112 Congress

Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, the favorite to be the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has come under attack by some conservatives as a mushy RINO (Republican In Name Only). But take a look at what his agenda as chairman would be. It’s anything but what a RINO would propose.

Rep. Buck McKeon, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, is set to deliver in the next hour the following remarks in Washington on foreign policy in the 112 Congress:

On Tuesday, Republicans in the Senate (as well as those who are about to join the Senate) will vote in a closed door session on whether to support an earmark moratorium, which has been recommended by Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn. The most comprehensive list of the current whip count has been compiled by Taxpayers Against Earmarks.

Readers of a certain age will remember Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), the Republican senator from Maine who enjoyed a certain renown in her day as the first woman whose name was entered into the nomination process for president by a major party (1964), and for her daily habit of wearing a fresh rose in the buttonhole of her business suit. Senator Smith had another distinction: She was an early Republican critic of Joseph McCarthy, and in June 1950 issued a “Declaration of Conscience” against his growing influence on the Senate floor.

Ben Smith has a good piece on John Thune’s vulnerabilities as a 2012 presidential candidate. Smith’s post raises the central question: Is Thune too “establishment” for the current political environment?

In the midst of a resounding national rebuke at all levels of government, the Democrats have been taking some solace in having held the Senate. But to put the Republicans' Senate gains this week into perspective, Republicans won an even higher percentage of Senate races than House races (they won 65 percent of the 37 Senate races, versus approximately 56 percent of the 435 House races).

John Boehner’s favorite line during the election campaign was that he’s not Nancy Pelosi. That was hardly breaking news. What’s meaningful now, with Boehner soon to become House speaker, is that he’s not Newt Gingrich or Tom DeLay either.

On November 7, 2006, the Democrats marked their takeover of Congress with a raucous celebration at the Hyatt Regency hotel on Capitol Hill. Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling as the party’s leaders stood on the stage arm-in-arm, beaming with joy. “Tonight is a great victory for the American people,” Nancy Pelosi declared, as Chuck Schumer pumped his fists in the air behind her.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD was already in good cheer after Tuesday’s election. But then came the news at the end of the week, as the magazine went to press, that Nancy Pelosi has decided to try to retain her position as the top House Democrat, and will stand for House minority leader in January.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD was already in good cheer after Tuesday’s election. But then came the news at the end of the week, as the magazine went to press, that Nancy Pelosi has decided to try to retain her position as the top House Democrat, and will stand for House minority leader in January.