Kitty Felde
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Another Sherman in Sherman Oaks
Just got the bright pink birth announcement from Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman: Lucy Rayna made her appearance in the world yesterday at a DC hospital (though the announcement insists she's really a Valley girl). 7 pounds, 9 ounces, 20 inches. Mother and baby doing fine. Sisters are curious. "And the father is expected to recover."
Feinstein off the hook
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just announced his Democratic Senate picks for the "super" committee. Missing from his list, California's senior US Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Named to the panel: Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray of Washington state, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry of Boston.
Kerry has a similar reputation to Feinstein: a Democrat who works well with the other party.
More Californians on "super" committee?
When it's 90 degrees at 9 in the morning with thunderstorms by the end of the day, it's crazy time here in Washington. The perfect time to start asking "what if..." Or, in this case, "let's float some names of folks who might get named to the 'super' committee."
"The Hill" has posted its latest list of likely candidates...and several Californians are on it. Democratic Congressman Xavier Becerra has been mentioned often. He's mentioned again.
So is Republican Congressman Buck McKeon of Santa Clarita. He heads the House Armed Services Committee and has been critical of cuts to the defense budget.
But here's a couple of new names: Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, known for her success in crafting bipartisan agreements. And Democratic Congressman George Miller of San Francisco's East Bay, a reliable liberal voice.
No confirmations from anyone, of course. The Committee is to be chosen by next week. That lucky group of 12 has to come up with ways to trim the national debt by a trillion and a half dollars, and do it by Thanksgiving.
The latest labor war: NLRB vs Issa
Labor issues were at the heart of the dispute over funding the Federal Aviation Administration. Language in a long term funding bill changed the way votes were counted for airline employees deciding whether to unionize. A short term funding bill was passed, without resolving the labor dispute.
The nomination of former Edison International CEO John Bryson as Commerce Secretary is hung up over labor issues as well. Bryson sat on the National Labor Relations Board which stopped Boeing from moving jobs from Seattle to South Carolina.
Now, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa of Temecula, as head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has issued a subpoena to the NLRB as part of its investigation into the Boeing decision. Here's the reason, according to Issa,"NLRB's action in the case against Boeing has the potential to create a job-killing precedent just as U.S. manufacturers are working toward economic recovery. That a Washington, D.C.-based bureaucracy could dictate the work location and parameters for a world-leading company is unprecedented in a global economy and hobbles a leading American job creator at a time of economic vulnerability,"
It's not just government spending that divides Democrats and Republicans. It's going to be a long, hot September when Congress returns to Washington.
A sign of the times
Spotted a bright yellow sign on the front lawn of the Vice President's house reading "loan modifications." Wonder if that refers to the house at the Naval Observatory or the nation's debt problems.
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