sarcasm,” Perdue told reporters in Thomasville. “We really just need to encourage our leaders who are elected to work together and solve America’s problems.”

She added: “It was taken out of context from my perspective. But honest to goodness, who would think something like that would be said seriously. It’s ridiculous to have this kind of discussion about it.”

The quote that was “taken out of context” was actually captured on audio, which you can hear at the first link, by the Raleigh News and Observer. You can hear what she said for yourself. You’ll notice the Democratic governor was being dead serious about her proposition. She didn’t stop for a laugh, or indicate hyperbole, or sound sarcastic in the least. It was delivered dead seriously as part of a speech and then she continued.

Besides, in which “context” would it be acceptable for a governor to even suggest suspending federal elections? Federal elections are mandated by the United States Constitution. So she’s not only talking about suspending elections but the Constitution, too. In which “context” is that acceptable for a governor to suggest — jokingly or otherwise?

Of course, she wasn’t taken out of context. You can read her full speech and you’ll still come to the same conclusion: She was dead serious about her proposal.

Perdue let the collectivist left’s mask slip and now her folks are doing their best to put on a happy face and pretend it was all good fun. Well it wasn’t.

Peter Orszag, Obama’s first budget director, also recently suggested reducing democracy in the United States, also in order to get stuff done. And Thomas Friedman of the New York Times has long admired the ability of the Chinese government to get things done — because democracy doesn’t exist there. House Democrat James Clyburn recently told Obama to ignore Congress and start issuing executive orders to get stuff done.

This is a scary trend on the left side of the aisle. Perdue was just the latest lefty to suggest the reduction or suspension of democracy. To get stuff done, of course. By which they mean things that the government could never get away with in the current system of accountability to voters. It’s not just wrong — it’s anti-American in the truest sense.

Following public outrage, Perdue’s spokesman insisted the governor was joking. You know, despite the fact the statement she made contained no punch line and seemed quite serious. In fact, she said, “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”

Well, Raleigh News and Observer was apparently at the event and captured audio of her speech. Her tone is completely serious and there’s no indication of a joke. As the spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party said:

 “If it was a joke, what was the set-up?,” Lockwood adds. “What was the punch-line? Where was the pause for laughter? It took them three hours to say it was a ‘joke,’ but when that flopped it became ‘hyperbole.’ We’ll just call it an unconstitutionally bad idea.”

Indeed. It should also be noted there was no laughter from the audience and not once did she pause for laughter. She just kept talking and talking. The “suspend elections” bit was just part of her speech. Not a joke. Perhaps a Freudian slip. But not a joke.

Obama wanted $8 billion next year and $53 billion through 2018 to build high-speed rail lines no one will use and we can’t afford. The Senate appropriations committee said, “How about no.”

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s high-speed passenger rail initiative may be unfunded next year after a panel controlled by fellow Democrats approved legislation that contains no money for the program.

The Senate Appropriations subcommittee that sets the Transportation Department’s budget approved the spending plan yesterday, said John Bray, a spokesman for the panel. The full committee is scheduled to consider the bill today.

The high-speed rail program is “a casualty of the cuts mandated in the debt-limit deal” Obama and congressional Republican leaders struck in August, Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat and a supporter of the president’s program, said in an e-mailed statement. Lautenberg is a member of the transportation subcommittee.

I wouldn’t put it past Obama to requisition funds from elsewhere in the budget to continue funding the program. Maybe a signing statement. Or he’ll just plain ignore the law. He’s done it before (See: Libya).

Anyway, this move now means that neither the House nor Senate will provide funding for the high-speed boondoggle next year. It’s part of the cuts Republicans demanded in exchange for a debt ceiling hike.

In this project the PI will study lightweight embodiment as an input for collaborative creative interaction, specifically applied to the domain of dance. The PI and her team of technologists, choreographers and artists will work together to define an evolving system that assists in the design and production of interactive dance performances with real-time audience interaction. The Dance.Draw system will enable dancers’ motions, tracked via small RF transmitters worn in satin cuffs…

By the way, this was evidently funded by the stimulus. Total jobs reportedly created for $762,372? 1.5 jobs. A job and a half for more than 3/4 of a million dollars. Good times, good times.

But no. He’s going the full tax-and-spend route. He wants $3 in tax hikes for every $1 in spending cuts. How is this a “balanced” approach? I’ve no idea.

That means in terms of actual new proposals, the president’s plan totals about $1.2 trillion, of which the lion’s share comes from his longstanding vow to raise taxes back to Clinton-era rates on the top income brackets. The rest is $580 billion in reductions to formula-driven entitlement programs such as Social Security, with much of the savings coming from reducing overpayments and finding waste.

Those $580 billion in newly proposed cuts are dwarfed nearly three-to-one by the $1.5 trillion in additional taxes the president wants to see going forward.

Mr. Obama said his plan calls for $2 in cuts for every $1 in tax increases, but he reaches that by re-counting cuts already in law or in the planning pipeline, and by factoring in lower debt service costs.

So he claims new cuts by recounting old ones. And that’s not the only Orwellian part of his proposal:

Many of Obama’s proposals are retreads from earlier budget proposals, including those submitted by his predecessors. Most have been rejected year after year. Some ideas, like requiring wealthier veterans to pay more for their health care, stir up opposition from powerful interest groups. Others, like the bigger security fee for flyers, seem too close to a ticket tax increase.

Administration budget documents describe the fees as savings.

The “make veterans pay for their own health care” idea was so stupid that even Jon Stewart mocked Obama mercilessly last time it was proposed. Stewart went on to sarcastically suggest turning Arlington National Cemetery into a water park and having companies sponsor combat medals.

Obama knows this crap bill will never pass. He knows it. So why propose it? So he can blame all of his issues on Congress — including its Democratic members.

You don’t like the economy? Well, Obama tried to fix it with more stimulus spending that totally would’ve worked, but that evil Congress stopped him. You don’t like the deficit? Well, Obama tried to fix it with massive tax hikes and a little cut to spending, and that totally would’ve worked, but that evil Congress stopped him.

He wants a package big enough that he can later claim it would’ve fixed all of our problems, but Congress stopped him. So don’t blame him next November — blame Congress.

The guy doesn’t care if he throws other Democrats under the bus. He knows many Democrats (Nelson, Manchin, Pryor) can’t support this crap. But he’s willing to throw them under the bus to save his own political ass next year. Democrats are just beginning to realize as much now.

“I’m afraid if we tried to pass one big bill, I think there’s a lot of skepticism about big pieces of legislation with all kinds of different component parts. We should break this up.”…

“Even without presidential politics, it’s complicated by the politics of Washington. You’ve got too many people here that spend their whole day trying to score political points instead of working together.”…

“I believe it would be much more likely if we break it up,” says Casey. “Why not have a series of votes on job creation strategies – five votes, 10 votes, I don’t care if it’s 25 votes.”

And he also says he doesn’t support everything in the bill, which may be why he wants it broken up. Which, again, is contentious because Obama has demanded that the whole bill be passed as one piece of legislation. There will be no negotiations, his administration has said.

Yeah, well, some Senate Democrats apparently disagree.

One proposal Casey specifically supports? Extension of pay roll tax cuts. All it took was abysmal approval ratings for Democrats to have an epiphany on the importance of tax cuts to economic stimulation.

“We are going to have the Republicans belly up to the bar to turn down this plan,” Harry Reid said during a virtual town hall meeting with supporters Wednesday.

Reid said he won’t immediately take up Obama’s plan because the Senate must tackle other issues first. He didn’t specify which bills would receive priority over Obama’s economic solution.

Sorry, Harry, but I’m gonna have to report you to AttackWatch. Delaying Barack Obama’s Stimulus 2.0 because you have other things to do? How could you?

This is the offense we’ve been waiting for.

It turns out that Barack Obama hesitated too long before introducing his $400 billion+, unfunded Stimulus II in the House. So Republicans swiped the bill’s name — American Jobs Act — and introduced it as a tax cut intended to stimulate economic growth and hiring.

The sponsor is Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

But now Mark Knoller of CBS News reports that Obama has sent out a pre-speech political email to his supporters. In it, he tells them to pressure Congress to pass his proposals. The email is signed “Barack” and is funded by his 2012 presidential campaign.