Satan prepared his acting reel to audition for the part of "Anthony Weiner" in the inevitable Lifetime original movie about this whole mess. Indiana Republicans might finally triumph over the special interest group known in political circles as "women." And merchants triumphed over banks in the Alien Vs. Predator political battle that was the swipe fee debate. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday June 8th, 2011:
Anthony Weiner's wife is pregnant.
You're probably hurting. Here's a puppy.
BANKS LOSE OUT TO MERCHANTS IN SENATE SWIPE FEE VOTE - Outside of wagered games of golf at the Chevy Chase Country Club, Washington rarely witnesses the type of fierce competition between two obscenely rich adversaries that was on display today in the Senate. The bill that would have delayed implementation of interchange fee regulations failed to hit the 60-vote mark, 54-45. Bank lobbyists managed to shave off 19 votes from the original 2010 vote, in which the upper chamber voted 64-33 to implement the reforms. As we have previously documented, the debate basically devolved into a massive lobbying war between banking and merchant interests. Keep that in mind when you read this post-vote comment to reporters from Bob Corker. "The people have spoken," he said. "This was a tough fight ... I apologized to my colleagues non-stop for causing them to have to be involved in this." Pity the poor lawmakers, who were damn near drowned in the flood of cash. [HuffPost]
Richard Lugar voted with the retailers, avoiding any unpleasant holiday dinners.
Need more swipe fee action? We, of course, live blogged it.
Tonight in The Hill: "Michael O'Brien on how Scott Brown has spent most of his Senate career with a target on his back, but his maverick voting record and fundraising prowess have positioned him to achieve the unthinkable: winning statewide reelection in Massachusetts as a Republican."
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS GOING ALL LORENA BOBBIT ON WEINER - Democratic Minnesota Rep. Tim Waltz has donated the $3,000 Weiner gave his campaigns to a veterans' charity. He was the second Democrat to rid himself of Weiner's contributions by way of a charitable contribution, after Betty Sutton. Allyson Schwartz, who heads up recruitment and member services for the DCCC, issued a statement today urging Weiner to resign. "[H]aving the respect of your constituents is fundamental for a Member of Congress," she said: "In light of Anthony Weiner's offensive behavior online, he should resign." Mike Michaud added his name to the list. [USA Today]
There's a picture of a penis on the Internet, apparently.
MAJORITY OF NEW YORKERS DON'T WANT WEINER TO RESIGN - Even though the strip clubs and peep show joints have long been pushed to edges of Manhattan and various nooks and crannies in the outer boroughs, New Yorkers still retain a strong stomach for the sexually explicit and debauched. An NY1-Marist poll finds that 51 percent of Big Apple respondents don't think Weiner should resign from Congress. Thirty percent believe he should hand in his electronic voting card and 18 percent are unsure. But it's not all good news for the embattled lawmaker: Fifty-six percent of the individuals surveyed don't want Weiner to run for mayor, including a majority of Democrats. Even if his mayoral aspirations don't come to fruition, he can always be put on retainer by the New York Post for headline inspiration. [Marist]
5:30 UPDATE - Yeah, the pregnancy thing might change that.
Tim Kaine, who is running for elected office below the Mason-Dixon line, thinks Weiner should resign. "Lying is unforgivable," he said during an interview with a Charlottesville CBS affiliate yesterday. "Lying publicly about something like this is unforgivable and he should resign." [WaPo]
REDISTRICTING PROCESS TAINTED BY NEPOTISM - Running tonight in Roll Call from Shira Toeplitz: "For many current and former Members of Congress, redistricting is a family affair -- and House district boundaries run as thick as bloodlines. State lawmakers in Indiana, Michigan and New Mexico are tasked with redrawing House districts that will determine their family's political posterity. Among them: Rep. Dan Burton's (R-Ind.) brother, Woody Burton, serves on the Indiana redistricting commission. In Michigan, a former Member's son will attempt to take back the House seat his family lost two cycles ago. Former Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) lost a bid to now-Rep. Gary Peters (D) in 2008, but now the Republican's son, state Rep. Marty Knollenberg (R), is on the redistricting committee in the Michigan Legislature. In New Mexico, two-term Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan's father is in a position to help shore up his son's district if necessary. Lujan's father, Ben Lujan, is New Mexico's Speaker of the House and therefore holds the keys to whatever new Congressional map passes through his chamber."
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - A new study from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the Great Recession that technically ended in 2009 has doubled the time it takes before the average unemployed person either finds a job or gives up looking for work. [HuffPost]
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
POLL: OBAMA'S APPROVALS DOWN, BIN LADEN BUMP SHOT IN EYE, KILLED - A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out today has President Obama's approval rating at a "meh"-ish 48 percent. That's down six points from the end of May, when America was still engulfed in a national period of GET SOME. Now, with job growth still sluggish, that "SOME" isn't so much a bullet-riddled terrorist's corpse as it is, y'know, a job. The president's disapproval ratings also ticked up three points, from 45 percent in May to 48 percent now. Next time we kill a world-renown terrorist, expect the administration to prolong it as long as humanly possible by having the body put on display as the opening act to "Glee! Live in Concert!" [CNN]
GIULIANI CONSIDERING SECOND WHITE HOUSE BID - We're still very skeptical but the William Wallace of anti-squeegee crusaders told Shira Schoenberg yesterday that he is seriously considering a second try at the presidency, much as he told Jon Ward months ago. The erstwhile mayor said he will have a decision by the end of the summer. This time, Giuliani told Schoenberg, he would "do it the right way". Giuliani, who in 2008 avoided Iowa and New Hampshire the last time around, said he'd go about things differently. "The impression was we didn't spend a lot of time here because we didn't do it the right way," he said. "We were spending so much time trying to raise money that we forgot about the politics." There's a difference? [Boston Globe]
Bill Kristol says Rudy is running. So ... yeah.
BACHMANN'S WOULD-BE CAMPAIGN MANAGER PREVIOUSLY DISSED HER - Earlier this week Ed Rollins, the likely campaign manager of Bachmann 2012, took aim at Sarah Palin's credibility as a candidate, claiming that, "she didn't go to work in the sense of trying to gain more substance, she gave up her governorship." However during a CNN appearance back in January, Rollins raised an eyebrow about the woman who would later become his employer. "Michele Bachmann obviously is a member of Congress and a representative of the Tea Party," Rollins said. "But at the end of the day, we have to get our serious players out front and talking about the things that matter to be the alternative to the president and Democrats." We're shocked, frankly, that an individual who would commit himself full time to making sure Michele Bachmann becomes president is intellectually inconsistent. [MoJo]
Rollins apologized today for his Palin comments: "This was my one comment, which I shouldn't have made, at the end of the day this has nothing to do with Michele, Michele's campaign, or any of the rest of it. This was my transition from being an analyst to a political strategist, and I missed a step." [Politico]
Both Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann would lose Minnesota in a general election. PPP finds.
President Herman Cain won't allow a bill to exceed three pages
"Engage the people. Don't try to pass a 2,700 page bill -- and even they didn't read it! You and I didn't have time to read it. We're too busy trying to live -- send our kids to school," he said at an appearance in Iowa this week. "That's why I am only going to allow small bills -- three pages. You'll have time to read that one over the dinner table. What does Herman Cain, President Cain talking about in this particular bill?" Why stop there, CEO Cain? President HuffPost Hill would reformat all legislation into Mad Lib format. [HuffPost's Jason Linkins]
INDIANA CUTTING PRIMARY CARE FOR 20,000 PEOPLE - The Republican effort to keep women from preventing mutated cells from proliferating inside internal organs is succeeding. Huzzah! Laura Bassett: "As a federal judge considers whether to block the implementation of a recently-passed law that defunds Planned Parenthood of Indiana, more than 20,000 low-income patients are on the verge of losing their primary health care provider. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) signed a bill in early May that, among other things, blocks Medicaid patients from being reimbursed for health services at Planned Parenthood clinics and requires doctors to tell a pregnant woman seeking abortion that the fetus might feel pain during the procedure. Republican lawmakers have said the bill is intended to prevent taxpayer-funded abortions, although the Hyde Amendment has prevented government money from being used for abortions for the past 30 years." [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - What does it look like when you almost ski over a bear? Allow this first-person video to demonstrate.
JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT - Tonight: HOT! Tomorrow: HOT! With possible thunderstorms. These two days are still not hot enough to rank on D.C.'s hottest days list. Thanks, JB!
COMFORT FOOD
- Sad kitten is sad. [http://chzb.gr/ieqGW0]
- The highlights of the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference presented in song. [http://bit.ly/laaosJ]
- The always great "Seven Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now" from or colleagues at HuffPost Comedy [http://huff.to/jjHq4x]
- An elaborate and unnecessary way to cook hot dogs. [http://bit.ly/mBEhM0]
- The X-Men themed rendition of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" is low budget and awesome. [http://bit.ly/lxyXDj]
- Flamethrower trombone is great for swing bands and the 101st Airborne. [http://bit.ly/j9J6eE]
- What a rocket launch looks like from the International Space Station. [http://bit.ly/mnT7lg]
- While we're on the subject of space, we should inform you that the Sun kind of exploded yesterday. [http://bit.ly/j8ue8J]
TWITTERAMA
@SaraLibby: I see Obama's heartfelt fatherhood essay in People magazine for what it is: pandering to win Sexiest Man Alive. http://bit.ly/lQIVTh
@EricKleefeld: If lowering taxes really boosted revenue, would a 0% tax rate yield infinite revenue?
@daveweigel: On the bright side, Weiner will soon have a family to Spend More Time With
ON TAP
TONIGHT
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].
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Hey, remember the Gulf oil spill? Of course you don't! Who does?!? Mary Landrieu hosts her 10th Annual Crawfish Fest. Only a $50 suggested donation so expect a wide variety of [The Jones Day Atrium, 300 New Jersey Ave NW].
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].
TOMORROW
8:30 am - 9:30 am: rlly weird twttr Chuck Grassley is the gst of hnr at a cmpagn fcn at the NRSC. srsly, he twts wrd [National Republican Senatorial Committee, 425 2nd Street NE].
12:00 pm: Roger Wicker attends a campaign event at 116 Club, which is where you go if you want to raise campaign funds or have really good crab cake [116 Club, 234 3rd Street NE].
7:30 pm: What's could possibly be worse than the intersection of "Glee!" and the underbelly of American politics? Mark Critz, Gwen Moore and Amy Klobuchar treat their benefactors to the "Glee! Live in Concert!" performance [Verizon Center, 601 F Street NW].
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