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Republicans in Missouri already have embarked on planning to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2012. Several potential candidates are testing the waters in hopes of defeating the first-term legislator, The Hill reports. [Snip] Possible GOP candidates include former Sen. Jim Talent, whom McCaskill defeated in 2006; former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman, who already has decided to run; Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder; and Ann Wagner, a former ambassador to Luxembourg. © Newsmax.

With the election a lifetime away (23 months to be exact), Public Policy Polling released the first, post-mid-term snapshot of how Ohio views Senator Sherrod Brown and some possible opponents for his re-election in 2012. The poll, taken over the last week, shows some troubling, but very, very early warning signs for the man who will become Ohio's Senior Senator following the retirement of George Voinovich next month. In the first head-to-head match-ups, Brown does rather poorly against a number of would-be challengers. He and Attorney General-elect Mike DeWine are tied at 43% in what would be a rematch of...

After liberals in the Democratic Caucus forced a several-hour delay on tax-cut legislation, the House approved the rules for debate on the legislation this evening and have now begun three hours of general debate. A final vote on the legislation is expected after midnight. Yesterday, the Senate approved the $858 billion tax plan, by a vote of 81 to 19. The measure (HR 4853), negotiated by President Obama and Senate Republicans, would allow tax cuts for all income levels to continue for two years and extend unemployment insurance benefits for jobless Americans for 13 months.

After stalling earlier in the day when liberal members balked at voting to allow the Obama-GOP tax cut deal to advance, the pact survived an important test vote Thursday evening. The 214-201 vote allowed House members to begin debating the actual legislation that would extend for two years the Bush-era tax cuts as well as an extension of unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term jobless. The House action cleared the way for a vote as early Thursday evening on the $858 billion package of tax cuts, jobless benefits and other measures that President Obama said will be an important stimulus...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has cleared the way for final action in Congress on legislation to avoid a Jan. 1 increase in income taxes for millions and renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. Liberals oppose the bill because of a generous estate tax provision, but even some of the measure's critics concede it will pass without changes.

RUSH: Massive spending. Let's just review where we are here. Massive spending under the so-called tax deal. Massive new food regulations. Spends more on school lunches -- remember, now, school lunches, this is school breakfast, school brunch, school lunch, school snack, school dinner, and then everything else. They want to be in charge of what kids are eating here. This bill even regulates bake sales. Openly gay individuals in the military, against the advice of the Marines and the Air Force. The START treaty, massive omnibus spending bills that fund Obamacare and over 6,000 earmarks. It goes on and on...

“After my annual physical in late November, I was diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer. After reviewing all the options with multiple physicians, I decided to take a proactive approach and have surgery, which will be performed December 20 at Johns Hopkins Hospital by Dr. Alan Partin. Thanks to routine screening, this was diagnosed very early and I expect a full and speedy recovery. I scheduled the surgery for the Monday before Christmas anticipating that the Senate would have recessed by that time and that there would be no disruption to my work in Oregon or Washington. However, it now...

This is a re-post of a column from last April. Am I psychic or what? Joy Tiz ©2010 Cults have been traditionally studied in the context of religious movements. Thus, some of the more apologetic cult experts have refused to label the Obama Movement as a true cult, but they readily concede that the situation is “cult-like.” Lenore Skenazy refers to Obama as the Magic Man; as people feel unable to take control over their own lives, they look to the Magic Man to do it for them. His ambiguity then is intentional allowing his fans to project their own...

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team are working this afternoon to reach a solution to move forward on the tax cuts legislation after Democratic opposition to proceed on the bill forced the Democratic leadership to pull the tax cuts package from the floor. Democratic leadership pulled the tax cuts bill from the floor after it became apparent that liberals would not vote to pass the Rule, according to a senior Democratic leadership aide. The Democratic aide says that while the minority party never votes for rules and Democrats were not counting on Republican support to pass...

Add two more Republicans to the list of possible U.S. Senate contenders. State Sen. Deb Fischer, 59, of Valentine says she is “thinking” about a run, but won't decide until after this year's legislative session. And while former Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr, 72, says it is “unlikely” that she would run, she declined to completely slam the door on a campaign. The two are the latest names to come forward and possibly run in 2012 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who has said he is leaning toward another run, although he has yet to finalize his decision. The Republican...

Vice President Biden issued a stern warning to Senate Republicans to "get out of the way" of Democrats trying to ratify a nuclear arms treaty. The vice president sharply criticized Senate Republicans who have opposed ratification of the New START treaty during the lame-duck session of Congress. "Get out of the way. There's too much at stake for America's national security," Biden said in an interview with NBC News that will air tomorrow in its entirety on MSNBC. Biden's warning to Republicans come after a day of high-stakes wrangling over the nuclear arms treaty between the U.S. and Russia, which...

Madison - Labor contracts for state workers dramatically stalled in the Legislature late Wednesday after the leader of Senate Democrats defied his party and cast the deciding vote to reject them. In a rare lame-duck session before Republicans take over the Legislature, the no-pay-raise contracts for tens of thousands of workers were approved by slim majorities in the Assembly with a decisive vote cast by a lawmaker released from jail. But senators tied 16-16 with one senator absent on the contracts and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Wausau) and Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) voting with all Republicans against...

The weeks since Election Day have provided nauseating confirmation of Mark Twain's observation: "There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Exhibit A is the "omnibus" spending bill Harry Reid is trying to push through the Senate. This monstrosity contains about 6,500 earmarks -- special provisions inserted on behalf of lobbyists to benefit special interests. The lobbyists get big fees, the interest groups get handouts and the politicians get rewarded with contributions from both. It's a win-win-win for everyone -- except the taxpayers who finance this carousel of corruption. Defenders of earmarks and other forms of pork-barrel spending...

WASHINGTON — Senate passage of an $858 billion tax plan, and House approval of a repeal of the don't ask, don't-tell policy against gays in the military, reset the clock Wednesday on the final hours of the lame duck Congress, which could pass a raft of landmark legislation, or nothing at all. A determining vote is expected Thursday in the House. If House Democrats agree to pass President Obama's tax cut compromise plan as written in the Senate, there may be time for more action in the Senate, including the don't ask, don't tell repeal and approval of the arms...

When the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933, it was hailed as a means of doing away with the excesses of lame-duck sessions and making Congress more responsible to voters. Its authors hadn't counted on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.... One of the first orders of business in the new Congress should be to introduce an amendment to further compress the time between holding elections and implementing their results. The outgoing leadership's last, desperate rush to force through unpopular measures - after voters repudiated them at the ballot box - is symptomatic of the institutional...

When the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933, it was hailed as a means of doing away with the excesses of lame-duck sessions and making Congress more responsible to voters. Its authors hadn't counted on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.The 2010 midterm election was a historic repudiation of the current congressional agenda, but the House and Senate leadership is intent on ramming through as much additional legislation as possible in their waning days of power. This includes: a $1.1 trillion, 1,924-page budget bill, which, in the tradition of other legislation from the current Congress,...

The debate over repealing the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is no small item, particularly on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have been engaged in a furious tug-of-war over the issue. But in one respect, at least, the effort by Democrats to repeal the policy banning gay soldiers from serving openly is small business — or rather an amendment to a bill called the Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009. For procedural reasons aimed at circumnavigating some of the blocking efforts by Republicans in the Senate, the Democrats needed a legislative vehicle that the majority leader, Harry...

_resident Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.). Fifteen lawmakers voted against it, including five Republicans: Sens. Tom Coburn (Okla.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Ensign (Nev.) and George Voinovich (Ohio). Nine Democrats and one independent voted against the bill: Sens. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Russ Feingold (Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kay Hagan (N.C.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Pat Leahy (Vt.), Carl Levin (Mich.), Mark...

Commentary: Modern politics doesn’t need the troublesome waiting periodBERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Watching the sputtering end to the 111th Congress leads to some basic questions: Isn’t it long past time to kill the lame ducks? Why can’t we just have newly elected officials, both in Congress and the presidency, take office immediately after the election? The lame-duck sessions — and especially lame-duck officials — are a historical vestige, born of a time when news and people traveled very slowly. Even back then, they weren’t useful or necessary. In moments of crisis, specifically after the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860...

Speaking before the Senate vote was officially called, yet after the 68 votes needed to advance the bill, the president praised the Senate for moving forward on the package of tax cuts in the procedural vote this evening. “I am pleased to announce at this hour the United States Senate is moving forward on a package of tax cuts that has strong bipartisan support,” Obama said in a surprise statement from the Brady Briefing Room of the White House, “And this proves that both parties can in fact work together to grow our economy and look out for the American...