HUFFPOST HILL - Ethics Committe Fires Up The Grill For Weiner Roast
If 2011 Anthony Weiner were as faithful to his wife as 1996 Anthony Weiner was to a Gap catalogue, the New York lawmaker might not be in this pickle. Evan Bayh took another step toward leasing out his name to sponsors (Evan "Coors Light: Super Cold Rocky Mountain Refreshment" Bayh is a leading candidate). And GOP primary voters are showering manbot Mitt Romney with love -- it's a pity that Mitt's McAfee antivirus software prevents feelings from entering his system. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, June 7th, 2011:
ERIC CANTOR CALLS FOR WEINER'S RESIGNATION - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor became the first leading member of David Vitter's party to call for Anthony Weiner's resignation. "I don't condone his activity. And I think he should resign," Cantor said at a Chamber of Commerce event in Louisa, Virginia. "We've got a lot of serious challenges in this country and a lot of work for Congress to do," he added. "The last thing we need to do is get enmeshed in a discussion about Congressman Weiner and his Twitter activities." A friendly reminder: It's OK for married senators to sleep with prostitutes but dear sweet Jesus we can't have our leaders sullying Twitter and Facebook, our digital conduits for cat videos and stalking. [Daily Progress]
We should note that we got that Daily Progress link from a Cantor office tweet. They're apparently ready to invite the Vitter comparisons.
@PeterHambyCNN: RNC Chairman Reince Priebus just called Weiner a "creep"
Nancy Pelosi filed her formal request to the House Ethics Committee today. Her petition will set into motion an inquiry by the panel to discover whether "any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred" during Weiner's social media transgressions. Assuming Weiner's lawyer didn't tear into that pill bottle he was staring so intently at during his client's press conference yesterday, he's got a nice payday in the not so distant future. Meanwhile, the NRCC is pressuring Democrats across the country to return contributions from Weiner. [HuffPost's Mike McAuliff]
This 1996 Cosmo profile of New York City Councilman Anthony Weiner asks if the handsome young politician is "the future president?" We now know the answer to that. We also know that he has since given up his habit of dressing like Danny Tanner at a nice restaurant. On his ideal wife: "Someone smarter than me. I want to be sucked back into the throes of love -- isn't that what everybody really wants?" Jon Stewart was right last night. This is sad now.
SWIPE FEE FIGHT: GAME ON - The Senate is looking at an early afternoon vote tomorrow on rolling back the regulation of debit card fees that merchants pay to banks. Both parties debated the issue in their Tuesday lunches. K Street, which has no stake in the outcome because it wins either way, is grateful to Durbin for the payday, he said on the Senate floor this afternoon: "A friend of mine who is a lobbyist downtown in Washington said, 'Durbin, praise the Lord. Come up with some more ideas. This is a full employment amendment. Everybody who is a lobbyist in Washington is working on this amendment. We just love you to pieces,' Well, the sad reality is, it's coming maybe to a close with a vote on this amendment."
SWIPE FEE ATTACHED TO BROKEDOWN VEHICLE - HuffPost Hill asked Durbin today about Jon Tester's decision to attach his amendment to a legislative vehicle -- EDA reauthorization -- that is running on empty with few friends in the House. Durbin responded with a wide, wry smile that seemed to say to Tester: "Gotcha, kid." "Well," he finally said, "we haven't had a lot of luck passing bills in both chambers." Asked by another reporter if he'd found himself an "insurance policy" against defeat, his broad smile returned and he ducked into a Capitol office.
Our guess: Durbin has enough votes to beat this back. We're setting the over/under at 50 even. Lobbyists: Send your whip count to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com and the winner gets a free year's subscription to HuffPost Hill Pro.
Tonight in Roll Call, an invitation to find out how much John Boehner budgets for tanning cream each month: "When John Boehner rose from Majority leader to Speaker in January, he not only expanded his staff and his paycheck, but he also more than doubled the expense account check he cashes each month. As Minority Leader, Boehner had received a direct payment of $833 each month to cover 'Official Expenses for Leaders,' the same total that then-Majority leader Steny Hoyer received each month. But Boehner is now receiving a $2083.33 direct payment for expenses each month, according to the most recent expenditure reports from the Clerk of the House. Since the total of the expense payment is the same each month, it is apparently not reimbursement for individual itemized expenses."
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Long-term unemployed people in North Carolina and Tennessee are getting their money back after local leaders reinstated a federal jobless aid program that expired in April. Sadly, the program is the last stop on the economic lifeline. When she discovered she'd received payments totaling $3,336 on Monday, Ali Braswell of Chapel Hill said it was "such a blessing, such a blessing." Braswell, 40, said she lost her job as a payroll coordinator in July 2009. She's only found part-time work at a University of North Carolina residence hall since then. She hopes she can find more work before her benefits end this summer. "There's still some hope I guess," Braswell said. "It's such a blessing to get this money but I only have about six weeks left. There aren't going to be any more reprieves. Things are still dire." [HuffPost]
Tonight in The Hill, a story about DEMOCRAT WORD PLAY: "Julian Pecquet on the politics of "ObamaCare," a term that most, but not all, Democrats detest."
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
HOUSE DEMOCRATS PEN LETTER TO BOEHNER, ASK TO PUT TAX INCREASES FOR THE WEALTHY BACK ON THE TABLE - A letter signed by 109 House Democrats was sent to Speaker John Boehner today, encouraging him to resume our tyrannical government's war of aggression against Salt of the Earth Americans who can no longer fly private to Nantucket. The letter contains the John Hancocks of a politically diverse group of Dems, including Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Xavier Becerra, Rosa DeLauro and Jan Schakowsky. "Your position jeopardizes the chances for a bipartisan resolution and runs counter to every independent recommendation, including the proposal made by National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform co-chairs Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson," the letter reads.
EVAN BAYH SELLING OUT MORE THAN A NASCAR RACING SUIT - You know how in "30 Rock," Tracy Jordan makes it his life mission to earn an EGOT -- the entertainment quadruple crown of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony? It seems that former Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is on a quest to win the EGOT of selling out. Peter Stone reports that Bayh has signed on with the Chamber of Commerce along with former Bush Chief of Staff Andy Card for a "road show" to speak out against government regulations. Bayh has already sign on as a partner at McGuire Woods, joined Apollo Management as an adviser and inked a deal with Fox News as a commentator. "We don't see this effort as an 'us versus them' issue," said Tom Collamore, lead spokesman for the initiative. "Having a Democrat of his stature gives the effort more heft and an important perspective." [iWatch News]
DAN BOREN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT - The Oklahoma lawmaker and only Democrat in that state's congressional delegation announced today that he will not seek reelection in 2012. This has significant political implications, as Boren, a Blue Dog, occupies a district whose conservative Democratic traditions make it ripe for a Republican takeover. Although the NRCC is no doubt redirecting most of its resources to take Anthony Weiner's Brooklyn/Queens congressional seat, they might want to take a second look at Boren's district. Former Congressman Brad Carson announced that he will run for the seat he vacated after 2004 as part of his failed bid for Tom Coburn's Senate seat. [Oklahoman]
POLL: MITT ROMNEYBOT AHEAD IN EARLY PRIMARY STATES - The former Massachusetts governor and walking fusion of man and machine had a successful product rollout, a PPP survey finds. Romney now leads in Iowa (up six), New Hampshire (up 23), Nevada (up 15) and, as the latest poll indicates, South Carolina (up nine). In the Palmetto State, Romney earns the support of 27 percent of respondents with Sarah Palin coming in second at 18 percent and 12 percent each for Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich. Michele Bachmann ranks fifth at nine percent with Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman bottoming out the survey with seven, four and two percent, respectively. That Huntsman earns only two percent in a conservative redoubt like South Carolina should cause his handlers to panic. That Romney earns 27 percent should cause his handlers to not hit his control-alt-delete keys. [PPP]
Romney 2012 released its second campaign ad today. It's one of those light-drenched, shaky camera, soaring musical accompaniment, "Morning in Ameirca"-redux things that are quickly becoming the norm. "In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom an opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense," Romney is heard saying over b-roll of mountains, prairies, oceans white with foam and an iPhone. At some point, someone is going to have to break with these production-heavy commercials ("I'm Gary Johnson, I'm running for president and this is my dry erase board."). [Daily Caller]
PAWLENTY DEFENDS TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY - Tim Pawlenty is just your normal, everyday hockey dad who thinks normal, everyday people with Black Cards should be the folks who take the lead in lowering the unemployment rate. Jon Ward: "Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday defended his idea to slash corporate and personal income tax rates by saying that job creation should be the top goal in lieu of 'nominal measures of who gets wealthy.' But while conservatives praised the move to cut taxes, Pawlenty came under criticism from some in his own party for failing to outline spending cuts and for relying on overly optimistic projections. The former Minnesota governor's remarks were an explicit defense of trickle-down economics, the economic theory decried by liberals but taken by many on the right as self-evident. 'Set aside whether the wealthy benefit or not, the real measure of these proposals is, is it going to generate -- in a transformative, significant way -- more jobs for more people across this country?' Pawlenty said of his plan." [HuffPost]
Ed Rollins warned Sarah Palin that she wasn't going to be taking away his arms. The newly-minted campaign director of the would-be Michele Bachmann campaign, had some choice words for Sarah Palin during a radio interview today: "Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years.... She got the Vice Presidential thing handed to her, she didn't go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance, she gave up her governorship." Zing! [GOP12]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Surfing dogs! Surfing dogs! Surfing dogs! Surfing dogs!
Glenn Beck announced that he will launch a subscription-based online TV network this September. "GBTV" will feature an array of news, entertainment and informational programming, including a two-hour program hosted by Beck himself. "Think of this as Netflix, expect for entertainment, information, news," Beck said on his radio show today. If we had to guess, this new venture will be EXACTLY like Netflix's streaming service, in that GBTV will house the TV show that Beck's viewers want to see, but the other entertainment offerings will be extremely disappointing. Maybe GBTV can work out a deal with Miramax. [HuffPost's Michael Calderone]
JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT - Tonight: Not bad. Mid-70s, but it's liveable. Tomorrow: HELL ON EARTH. Mid 90s. Humidity. Lakes of fire. Flying pigs. You get the drift.Thanks, JB!
COMFORT FOOD
- Video from the perspective of a hula hoop. It's a hard and dizzy life. [http://bit.ly/kOzEBN]
- Fascinating video containing 15 predictions about what the Internet will be like in 2015 [http://bit.ly/jnVjbx]
- The 12 geekiest wedding proposals are like the final scene from a romcom targeted toward people who like Logan's Run [http://aol.it/kzNJMG]
- Access to Amsterdam's marijuana coffee shops will soon be limited to the Dutch. Sorry, everyone else. [http://bit.ly/kQicHQ]
- Speaking of the Netherlands, here's a Dutch woman who had her 152 Facebook friends tattooed onto her arm. [http://bit.ly/iNLpvk]
- You look like you need 20 interesting facts about Rhinoceroses. [http://bit.ly/kwXVzE]
- Baby plays a guitar, society made just that much better because of it. [http://bit.ly/msbUQr]
- People are always mindful of Shel Silverstein, as this street art tribute demonstrates. [http://bit.ly/jUpdPq]
TWITTERAMA
@KagroX: Next week, Michele Bachmann will tell us that Paul Revere was texting the British.
@pourmecoffee: White House State Dinner tonight with Germany's Angela Merkel. Andrew Breitbart will kick it off by answering questions.
@abumuqawama: Amateurs! RT @paulmcleary: Canadian Dept. of Defense forgets to spend all of its budget, has to return $1.5 bil. bit.ly/iniD1Y
ON TAP
TONIGHT
5:30 pm: Kelly Ayotte hosts a "Ladies Night Reception" fundraiser. There's a yuk-yuk, "Women, right?" joke we could make here ... but let's not (the joke involved Sandra Bullock movies and sangria) [Cava Restaurant - 527 8th Street SE].
6:30 pm: Chew and digest food for Pat Toomey. The Pennsylvania lawmaker attends a "Dinner for Pat Toomey." [Cava Restaurant, 527 8th Street SE].
TOMORROW
8:00 am: Richard Lugar gets his military industrial complex on at a fundraiser hosted by a number of defense PAC's including Employees of Northrop Grumman [The Monocle Restaurant, 107 D Street NE].
8:30 am: BIIIIGGGG JOOOOHHHNNNN John Cornyn passes the hat at a fundraiser hosted by the Kidney Care Council, which is a kind of a Justice League of dialysis machine providers [950 F Street NW].
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Montgomery County union members aren't just the roofers who patch up your Chevy Chase home. Donna Edwards shows them some love at her labor fundraising event [423 New Jersey Ave SE].
6:30 pm: Guy-who-did-a-lot-worse-than-sext-pictures-of-his-crotch David Vitter ensures his continued political success with a fundraiser [Rupli Townhouse, 446 New Jersey Ave SE].
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First Posted: 06/07/11 06:19 PM ET Updated: 08/07/11 06:12 AM ET