One line of thought holds that Democrats are sinking fast enough on their own, so let them. Just get out of the way and let the weight of their Big Government policies, propounded during nearly four years controlling Congress and nearly two years running everything in Washington, do its thing.

The other argument is that Republicans, in asking Americans to hand them congressional control, or at least a piece of it, must say what they would do with that control. The GOP fell short the last time it was in charge, so it’s obligated to detail how things would be different if given another shot.

Thus, the document Republicans produced last week walks a narrow line. It’s not a campaign platform or a legislative blueprint. It’s more a statement of philosophical conviction and direction — one that mostly succeeds in assuring voters that Republicans have heard their demand for a stop to the Democrats’ agenda of increased spending, higher taxes and expansion of federal reach into their everyday lives.

Get full story here.

Democratic leaders scrambled Monday to peel away the Republican votes they need to bring a Wall Street reform package to the Senate floor this week — an effort hampered by sharp partisan divisions.

Both sides are eager to exploit a lingering resentment toward Wall Street in the election-year debate. Democrats have seized on the attempt to curb reckless investment practices as part of an effort to depict the GOP as out of touch with the concerns of average Americans. On Monday, Democrats sought to use a lawsuit brought against financial giant Goldman Sachs by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a cudgel to persuade Republicans to line up behind the bill.

Republicans, in turn, think voters have even less faith in Washington than in the banks and investment houses that played central roles in the nation’s economic collapse, and they are portraying Democrats’ overhaul attempt as a “bailout” that could cost taxpayers billions.

Get full story here.

As protesters rallied outside, Democrats and Republicans engaged in a battle over taxes in the Capitol, with Democrats claiming credit for massive tax cuts while Republicans accused them of actually raising taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars and breaking President Obama’s pledge to not raise taxes on the middle class.

The first volley was fired by House Democrats, who sent a missive to reporters proclaiming they have led Congress to cut taxes by more than $800 billion.

“In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Congress and the President acted swiftly to bring relief to our nation’s families and businesses, and create good-paying jobs,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “A critical element of that relief and recovery effort was tax cuts for the middle class and small business owners.”

Pelosi credited the $850 billion stimulus bill, saying more than one-third of it is comprised of tax relief for the middle class.

Democrats are also touting the new health care law as a tax cut because many people will get tax credits if they purchase health insurance.

Incredulous Republicans disputed the claim, saying much of what Democrats call tax cuts is actually government spending, and that the party has passed middle class tax increases and is planning more, including a potential fuel tax, a tax on those who do not purchase health insurance and a tax on expensive insurance plans.

Get full story here.

Get full story here.

“Again the President and Vice President have come to the Buckeye State to try and sell their massive job-killing government takeover of health care, but Ohioans aren’t buying it.  Instead, as we approach nearly a year of double-digit unemployment in Ohio, hard-working families are wondering why Washington Democrats refuse to abandon their government takeover of health care, their ‘cap and trade’ national energy tax, and all their government spending that will only make matters worse.

“This week members of Congress will be asked to pass the Senate health care bill with its job-killing tax hikes, its ‘Corn Husker Kickback,’ its ‘Louisiana Purchase,’ and its taxpayer funding for abortions.  Ohioans don’t want it.  The American people oppose it.  Ohio’s undecided Democrats have a decision to make.  Are they going to stand with President Obama and his fellow Washington Democrats, or are they going to stand with their constituents?’

“It is not too late to scrap this job-killing monstrosity and start over with a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses. Republicans have offered a plan to lower premiums by up to 10 percent, which is exactly what the American people want.”

NOTE: According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 56 percent of Ohioans oppose Washington Democrats’ government takeover of health care.

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th Congressional District, which includes all of Darke, Miami, and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County.  He was first elected to Congress in 1990.

# # # # #

Eager to avoid a repeat of the Mark Foley scandal, House Democratic leaders moved quickly last month when a staffer for Rep. Eric Massa complained that he’d made advances to a junior male aide.

But rumors about Massa had been circulating for months in both Democratic and Republican circles on Capitol Hill, and GOP operatives even considered digging into them on their own. However, sources say there wasn’t evidence of any wrongdoing until Massa’s then-legislative director contacted the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in early February.

Get full story here.

From the Associated Press:

THE CLAIM:

When House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., argued that Republicans had used the same fast-track process to enact major legislation along partisan lines when they were in charge of Congress, Cantor denied it. “There was, in the main, bipartisan support for what was being done through reconciliation in those instances,” he said.

THE FACTS:

Of the 10 occasions between 1995 and 2005 when Republicans were in the Senate majority and used reconciliation to pass bills, seven passed with deep partisan divisions.

In 2005, for example, Republicans used reconciliation to muscle through a deficit reduction bill that restricted Medicaid payments. It passed with 50 Republicans in favor, all Democrats against and Vice President Dick Cheney voting to break a tie — about as divisive as a Senate vote can get.  [3/5/2010]

From Ezra Klein, Washington Post:

“The Sunlight Foundation released a great graphic this morning showing the partisan breakdown of recent reconciliation votes. It’s a bit big to repost here, but take a look for yourself. Contrary to what some Republicans are saying, those blue and red bars don’t overlap very often. But it’s interesting to note that they overlapped a lot more frequently in the Clinton years than in the Bush years.”  [3/4/2010]

###