David Dreier (R-here?) Retires after Independent Redistricting Takes Away His District

From Politico: 

Of all the retirements that have rocked California’s Capitol Hill delegation, GOP Rep. David Dreier’s was the least surprising. 

Redistricting had thrown the powerful House Rules Committee chairman into Democratic territory and left him with no good options for where to seek reelection. Over the last year, the Dreier had done little prepare for a bid, raising just $121,000 — a paltry sum for a gavel-holder who has served in the House since 1981.

 The article didn't say what he planned to do post-retirement. It did, however, detail his efforts to enlist other California Republicans to fight back against the independent redistricting commission that essentially drew him out of office. I personally got a kick out of how the redistricting consultants quoted in the article reacted:

From the Atlantic Wire:

 Snowe to Retire and the Senate Loses Another Moderate

Her press release states that "With my Spartan ancestry I am a fighter at heart; and I am well prepared for the electoral battle, so that is not the issue. However, what I have had to consider is how productive an additional term would be. Unfortunately, I do not realistically expect the partisanship of recent years in the Senate to change over the short term. "

Fiscal Policy and Congress

Charts from CBO's January 2012 Budget and Economic Outlook

View more presentations from Congressional Budget Office

Budget process

• Terms
• Background
• Gail Chaddock on "Budgetless America"
• Expired authorizations

Taxes

• The tax system is progressive
• Recent poll on tax rates
• Deductions, exemptions, and credits
• Form 1040
• Official Tax Tables
• Complexity: Form 1040 instructions
• Lawmakers do not fill out their own returns

Practice Exam

The following will help you understand what the March 7 exam will look like.

Briefly identify 8 of the following 10 (5 points each):

• Great Compromise
• Budget authority
• Committee of the Whole
• Structured rules
• 501(c) organizations
• Phonemarking
• The Johnson Treatment
• Kevin McCarthy
• NRCC
• Burke's speech to the electors of Bristol

Answer two of the following three questions. Each answer should take a paragraph or two (15 points each).

• Explain the distinctions between the authorization process, the appropriations process, and the budget process.
• Who actually writes the bills?
• Explain the difference between a regular PAC and a super PAC.

Answer one of the two questions. Your answer should take 2-3 bluebook pages. (30 points)

• Explain the sources of the incumbency advantages in congressional elections.Compare and contrast the advantage in House and Senate elections. If the incumbency advantage is so strong, how did Republicans take control in 201o?
• How could the Senate benefit by removing the possibility of a filibuster? How could it lose?
• "In all bodies, those who will lead, must also, in a considerable degree, follow." A British statesman wrote that line about the French National Assembly.  How does it apply to Congress?

Committees, Procedure

The Committee System


Legislative Terms

• Rule XIV
• "Holds"
• Martial Law (an example from 2008 and another from 2011)
  
• Vote-a-Rama (example from 2009)
  
• Hotlining (see Sinclair, pp. 60, 64)
  
• Phonemarking
• Ping-ponging
  
• BTU'd

Feinstein's Embezzled Campaign Funds

Feinstein: Let me re-raise lost cash

Feinstein's campaign lawyer wrote: “[T]he donors who provided these funds should be permitted to replace their attempted contributions,” Elias wrote. “And the donors’ earlier provision of funds should not count against the donors’ per election limits to the Committee.”

...

The wealthy Feinstein cut a $5 million check to her own campaign to cover the losses, but she now wants to go back to previous donors for more.

Would this action hurt Feinstein's image?

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73221.html#ixzz1ncDE2COD

Bill Into Law

How a bill becomes law: the formal process


Rules reform in the House


An amendment tree in practice.