GOP Doesn’t Mind Being ‘Party Of No’ On Spending

With Democrats in the Senate getting set to put forth a jobs bill, perhaps as early as Monday, their counterparts across the aisle are saying ‘no’ to more spending.

“We have a situation now that’s just too serious to continue to handle that way,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on Thursday. “It’s not an exaggeration to say our country is on the edge of a financial cliff.”

DeMint and fellow GOP Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and George LeMieux (R-Fla.) unveiled their party’s latest attempt to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington, calling on Congress to support a one-year moratorium on earmarks along with a Constitutional Amendment to balance the federal budget.

“What we’re doing here today, is to try and challenge everyone in the Senate -- Republican and Democrat -- to join us in those steps that we can take...to address our growing deficit,” said DeMint.

“Everything is gonna get cut...it’s gonna be painful, but I guarantee you that we can cut the agencies of government...by 20 percent even, maybe 30 percent,” added LeMieux.

McCain, a noted opponent of federal earmark spending, blasted President Barack Obama for supporting using unspent Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds to fuel a jobs bill which could total over $100 billion.

“The President says he’s gonna have a spending freeze next year, and in the very next breath proposes a hundred billion dollars in new spending called a ‘jobs bill.’ It’s out of control.”

The hard part now for the 11 cosponsors of the measures will be to actually practice what they preach. Graham, for example, has a known record of not being averse to requesting earmarks. As recently as 2009, he helped secure nearly 10 million dollars to fund construction of a fitness center inside Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.

Graham, however, said he’s willing to bite the proverbial bullet in the short-run.

“It would be tough for us all, but it’s the right thing for the future. So I don’t mind an earmark system in the future that’s transparent, that’s logical and fits within a balanced budget.”

House May Try To Pass Smaller Individual Healthcare Bills, Says Hoyer

Unwilling to make the ultimate concession and pass the Senate’s healthcare reform bill, the House may try to pass a series of individual bills, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday.

“We may have individual bills on the floor...that’s in discussion,” said Hoyer, who acknowledged that passing piecemeal legislation could be difficult given that many reform provisions rely on others to be effective. Hoyer said that a decision on how to proceed would be made “as soon as [House leaders] know the way forward.”

In addition to healthcare, Hoyer touched upon a laundry list of issues during his weekly briefing with reporters, including Pay-Go legislation that passed the Senate last week. The Majority Leader said that the House would vote on a Pay-Go proposal of its own within a bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling on Thursday.

Addressing the big news story of the day -- testimony from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen regarding ending the military’s ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy -- Hoyer said he supported doing away with the controversial practice.

“‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ needs to be repealed,” he said. Hoyer added that although Mullen called for an end to the policy during Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Congress would wait to act on putting forth legislation.

Later, Hoyer blasted Republican leadership for blocking a Senate amendment last week that would’ve created a congressional debt commission. Hoyer took shots at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), noting that he had been for the commission before he voted against it. The Majority Leader expressed his hope that President Barack Obama would “go forward” on issuing an executive order to create a similar commission.

And for you sports fans out there, when asked for his pick to win the Super Bowl, Hoyer wouldn’t commit to either the Saints or Colts, but may have tipped his hand when he quipped that the “Colts were stolen out of Baltimore...in the dead of night.”

McCain, Bayh Heed Obama's Call To Freeze Spending

Ask and you shall receive.

Just one day after White House officials announced that President Barack Obama will soon call for a freeze on federal non-discretionary spending, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Even Bayh (D-Ind.) introduced The Fiscal Freeze Act of 2010.

“We have to stand with those who are paying the bills and show that the government can discipline itself and make the difficult decisions just as families as businesses do each and every day, and in so doing perhaps began the process of rehabilitating the reputation of the government in the minds of the people,” said Bayh.

Bayh, who earlier in the day learned that he will not be facing popular conservative Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) in his Senate re-election race this fall, said that the bipartisan bill would focus on imposing a moratorium on earmark spending and would create a new trust fund-esque deficit reduction account. The legislation would also include protections against potential government shutdowns, he added.

The releasing of the bill comes as the Senate awaits a vote on whether or not to raise the nation’s debt ceiling another $1.9 trillion, from roughly $12.4 trillion to $14.3 trillion. Critics have called on the Obama administration to cut spending for weeks, and it appears now that those calls are getting through.

However, on the day before President Obama delivers his State of the Union address to Congress, there is more buzz now surrounding the deficit than at any other time in his presidency. Much of that has to do with the fact that Congress’s $787 stimulus bill, while increasing the nation's debt, has had essentially no positive effect on the country’s unemployment rate. Coupled with a roughly $900 billion healthcare reform bill that still has an outside shot of passing, it’s become clear that the administration has thus far prioritized spending to help grow a struggling economy over balancing a ballooning federal budget.

But McCain, who lost to Obama in the 2008 election, said Tuesday that the budget can be fixed if enough Members are willing to tackle the problem.

“The reaction to this is gonna be, ‘it’s too hard, you cant do it,’ well look...to say we can’t do it and it’s too hard neglects the realities of the incredible dramatic increase in spending.”

Republican Brown Takes Massachusetts Senate Seat

Massachusetts State Senator Scott Brown (R) has defeated his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, to win control of a United States Senate seat that for decades was occupied by the late Ted Kennedy (D), a liberal Democrat. With 100 percent of precincts counted, Brown led Coakley by a 52 percent to 47 percent margin.

The old adage, 'all politics is local,' may not have applied as much as it normally does to the race between Brown and Coakley. Many, who watched as Brown erased a 30 point deficit in the polls over the last few weeks, viewed his victory as a referendum on what has taken place in Washington under the direction of the Obama administration and the Democrats in Congress. Not coincidentally, Brown's ascension to the Senate puts an end to the Democratic super-majority in that chamber. Lacking 60 votes, the prospects of passing a national health care reform bill are all but dead for the Democrats.

However, it remains to be seen how Brown's triumph will affect President Barack Obama's strategy on health care. On Wednesday, Obama's presidential campaign director David Plouffe said, "We have a good health care plan...We need to pass that. We have to lead."

Brown, who replaces Democrat Paul Kirk, who was appointed to Kennedy's seat following his death, will serve the remainder of Kennedy's term, and will face re-election in 2012.

Friday Sports Roundup

Gilbert Arenas once said that he chose to wear the Number 0 because he wanted to prove his doubters wrong. Now, it's looking increasingly doubtful that he'll don a uniform again in 2010. The Washington Wizards (NBA) superstar is expected to plead guilty today to felony gun charges before a District of Columbia Superior Court judge.

If convicted, however, Arenas -- who has been suspended indefinitely by NBA commissioner David Stern -- most likely will not face an extended stay behind bars. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the three-time All-Star guard has reached a plea agreement that should result in little to no jail time.

Regardless, Arenas's time in Washington could soon be over. The Wizards may attempt to invoke a morals clause found in most NBA contracts as a way to void their star's six-year, $111 million contract...

UPDATE: Arenas pleaded guilty on Friday to carrying a pistol without a license. Misdemeanor charges against him were waived as part of a plea bargain that was reached. Arenas faces sentencing on March 26. If convicted, he could face a maximum of six months in jail...