Publius' Newsstand

• NY23d: Hoffman makes it official: he'll run for...

  Douglas L. Hoffman rode a strong wave of conservative activism to a second-place finish in last fall's special election in the 23rd Congressional District. Now the Lake Placid accountant — and adopted son of the Tea Party movement — is back for a second try, but not without some competition. Mr. Hoffman formally entered the race for the Republican nomination Monday, telling his supporters in a letter posted to his Web site that he "will defeat Bill Owens" if there's a rematch. Listen to our interview with Doug on Liberty Pundits.

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• Smackdown time - The Hill: Alexander, Gregg thr...

  Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and ranking Republican Finance Committee member Judd Gregg (N.H.) said they will force votes on virtually every sentence of the healthcare reform bill to overcome Democrats' parliamentary maneuver. Gregg said Republicans would force votes on a provision in the 1974 bill that says reconciliation can only be used to amend laws, plus another longstanding Senate rule that says reconciliation can only be used for budget-related issues, plus yet another Senate rule that says 60 votes are necessary to waive the budget-only rule. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that insisted he had 41 votes for the last roadblock, thereby denying Democrats the magic 60.

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• Dems give up on flipping Stupak 12

  House leaders have concluded they cannot change a divisive abortion provision in President Barack Obama's health care bill and will try to pass the sweeping legislation without the support of ardent anti-abortion Democrats. A break on abortion would remove a major obstacle for Democratic leaders in the final throes of a yearlong effort to change health care in the United States. But it sets up a risky strategy of trying to round up enough Democrats to overcome, not appease, a small but possibly decisive group of Democratic lawmakers in the House.

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• Senate Parliamentarian: Obama must sign bill as...

  The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress’ original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday. The Senate Parliamentarian’s Office was responding to questions posed by the Republican leadership. The answers were provided verbally, sources said. House Democratic leaders have been searching for a way to ensure that any move they make to approve the Senate-passed $871 billion health care reform bill is followed by Senate action on a reconciliation package of adjustments to the original bill. One idea is to have the House and Senate act on reconciliation prior to House action on the Senate’s original health care bill.

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• House votes overwhelmingly to investigate Pelos...

  The House voted Thursday to open an ethics investigation into what and when House Democratic leaders knew of allegations of sexual harassment against former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.). The House overwhelmingly backed a privileged resolution offered by GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) that will have the Ethics Committee look into what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and other Democratic leaders and staffers knew about allegations of sexual harassment against Massa, and when they became aware of the situation. The Republican resolution came amid reports that members of Pelosi's staff had been allegedly been notified of the situation in Massa's office as early as last year.

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• House GOP votes to ban all earmarks

  This would be called leading while in the minority. The Dems only ban some earmarks. GOP bans 'em all.

  House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks. The Republican's moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee's ban in that it applies to all earmarks for all members of their caucus. "For millions of Americans, the earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington," they said. "We believe the time has come for House Republicans to adopt an immediate, unilateral moratorium on all earmarks."

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• Gallup: Record number of people believe Global ...

  There is lots of good stuff in this poll. Support for the Warmists is dropping off a cliff (or off a melting glacier, if you prefer).

  Gallup's annual update on Americans' attitudes toward the environment shows a public that over the last two years has become less worried about the threat of global warming, less convinced that its effects are already happening, and more likely to believe that scientists themselves are uncertain about its occurrence. In response to one key question, 48% of Americans now believe that the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated, up from 41% in 2009 and 31% in 1997, when Gallup first asked the question.

  That increase to 48% is fully 7 points higher than last year, which was also a record high.

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• Dem Rep Holden (PA) - No

  The good part is the breadth of his No - read on: Holden, D-17, voted against the health care reform bill last year. However, another vote will likely be held soon, as the House appears set to pass the Senate's version of the bill. Johnson and others believe Holden is likely having "his arm twisted" by Democratic leaders eager to turn his "no" vote to a "yes" vote the second time around. However, in a telephone interview Wednesday night, Holden said his position will not change. "I will not vote for the Senate bill," Holden said. "It makes significant cuts to Medicare and Medicaid ... and the restrictions on (federal funding for) abortion are not as strong."

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• VA set to outlaw individual mandates - 34 more ...

  The Virginia General Assembly has given final approval to a bill that would make it illegal for the government to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a measure intended to conflict with Democratic efforts to reform health care in Washington. Thirty-four other states are weighing similar legislation to block the individual mandate, which is an element of bills that have passed both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. But Virginia is the first state to complete legislative action on such a bill.

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• 0-3 Obama says a "yes" vote worth a presidentia...

  These people stop at nothing to buy what they want: "At the same time, Obama intends to lobby wavering House Democrats to vote for a Senate version of the legislation and to support the subsequent reconciliation process, which Republicans have characterized as an unjustified use of majority power. Among the rewards Obama is ready to offer, White House officials said, are election-year visits to competitive congressional districts, where a presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds."

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