Gingrich says look out for some governors

Welcome to 2009. Now watch your wallet.

With the economy in the deepest crisis since the Great Depression, higher taxes are precisely what we don’t need to restore jobs and growth. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that President-elect Obama seems to understand this and is proposing tax cuts as part of his stimulus package. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that some of the nation’s governors don’t seem to get it. They’re still eager to take more of your money, recession or no recession.  Read the full list here.

New rules guarantee power for Pelosi and crew

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office.

Pelosi’s rule changes — which may be voted on today — will reverse the fairness rules that were written around Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.”

In reaction, the House Republican leadership is sending a letter today to Pelosi to object to changes to House Rules this week that would bar Republicans from offering alternative bills, amendments to Democrat bills or even the guarantee of open debate accessible by motions to recommit for any piece of legislation during the entire 111th Congress. These procedural abuses, as outlined in the below letter obtained by HUMAN EVENTS, would also include the repeal of six-year limit for committee chairmen and other House Rules reform measures enacted in 1995 as part of the Contract with America.

Read the rest of the story at Human Events by clicking here.

Richardson unexpectedly withdraws name

CHICAGO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn as President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for commerce secretary, an Obama aide said on Sunday. 

The aide gave no further details, saying only that a statement was due to be released shortly. 

Obama said in a statement he had accepted Richardson’s withdrawal with “deep regret.”  Read the full story with updates here.

American Future Fund believes that in a bad economy, governments of all sizes need to tighten their belts, just as America’s families are doing.  Now is the time to root out budget fat, and not simply throw more money at the problem.  We will keep you updated on this and other government bailouts.

Facing Senate Opposition

(POLITICO) - Senate committee chairmen expect to begin confirmation hearings for Barack Obama’s Cabinet picks shortly after Congress returns to work next week, with only one — Attorney General nominee Eric Holder — expected to face any significant opposition from Republicans.

Holder’s confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15, five days before Obama takes the oath. Aides to Republicans and Democrats on the Judiciary Committee and sources close to Holder say they’re braced for a tough fight over his role in the Elian Gonzalez controversy, his relationship with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and most of all in his role in former President Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich.

Republicans are pressing Holder for records on those issues and others.

“The Judiciary Committee is reviewing materials provided by the nominee, correspondence from outside groups, materials from the committee archive, and awaiting other documents requested by committee members,” a Republican spokesman for the Judiciary Committee told Politico on Wednesday.

But it’s not clear that Republicans will actually fight Holder’s confirmation — and his is about the rockiest road facing any of Obama’s Cabinet picks.

The Senate hasn’t rejected a Cabinet nominee outright since 1989, when it voted down John Tower, President George H.W. Bush’s pick as Defense secretary. Before that, it hadn’t rejected a Cabinet pick since 1959. With Democrats in control in the Senate — and Republicans looking to pick their battles carefully — don’t expect a repeat in 2009.   READ THE WHOLE STORY ON POLITICO BY CLICKING HERE.

Raising Bailout Questions

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced skepticism Monday over the massive economic-stimulus package being drafted by Democrats, likening Barack Obama’s first major initiative to a “trillion-dollar spending bill” that could leave the country saddled with an unsustainable debt.

McConnell, the Kentucky Republican who will lead a smaller GOP minority next Congress, said the bill should be the subject of extensive hearings to scrutinize how the federal dollars would be spent and questioned Democrats’ goals to approve the bill by the time Obama is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

“Surely the Democrat leadership in Congress doesn’t plan to spend a trillion dollars of taxpayer money — nearly $10,000 in new debt for everyone who pays federal income tax, charged to the credit card for our children to pay — without safeguards, without appropriate hearings to scrutinize how tax dollars are being spent,” he said in a statement.

In addition to hearings, McConnell has called for an open amendment process to give the GOP opportunity to alter the bill as it heads to the Senate floor. It’s unclear yet whether Democrats will oblige, saying the economy is in rough enough shape that quick action is needed to stave off the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Read the full story on Politico by clicking here.

Bad economy? Lawmakers to get nearly $5k each in raises

Each lawmaker’s annual salary is due for a $4,700 cost-of-living increase starting in January, which will amount to a cost to taxpayers of $2.5 million in 2009, infuriating watchdog groups.

“Members of Congress don’t deserve one additional dime of taxpayer money in 2009,” said Tom Schatz, president of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste. Read more at FoxNews.Com.

Pick called "disastrous"

By Bret Jacobson, for the L.A. Times: AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said he’s “thrilled.” SEIU President Andy Stern said he’s “thrilled.” Apparently, everyone who happens to run a labor organization feels that Christmas has come a little early this year with President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of Rep. Hilda L. Solis (D- El Monte) for secretary of Labor. In his Dec. 19 Times Op-Ed article, “Labor’s fresh face,” Harold Meyerson praises what he considers the numerous gutsy political moves made by Solis over her career.

The reason for their palpable giddiness, however, is likely to trouble anyone who doesn’t happen to run a union.

Solis regularly sides with organized labor’s demands, including the biggest of them all: union leaders’ desperate campaign to boost their membership by getting rid of secret ballot elections. That privacy allows millions of American workers to vote their conscience when deciding whether to start paying dues to a union boss. Consequently, it’s easy to see why union bosses prefer “card check” — a dubious method that requires employees to sign a legally binding card stating their preference in a way that would allow anyone to know if they are pro-union or not.

The new Labor secretary will be at the forefront of the push for a new law, the Employee Free Choice Act, aimed at making it easier for workers to organize. The measure is organized labor’s top priority for the new administration and Congress.

American Future Fund strongly opposes the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which would remove workers’ rights to secret ballot in the workplace.  This legislation would be devastating to the nation’s economy, and AFF calls on Solis to oppose these efforts.