"There are some who want to kill health care reform. We don't," Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., the head of the House Blue Dog Coalition's health care task force, told National Journal (subscription) last July, after leading a contingent to the White House to negotiate on an early markup of the bill. But even though the Blue Dogs have won a number of concessions from liberals over the course of the health care debate that Ross now says "made the final product a better bill," he still decided to vote against his party's signature legislation on Sunday.
In an interview with National Journal on Monday, Ross reflected on the year-long debate, why he ultimately voted no and what could have been done differently.
Continue reading A Blue Dog Explains His 'No' Vote.
Updated at 8:55 a.m. on March 8.
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told NationalJournal.com on Friday that for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to do its job, it can't be run by bank regulators.
"The problem we've had is that there are consumer protection laws, but they're administered by bank regulators, whose primary obligation and orientation is towards keeping the banks profitable," Frank said. "... I admire Sheila Bair [of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.], she's a wonderful regulator. But her primary job is to keep the banks safe, and it is not to worry about consumers. I don't think there's a major conflict there, but it's a question of mindset."
Among a bundle of reforms before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are a mechanism to dismantle financial behemoths "too big to fail," new rules on credit default swaps, and a new agency to protect consumers from dubious lending practices. This last has proven the most controversial, and a source of indigestion for lawmakers in both chambers.
NationalJournal.com also asked Frank to recap why a financial overhaul is needed in the first place and discuss what's ahead for the Senate. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Frank: Consumers Need Their Own Advocates.
In 2008, independents frustrated with establishment politics found a hero in Texas Republican Ron Paul. Warning voters about the dangers of an overstretched and overcommitted government, Paul provided today's Tea Partiers with a blueprint for grassroots success.
More Coverage: The Insurgents Emerge
Republicans like Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Mike Pence of Indiana, and Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul -- Ron's son -- have embraced the Tea Party movement. NationalJournal.com talked to Ron Paul last week about the energy of today's grassroots movements and the Republican Party's evolving relationship with the Tea Partiers.
Continue reading Ron Paul On The Tea Party Phenomenon.
As House Democrats moved through bill after bill last year, they could perhaps be forgiven for looking to the "cooling saucer" of the Senate with frustration. "We jumped almost every time" that President Obama asked, said Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif. "Financial regulatory reform? We jumped. We're looking for the Senate to jump a little bit, too."
Becerra was speaking as part of a "Congressional Debriefing" hosted by National Journal and The Atlantic the morning after Obama's State of the Union address. In addition to giving his take on the speech, the lawmaker spoke about working with the upper chamber in the year ahead. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading Becerra Looks For Senate To Play Catch-Up.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., says House Democrats have a lot of accomplishments to run on, even with health care, energy and financial regulatory legislation stalled by the Senate. That means House members can spend more time in their districts this year selling what the majority did since President Obama took office. In a Dec. 17 interview with National Journal, Van Hollen -- who is also a liaison to the White House as assistant to the speaker and is a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee -- said Democrats will run on their efforts to shore up the economy, and on Republicans' opposition to those efforts.
Continue reading Waiting On The Senate.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas says the GOP intends to recapture the House majority this November. To do it, Republicans look to paint the Democratic majority as anti-jobs, anti-employer -- and even anti-women. In a Jan. 12 phone interview with National Journal, Sessions paints the scene for the 2010 campaign, defends the previous Republican majority's record and notes that the GOP has experience working with a Democratic president.
Continue reading Running Against 'Pelosi's Agenda'.
There's a rum war brewing between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Diageo, purveyor of Captain Morgan rum, is preparing to split for the Virgin Islands, where the company will enjoy millions in tax breaks. San Juan is balking, and Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D), Puerto Rico's nonvoting representative in Congress, is pushing legislation that he says would level the playing field. (See Wednesday's Insider Interview with Virgin Islands Gov. John deJongh for more.)
Pierluisi spoke with NationalJournal.com's David Gauvey Herbert about fair trade, an anonymous smear campaign against the Virgin Islands and his relationship with his Caribbean neighbors.
Continue reading P.R. Seeks 'Fair Competition' With Neighbors.
Rep. Michael McMahon, D-N.Y., came out in support of President Obama's Afghanistan strategy this week despite misgivings among his Democratic colleagues about increased troop levels.
The freshman congressman from Staten Island argues that the strategy refocuses the country on the fight against the forces that attacked New York on Sept. 11, 2001. McMahon is the first Democrat in more than two decades to represent his district, which was won by Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008.
A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, McMahon spoke with National Journal after praising Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates at a panel hearing on the strategy on Dec. 2. Edited excerpts follow.
Continue reading 'Make Sure They Can Never Attack Us Again'.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., is the lead sponsor of legislation (the Fair Elections Now Act, H.R.1826) to enact a public financing system at the congressional level. With the Supreme Court considering a case that would scale back campaign finance law, he recently spoke about his bill with National Journal.
Continue reading Public Financing With An Eye On SCOTUS.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, played a leading role in reforming the Energy Department's nuclear weapons complex before Sept. 11 and in creating the Department of Homeland Security afterwards. He currently sits on both the House Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Well regarded in both parties for his thoughtfulness on security issues, he now laments what he sees as deepening partisan divides on everything from Iraq to intelligence.
National Journal reporter Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. interviewed Thornberry on Oct. 28.
Continue reading 'Support General McChrystal... Or Replace Him'.
In 2008, Democrat Tom Perriello had one of the cycle's biggest upsets as he unseated Republican incumbent Virgil Goode in Virginia's 5th Congressional District, which went to John McCain in the presidential race. Now, what was already an against-all-odds re-election bid is even more precarious as Obama's health care reform effort and conservative protests are placing Perriello and others like him between a rock and a hard place.
NationalJournal.com recently sat down with the Cook Political Report's David Wasserman to discuss Democrats' outlook in House races in 2010. Wasserman talked about the conditions that led to Perriello's victory in 2008 and the potential of a viable congressional candidate emerging from the conservative grass roots.
For more on Republicans' chances in 2010, including video clips from Wasserman's interview, watch NationalJournal.com's multimedia report.
Continue reading A 'Tailor-Made' Midterm For Republicans?.
Continue reading Markey: Obama Will Sign Climate Bill Before '10.
