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In January of 2010, then-Senators Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) announced they would not be seeking re-election that year. The New York Times reported on the sudden retirements saying they "signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda." We now refer to those major implications as what Mr. Obama himself called the "shellacking" of his party in those elections. Does today's announcement that 16-term Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) will not seek re-election send a similar signal about 2012?

When you see bipartisan agreement on energy and transportation policy, it means one thing: truckloads of subsidies for well-connected big businesses touting some unproven high-tech "green" solution. Most green subsidies are mostly harmless (if also useless) -- such as solar and wind subsidies. But in recent weeks, lawmakers are lining up behind one green idea that could waste unprecedented amounts of resources -- venture capital, taxpayer money, intellectual innovation -- by approving vast new subsidies to make plug-in electric cars the dominant mode of transportation. A cabal of government-friendly big businesses -- ranging from lobbying king General Electric to made-for-subsidies...

Those proposed new supplement regulations remind me of what we have had in Europe for a few years now. Who'd have thought the (EU) tail would ever be wagging the (US) dog... or is it a matter of McCain working for the same masters that control both of our respective areas? ... and yes, illegal doping was also used in the EU to "demonstrate the need" for a supplements directive. They aren't very original in their campaign strategies, are they?...link to rest of article http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2010/02/23/us_supplements_attacked_in_mccain_bill_health_supreme_newsgrabs_tuesday_23_february_2010.htm

Shock Switch: Pro-Reconciliation Senator Once Called Process ‘Absolute Abuse’ http://www.breitbart.tv/shock-switch-pro-reconciliation-senator-once-called-process-absolute-abuse/ Breitbart.TV and Naked Emperor News

Margaret Carlson: The Republicans should be happy over Dorgan, that's a reliably red state they'll get it back unless they do what's happening in Florida, which is to have a nasty primary in which the more conservative tea party candidate wins and then can't win in the general election. You have down there Governor Crist who at one time had a 70 percent favorability rating fighting off a primary challenge from Marco Rubio an attractive 38 year old cuban american Tom Ashbrook(host): Tea party guy MC: A Tea party guy, who if he's successful will be the first republican to...

There are two parts to this story, both equally devastating to the Democrats and spectacular for the Republicans. And is has to do with North Dakota. The first part came last Tuesday, when Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) stunned the political world by announcing he would not seek a fourth term. Today part two is expected at 7 pm Eastern time today, when Gov. John Hoeven (R), who is in his third term and yet remains extraordinarily popular, is likely to announce he is a candidate to succeed Dorgan. The news has been confirmed by several sources, including the Bismarck Tribune,...

The Tribune has learned that North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven will announce today he is running for the U.S.Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan.

Why Dorgan Pulled the RipcordBy John Kartch - FOXNews.com Updated January 07, 2010 Like Senator Tom Daschle in 2004, Byron Dorgan was finally exposed for who he is. What a difference a year makes. The 2010 Senate landscape has been rocked by North Dakota Democrat Senator Byron Dorgan’s stunning announcement Tuesday that he would not seek reelection come November. Retirement announcements from Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Dodd and Colorado Democrat Governor Bill Ritter came soon after, the latest indicators of a worrisome electoral outlook for Democrats. The most consequential of these is Dorgan, who has strong approval ratings and decades...

Purely on a red-state/blue-state basis, the Republicans should be expected to lose several seats, but instead should pick up several. They'll have a much easier go of it in subsequent elections, since 2006 and 2008 saw outrageous liberal victories in red states. Republicans currently have 5 of the 16 Senate seats which look to be competitive in 2010. They need all 16 to take over the Senate (or 15, if Sen. Joe Lierberman of Connecticut or any Democrat refuses to vote for the Democrat candidate for majority leader.) Polling data and predictions for each of these 16 seats are listed...

Here is video of MSNBC's Ed Schultz last night saying he has been asked by a Democrat official in North Dakota to run for the open Senate seat there created by Sen. Byron Dorgan's decision not to run for re-election. Schultz said "he is in a different place than politics right now," and said he is "honored" to be asked. However, he did not repeat what he said the night before when a guest raised the possibility. At that time, Schultz's immediate reaction was to say he "can't" run because he has been living outside of North Dakota for two...

Republicans woke up this morning with a spring in their step: Sens. Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd both said they wouldn't run for another term...

Election 2010: The back-to-back Senate retirements of Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd may be just the beginning. The people have seen the future of health care reform and found it doesn't work. Apres moi, le deluge. We don't know what the Mayan calendar says about 2010, but it's starting to look like the end of the world for Democratic electoral prospects. Americans who watched in shock as government tried to step between them and their doctors, may have the last laugh. The tea party isn't over until the angry mob votes. As rage grew over the attempt to nationalize one-sixth...

Two Democratic senators have announced they will not run for re-election later this year, raising fears Barack Obama's party could lose its “super-majority” in Congress. The loss of seats in the November elections would mean they could fall short of the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican procedural obstacles in the Senate. If Republicans continue to stand united against Mr Obama, it could lead to gridlock in the second half of his four-year term and harm his chances of re-election in 2012. It would the pressure on the president to get any major legislation – such as health care or...

A top ND Dem has asked MSNBC host Ed Schultz to return to his native state and run for Senate, Schultz said today. In an interview on MSNBC, where he hosts a nightly program, Schultz said he got a call from state Rep. Merle Boucher (D), the House Min. Leader, asking him to consider a bid. Schultz said he had worked hard to get where he was in his career, but he refused to rule out a bid. "I'm flattered. I'm honored. I can't say that I'm even considering it right now," Schultz said. "I'm in a different place right...

The very public way in which the existence of a center-right in the Democratic Party proved to be a mirage has done more to undermine the party’s chances for victory in 2010 than any other aspect of the healthcare debate. When liberal Republicans failed to rally to Bill Clinton’s 1993-1994 agenda — including his failed healthcare proposal — they laid the basis for their total demise in subsequent years. Sens. Jeffords, Chaffee, D’Amato, Packwood, Hatfield and Specter (as a Republican) are gone. Sens. Snowe and Collins are all that remain of the once-dominant Rockefeller wing of the GOP. They have...

Are Dodd, Dorgan and Ritter quitters? One would think that the State Run Media would surely be consistent and affix the label of quitter upon them. Surely... I mean, didn't the State Run Media call someone else a "quitter" when she left the governors office to move on with her life and expand her horizons, both political and otherwise? We hear the action lines spouted by Dorgan, Dodd and Ritter (Democrats all) being promoted by the State Run Media as to why they are retiring, yet we know that it is because they have seen the hand writing on the...

Here is video of MSNBC's Ed Schultz announcing that Democrat Sen. Byron Dorgan will not seek re-election in this November's mid-term election. Dorgan joins Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd in dropping out of the 2010 election. Dorgan was trailing in polls against potential challengers. Ed Schultz said "this a a big blow to the Democratic Party." A.B. Stoddard told Schultz that this is going to be a "tough year for Democrats." As we pointed out yesterday, the Generic Congressional Ballot is swinging heavily toward the Republicans, which may trigger an avalanche of Democratic "retirements" by incumbents rather than face defeat.

Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and a Democratic Party stalwart in the Senate, is set to announce today that he will not seek re-election this year, according to a party strategist familiar with his plans. Sen. Dodd's decision was the latest in a string of big-name Democratic retirements revealed Tuesday as the party struggles to contend with a challenging political climate. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said he, too, would retire after this year, unexpectedly saddling his fellow Democrats with a wide-open race that could be tough to win in a Republican-leaning state....

Byron Dorgan, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992 after serving a dozen years in the U.S. House, said he reached the decision after discussing his future with family over the holidays.

I once visited North Dakota. It was a very nice place. It was cold, clean and conservative. They always voted Republican in presidential elections. Okay, not always, but from 1892-2008, North Dakota voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election but five. They even voted for Wendell Willkie in 1940 over Roosevelt. So why in the world did North Dakotans vote into office two liberal Democrats as senators? It took long enough but they are about to get rid of one of these senators. Byron Dorgan announced his retirement on Tuesday. It was reported in the Washington Post “The...

Conn. Sen. Chris Dodd expected to announce retirement, sources say WaPo (Just a teaser right now) ^ | January 5, 2009 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2421954/posts [North Dakota Dem] Senator Byron Dorgan Will Not Seek Re-Election Fox News Posted on January 5, 2010 6:18:20 PM EST by Freedom_Isn't_Free http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2421744/posts Ritter is not running for re-election as Colorado's governor (Rat jumps sinking ship) Denver 9 News ^ | 01/05/2010 | Staff Posted on January 5, 2010 10:26:50 PM EST by catnipman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2421905/posts 21 House Seats moving towards GOP (2010 predictions) Rothenberg Report ^ | Jan 5, 2009 | Stu Rothenberg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2421904/posts 2010 Situation Grows More...

With the holidays officially behind us, the 2010 mid-term election season is officially open for business. Everyone who thinks Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) is a lock to win re-election in November, take one step forward. Not so fast! In the first political bombshell of the new year, the junior senator from the Peace Garden State has stunned the beltway and his own party by announcing he will not seek re-election in the fall. continued

<p>Dorgan won't seek re-election. By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago WASHINGTON – North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan says he will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2010, a surprise announcement that could give Republicans an opportunity to pick up a seat from the Republican-leaning state.</p>

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) "dropped a late-day bombshell, announcing he will retire when his term ends this year," USA Today reports. "Dorgan's announcement represents an opportunity for Republicans: North Dakota is a Republican-leaning state, where President Obama got just 45% of the vote last year."

Bret Baier just reporting Byron Dorgan will not run for the Senate this year. I'm not seeing it yet on Fox News, yet.

Unless you carefully unpack the history of the last 30 years of elections in the Dakotas, it has to strike you as bizarre that the Democrats hold five of the six federal offices in those states (3 of 4 Senators, both Representatives). That may change next November, according to a new poll by RasmussenReports. Three-term Senator Byron Dorgan trails Governor John Hoeven by a 22 points, 58%-36%. 30% of North Dakotans favor the health care bill, while 64% oppose it. This makes it unlikely that Dorgan's numbers will improve after he casts at least five tiebreaking votes for the bill.

Call it the Wages of ObamaCare. When only 30% of a state’s likely voters support the one piece of legislation on which the incumbent has worked for most of the year, they tend to get a little chippy about the idea of sending him back to Washington. When paired up with Republican Governor John Hoeven in a 2010 midterm election, Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan trails by 22 points, 58%-36%: Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The...

Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of likely voters in North Dakota finds the popular Republican governor leading Dorgan by 22 points – 58% to 36%. Just six percent (6%) are undecided in that senatorial contest. Part of the challenge for Dorgan is the health care legislation working its way through Congress. Dorgan, along with every Democrat in the Senate, has voted to move the legislation forward and...

Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone survey of likely voters in North Dakota finds the popular Republican governor leading Dorgan by 22 points – 58% to 36%. Just six percent (6%) are undecided in that senatorial contest. Part of the challenge for Dorgan is the health care legislation working its way through Congress. Dorgan, along with every Democrat in the Senate, has voted to move the legislation forward and...

When only 30% of a state’s likely voters support the one piece of legislation on which the incumbent has worked for most of the year, they tend to get a little chippy about the idea of sending him back to Washington. When paired up with Republican Governor John Hoeven in a 2010 midterm election, Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan trails by 22 points, 58%-36%: Incumbent Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan may have a serious problem on his hands if Republicans recruit Governor John Hoeven to run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota next year. The first Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 telephone...

North Dakota Republican state legislators and officials have had no better luck than anyone else in prodding Gov. John Hoeven for hints about whether he'll run against Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan next year. Four GOP lawmakers who raised the subject in a meeting with Hoeven in his Capitol office last week said the governor gave them no hints about his plans, although one participant said he believes Hoeven will make the race. "I think he feels a responsibility to do it," said Rep. Craig Headland, R-Montpelier. "Maybe I'm a little optimistic in my thinking, but I do believe he's giving...

Dorgan, who chairs the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, announced a $457,000 federal Energy Department grant to study the feasibility of a new oil refinery in North Dakota. What I’ve never understood is why the Rural Electric Co-Op is getting an earmark to study an oil refinery. And on top of that, why are we spending almost a half a million of our grandchildren’s as-yet-unearned tax dollars on studying the feasibility of an oil refinery in the state ? Plus, we already have one refinery in the state and there’s another one in the works... Other than the fact...

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), one of the most committed broadcast watchdogs on Capitol Hill, is enjoying a 69% approval rating among citizens of North Dakota, despite their Republican tastes when it comes to presidential candidates. But he may be vulnerable nevertheless, if the even more popular Republican Gov. John Hoeven decides to mount a challenge. Dorgan entered the House in 1980, and moved up to the Senate in 1992. According to Politico, he has never faced a tough election. But all bets would be off if Hoeven decides to run for the seat. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has conducted...

Blanche Lincoln, AR 45% Public Policy Polling, March Barbara Boxer, CA 48% Survey USA, June 12-14 Michael Bennet, CO 34% Public Policy Polling, April 24-26 (trails Rep. Beauprez) Christopher Dodd, CO 37% Quinnipiac, April (trails several) Roland Burris, IL 17% Public Policy Polling, April 24-26 (likely to lose primary) Harry Reid, NV 34% Mason-Dixon, June 18-19 Kirsten Gillenbrand, NY 24% Marist (disapproval rating also below 50%) Byron Dorgan, ND (only poll in this red state was commissioned by DailyKOS) Also in possible danger but above 50% approval: Daniel Inouye, HI leads Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, but he'll be 86, and...

Republican Gov. John Hoeven, who has avoided questions about whether he will challenge Democrat Byron Dorgan for his U.S. Senate seat, says he is likely to decide by early September whether he will make the race. North Dakota's Republican state chairman, Gary Emineth, said he hoped to recruit Republicans to challenge Dorgan and North Dakota's Democratic congressman, Earl Pomeroy, by Labor Day, Sept. 7. Candidates against both men will need a long head start on campaigning and fundraising to improve their chances of winning, Emineth said. Hoeven, in an interview, said Emineth's goal is reasonable and said his own decision...

FOXWIRE - American citizens will soon be able to hop on a direct flight to Havana if Congress passes a bill proposed today. "This is a failed policy that has failed for 50 years and it long past the time to change the policy," said Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), part of a bipartisan group of 20 senators calling for the removal of the 47-year old ban on travel to Cuba. "Punishing the American people in our effort to somehow deal a blow to the Castro government has not made any sense at all."

The western Democrats like Baucus of Montana and Dorgan and Conrad of North Dakota know that this sort of spending is utterly ruinous to an economy and a currency. Some senators like Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, up for re-election in 2010, know that the voters are recoiling from this orgy of spending already, and absent dramatic evidences of a return to growth will judge the entire enterprise a failure.

President Obama is facing his first trade war after Mexico slapped import tariffs on $2.4 billion in U.S. goods in retaliation for a ban on its trucks from American roads. Congress ignited the trade skirmish last week by killing a pilot program begun in 2007 that had allowed a few Mexican 18-wheelers to deliver goods across the border. "Right now, these trade agreements are contracts and if either side breaks that contract, there's repercussions," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the top Republican on the trade subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee. Economy Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Mateo imposed the...

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., met with President Barack Obama and key budget advisers Friday to discuss financial reforms and energy issues under review in Congress. Dorgan was one of four Democratic senators invited by the White House to meet with Obama and his top advisers to discuss the federal budget and other issues. Dorgan said they had "a pretty wide-ranging discussion about a good number of issues." The North Dakota senator said he raised the potential for new financial reforms and regulations to help rebuild the economy. Dorgan has sought more accountability into the expenditure of economic recovery funds and...

More than $9 trillion -- in taxpayer dollars -- has been pledged, committed, lent or spent by the federal government in response to the economic crisis. Some say that if the economy continues to deteriorate, trillions more might be necessary to prevent another Great Depression. Yet no one has investigated how this crisis happened. That is irresponsible. A comprehensive investigation is essential to prevent this from happening again.

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced critical drug importation legislation today that will reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States. The Senators said their legislation, the “Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act,” will bring consumers immediate relief and will ultimately force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the United States. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would save American consumers $50 billion over the next decade, including more than $10 billion in federal government savings. The bill allows U.S.-licensed pharmacies...

Link only, per FR copyright and posting policy

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan plan to introduce legislation to create a Senate panel to investigate the causes of the financial crisis, McCain’s office said in a statement Monday. If approved, the committee would also make recommendations about how to avoid a similar crisis in the future.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will make no attempt to stop Sen. Byron Dorgan's effort to kill the Cross Border Demonstration Project, The Trucker learned Friday afternoon. Earlier this week, Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, included language in the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill that the senator said would finally bring to an end “the Mexican long-haul trucking program in the U.S. started by the Bush Administration.” The bill, not to be confused with the stimulus package, allocates federal funds for the remainder of the fiscal year. Sources have told The Trucker that LaHood has indicated he will...

Frustration with the federal government’s response to the nation’s economic woes boiled over Saturday as a feisty crowd of about 80 people gave Sen. Byron Dorgan an earful during a town hall meeting at West Fargo City Hall. Dorgan, D-N.D., took a barrage of questions about the proposed economic recovery plan, which emerged from Senate negotiations late Friday with a new price tag of $780 billion after purging $100 billion from the House version. One person asked why the cost of the plan is so high if Congress isn’t sure it will be effective.

Dorgan Won't Be Energy Secretary Sen. Byron Dorgan is no longer under consideration to be secretary of energy in President-elect Barack Obama's administration, a decision based on a belief within the former Illinois Senator's inner circle that the North Dakota Democrat is more valuable to them where he is, according to transition officials. "Senator Dorgan would be a fantastic Energy Secretary but because he is too important as a red state senator and a powerful ally, he is best suited to help advance President-elect Obama's agenda in the Senate," said a transition official granted anonymity to speak candidly about internal...

The Obama Administration will end the Department of Transportation's cross border trucking program, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a staunch opponent of the project, predicted Friday. "Both President-elect Obama and Vice-President-elect Biden voted to end the program in 2007, and it is expected that the new administration will uphold the intent of Congress and shut down the program in 2009," Dorgan said in a statement. The program, which allows trucks from the United States and Mexico to drive beyond commercial border zones is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement but has garnered bi-partisan criticism from lawmakers and others on...

(CNN) – Two members of the Senate’s Democratic caucus have called for Joe Lieberman to lose his committee chairmanship. On Sunday, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan didn’t go that far — but did say the Connecticut senator’s actions during the campaign were “not acceptable,” as Republican Sen. Jon Kyl said the GOP would “welcome [Lieberman] with open arms.”

The Countrywide sixBy John Bender web posted June 16, 2008The news that former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson was one of the sleaze bags who enriched themselves with sweat heart deals on mortgages from Countrywide Financial makes it a bipartisan scandal and eliminates the slim possibility that any of them will be brought to justice.  The ruling political class doesn't like to bring its members to justice. But if one political party can gain political advantage by going after a few members of the political class who happen to be in the other party, they will grab...

A geologist who estimated the Bakken formation in western North Dakota has far more oil than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge died before other scientists could authenticate his study. Leigh Price, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, published a study in 1999 that estimates the Bakken shales formation, which underlies much of several western and northwestern counties, may hold up to 400 billion barrels of oil. By comparison, the Arctic refuge oil reserve is estimated at 16 billion barrels. Now, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is pushing the federal agency to complete scientific work on Price’s paper as part of...