Senior Senator Representing Tennessee

In a political climate scarred by the winds of ardent bipartisanship, it is refreshing to see a politician go against the “grain.”  In January, Senator Lamar Alexander – our Member of the Week, Senate Republican Conference chairman, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s right-hand man – will resign from his leadership post to give himself greater freedom to work with Democrats.

Already, Senator Alexander has begun to reach out to the other side, hosting two bipartisan dinners with Senator Mark Warner at The Alibi Club in the past month and working with Senator Charles Schumer to open the so-called inner sanctum, across from the Senate members’ dining room, as a bipartisan hangout.

The reasoning behind the resignation is a bit muddled.  Alexander claims he’s doing so to work with Democrats to get things done and to help McConnell become the leader of an effective Senate.  Others claim he is leaving because he could not fully embrace the initiatives agreed to by the rest of the leadership.

Andrew Lamar Alexander was born in Maryville, Tennessee on July 3, 1940 and grew up near the Smoky Mountains.  His hunger for political leadership was evident early; in high school he was elected Governor of Tennessee Boys State.  Alexander graduated with a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in 1962 and from the New York University School of Law in 1965.  After graduating from law school, Alexander clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for only one year.

In 1967, Alexander went to work as a legislative assistant for Senator Howard Baker.  While a staffer, he was briefly a roommate of future Senator Trent Lott.  Two years later, in 1969, Alexander got a job in the White House, working for Bryce Harlow, President Richard Nixon’s congressional liaison.  After spending a year in the White House, he moved back to Tennessee, serving as campaign manager on Winfield Dunn’s successful gubernatorial bid; Dunn became the first Republican Tennessee governor in 50 years.

Alexander’s rise in Tennessee politics was meteoric, to say the least.  At age 34, he ran for governor, but in a campaign that would see Democrat Ray Blanton expose his connections to the Nixon White House, Alexander lost.

Despite losing, Time Magazine named Alexander one of the 200 Faces of the Future in 1974.  Four years after his initial gubernatorial bid ended in disappointment, Alexander ran again.  This time around he made a name for himself, walking 1,000 miles across the state wearing a red and black plaid shirt.  He easily defeated Jake Butcher in the November election.

Alexander spent two terms as governor, becoming the first Tennessee governor to do so.  During his second term, he served as chairman of the National Governors Association from 1985 to 1986.  After leaving office, Alexander moved his family to Australia for six months.  Deemed a “sabbatical”, the trip reenergized Alexander; after returning to the U.S. he became the President of the University of Tennessee, a job he kept until President George H.W. Bush appointed him education secretary in 1991.

After two unsuccessful Presidential bids – the last one being in 2000 – Alexander vowed to never again return to elective office.  In 2002, this promise was emphatically broken after Fred Thompson announced his retirement from the Senate.  Alexander ran and easily won.

After the Republicans lost the Senate majority in 2006, Alexander began gathering support for the minority whip position.  His former roommate, veteran Senator Trent Lott also announced that he was running for the position.  In a secret ballot, Alexander lost by one vote.

More moderate than most of his Senate colleagues, Senator Alexander is known for being willing to compromise with Democrats.  He has been at the forefront of the debate on climate change, calling for tougher restriction on pollutants.  He has also pushed for education, through support for the reauthorization of Head Start and the proposition of a measure that would allow states to have more control over their education standards and enforcement.

 Aside from being a well-respected politician with a firm grip on his Senate seat – he won in 2008 with 67% – Lamar Alexander is also a classical pianist.  In April 2007, he played on Patti Page’s re-recording of her 1950 hit “Tennessee Waltz.”

Though doubtful, hopefully Lamar Alexander’s resignation from his leadership post in the Senate to enable closer work with Democrats signals a turning of the bipartisanship tide on Capitol Hill.

–Amendment202

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U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 6th

One of the concessions that Republicans in the House and Senate won from Democrats during the negotiations to raise the debt limit was the opportunity to vote on a balanced budget amendment by December 31^st.  Last Friday, House Republicans met in a special GOP conference to discuss whether they wanted to pressure vulnerable Democrats or pursue a hard line conservative stance on the floor.  Characterized by a principle vs. political pragmatism debate, GOP lawmakers are approaching this amendment with a full realization of the growing hindrance that has developed as a result of the ongoing evolution (good or bad) of the party.  One of the lawmakers at the center of this debate – and our Member of the Week – is Representative Mike Pence.

One of six children, Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana on June 7, 1959.  He attended Columbus North High School, before going on to Hanover College.  His time at Hanover was eventful, with an ideological conversion that saw him go from Democrat sympathizer to Republican, and from Catholic to evangelical protestant.  After graduating from Hanover in 1981, Pence continued his education at the Indiana University School of Law, where he earned a Juris Doctorate in 1986.

With a law degree in hand, Pence started work as attorney.  This was short lived.  In 1988, and then again in 1990, he moved into the political spotlight after running – and losing – for the House seat he now holds.  Even with the direct endorsement of President Ronald Reagan, Pence lost both times to Representative Phil Sharp, a moderate Democrat.

His second defeat was seen across the political landscape as the end of a political career that had no beginning. But Pence stayed in politics, evolving into a commentator.  He was the president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, a conservative think tank, and the radio host of the Mike Pence Show, a right-leaning talk program that was syndicated across the state from 1994 to 2000.

The opportunity to try again for the 6^th District came in 2000.  It was at this time that then-Representative David McIntosh left his seat to run for governor in 2000.  Sensing his chance, Pence moved into the race.  He started his campaign on the offensive, defeating five other candidates in the Republican primary.  In the general campaign, Pence faced questions about his lack of military service and was accused of not offering enough relief for middle-class families.  He countered these allegations with calls for across-the-board tax cuts and Medicare reform.  Ultimately, third time was the charm and Pence won with 51 percent of the vote.

Beginning in January 2001, Pence quickly became one of the party’s leading conservative voices, railing against the dangers of big government.  He maintained a hardened ideological consistency leading to a unanimous election as chairman of the Republican Study Committee in 2005.  Entering the position, he vowed to put more conservative federal judges on the bench, limit abortion rights, and cut spending and entitlement programs in Medicaid.  Nearly a year later, Pence ran for House minority leader, only to lose spectacularly to John Boehner, 168-27.

After being reelected in 2008, Pence ran unopposed for the GOP conference chairman.  He was easily elected, becoming the third-highest ranking Republican and the first Representative from Indiana to hold a House leadership position since 1981.  The position was tailor-made for the media-savvy Pence.  He entered the position off the back of overwhelmingly Republican losses in 2008.  Charged with resurrecting a political brand that was no longer appetizing to a broad swath of voters, Pence ended his tenure with the Republicans retaking the House in 2010.

One of the most outspoken conservatives in the Republican Party, Pence has been quoted as saying “I am a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.”  He is a particular champion of controlling the federal budget and cutting government pending, and also support free markets.  In the ongoing internal debate regarding the balanced budget amendment, Pence is the leading advocate of political pragmatism, supporting a version of the amendment requiring a two-thirds majority of members to raise taxes, and would cap federal spending at 20 percent of the GDP.

According to various sources, the amendment has little chance of passing.  Though Representative Pence is running for the governorship of Indiana in 2012, his sway in Congress may continue to push the Republican Party down a road of decision-making emphasizing political confrontation.

–Amendment202

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Senior U.S. Senator Representing South Carolina

According to recent estimates, despite announcing 15 months ago that it would float its currency, the Chinese renminbi (RMB) has appreciated only 6 percent against the dollar.  Moreover, it is widely believed that the RMB is still 28 percent below its true value.  The impact on the American job market has been clear:  the currency manipulation of China costs anywhere between 1 – 1.5 million American jobs and gives Chinese exporters an illegitimate upper hand.  In response, legislation that would seek to impose sanctions against countries whose currencies are “misaligned” has been introduced in the Senate.  Though the legislation has little chance of progressing, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham – and our Member of the Week - has made news by going against Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell to declare his support for the legislation that is meant to protect “the American workforce, who is having their clock cleaned by a communist dictatorship who cheats.”

Lindsey Olin Graham was the son of Millie and Florence James Graham, neither of whom finished high school.  His parents ran a local restaurant/bar/pool hall called the Sanitary Café.  Graham worked in the café as a young child and experienced the racial segregation of the South firsthand; the Sanitary Café only offered takeout service to African-Americans while white people could eat inside.

After graduating from D.W. Daniel High School, Graham became the first member of this family to attend college and joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.  While still in college, both of his parents died (his mother first, his father 15 months later).  He became the legal guardian of his 13-year-old sister Darlene and attended University of South Carolina in Columbia so he could be near his sister.  Graham would go on to graduate with a B.A. in Psychology in 1977 and from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1981.

Upon graduating, he joined the U.S. Force as a lawyer.  He served at the Rhein Mein Air Force Base in Germany until 1988.  Following his departure, Graham joined the South Carolina Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force Reserve.  He was recalled to active duty during the first Gulf War, serving as Judge Advocate at the McEntire Air National Guard Station.  While there, he briefed members of the Armed Services, who were deploying to the Gulf, on the laws of war and providing any legal services for their families.  Graham has remained in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, holding the rank of colonel.  In 2007, he served two weeks reserve duty in Iraq, making him the only Iraq War veteran in the Senate.

In terms of winning elections, Graham has been flawless.  In 1992, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives but only went on to serve one term, before running for the U.S. House in 1994.  Running for South Carolina’s 3^rd Congressional District, Graham had the overwhelming support of U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond.  With strong Republican support, coupled with Republican revolution of 1994, Graham won the primary with 52 percent of the vote and the general election with 60 percent of the vote.  Graham became the first Republican to be elected from his state’s 3^rd Congressional District since 1877.  He remained in the House until 2002.

His tenure in the House was defined by his involvement in the Clinton Impeachment Trial.  His seat on the Judiciary Committee gave him extensive influence.  Siding with Democrats initially, Graham was the only Republican on the Committee to voice support for censure of Clinton rather than impeachment.  Though he initially came out in opposition of impeachment, Graham eventually sided with the Republican majority.  He served as a House manager of the impeachment trial and voted for three of the four articles of impeachment.

In 2002, when Senator Strom Thurmond announced his retirement (he had served in the Senate longer than Graham had been alive) Graham announced his intentions to run to succeed him.  As in his House campaign, Graham received the endorsement of Thurmond, leading to no competition in the Republican primary.  In the general election, he defeated Democrat Alex Sanders with 54 percent of the vote.  Graham became South Carolina’s first new Senator since 1965, and the state’s first freshman Republican Senator since Reconstruction.  He served as Junior Senator until 2005, when Jim DeMint was elected to Ernest Holling’s seat.

Portrayed in the recent disagreement with Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham is not afraid to break from the Republican message.  He has voted with the Republican Party nearly 88 percent of the time but has had notable disagreements with the Republican leadership, including the Bush Administration.  Graham challenged the Bush Administration on detaining suspected terrorist at Guantanamo Bay, stating that detainees should be allowed to see the evidence against them and were entitled to some Geneva Convention protections.  He has supports the notion of climate change and comprehensive immigration reform, which has earned him the ire of conservative activists.

In a political climate where lines are drawn and bipartisanship is increasingly arcane, people like Lindsey Graham are a much-needed necessity.

– Amendment202

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Junior Senator Representing Florida

Just as in sports, upsets in politics are rarely ignored.  It is within this context that Marco Rubio shot into the national political consciousness.  Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination in the 2010 Florida Senate seat.  Since then, he has fashioned himself as a rising star in the Republican Party, becoming seemingly more vocal and more involved as days pass.  A by-product of Tea Party support, Marco Rubio is our Member of the Week.

The son of Cuban exiles, Marco Rubio was born in Miami on May 28, 1971.  His upbringing was definitively “working class”; his father was a bartender and his mother was a hotel housekeeper and later a K-Mart stock clerk.  As a high school student, he was athletically gifted, so much so that he attended Tarkio College in Missouri on a football scholarship.  He stayed barely a year before transferring to Sante Fe Community College before finally graduating from the University of Florida in 1993.  He then attended the University of Miami School of Law, earning his law degree with honors in 1996.  It was during his time as a law student that he got his first taste of politics, interning for U.S. Representative Lleana Ros-Lehtinen.  Rubio would also serve as a City Commissioner for West Miami in the late 1990s before running for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

On January 25, 2000, Marco Rubio was elected to the Florida House of Representatives for the 111^th district in a special election.  Over the next eight years, he worked his way up to the state house’s Republican leadership, serving as majority whip, and later as majority leader.  In November 2006, he was elected Speaker of the Florida State House for the 2006-2008 term.  As Speaker, he championed a major overhaul of the Florida tax system.

On May 5, 2009, Rubio announced he his run for the U.S. Senate for the Republican seat being vacated by Senator Mel Martinez.  The run was expected; prior to the announcement, Rubio met with top fundraisers and supporters throughout the state.  Despite his preparation, Rubio was entering a heavily contested field that included Florida Governor Charlie Crist.  Fortunately for Rubio, a surge of antipathy toward President Obama’s health care reform plans, embodied in the grassroots Tea Party movement, helped propel him ahead in the pools.  Dubbed the “Tea Party candidate”, Rubio openly challenged the more traditional Republican Crist.  On April 28, 2010, Crist announced he would be running as an independent, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio.  In addition, several of Crist’s top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for Senate.  On November 2, 2010, Marco Rubio won the senatorial election with 48.9% of the vote to Crist’s 29.7% and Democrat Kendrick Meek’s 20.1%.

During the first months of the 112^th Congress, Rubio stayed out of the limelight.  After making his arrival on the Republican Party scene in February 2010 with his rousing speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rubio again became the center of attention at the end of March 2011 when he vocalized strong opinions about both the United States’ domestic and foreign agenda through an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Rubio’s key focus has long been tax and budget initiatives.  Along with these issues, he has been a critic of certain immigration legislation – mainly the Arizona immigration laws.  During his tenure in the Florida house, Rubio promoted development of the public-school system through improvements to the curricula.  Continuing in this vein, he wants to make federal block grants to states conditional on performance and accountability measures, create students with disabilities scholarships and reinstate the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

Though speculation of Marco Rubio being a potential vice-president nominee is probably premature, his influence in the Republican Party is not to be understated.  The fact that The Hill reported that Rubio is supporting freshman Senator Ron Johnson in his bid for the No. 5 position in the Senate leadership makes it blatantly clear just how important Rubio is at the moment.  Whether he remains influential or goes the route of Bobby Jindal is to be seen but he is one to keep an eye on.

–Amendment202

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Junior Senator Representing West Virginia

According to the latest CBS News/New York Times Poll, President Obama’s overall job approval rating is down to just 43%, his lowest ever rating.  In the midst of this downward spiral, President Obama has lost the support of independent voters, 54 percent of whom disapprove of the job he is doing, while simultaneously putting himself on the wrong side of presidential history – no one with a rating as low as Obama’s at this point in time has gone on to win reelection.  More so than his own political future, the low approval of President Obama is adversely affecting vulnerable members of his own party who face tough reelection bids in red states.  One much Democrat is our Member of the Week, Senator Joe Manchin III.

The Governor of West Virginia from 2005 till 2010, Joseph Manchin III was born in Farmington, West Virginia in 1947, a coaling-mining town to which his paternal grandparents settled in the early 1900s.  Though much of the Manchin family went on to work in the mines, his grandfather broke the trend, opening a grocery store in town.  Manchin was a standout athlete at Farmington High School – he graduated in 1965 – and entered West Virginia University on a football scholarship.  However, his blossoming football career ended after he sustained a knee injury in practice.  He would go on to graduate from West Virginia in 1970 with a degree in information management.

Manchin’s political roots can be traced back to his father and grandfather; both were elected as Mayor of Farmington.  His uncle, James Manchin, was a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and was elected statewide as West Virginia Secretary of State and West Virginia State Treasurer.  Unfortunately, the House of Delegates impeached Uncle Manchin in 1989, during his tenure as state treasurer, after losing $279 million to bad investments.

Manchin entered politics for the first time in 1982, when he was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates.  He served there until 1987, when he won a seat in the state Senate, where he served until 1996.  Near the end of his second five-year term, Manchin made his first gubernatorial bid, only to finish second to Charlotte Pritt.  Down but not out, Manchin made his political comeback in 2000 by easily winning the race for Secretary of State of West Virginia.

Manchin made another move for governor in 2004, this time announcing his intention to challenge incumbent Democratic governor Bob Wise in the 2004 primary election.  After Wise decided not to see re-election after a scandal, Manchin went on to win both the primary and general elections by large margins – he won the general election with 63% of the vote despite President George W. Bush picking up 56% of the vote in West Virginia during his reelection bid that year.  Manchin’s election marked the first time that two people of the same political party followed one another in the West Virginia governor’s office since 1964.

His tenure as governor was quite comfortable with the exception of a family scandal on the eve of his 2008 reelection campaign, which he still won with 70% of the vote.  The family scandal involved Manchin’s daughter, Heather Manchin Bresch, and West Virginia University.  It was publicly revealed that West Virginia had awarded Heather a master of business administration degree she had not earned; Bresch’s transcript was altered in December 2007 by university official to make it appear that she had earned the degree in 1998.  The scandal did not hurt Manchin’s political clout, but it did lead to the forced resignation of several university officials, including the school president.

Aside from that minor hiccup, Manchin’s governorship was quite successful.  He earned bipartisan praise for privatizing the state workers’ compensation system, increasing business investment, and reducing taxes on food.  With West Virginia being the nation’s second-largest coal producing state after Wyoming, Manchin was (and is) a major booster of the coal industry, calling for stricter safety regulations following three mine explosions during his tenure.

His entrance into Senate came in somewhat hurried circumstances.  Prior to Senator Robert C. Byrd’s passing, Manchin had been open about his desire to replace the veteran senator someday.  After Senator Byrd’s death, Manchin stated that he would not appoint himself in the position, and instead appointed Carte Goodwin, his 36-year-old legal adviser.  After appointing Goodwin as placeholder, Manchin announced on July 20, 2010 that he would run for the seat in the November elections.  He faced tougher-than-expected competition from businessman John Raese but won in the general election by 10 percentage points.

A centrist Democrat, Manchin has shown to be anti-abortion rights and anti-gun control.  He is also right of center when it comes to energy and the environment.  On December 9, 2010, Manchin was the sole Democrat to vote against cloture for the 2011 National Defense Authorization Act, which contained a provision to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Even though he won the 2010 special election easily, Manchin finds himself in a tough reelection bid in 2012.  Manchin’s approval rating has climbed steadily since January, which political experts in West Virginia attribute to Manchin’s ability to distance himself from President Obama.  Manchin has stated publicly that he might not support Obama’s reelection in 2012, and has made it abundantly clear that despite being a Democrat, his political philosophy is not that of the president.  If the recent election of Republican Bob Turner in Anthony Weiner’s district is any indication, Democrats face an uphill battle in 2012.  The tactics of Senator Manchin – one in which you distance yourself from President Obama – may be the new survival craze for Democrats on Capitol Hill.

–Amendment202

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Location: Cannon Caucus Room
Description: The Animal Health Institute, which represents companies that make medicine for pets and farm animals and it’s colleagues in pet health care are hosting their 15th annual celebration of America’s pets.

This reception is to celebrate the human-animal bond and learning more about our role in keeping pets healthy.

September 22, 2011
5-7pm
Cannon Caucus Room
rsvp w/ PetNight@ahi.org
www.healthyanimals.org

Lets not forget, LASER CATS!

Start Time: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011

Link out or RSVP here

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The new debt ceiling deal creates a Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. Lobbyists are already calling this committee “the dirty dozen.” If you had to pick them, which members of congress would you choose for the Deficit Reduction Dream Team?

You get to pick 3 House Republicans, 3 House Democrats, 3 Senate Democrats, and 3 Senate Republicans.

Pick wisely or pick randomly. We’ll post the 12 most voted for names and post them here soon!

Like the Deficit Reduction Dream Team article, check out what else we got!

Rob Portman

Senator from Ohio

Every national debate has its key players/villains/heroes.  The debt ceiling is no different. John Boehner, Barack Obama, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, Joe Biden, and Harry Reid play these roles to a t.  Yet, apart from these sizable characters, exist minor figures; influential participants rarely acknowledged by the media.  One such person is our Member of the Week, Senator Rob Portman from Ohio.  A former budget director and trade representative for President George W. Bush, Rob Portman has proved a valuable asset to top GOP debt negotiators; so much so that his name and 2012 Vice Presidential contender have been mentioned in the same sentence.

Robert Jones Portman was born on December 19, 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He grew up in an entrepreneurial environment; his father owned the Portman Equipment Company, a forklift dealership where he and his siblings all worked.  His family’s background in small business and constantly “hearing talk about regulations, and taxes, and government getting in the way of small business” contributed to his burgeoning political philosophy.

As a young man he showed an early interest in the international community, studying in Sweden while a high-school student at Cincinnati Country Day School, and then in France while attending Dartmouth College.  He graduated from Dartmouth in 1979 with B.A. in Anthropology.  In 1984 Rob Portman earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Michigan Law School.  Rob would go on to work for two years as an international trade attorney at Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C. before returning to Cincinnati.

1989 saw the beginning of Portman’s career in public service.  It also marked the beginning of his connection to the Bush family.  Despite working on George H.W. Bush’s campaign in 1988, Rob joined President Bush in an official capacity as Associate White House Council in 1989.  He was then made director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, becoming the president’s chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill, before leaving the White House in 1991.

Though technically a “freshman” senator, Rob Portman has been a member of Congress before.  In 1993, Portman entered a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Willis D. Gradison Jr., who had stepped down to become president of the Health Insurance Association of America.  Though he faced a crowded Republican primary field that included a six-term former congressman and a real estate developer, Portman won easily.  He went on to defeat his Democratic opponent by nearly 30,000 votes.

His tenure as the U.S. Representative of Ohio’s 2^nd District was marked by a willingness to work with Democrats.  Portman authored or co-authored over a dozen bills that became law, including legislation to reform the Internal Revenue Service, curb unfunded mandates (projects and programs Congress insisted that states adopt even though the federal government provided no money for them), expand pensions, 401(k), and IRA plans offered by small businesses, and create Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  His reputation as a rational legislator who worked with colleagues from both sides of the aisle resulted in six reelection wins without any serious challenge.

Rob Portman connection to the Bush family further blossomed when then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas ran for president in 2000.  An early supporter of the Governor, Portman helped both Bush and vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney practice for the debates by playing the roles of Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore and running mate Joe Lieberman in debate practice.  His close relationship with Bush led then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert to appoint Portman as the House’s liaison with the White House.

Rob Portman ended his first run in Congress on May 17, 2005, when he was sworn in to be the United States Trade Representative.  As a result, he became the first sitting congressman to hold the post.  He served in this capacity for about a year, during which he helped convince Congress to approve the Central American Free Trade Agreement.  Rob was then made Director of the Office of Management and Budget – he was confirmed on May 26, 2006 – in hopes that his pragmatic approach and connections on Capitol Hill would help the Bush administration advance its budget priorities, despite growing federal deficits.  He resigned on June 19, 2007, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

His hiatus from 2007 till 2008 was marked by the creation of the Ohio’s Future political action committee.  Dedicated to ensuring “that the critical policy issues important to Ohioans remain at the forefront of Ohio’s political agenda”, Ohio’s Future helped Portman stay active in the political and policy area prior to his senate run in 2010.  Moreover, during his time away from Capitol Hill, Portman was cited as a potential running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.  But his ties to the Bush administration and lack of name recognition outside of his House district counted against him.

Rob Portman ended his one-year hiatus on January 14, 2009.  Two days after Ohio Senator George Voinovich announced he would not seek re-election, Portman officially declared his candidacy for the open seat.  He ran against Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher and, despite the Democrats hoping to capitalize on Ohio’s severe economic problem – including an unemployment rate near 11 percent – Portman had a 9-to-1 cash advantage.  Rob won the election with 57 percent of the vote, winning 82 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

A freshman senator with unusual access to senior Republican leadership in the Senate, it is clear that Portman’s experience and expertise are giving him a bigger platform to influence the caucus’s economic policies.  He holds a spot on the Senate Budget Committee as a result of his close relationship with Mitch McConnell and in May, Republican leadership rallied behind Portman’s jobs plan that called for a balanced-budget amendment, spending caps, and tax code reform.  Within the confinements of the debt ceiling debate, Senator Portman is of the opinion that spending, not tax cuts, causes future deficits.  With the economy at the forefront of the national psyche, Portman’s know how, and more importantly, his influence behind the scenes makes him one to track beyond August 2^nd.

–Amendment202

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Location: American Legion Post 8 – 224 D Street, SE
Description: Staff Expected to be Out of Work for 90 Days After Fire Destroys Kitchen

After sustaining thousands of dollars in damages when a fire destroyed the kitchen of the legendary Tune Inn Restaurant and Bar on the morning of June 22, a group of Capitol Hill residents and businesses have come together to support the institution and its staff. Lisa Nardelli, whose family has owned the Tune Inn since 1947, has promised to rebuild and reopen the Tune Inn as quickly as possible. While reconstruction costs will be covered by insurance the bar and wait staff are expected to be out of work without pay for at least 90 days. A fundraiser is being organized to help the staff make ends meet while the Tune Inn is closed.

The fundraiser will be held just blocks away from the Tune Inn at the American Legion Post 8 at 224 D Street, SE from 3- 10:00 pm on July 15. In order to adequately support the 10 staff not covered by insurance while the restaurant is closed about $50,000 needs to be raised. The fundraiser will feature live music, raffle prizes from Capitol Hill businesses and artists, and the chance to buy Tune Inn memorabilia. Local businesses have generously agreed to donate food for the event.

As part of the auction, fundraiser attendees will have the opportunity to become a permanent part of Tune Inn history by bidding on one of the 10 booths inside the Tune Inn. Limited edition plaques that will be permanently placed in the dining area will also be sold. The group has set up a website www.friendsoftuneinn.org to provide regular updates on the fundraising efforts.

More About the Tune Inn Restaurant and Bar:

Featured regularly in Esquire Magazine’s “100 Best Bars in America”, the Tune Inn, est. 1947, holds the second oldest liquor license in Washington, D.C. after the repeal of prohibition. First opened by Joe Nardelli over 60 years ago, the Tune Inn has always been a family business. Lisa Nardelli, Joe’s granddaughter, is the third generation of Nardellis to own and operate the Tune Inn. Over those years, customers and employees alike have lent their color, character and flair to its history; People who return to the Tune Inn over the years say the same thing: “This place has not changed!” Featured last year by Guy Fieri in an episode of his Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives” the Tune Inn continues to be a neighborhood landmark and gathering place. The Tune Inn is expected to reopen in the Fall of 2011.

Start Time: 15:00
Date: 2011-07-15
End Time: 22:00

Link out or RSVP here

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Harry Reid

Senator from Nevada & Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid has had a tough few days.  After canceling a scheduled recess for U.S. Senators last Thursday because the Senate had “work to do” – referencing the ongoing debt debate – Senator Reid introduced a measure asking the wealthy to make a large contribution to deficit reduction.  Entitled the Sense of the Senate (S. 1323), the bill has been called “rather pathetic” by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala).  Moreover, Senator Bob Corker suggested the bill was an indication that the Democrats “were getting ready to listen to the GOP.”  As the most powerful man in the Senate and the point man on the Hill for President Obama’s agenda, Senator Reid will have to resort to the skills he learned as an amateur boxer to see out the increasingly dirty debt-ceiling conundrum.

As a young child in Searchlight, Nevada, Harry Mason Reid grew up in a poor family with an alcoholic miner as a father, who eventually committed suicide, and a mother who did laundry for a bordello.  His boyhood home had no indoor toilet, hot water, or telephone.  Additionally, Searchlight had no high school.  This minor issue forced Reid to hitchhike 40 miles every week to the nearest high school, Basic High School in Henderson, Nevada.  It was during this period in his life that Reid met future Nevada governor Mike O’Callaghan.  O’Callaghan was his civics teacher but soon became his mentor and boxing coach.  After earning his bachelor’s degree from Utah State University, where Reid and his wife converted to Mormonism, he moved to Washington to attend George Washington University Law School, earning a Juris Doctorate (J.D) while working for the United States Capitol Police.

He returned to Nevada after law school and was named the city attorney of Henderson – partly because he was the first Henderson resident to earn a J.D.  He moved from that job to Hospital Board Chairman before being elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1968.  During this stint he introduced more bills than anyone in history.  Three years after being elected to the Nevada Assembly, Reid became the lieutenant governor under O’Callaghan and served from 1971 until 1974, when he ran for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Alan Bible.  He lost by fewer than 600 votes, only to go on to lose in his bid for mayor of Las Vegas in 1975.

Not letting two consecutive defeats deter his ambitions, Reid went on to serve as Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) from 1977 until 1981.  As head of the NGC, he partook in an FBI bribery investigation involving Jack Gordon, after Gordon offered Reid a $12,000 bribe in an attempt to push through new casino games.  Reid’s participation in the sting led to the conviction of Gordon in 1979.  In 1981, Reid’s wife found a bomb attached to the family station wagon.  Considering Gordon only served six months in prison, Reid’s suspicion that Gordon placed the bomb is plausible.

When Nevada’s growing population earned the state a second House seat in 1982, Reid won the Democratic nomination for the newly created 1^st District.  He would go on to win the general election and served two terms in the House, from 1983 to 1987.

In 1986, Reid made the transition to the U.S. Senate via Nevada’s open seat.  He easily won the Democratic nomination for the seat of retiring two-term incumbent Republican Senator Paul Laxalt.  In the general election, Reid defeated former at-large Congressman Jim Santini.  He coasted to reelection in 1992 but barely defeated 1^st District Congressman John Ensign in 1998 in the midst of a statewide Republican sweep.  In 2001, he earned praise from his Democratic colleagues in the Senate after leading the successful effort to convince Vermont’s then-GOP Sen. Jim Jeffords to become independent and caucus with the Democrats.  In the same year he became the majority whip.  Reid’s most recent reelection bid in 2010 was also highly contested but he received 50.29% of the votes to beat the Republican candidate, Sharon Angle.

Within the Senate, Reid has held a slew of leadership positions leading to his majority leader status starting in 2006.  From 1999 to 2005, Reid served as Senate Democratic whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2003 to 2005, then as majority whip from 2001 to 2003 (except for a brief period from January – May 2001).  From 2001 to 2003, he served as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

His ascension to the position of majority leader began in 2001 after securing the majority whip position.  Soon after becoming majority whip he began to quietly secure support for the minority leader job.  Once Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his reelection campaign in 2004, Reid used his extensive support base to garner enough votes to take his place.  As Senate Minority Leader, Reid exhibited a distinct cunningness.  His knowledge of arcane Senate laws allowed him to outmaneuver then-Majority Leader Bill Frist; Reid once shut down the Senate by employing a rarely used rule to hold a closed-door discussion about the intelligence the Bush administration used to justify the Iraq war.  Reid’s tireless work to rebuild a Democratic majority in Senate paid off in 2006, when the Democrats picked up six seats.  He became the majority leader after the 2006 elections.

Considered by some as a “voice of moderation” within the Democratic Party, Harry Reid has voted with his party nearly 94% of the time.  He has voted for a ban on late-term abortions and against a resolution endorsing Roe v. Wade.  Moreover, he is opposed to most gun-control legislation.  Regarding same-sex marriage, Reid voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act but against the Federal Marriage Amendment.  One of his most defining causes has been the firm opposition of the development of Yucca Mountain as a permanent repository for the country’s nuclear waste.  Since President Clinton pledged to veto any bill that turned Yucca Mountain into a permanent nuclear waste site, Reid has worked indefatigably to ensure that any proposition regarding Yucca Mountain is unsuccessful.

The ongoing debt ceiling debate has reached a point of stagnation that is begging for decisive leadership.  Harry Reid is capable of such role and has shown in the past (look no further than his work in passing health care reform) that his leadership of Senate Democrats goes far beyond his title as Senate Majority Leader.  He doesn’t face reelection until 2016 but his actions, his decisions, and his response to the national political adversity of the present and future will play an influential role in deciding the political lives of those being judged in 2012.

–Amendment202

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