November 18 Senate Democrat Leadership Press Conference
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid discussed President Barack Obama #39;s expected executive action on immigration, judicial nominations and the potential for a government shutdown at his weekly...
By: Roll Call
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November 18 Senate Democrat Leadership Press Conference - Video
Obama to host all-Democrat immigration dinner
President Obama will host a dinner Wednesday night at the White House for 18 Democrats to discuss his upcoming immigration plans.
By: The Washington Examiner
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Obama to host all-Democrat immigration dinner - Video
One word sums up Sen. Mary Landrieus, D-La., chances in her Dec. 6 runoff against Republican Bill Cassidy: Grim.
Already facing long odds, her electoral outlook became even more daunting after fellow Senate Democrats this week blocked Landrieus last-ditch effort to pass legislation green-lighting the Keystone XL pipeline a development that could have bolstered her political standing in oil-rich Louisiana.
I just dont know how you do it, is the general consensus on Landrieus prospects from a group of Louisiana political experts, commentators and even operatives from her own party after the results from the states jungle primary earlier this month, when she finished first but with just 42 percent of the vote.
She would have to almost double her white vote to win the election, assuming the black turnout is as good as it was in the primary, said a former Louisiana Democratic political operative.
Indeed, Landrieu got the support from just 18 percent of white voters (who made up 64 percent of the Nov. 4 electorate) and 22 percent of white women (33 percent of total electorate).
You cant win an election in Louisiana with that, added the former operative. Its just math.
Piling onto the bleak outlook, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pulled its spending on TV ads, while the GOP has been pummeling Landrieu on the airwaves. Cassidy and friends bought out 96 percent of TV spots that ran in the first week of the runoff, according to a report by Bloomberg. Bob Mann, a former longtime political operative and current professor at Louisiana State University, said Landrieu is only on the air in two media markets across the state.
Sensing some overkill, the National Republican Senatorial Committee cancelled a wave of ads scheduled to air this week and plans to buy a significant number of spots the week of the runoff, according to Politico.
Still, theres a reason not to count out Landrieu, who is now the last Democratic senator standing from the Deep South.
If you ask anyone around here theyll say shes the only Democrat who could pull this off, said Jeremy Alford, the editor of the non-partisan political newsletter LaPolitics Weekly.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announced he has formed an exploratory committee to help him determine whether he'll run for president in 2016.
"Is it possible that our next President could actually lay out a vision for the country, and create an environment where leaders from both parties and from all philosophies would feel compelled to work together for the good of the country," Webb asks on the newly launched, Webb2016.com.
"As one who spent four years in the Reagan Administration but who served in the Senate as a Democrat, I believe it is possible. It is also necessary."
A Vietnam War veteran, Webb first appeared on the national political scene as Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Navy in 1987 and 1988. Despite his early political history with the conservative Reagan administration, Webb went onto serve in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat representing Virginia from 2007-2013.
"Forget the polls, the noise and the nasty TV ads. The challenge before us is far greater than the task of winning an election. It is how to govern, with foresight, fairness and administrative skill, once an election is over. We need to put our American house in order, to provide educational and working opportunities that meet the needs of the future, to rebuild our infrastructure and to reinforce our position as the economic engine and the greatest democracy on earth. We need to redefine and strengthen our national security obligations, while at the same time reducing ill-considered foreign ventures that have drained trillions from our economy and in some cases brought instability instead of deterrence."
Without mentioning her by name, Webb also alluded to the potential big-money campaign expected to back former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, if she chooses to run.
"With enough financial support to conduct a first-class campaign, I have no doubt that we can put these issues squarely before the American people and gain their support," Webb writes.
"The 2016 election is two years away, but serious campaigning will begin very soon. The first primaries are about a year away. Your early support will be crucial as I evaluate whether we might overcome what many commentators see as nearly impossible odds."
As a centrist Democrat, Webb was among many Senators short-listed to be Barack Obama's Vice Presidential running mate in 2008, but he publicly stated his disinterest at the time. Three years later, amidst struggling, but net-positive, approval ratings, Webb announced he would not seek reelection to the Senate.
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Virginia Democrat Jim Webb forms presidential exploratory committee
Tim Johnson, the South Dakota Democrat who wrote a bill to eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, sat in the walnut-paneled chambers of the Senate Banking Committee yesterday and said Congress might never get rid of the two companies.
Johnson looked at Mel Watt, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who was testifying before the committee, and told him to terminate U.S. control of the two companies. That would end a six-year political battle over dissolving the two mortgage giants, giving them another chance to prove they can carry the home loan system as private companies.
If Congress cannot agree on a smooth, more certain path forward, I urge you, Director Watt, to engage the Treasury Department in talks to end the conservatorship, said Johnson, who is set to retire in December.
Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are soaring on the news. After the hearing, Watt told reporters that he wouldnt rule out talks with Treasury about ending conservatorship in the long term. Fannie Mae shares rose 6.4 percent to $2.48 as of 10:29 a.m. in New York. Freddie Mac increased 8 percent to $2.42.
Johnson is the first lawmaker to publicly say that regulators may have to take control of the companies futures. He echoes the predictions of housing analysts that there is no chance the Republican leadership taking over the Senate will reach an agreement with Democrats and President Barack Obama to reform a system that guarantees affordable mortgages to most Americans. That would leave the overhaul to Watt, who has already begun to make a series of changes, from streamlining operations to transfers of mortgage-bond risk to private investors.
If we could get Congress to do something that would pass, it would be the best solution, said Clifford Rossi, a finance professor at the University of Marylands Robert H. Smith School of Business in College Park. But its clear that its highly unlikely, particularly after the midterm elections, that were going to get legislation again.
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac, which buy mortgages and package them into bonds backed by a government guarantee, were seized by regulators in 2008 as losses on defaulted loans pushed them toward insolvency.
After a $187.5 billion taxpayer bailout, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rebounded and are now required to send the Treasury all of their profits. Theyve paid a combined $225.5 billion, which is counted as a return on the U.S. investment and not as repayment, leaving the government-sponsored enterprises without a legal avenue to exit conservatorship on their own. The U.S. government owns a 79 percent senior stake in the two companies.
The extent of Treasury and FHFAs power to free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government control is under debate.
Jim Parrott, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and former housing-policy adviser to Obama, said Treasury and FHFA would need congressional approval to change the current system.
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Regulators Urged to Set Fannie-Freddie Free From U.S.