Government Executive - Authors - Lindsey Boerma

Gingrich unofficially concedes GOP nomination to Romney

Lindsey Boerma, National Journal — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:38:05 -0400

CRAMERTON, N.C. – Newt Gingrich on Wednesday unofficially conceded the Republican presidential race to Mitt Romney, calling on conservatives to unite behind the presumptive nominee.

Following Romney’s clean sweep of all five primaries on Tuesday – including Delaware, where Gingrich had staked the remainder of his tattered campaign – the former House speaker said in a speech to the Gaston County GOP that “it’s pretty clear Governor Romney is going to be the nominee.”

“I think you have to at some point be honest with what’s happening in the real world, as opposed to what you’d like to have happened,” Gingrich said. “Governor Romney had a very good day yesterday. He got 67 [percent] in one state, and he got 63 in other, 62 in another. Now you have to give him some credit. I mean this guy’s worked six years, put together a big machine, and has put together a serious campaign.

“I think obviously that I would be a better candidate, but the objective fact is the voters didn’t think that,” Gingrich said. “And I also think it’s very, very important that we be unified.”

Gingrich said he will continue to campaign in North Carolina through the week “as a citizen,” and that “we’re working out the details of our transition and we’ll have information for the press in the next couple of days.”

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Ron Paul calls rival GOP candidates 'chicken hawks'

Lindsey Boerma, National Journal — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:37:00 -0400

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.—Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says that recent shifts by some of his rivals on the Afghanistan war are a sign that he’s “winning the fight” with his signature hands-off foreign policy.

Paul won standing ovations from some 4,600 people on Wednesday night at a University of Illinois rally--his largest turnout ever--for his calls to "bring our troops home!" He also told the crowd, made up mostly of college students, that “the other candidates on our side are saying we need to fight more wars.”

Asked by CBS News/National Journal about recent comments by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum that the United States should review its commitment in Afghanistan and possibly back off, Paul replied, “It’s about time.”

“But they’re what we call chicken hawks. And they talk a lot, they push the wars, they themselves haven’t gone, and they don’t serve, and yet they … promote the wars," he said of his rivals, who talk often of taking military action against Iran to keep it from getting a nuclear weapon.

"Sure, the politics are changing, and that’s great. We’re changing people’s minds. The American people are sick and tired of it," Paul said. "And like I mentioned in my speech, I spent five years trying to prevent the war in Iraq. So if they want to come on board now, fine and dandy. That means we’re winning the fight.”

Paul got chuckles from the gaggle of journalists and close supporters backstage when one reporter asked how he plans to bring home the troops. “By ship,” he said.

A new Gallup Poll shows half of Americans back a faster pullout of troops from Afghanistan than President Obama's timetable of completing a withdrawal by the end of 2014.

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Postal service plans to slash 120,000 jobs, withdraw from federal benefits

Lindsey Boerma — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The Washington Post reports.

A USPS notice on Thursday titled "Financial crisis calls for significant actions" informed its employees that "we will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit pre-funding costs imposed by Congress." The Post notes that in the past four years, the agency lost $20 billion and mail volume plummeted by 20 percent.

Because the downsizing would require breaking labor agreements, the proposal has already drawn fire from labor unions. Congressional approval would be required for the plan's activation, but if passed, it would be a historic--and devastating--precedent for the U.S. labor movement.

In the two draft documents outlining the USPS plan, a "Workforce Optimization" paper admits that the Postal Service is making an "extraordinary request" to break labor contracts. "However," the document argues, "exceptional circumstances require exceptional remedies.

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GOP lawmaker supports 'grand bargain' to reduce deficit

Lindsey Boerma — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

In an appearance Thursday on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he "would support a grand bargain," but considering the ideological stalwarts appointed to the 12-person panel by both parties, "I don't see it happening in August," he said. "It didn't happen in May or June or July; I don't see it happening now. Hopefully something like that can happen between Labor Day and Thanksgiving."

Despite the more liberal Democrats and anti-tax Republicans on the committee, King said realistically, "I think we can talk about real entitlement reform, we can talk about having new revenues, whether you're talking raising taxes or just doing away with certain loopholes."

King said he supported the negotiations between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, before "the bases of both parties sort of blew that up. I think they were really onto something there."

Going forward, King said he doesn't expect the intransigence shown by tea party-affiliated members of Congress during the debt-ceiling compromise to bode well for the super committee's task.

"I know a lot of others who barely voted yes [on the debt-ceiling compromise] who are very, very concerned about the tea party," King said. "And of the 95 Democrats who voted yes, I don't know how many would if there were real changes made to Medicare or Social Security. I think a lot of them would bail out."

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GOP lawmakers tout Constitutional amendment to require balanced budget

Lindsey Boerma — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Perhaps as an antidote to his decision not to sign the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" pledge circulating among Republicans in both chambers, House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., teamed with the congressman leading the charge in a USA Today op-ed to advocate support of the balanced budget amendment, which the House will vote on Wednesday.

Conceding the historical unlikelihood of successfully amending the 223-year-old Constitution (there have only been 27 amendments), Cantor and Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, argue that because amendments require passage of two-thirds of the House and Senate and three-fourths of the states, "successful amendments tend to stay in place. Only one, Prohibition, has ever been repealed.

"The moral of this story is clear," they write. "Anyone who hopes to rein in the debt and make Washington live within its means should support amending the Constitution to require a balanced budget."

Though Jordan has emerged at the front line of the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" pledge -- which holds signers to opposing any debt-ceiling increase unless it is accompanied by "substantial" spending cuts, federal spending caps, and a balanced budget amendment -- Cantor and House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, have refused to sign for fear of being bound by either side's conditions.

But both Cantor and Boehner have publicly promoted passage of a balanced budget amendment, and though it's still likely to fall short of the necessary votes, Democrats -- in a scurry to shore up the massive disparity between their budget preferences and Republicans' before the August 2 deadline hits -- see political incentive to OK it: If it passes, the GOP will be much more inclined to strike a deal that includes a debt-ceiling boost.

In an appearance Wednesday on CBS's Early Show, Rep. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., tea party favorite and one of 12 senators to have signed the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" pledge, confirmed that Republicans hope to use the amendment as leverage over their budget stalemate with Democrats.

"This idea that Republicans will not vote to increase the debt limit is wrong," DeMint said. "We're going to introduce a plan that would give the president an increase in the debt limit, but it's contingent on cutting and capping spending over several years and giving the states the opportunity to decide if we're going to balance our budget sometime in the next decade. It's a very reasonable proposal, and I think you'll see that coming out of the House over the next few days."

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Senator suggests new member for ‘Gang of Six’ budget negotiators

Lindsey Boerma — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

With Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., out of the bipartisan "Gang of Six" senators working toward a budget cut proposal that would simultaneously raise the debt ceiling, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., has a nominee to take his place.

"I'll make a little news today," Kirk offered Friday on "Morning Joe" when asked if the current quintet will be able to pull through in what was once regarded to be the best hope for a feasible budget resolution. "I think the Gang of Six should probably be the Gang of Six again. I hope Sen. Rob Portman joins, with his connections to the [Office of Management and Budget] and his gravitas; that would help."

Portman, an Ohio Republican, is a former director of the OMB. But Kirk said when he spoke with Portman about it Thursday, he seemed "reticent."

"He needs to be invited," Kirk explained, "but he is the kind of person who could give gravitas to the discussion again, rebalance the group."

With Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's postponement of the deadline when the government will hit its deficit cap to August 2, Kirk said a replacement Republican in the Gang is critical to re-establish "the best chance we have" at composing a workable, bipartisan budget plan.

"You could feel the energy going out of the deficit reduction tires and heading for a July battle instead of a May battle," Kirk said of the extension. "Now we're resetting the battlefield for June, July, with the Gang of Six… being the best act in town."

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‘Let the debate begin,’ senator says in op-ed on budget talks

Lindsey Boerma — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Days after stepping out of the Senate's bipartisan "Gang of Six" budget negotiations, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said in a Washington Post op-ed Thursday that all is not lost.

Defending his decision to leave the group's talks -- regarded by many in Congress as the last hope of striking a feasible deal on deficit cuts linked to a debt-ceiling increase -- Coburn wrote, "I understand the disappointment, and real danger, associated with our impasse. The question, though, is not how we tried and failed but why the Senate has not even tried.

"Commissions and 'gangs' form when members lose confidence in the institutions in which they serve," Coburn continued. "Working groups have their place-but they should support, not replace, the open work of the full Senate. The truth is that we already have a permanent standing debt commission. It's called Congress."

Though Coburn's brick wall was allegedly an impenetrable standoff over deep cuts to Medicare between him and Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., another member of the group, Coburn's op-ed faulted Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "for failing to direct attention to the central challenges of our time.

"His floor strategy seems to be focused on saving Democrats more than democracy," Coburn continued, calling on the Senate to take up a "real debate, not partisan political theater." Coburn said he would be offering his own proposal in the next few weeks "that puts everything on the table and cuts $9 trillion in spending over the next decade," and asked his colleagues to do the same.

"History has not been kind to republics that pretend they can borrow and spend beyond their means indefinitely," he concluded. "We can cheat history, but only if we act quickly.... Let the debate begin."

Meanwhile, Coburn's Republican colleague Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania-in headlines recently for his frank defiance of the White House's claim that failure to raise the debt ceiling will result in the first-ever default on U.S. bonds-has wasted no time taking Coburn's suggestion.

In a Thursday appearance on Fox and Friends, Toomey discussed his own budget proposal, which differs from that of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's in that the Wisconsin Republican is "looking at permanent solvency," Toomey said. "I was focused more on a more immediate challenge: How do we reach the balance within 10 years?

"I think these are complementary efforts, frankly, and I agreed with the big tax reform, with the spending cuts," Toomey continued. "But actually, [my plan] cuts spending a little bit more deeply than the House Republican budget does, because that's what it takes to get a balance within 10 years. I think that's necessary."

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Wisconsin Senate limits collective-bargaining rights of public unions

Lindsey Boerma and Andy Leonatti — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500

In a surprise move, Wisconsin Senate Republicans passed a long-stalled bill stripping public-employee union members of most collective-bargaining rights without Democratic senators present on Wednesday.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Senate sent GOP Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill to a conference committee that stripped all of the spending measures out of the bill and sent it back to the Senate, which lawmakers said allowed them to pass it with a simple majority present. Senate rules require a quorum of 20 senators to vote on spending bills, and all 14 Senate Democrats fled the state on February 17 to prevent that.

The vote was 18-1, with GOP state Sen. Dale Schultz the only member to vote against it. There was no debate on the bill.

Protesters were chanting "shame" and "this is not democracy," according to the Journal Sentinel.

"The Senate Democrats have had three weeks to debate this bill and were offered repeated opportunities to come home, which they refused," Walker said in a statement. "I applaud the Legislature's action today to stand up to the status quo." The governor also penned an op-ed for Thursday's Wall Street Journal defending his stance against compromise, acknowledging it as a "bold political move."

Appearing on Fox and Friends on Thursday morning, Republican Sen. Randy Hopper -- one of the 18 senators to vote "yes" -- said that defining the revamped legislation as devoid of fiscal components is inaccurate.

"Everything is fiscal," Hopper said. "What we did is we can't allocate those funds; we can't appropriate the funds that we save. So even though those things are very fiscal, we can't spend the money until one of the Democrats decides to come back and do their job. What we can start doing is capturing the savings."

According to the Journal Sentinel, Democratic Sen. Chris Larson attempted to drive back to the capitol in Madison from Illinois, but he was too late, and would not have been able to stop the bill's passage.

"This is on the Republicans' heads right now. If they decide to kill the middle class, it's on them," Larson said. "This is a travesty, is what it is. I can't sit by and let them kill the middle class."

The adjusted bill goes to the Republican-controlled State Assembly this morning for a vote, but political analysts across Wisconsin call its passage a done deal.

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Walker calls Dems' 'border meeting' request 'ridiculous'

Lindsey Boerma — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has dismissed as "ridiculous" a letter from Democratic state senators requesting a meeting near the Wisconsin-Illinois border to hammer out a compromise that would end the state's ongoing budget battle.

"People talk about negotiating? We've been doing it for days," Walker said during a press conference Monday night. He pointed to the letter, written by Democratic Senate leader Mark Miller, as proof that the impasse is the fault of his colleagues on the left.

Since the 14 Democratic senators fled Wisconsin to delay a vote on his controversial budget repair bill, which includes restrictions on union bargaining rights, Walker said he and Republican Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald "have been reaching out to reasonable senators, many of whom are very interested and willing to come back to the state of Wisconsin."

Following conflicting accounts on Monday that the Democrats' return to the capitol was imminent, Walker alluded to the idea that Miller is the puppeteer behind the standoff.

Members of the public "were misled by the statement Miller made that the Senate was going to come back, and is now reversing course on that," Walker said. "I think that's indicative of the fact that Sen. Miller is misleading the public, just like he misled us, and apparently seems to be misleading members of his own caucus."

Wisconsin Dems also filed an ethics complaint against Walker on Monday for breaching "third-party coordination" regulations during a phone call with a reporter impersonating campaign contributor David Koch.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told CBS that he'd found nothing in Walker's statements that would warrant a criminal investigation.

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AWOL over? Wisconsin Dems reportedly ask to meet with Gov. Walker

Lindsey Boerma — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500

The 14 Democratic state senators who fled Wisconsin to prevent a vote on Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget-repair bill are requesting to meet with the governor, MSNBC reports.

The shift in strategy comes amid conflicting accounts of the Democrats' plans. Sen. Chris Larson released a statement Monday morning denying a Wall Street Journal report that the group will return to the capitol soon. The comments "are taken out of context in the Wall Street Journal article just released," he said. "Dems will return when collective bargaining is off the table."

Returning to the state would allow the Republican-controlled chamber to pass the bill, despite tens of thousands of union protesters who have shown up to protest the restriction of public-employee benefits.

"I think we have to realize that there's only so much we can do as a group to make a stand," state Sen. Bob Jauch told WSJ. Jauch is one of several Democrats to have met with Walker to discuss budget negotiations.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said that though the bill will pass without amendment-including a provision that would strip state workers' collective-bargaining rights-there remains a possibility that Democrats will be able to strike a deal on Walker's broader budget plan. Democratic Sen. Mark Miller said the ongoing kerfuffle has been "disastrous" for the GOP image, which he expects will help his Party gain leverage both in Wisconsin and in several other states where union battles are brewing.

The possible return of the runaway senators comes after a string of escalating efforts from both sides. Dems are actively seeking a recall of GOP senators to overtake the chamber majority, while Republicans last week ordered the missing Democrats be taken into custody. Miller said their outstanding warrant will need to be resolved before they return to the state.

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Battles over employee bargaining rights escalate

Lindsey Boerma — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Two weeks after union supporters first stormed the Wisconsin statehouse to protest Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to cut public-employee union members' collective-bargaining rights, activists on both sides are upping the ante.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate launched a website on Wednesday seeking to recall at least three pro-Walker Republican state senators whom he calls "vulnerable … for their radical, partisan overreach." The move, if successful, would overturn GOP control of the Senate.

Republicans are playing a similar game. State Senate Republicans voted on Wednesday to impose $100-a-day fines on Democratic senators who have fled the state in a standoff against Walker's rejection of a compromise, Reuters reported.

It's the latest news in a series of ever-escalating actions and reactions following Walker's proposal to cut union benefits and collective-bargaining rights as a way to help shore up the state's projected $3.6 billion budget shortfall. And Wisconsin, it seems, is just the beginning.

Responding to the union-rights fury raging across the country, tea party powerhouse FreedomWorks-a group led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas,-dispatched on Wednesday its first flock of paid ground activists to Harrisburg, Pa., as part of a multi-state, grassroots counter-protest. State coordinator Brendan Steinhauser, who will travel to Wisconsin and Indiana, said the focus is just as much on the messengers as the message.

"Obviously we want to push through a limited government agenda in every state we can," Steinhauser said. "But there's also the part of us that says to fight back in the media war against the union guys, because we have video of them smashing cameras, littering the sidewalks, pushing girls around; just a lot of bad behavior. We don't want these guys to be the only voices out there."

It's a strategy that can be traced to many a tea party organization recently. Early Monday morning, Tea Party Express Chair Amy Kremer sent an e-mail warning supporters of the "dramatic upturn in incidents of violence against peaceful tea party activists by angry union mobs," listing a series of citations and reports in which tea partiers have been assaulted or threatened.

"I'm so upset," Kremer continued-and she's not the only one. Nationally and locally, groups from both the left and right are taking the opportunity to publicize-and capitalize-their alleged martyrdom.

Following Kremer's e-mail (which concluded by requesting a contribution to the cause), Tea Party Express's sister organization, The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, wrapped up its first round of ad-selling for a radio and TV blitz in support of Walker, and-more overtly-in contempt of the tens of thousands of pro-union protesters.

On the left, a similar game plan has been taking shape. In a letter to his supporters on Wednesday, Tate appealed for $60 donations to bolster his recall effort and "end the ugly games Republicans in the legislature have played in the last few days-unplugging phone lines, bolting windows inside the Capitol shut, and withholding the paychecks of Democratic legislators."

Finger pointing aside, Steinhauser said, all the brouhaha "isn't just about reacting and fighting back, but about what we do on offense as well. If there are any wobbly legislators, we have to give them some backbone if necessary."

According to Steinhauser, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee should expect to see similar battles.

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