by Mosheh Oinounou

Joined by a potential 2012 presidential candidate, Republican House leaders Tuesday took aim at the Democratic healthcare proposal they say will eliminate choice, increase costs and destroy the private health insurance industry.

"Most Americans know that the government competes with the private sector the way an alligator competes with a duck. It consumes it," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), House Republican Conference Chairman, standing alongside House Minority Leader John Boehner.

The House GOPers also welcomed Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who made a pit stop in DC today on his way to two-day swing through New Hampshire and Iowa, stoking speculation that he is considering a run for the White House. But, Barbour brushed off a 2012 question and instead focused on healthcare Tuesday.

"We are very concerned about it. I think a lot of governors, Democrats as well as Republicans, know that this is a very difficult, very hard subject that it shouldn't be leaped into. There needs to be a lot of information to the American people, information to state governments. 852 pages it pretty hard to swallow in a very short period of time," Barbour said, referencing the length of the House Democratic bill.

The GOP leaders also expressed skepticism that Democrats will be able to come up with way to pay for health care reform--which some independent estimates state may cost more than $1.5 trillion.

Among the solutions to paying for reform is cutting as much as $500 billion in waste and fraud from the Medicare and Medicaid systems.  Along those lines, Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) today announced the creation of "Medi-Fraud Alert," an online forum that he says will highlight policy solutions to improve the federal health programs.

"Waste, fraud and abuse in our current government healthcare programs is shockingly high and places an enormous burden on both the U.S. taxpayer and our healthcare system," Roskam said in a statement. "As we move forward with healthcare reform, it's simply nonsensical that we'd create an exponentially larger government-run healthcare system when our current one is plagued with such waste and fraud...the Medi-Fraud Alert will help inform the public about the severe problems in our current systems and outline ways to move forward in reforming healthcare."

It appears that President Obama's has finally satisfied some of his critics on Iran.

"I think the President did step up his criticism of the Iranian regime. I congratulate him for that and we need to keep the pressure up," House Minority Leader, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH),  told reporters Tuesday when asked about the President's latest remarks about the Iranian crisis.

At an afternoon press conference, the commander-in-chief sharpened his criticism of the Iranian regime and their attempt to quash demonstrations questioning the legitimacy of last week's election.

"The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings and imprisonments of the last few days," the president said Tuesday, referring to the Iranian government's "unjust actions."

Obama has faced a lot of scrutiny from Hill Republicans in the last week who cast the President as too "timid" in showing support for Iranian protesters.

"(The President needs) to take real, strong action, make it clear he's not going to sit down with the Iranians until they begin to treat their people respectfully and that they're willing to stop their nuclear programs," Boehner said in an interview on Bloomberg News last week.

--Mosheh Oinounou

by Mosheh Oinounou

A group of Republican congressmen have a simple message for the Federal Reserve: Stop printing money.

Led by Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), the handful of legislators sent a letter to Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke late last week encouraging the Fed to stop monetizing debt -- or creating funds to buy U.S. treasuries.

"Creating dollars to cover debts gives markets a short term boost at the expense of debasing the dollar and triggering inflation. To date, the Federal Reserve has already created over $130 billion to cover $35 billion of long-term debt and over $100 billion of short-term securities," they write. "Key policy makers among U.S. creditors, especially in China and Japan, increasingly doubt the wisdom of this new policy...we urge you to rapidly end this new policy of buying U.S. debt with newly created dollars.

For his part, Bernanke has argued that the multi-trillion dollar Fed strategy to pump  money into the economy  is vital to preventing another Great Depression.

But Kirk and Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Leonard Lance (R-NJ) and Dan Burton (R-IN) make the case that the Federal Reserve is putting the nation on a path to sky-high inflation as well as potentially losing it's AAA international credit rating.

FULL LETTER TO BERNANKE (after jump) Keep Reading ...

by Mosheh Oinounou

Is a Guantanamo Bay Version 2.0 in the works?

A Democratic Congressman is developing a unique proposal that attempts to strike a middle path in the debate as to whether the U.S. should permanently close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay next year or keep it open indefinitely.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) said Thursday that he is open to keeping a more transparent Guantanamo facility, complete with more aggressive third party monitors, open beyond the White House January 2010 closure deadline to hold the most dangerous inmates.

"If we have transparency and accountability, than you can leave Gitmo just like it is. The physical plant of Guantanamo is built to hold people. And therefore I argue and will purse the administration to give a look at legislation that I am developing that will give transparency and accountability and may satisfy our allies as well," Hastings said, noting that he would enable groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Wach and the Red Cross to have better access to monitor the facility.

Hastings has yet to seriously discuss the proposal with the White House but asserts that it could be a viable solution given that the new Gitmo comes with a guarantee of no torture.

Hastings, a former U.S. District Court judge, cited a problematic prison he once ordered closed, renovated and eventually reopened.

"I went in--same facility--we just changed what was going on inside and therefore the perception changed," he said, when asked about President Obama's assertion Guantanamo poses a international perception problem for the nation.

Given that Obama has vowed that no torture will take place at the facility, Hastings said Obama will be able to declare that "the new Guantanamo is open."

He said that his plan could proceed once the administration review of the 240+ detainees concludes and the President determines which suspects to put on trial, deport or move to prisons in the U.S. Hastings estimates the new Guantanamo will have to accommodate about 30 of the ultra-dangerous detainees.

"So you try the ones you can and the ones that ultimately cannot be handled at all--where are you gonna put them?" Hastings asked.

He said that he doesn't see another short-term solution to the "political brouhaha, not in my backyard" problem the White House faces on Capitol Hill where numerous Democrats have joined with Republicans to say no to housing Gitmo detainees in their states and districts.

by Mosheh Oinounou

House Republicans will continue to push for an investigation into Speaker Nancy Pelosi's intelligence briefings despite failing Thursday to muster the necessary support for the effort.

"I would expect to see more resolutions like this," said Rep. Pete King (R-NY), ranking member of House Homeland Security committee. He described today's bill, which called for a bipartisan panel to investigate her claims that the CIA deceived Congress about interrogations practices, as "very moderate."

Democrats voted unanimously with the Speaker today, effectively killing the GOP resolution with a procedural motion before the Republican bill could be given an up or down vote. A Pelosi spokesman said the resolution is unnecessary since the Speaker has called for complete transparency and asked the CIA to disclose all the notes from the disputed 2002 intelligence briefing about interrogation techniques.

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), told Fox that Republicans will "just keep pushing," until the House investigates the charges.

"She has thrown into question everything the CIA has done over the last 7 years but has provided no evidence," Hoekstra added. "I find it amazing."

Democratic talking points sent out from Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's office called the bill "partisan politics at its worst" and other colleagues mocked the Republican proposal.

"How humorous can they get? I mean, come on," said Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

But Republicans say that their continued effort will eventually convince sufficient Democrats to support an investigation.

"As this goes forward, Democrats are going to realize how dangerous this position is, how damaging to the country it is, and you will see more and more Democrats coming to our side," King said.

"I don't see how she can continue to function as Speaker until the facts are resolved," King added. "The Speaker of the House is not just head of the Democratic party, she is the head of the entire House. So she has really put a cloud over all of us."

by Mosheh Oinounou

Speaker Pelosi's House colleagues are standing behind her as she takes incoming fire from the CIA and Republicans on the interrogration briefings flap and are ready to fight back.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman, Rep. John Larson (D-CT), said Friday that he agrees with Pelosi's assertion that the CIA misled Congress and Democrats will stand with the leader.

"I will stand by her integrity any day of the week," Larson said, casting the dispute with the CIA as more of a debate between the Speaker and Bush administration officials.

"Nancy Pelosi has more integrity in her pinky than Karl Rove and Dick Cheney possess in their entire body," he said.

Larson called the question of what Pelosi learned at a September 2002 intelligence briefing on interrogations a "distraction" created by Republicans who want to deter Congress from investigating whether the Bush administration condoned and used torture.

"It's clear what the other side is up to. They are saying no. They are providing subterfuge and they are not working to get what's in the best interest of the American people accomplished," Larson said in an interview with Fox News Channel.

Additionally, in addressing Pelosi's argument that the CIA misled Congress, Larson tried to draw a distinction and added that what she is talking about is the "Bush-era CIA," which he says President Obama has since tried to reform.

Larson said that while he is not sure whether a truth commission exposing intelligence community action during the Bush administration is in the best interest of the country, he is confident it will show Pelosi did nothing wrong.

"Anytime you want to shine the bright light of character...we will welcome that test," he added.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer declined Thursday to backup Speaker Nancy Pelosi's assertion that the CIA lied to Congress during debate on the House floor.

"I have no idea of that, don't have a belief of that nature because I have no basis on which to base such a belief. And I certainly hope that's not the case," Hoyer said in response to a question from Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor.

"There have been statements made by the Speaker and others indicating a certain preconceived bias like a belief that perhaps the CIA or others have somehow misled us...we need to understand if there is some type of preconceived bias," Cantor said, asking Hoyer for his take on the allegation that the intelligence community has been less than forthright with Congress.

Hoyer responded that while the question of what Pelosi knew is "not irrelevant," Republicans should focus on the bigger picture.

"To a degree that is a distraction. It is not irrelevant, but it is a distraction from the central point," he said "I think there is far too much discussion about what was said as opposed to what was done. The truth commission, I think, has a responsibility or whatever we call a commission that would look at this issue, not so much for what was done but to ensure that what we do going forward is legal, consistent with our values, consistent with our morals, and consistent..with protecting our nation and our people. In my view, we have a responsibility to do all of those and in my view we can do all of those."

-Mosheh Oinounou

"He doesn't have the votes to pass the bill. He has got a chance to get the votes. If you are familiar with Texas Hold 'em poker, he doesn't have the nuts."

---Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce committee, explaining Thursday that he does not believe that committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has the votes for the latest version of the Cap and Trade energy bill.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) tried to step in during the press conference announcing the GOP alternative energy plan and get Barton back to the business at hand but the Texas Republican was intent on explaining himself.

"Nor do I," Barton added, presumably referring to 'the nuts.'

"I wouldn't explain it any more," Upton interjected.

But Barton could not help himself, adding, "we will see which has the other side by the nuts next week."

----Mosheh Oinounou

by Mosheh Oinounou

Despite being dealt a setback last week, Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) is renewing her call for the government to cut off access to taxpayer money to the community organizing group, ACORN.

The Minnesota Republican said Thursday that she plans to reintroduce a bill in the coming weeks to ban ACORN and other groups facing indictments from access to nearly $8.5 billion in taxpayer funds for housing assistance.

"This is about how Congress spends the peoples money in our country and its about the bar that Congress sets for accessing federal funding. The question before us is it a right that anyone is entitled to or is it a privilege that must be earned?" Bachmann said at a press conference this morning.

The House killed a similar amendment she sponsored barring institutions facing indictment from receiving federal funds that was attached  to the mortgage reform bill passed by the body last week. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) led the charge against Bachmann arguing that the provision violates ACORN's right to due process.

Federal prosecutors have announced more than 30 indictments in the last month against ACORN employees for voter registration fraud in Nevada and Pennsylvania and the organization has served as a Republican punching bag since the '08 election.

Bachman says ACORN has received more than $50 million in federal money in the last decade and the group's homeowner assistance arm should be cut off from any more cash until the pending legals cases are complete.

"No matter how many times prosecutors investigate and even indict acorn and their employees, they emerge unblemished as far as the federal government is concerned," Bachmann added. "The question is do organizations have a right ot taxpayer money no matter what they do?"

ACORN is a potent issue for the right and Bachmann's latest call was followed up by the Republican National Committee fundraising email today (after the jump) seeking donations in order to tell President Obama and Democrats "that we won't tolerate using our tax dollars to pay off their electoral support machine."

UPDATE: ACORN RESPONSE:

From Minnesota ACORN Board Member Sunday Alabi:
"It is sad that Rep. Bachmann isn't focusing on the very real issues facing the 6 th Congressional District, which, for example, has the highest foreclosure rate in Minnesota. ACORN is working hard every day in Minnesota to stop predatory lending, and is even helping Rep. Bachmann's own constituents to save their homes. Meanwhile, Rep. Bachmann seems more interested in partisan witch hunts. We are concerned that she
is trying to paper over the fact that she has once again sided with the predatory lenders 1 and neglected the residents of the 6th Congressional District."

Keep Reading ...

by Mosheh Oinounou

House Republicans declared war on the White House Thursday over the plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, arguing that the potential transfer of terrorism detainees to the U.S. will leave Americans less safe.

"The President has insisted on keeping a campaign pledge that endangers American lives," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee during a GOP leadership press conference. "The consequences are dire."

Republicans introduced a bill today, the "Keep Terrorists Out of America Act," prohibiting the transfer or release of detainees into the US and requiring Congressional notification and the approval of governors and state legislatures before any prisoners are transferred into the country.

"This bill requires a conversation with the American people as to why these releases or detentions are proper and what we are doing as a nation to ensure that we keep them safe," said John McHugh (R-NY), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.

Keep Reading ...