THE ELLISON REPORT

Ellison in POLITICO, 6.17.11 ...

2011-06-17T20:16:00.000-04:00

There's a certain aura of hype and good-old-boys feel to this. While us political insiders can all appreciate the virtues of a good deal over golf, I'm just not sure about the visuals outside the Beltway and how that will influence public opinion. Based on recent polls, confusion and lack of education surrounding the debt ceiling debate is already complicating negotiating efforts.
So, there's a big elephant question worth pondering: how will the average Jane and Joe, from unemployed to underemployed to underpaid to foreclosed, view politicians yucking it up on the green? Is this something the White House really wants to blow up on blast for a financially struggling public to see? Think about the message that potentially conveys: you can't get a deal when, presumably, rolling up sleeves and sweating over the devil in the details on taxpayer dime while in Capitol Hill offices and White House conference rooms. But, suddenly, you're cutting up the grass under the assumption that you can?

Just saying ... it might kinda look a bit (more) out of touch.

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Ellison in The Atlanta Post, 6.15.11

2011-06-15T21:59:00.004-04:00

Political tit-for-tat shouldn’t be a good reason to force the resignation of a sitting Congressman, but that’s the way the Hill game is played. Strangely enough, many Democrats voicing loud support of a resignation call the affair a “distraction.” But, constantly putting resignation on blast creates the tidal wave of distraction that is the TMZ fanfare we’re witnessing at the moment. So, in a sense, the resignation bandwagon is as distracting as the photos – it feeds the media beast, which can’t stop reporting on it.

In reality, Weiner’s troubles and any-day-now resignation offers great political cover for other Members casting the stone. It’s a chance to divert attention from their own personal indiscretions and ethics foibles.

Weiner should rip a page from the playbooks of the late Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY) and current Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), two ethics-scarred and long-sitting African American Members of Congress who boldly defied all assorted calls to step down.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 6.12.11 ...

2011-06-12T21:54:00.000-04:00

Rick Santorum’s one-hit-wonder, presidential campaign kickoff speech on Monday morning was supposed to be a bona-fide nostalgic dip into what, he recently opined, made “America great before 1965.”

Campaign ambience replete with a nicely tailored photo-op featuring few faces of color struck the right chords of patriotic fervor. This is what some observers have called the Santorum Schtick: small town backdrop, good ‘ole Main Street Pennsylvania optimism and folksiness spiced with touch of homeboy conservative fanfare on the steps of classic city hall.

Months of chattering, gossip and FOX News appearances — amid frequent flier miles between Iowa and New Hampshire — wrapped into a tightly-planned spring roll of perfect announcement and global warming-induced early summer of no worries.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 6.5.11 ...

2011-06-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

Contrary to fairly lily-white suppositions, perceptions and imaging, there is an African-American candidate in the 2012 Republican presidential primary field.

You didn’t know?

Having entered, quite some time ago, is the fantastically prototypical Black Republican and (yet another) Black conservative talk show host Herman Cain.

In fact, Cain was the first to officially announce his quest for the top spot. Yet few would know this as it’s been rare for mainstream newscasts to mention his name among the growing list of desperate, White House contenders wanting to take on incumbent President Barack Obama.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 5.29.11 ...

2011-05-29T10:43:00.001-04:00

More questions than answers arose throughout the week as the Israeli/Palestinian dilemma appeared to dominate the, literally, stormy atmosphere that enveloped the Beltway this week. Tensions between the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were as thick and humid as the muggy stretch of early summer weather.

There was, once again, the image of both Netanyahu and President Barack Obama sitting across from one another and clearly uncomfortable. Obama, cross-legged and tight, wearing the trademark pensiveness mixed in with a dose of dismissive smirk. And there was the famously antagonistic Netanyahu — affectionately nicknamed “Bibi” — attempting political thug life and acting as if, some longtime observers opined, the president of the United States wasn’t really sitting there.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 5.22.11 ...

2011-05-22T10:40:00.003-04:00

It may not have showed up in a reality show and it certainly wasn’t the pick of the week on “American Idol,” but it was important enough to further rattle ravenous market speculators and red-eared lawmakers on Capitol Hill still playing chicken: On May 16, the national debt hit its ceiling — then kept on moving past $14.3 trillion.

At occasional briefings, press conferences and lectures, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared as batty as a heartbroken mad scientist.

"I have written to Congress on previous occasions regarding the importance of timely action to increase the debt limit in order to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens," said Geithner last week in yet another letter to Congress, looking as grim-faced and aged as Professor Lime in the hit sci-fi series “Fringe.” "I again urge Congress to act to increase the statutory debt limit as soon as possible."

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 5.15.11

2011-05-15T10:33:00.000-04:00

It’s one of two or three more combustible topics of the day heading into the 2012 elections: gas prices. The debate raging on the Hill is as explosive as a cigarette thrown at a gasoline pump. Politicians are at constipated pains to avoid it; average citizens want to take a baseball bat to their neighborhood gas station and bash it; oil companies, drawing in record profits this past quarter, would like for it to go away.

But, that unmistakable growl at the pump is heard every day as the price of national fuel has risen past the $4-a-gallon average in most places with some analysts anticipating a rise to $5 by summer vacation.

That depends on if most Americans will be able to afford even that.

And it’s a key reason why the political calculus in Washington is dramatically shifting in uncomfortable ways.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 5.8.11 ...

2011-05-08T13:27:00.005-04:00

Timing is everything. Obama, in wand-waving Wizard of Oz-like acts of political magic, dropped a massive bomb on several different competing constituencies within a span of several days. On the previous Wednesday, the President rolled out a ceremonious pimp slapping of his insubordinate generals by putting CIA Director and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta in the position of Secretary of Defense and replacing him with General David Petraeus — just to keep the wartime “Golden Boy” under control. The following Thursday, he unveils his long-form birth certificate and followed up with a public beat down of Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this past weekend. And by the top of the next week, he swings it like Joe Clark in the movie “Lean on Me” with the announcement that Osama bin Laden just got got.

Several different competing constituencies, within the span of a week, found their collective political worlds rocked by careful planning and hush hush at the White House. No longer can irate red state demagogues paint the President as illegitimate, foreign closet Muslim who stole the White House and is soft on defense.

But, a key question arising is just how much bin Laden’s death changes the game on Capitol Hill.

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Ellison in the Philadelphia Tribune, 5.8.11 ...

2011-05-08T10:30:00.001-04:00

Even a week after rubbing crusty morning eyes in disbelief at the news about Osama bin Laden’s much desired demise, that unmistakable jingle from the HBCU sitcom “A Different World” keeps ringing in the ear. And President Barack Obama is the bandleader.

Almost 10 years to the very day nearly 3,000 Americans lost their lives in the horrific event hauntingly known as “9/11,” it feels like the dawn of a new era — especially after one filled with graphic war and uncertainty. What is clear, however, is that the political and economic pendulums, at least in the short term, are swinging in a radically different direction. What a hawkish Republican President who launched World War on Terror could not do in two full terms, a dovish, first Black Democratic president with a Muslim name did in half a first term.

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Ellison @ theLoop21.com, 5.2.11 ...

2011-05-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Rubbing crusty morning eyes in disbelief and awe of what we are hearing about Osama bin Laden's death, that unmistakable jingle from the HBCU sitcom “A Different World” is drawn up, and President Obama is the band leader.

Almost 10 years to the very day nearly 4,000 Americans lost their lives in the horrific event hauntingly known as 9/11, its feeling like the dawn of a new era. Especially after one that was filled with so much graphic war and uncertainty. But what is clear is that the political and economic pendulums, at least in the short term, are swinging in a radically different direction. What's also clear is what a hawkish Republican President who launched World War on Terror could not do in two full terms, a dovish, first black Democratic President with a Muslim name did in half a first term.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 4.24.11 ...

2011-04-24T22:51:00.000-04:00

And, in a moment of instant, eye-rubbing disbelief, there was spray-tan man with the signature blond comb-over ahead by nearly 10 points, leading a more seasoned politician and former GOP presidential primary contender, Mike Huckabee, 26 percent to 17 percent. Despite the large grip of personal greenback fueling White House dreams, Mitt Romney couldn’t beat that and found himself trailing at a third place 15 percent. Sarah Palin, whom some thought could be the celebrity counter-act to Trump, only snagged 5 percent.

“Only 38 percent of Republican primary voters say they’re willing to support a candidate for president next year who firmly rejects the birther theory and those folks want Mitt Romney to be their nominee for President next year,” observes polling Yoda Tim Jensen of PPP, feverishly blogging on the prospects within an increasingly bizarre Republican primary. “With the other 62 percent of Republicans — 23 percent of whom say they are only willing to vote for a birther and 39 percent of whom are not sure — Donald Trump is cleaning up.”

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Ellison in theLoop21.com, 4.9.11 ...

2011-04-09T22:55:00.000-04:00

If the government had shut down (as ours was on the brink of doing) it was boiling down to a case of 20 percent of the population telling the other 80 percent of the population what it should do.

It had nothing to do with “restoring fiscal sanity.” Or “reducing the deficit so it won’t be on the backs of our grandchildren and their children and so on, so forth. It came down to fussing over $300 million (out of the $33 - $61 billion in cuts being discussed) in funding for Planned Parenthood. To put it in real: we were arguing over junior’s Social Security in the grander scheme of things, but squabbling over the couch cushion change that is Ohio highway beautification.

It was first thought that the psychological and economic PTSD of a government shutdown would be so obscenely intense that no one wanted to go there. In retrospect, some of us should have stuck with our own predictions. But, some Republicans were clapping for it, yearning for it. Some Democrats were privately cheering for one, too, because they knew what that meant politically. The GOP would have, eventually, carried the weight of the blame. Politico claimed that no one really wanted a shutdown - and seems they were half right. President Obama just wanted to get this done so he could move on to focusing on re-election – since he had to announce in the middle of a budget showdown. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just did not feel like the irritation. And House Speaker John Boehner just always wanted time for golf and cigarettes (although Reid, who never keeps his mouth shut, disputed that).

Ellison's POLITRIX in theLoop21.com, 4.1.11 ...

2011-04-01T22:49:00.000-04:00

Two things happened on the way to the political circus this week. Not only did Donald Trump mainstream the birther movement in his manufactured self-clowning of birth certificate measuring contest. He also took Presidential politics to new, dishonorable lows by either believing his own bankrupt hype or proving that running for President is really just a marketing trick.

While everyone – still stunned we’d elect a black President -- thinks they can “Be Like Barack,” Trump just needed a fast way to up his market share for Celebrity Apprentice. After an initial slow start, the show hit a season high in the Nielsen ratings last Sunday. Trump being a birther seems more crazy like a badly coiffed fox than just plain crazy. If reality shows have taught Trump anything, being reasonable doesn't get you TV camera face time, calling Rosie O'Donnell a pig and hiring Gary Busey does. It's a delicate science of deliberate crassness and lack of shame.

Talking up birth certificates, how to slumlord property to Gaddaffi and teasing a run for President is free advertising gold.

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Ellison's POLITRIX in theLoop21.com, 3.24.11 ...

2011-03-24T22:48:00.004-04:00

Hope you like your new war in Libya. Apparently, you asked for it.

With Tomahawk missiles blazing and F-15s crashing, you’d think the so-called “war-weary” American public wouldn’t dig being tossed into another … well … war. But, lo and behold, according to a recent CBS News poll, 70 percent of Americans searched deep down into some oft forgotten verse of The Battle Hymn of Blowing Things Up and found a way to “get their war on.”

After taking Baghdad back to the Stone Age there was still enough fist fight left to produce the return of a Clinton-era No-Fly Zone. That should fulfill our quota of "triangulation" comparisons betweenPresidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, although neither can stand the other.

The actions are against the backdrop of a sizably salty chunk of Congress that wanted the President to ask them first.

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Ellison in theLoop21.com, 3.17.11 ...

2011-03-17T22:43:00.001-04:00

Columbia University Professor Marc Lamont Hill is a “good brother” according to fam in the Logan section of Philly where I grew up. So, in all candor, don’t take this the wrong way. We’ve met on very brief occasions once or twice and carried fairly comfortable and intellectually engaging conversation on talk radio. And, on real, we all feel the Ill Town pride to see brothers from back home getting it done, doing their thing and putting the spice of Cheesesteak City on the national map. That’s what’s up.

But, what’s not up is Hill’s curious piece of explanation in a recent edition of The Philadelphia Daily News titled “Suit spoke for all victims of unjust police stops.” The imagery and Hill’s dramatic escape (note the hyperbole) from the clutches of what can only be described as a very pissed and cantankerousPhiladelphia Police Officer Richard DeCoatsworth conjured up images of a badly scripted late-‘80s “hood” flick. There was the tough looks, unwarranted searches and slow motion landing of the spit from DeCoatsworth lips. Only difference was that it wasn’t in South Central Los Angeles, Hill is a college professor and we assume he was dressed in such a way that didn’t tap into any unnecessary “thuggish” urges.

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Ellison's POLITRIX in theLoop21.com, 3.16.11 ...

2011-03-16T22:36:00.000-04:00

Even in the early stretches of 2011, folks are gearing up for 2012. Rightly so, Presidential elections are now multi-billion cheddar endeavors, with the 2008 election costing near $6 billion alone, 25 percent more than the 2004 Presidential election which was at more than $4 billion. We can only imagine, even in this tough economic environment, how much it will cost in 2012. Early signs indicate it could get expensive, especially on the Republican side where the field is getting as crowded as a packed basement dancehall party.

But, depending on the future economic climate and new, emerging global crises, it could get very tough for the incumbent President Barack Obama, who is already pushing ahead with a triangulated political recalibration strategy where he confidently moves into the Independent center.

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Ellison's POLITRIX in theLoop21.com, 3.16.11 ...

2011-03-16T22:26:00.001-04:00

The only real difference between what President Obama is actually doing about the economy and what Republicans, namely House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), are saying about it is the level of gimmick used to define their position on it. It’s all about getting the electorate to pick sides in the here-and-now and pitching an early start on the 2012 campaign trail. And what do politicians, television producers, preachers or anybody else trying to win the favor of the public use when they are trying to look good?

The kids!

Republicans have gone so far as to speak on the fate of non-existent grandkids that one assumes they’ve met in some space worming time warp. Thanks to Speaker Boehner either crying “we’re broke” or insisting that White House policies are “making gas prices rise” and “destroy jobs,” we now know what truly awaits the kids we haven’t had yet.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 3.13.11 ...

2011-03-13T16:39:00.005-04:00

It’s a question that sat atop the dome of many a House Democrat this week: if no one had a problem with $800 billion plus worth of bailouts for banking institutions that created the economic hot mess we see today, what’s the problem with $1 billion in home foreclosure assistance for average Americans?

On a steamrolling, deficit-reducing, budget cutting spree at-all-costs, House Republicans continued pressing forward this week with two votes effectively terminating federal funding and assistance for home foreclosure prevention programs. While emotions ran high on the empty drama of Rep. Peter King’s, (R-N.Y.) political Cirque du Soleil American Muslim radicalization hearings all week, few noticed the methodical attacks on foreclosure prevention planned by glory-hogging House GOP leaders ultimately seeking to cut some $62 billion in aid for troubled homeowners.

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Ellison @ theLoop21.com, 3.10.11 ...

2011-03-10T16:36:00.001-05:00

Not even a full three months into his first term and the newly-minted Mayor of Washington, D.C. Vincent Gray is playing it like amateur night. Now scandal-ridden each week, the politician long-time locals like to call “Dr. Spock” is just barely maintaining his mandate from trouncing one-term, triathlon addict and Kid Wonder Mayor Adrian Fenty in a caustic Democratic primary last September.

When you call on Robert Bennet, the top gun Washington lawyer who represented former President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky fracas, that's an acknowledgement that you've stepped into something you can't wash off your shoe.

This time around, despite the near $600 million deficit Fenty wracked up from school renovation overruns while building dog parks, bike lanes and burned down white yuppie hotspots, Gray can’t blame it on the last brother. With his first “State of the District” coming up, the former D.C. City Council Chairman will be unable to play stupid considering he had full oversight of what George Bush, Jr. was up to until two months ago. But, what he will need to do is take a hard line approach to the perception that his infant Administration is corrupt.

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Ellison @ theLoop21.com, 3.7.11 ...

2011-03-07T10:45:00.000-05:00

First, don’t get it twisted. Godfather’s Pizza founder and Black conservative rambling head Herman Cain,(yes, a brother) beat former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to the punch in being the first to announce a venture into 2012’s Presidential waters. This barely got a whisper in the political pages, of course, but Weekly Standard editor Michael Warren gets big ups for reminding us about that during a spirited panel onSirius/XM’s “The New School” over the weekend. It’s assumed Warren, based on ideological profile and Peach State whiteness, didn’t have to do that.

But, for all the chit-chatter last week centered on the former firebrand House Speaker’s announcement, what was that exactly? It wasn’t an announcement, but more of a notice like the orange paper on the front door when rent is unpaid. After several minutes of platitudes and pontification, dude finally got to point, and without much fanfare, grimly announced the launch of NewtExplore2012.com.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 3.6.11 ...

2011-03-06T10:42:00.001-05:00

Since 1997, during his days as the white-dome firebrand conservative with the name and political brand easy to hate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has always chewed on Presidential ambitions. It was no secret the Yoda mastermind behind the Contract with America had political schemes in mind beyond the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The Speaker’s Office seemed only a stepping stone, Congress merely a laboratory for lofty diabolical remixes and retakes of a hostile takeover.

Much of that rambunctious allure personifying the political genius and Genghis Khan technique that is Gingrich followed him well after his days as King of D.C. And, thus, after a week of hype and rampant speculation, Newt continued engaging media in a bizarre public strip tease concerning his ambitions for 2012.

Washington journalists and pundit-nistas remained transfixed to the former Speaker’s every word leading to the day we found him all grim, few smiles at an Atlanta podium later in the past week.

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Ellison debuts as Politics|Money Editor @ theLoop21.com, 3.2.11

2011-03-02T10:38:00.001-05:00

It didn’t take a sudden fit of epileptic genius or a fast-tracked doctorate in rocket science to figure that the impending Apocalypse Now of government shutdowns would, eventually, be averted. Barring any back room deals, salacious blackmailing or murky revelations, we now have a two-week extension of the Continuing Resolution that was currently funding government until this Friday, March 4th. Basically, what that means is Congress gets to rent a car called government spending for the next couple weeks. The cost of that rental: $4 billion in temporary spending cuts.

The conventional-minded Beltway insiders who gush and guffaw over standoffs like this are, predictably, calling it a Republican victory. But, there’s begging room to differ. On the real, everyone on Capitol Hill is blowing “phews” and “hot damns” in a collective sigh of relief. For the moment, chunky, double-necks in stripe suits get to chew on Tums in peace, at least until the next round when the extension runs out.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 2.27.11

2011-02-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

Besieged and befuddled by a virulent strain of raw tea party conservatism growing like a Middle Eastern Facebook page, the national Republican Party grabs at hope in a handful of GOP governors with growing national profiles.

All eyes watch newly-elected Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., as he singlehandedly smashes his state’s public sector unions in a bid to crush future political opposition. Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., another hyped Presidential contender in a crowded field of yet-to-announce Republicans, is testing national waters with a risky nose thumbing at social issues in favor of a new playbook on fiscal hawk testosterone.

But, it’s the Tony Soprano stunt double in the Garden State who appears to capture the desperate political imagination of a party looking for a new caucasian hope. Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., is becoming the life size mix of political Italian Stallion meets an uncorrupted Boss Tweed (so far), the GOP’s hope for a Rocky Balboa in-training for TKO versus Apollo Creed in the White House.

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Ellison @ Politic365.com, 1.26.11

2011-01-26T14:28:00.000-05:00

While few direct policy initiatives were presented, the 6,802 word speech was much more notable for its visionary stabs and rhetorical substance. The energy in the room was much more subdued than the President’s first SOTU, with many observers charging that the new bipartisan seating arrangement may have left the speech muted on some levels.

Still, overall, it appeared well received by an anxious and reticent American public, as a post-State of the Union online poll conducted by CBS News found 92% of Americans agreeing with the President’s proposals. In addition, 81% agreed with the President’s plans for the economy, an increase of nearly 30% before the speech. While non-scientific, the CBS poll outdid recent surveys showing Obama’s approval rating jumping over the 50% ceiling typically indicative of Presidential effectiveness.

It was the President’s lofty collection of goals and long-term objectives that painted a portrait of where the nation could be, as opposed to what it’s mired in at the moment. Fully aware of the high bar set by the standard of the emotionally grabbing Tuscon tragedy speech less than two weeks before, the President once again took the challenge of addressing the nation’s partisan rancor head on.

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Ellison @ Politic365.com, 1.24.11 ...

2011-01-24T18:12:00.000-05:00

In a stunning and potentially destructive setback for Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois state Court of Appeals ruled this week that the former White House chief of staff is ineligible to remain on the city’s election ballot.

The news, which dropped over wires on Monday afternoon, came as a shock to the political world which had all but accepted that Emanuel would be the next Mayor of Chicago, replacing outgoing Mayor Richard Daley. Daley announced his abrupt retirement in 2010, setting off a crowded and at times caustic electoral rat race for his coveted city hall seat.

As the race heated up, Windy City winter challengers to Emanuel filed suit with the Chicago Board of Elections, charging that the former Congressman did not meet the one-year residency requirement for running as a Mayoral candidate. However, Emanuel’s lawyers fired back, claiming that despite his time in Washington, D.C. as the Obama Administration’s second-in-command, he still owned his residence and paid property taxes on it.

While the explanation seemed plausible enough for the Chicago Board of Elections to give Emanuel a pass, it did not meet the standard set by the Illinois Court of Appeals. Now, with the February 22nd Democratic primary less than a month away, Emanuel must reassess his campaign and wage an aggressive and very rapid legal effort in the State Supreme Court.

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Ellison @ Politic365.com, 1.24.11 ...

2011-01-24T18:09:00.000-05:00

The left side of the aisle is now faced with the prospect of dim hopes in 2012 as a sudden spit of retirements puts the Senate in serious play next cycle. Already this week, three longtime and respected Senators have announced retirement: the steely veteran Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX); the low-key, but respected Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND); and the controversial party-skip Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT). Two Democrats and one Republican.

Democrats, with their thin-as-ice majority in the Senate, will already find themselves barely able to fend off a ceaseless barrage of legislative artillery from House Republicans coordinating with their brethren in the Senate. Now, they will have to fight another front as campaign committees begin the grueling process of machine logistics and fundraising – with the stakes even higher should more Democrats decide to retire.

Even more problematic is the overall calculus in 2012: 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for re-election in 2012. That’s over a quarter of the Senate. For Democrats, it’s brutal given the current climate, with 23 of their seats up for election, including two independents caucusing with Democrats, compared to only 10 Republicans up for election. Eleven of those overall seats are considered toss-ups by many of the major polling projections, including Lieberman’s Connecticut and a bunch of seats that are now blue.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 1.23.11

2011-01-23T17:52:00.001-05:00

Curtains up, cameras ready and the talk show circuit on constant tap, House Republicans managed to put electoral rubber to legislative road as they rammed a repeal of the Affordable Care Act through a party line 245 to 189 vote.

Democrats, unwillingly painted as villains in a Republican-dominated stage play, found themselves on the defensive in what became a loud and bragging-rights repudiation of the most significant policy achievement of House Democrats and their White House in the past two years.

Tension on the Hill, from tight corner Congressional offices to the House floor, was palpable.

And so Democrats found themselves on a useless defensive as a promised GOP rejection of the massive health care overhaul law was unanimous. Not-so-surprising defections came from three conservative Democrats, in some ways more of a political volley aimed at Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) than an actual vote against what Republicans have infamously branded as “Obamacare.”

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Ellison @ Politic365.com, 1.17.11 ...

2011-01-17T17:58:00.001-05:00

Although 2011 has just begun, the battleground for 2012 is already beginning to take shape, and veteran political observers are taking a close look at New Jersey for signs of where the electorate might end up in two years. It’s the first time in a while that the Garden State has received such national political attention, quite the departure from years of scorn as the plot location for gritty mafia dramas and, more recently, ridicule as a reality show haven for misfit hits like Jersey Shoreand Real Housewives of New Jersey.

But, this state of nearly 9 million also lies between two of the largest global media markets in the country and, despite its size, is also home to some of the most legendary political battles in American history. And while still an overwhelmingly Democratic machine state in terms of voter registration, it boasts an unapologetically aggressive Republican Governor with an increasing national profile. It also houses the fourth poorest city in the country, now run by a seemingly sleepless young Mayor whose larger ambitions still remain unknown. Not to mention an eclectic mix of highly active ethnic enclaves sure to make any seasoned campaign strategist salivate.

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Ellison in Philly Tribune, 1.17.11

2011-01-17T17:45:00.001-05:00

At first appearance, Pennsylvania 1st District Congressman Robert “Bob” Brady won’t strike the casual non-political observer as a federal lawmaker who can navigate the humdrum, yet busy monotony of Capitol Hill’s marble halls. It’s unsuspecting and politically disarming in many ways — he’s more like the brawny, true-to-life Philly guy you might find behind a deli counter, all smiles and hoagie affability.

But, he’s also the big-armed former carpenter you’d want at your side during any urban corner brawl, the cat who some joke has the swagger of a street beat cop rather than the subtle rhetorical kick of a U.S. Congressman.

But, something about the recent tragedy in Tucson, Arizona which left six dead — including a 9-year-old aspiring public servant and a highly respected federal judge — and a fellow House colleague in critical condition rocked Brady to the core.

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Ellison @ Politic365.com, 1.14.11 ...

2011-01-14T18:01:00.000-05:00

One of the more peculiar questions of 2011 as the 112th Congress gets underway: does Rep. Allen West (R-FL) want to get re-elected?

It may seem like one of those more obvious questions saddled with a bit of head-shaking ignorance and prognosticating shenanigan. But, it’s a fair question considering West’s actions to date – or more like his statements – before we even get into the heat of the new Congress.

The insults are the last you’d expect from someone who just got started interfacing with his colleagues or has yet to sponsor or sign on to any legislation. But, it also carries the aggravating ring of arrogance as if the Hill should stop all business and listen to West, who is sounding more like fingernails across a chalk board these days. Even though Republicans are the majority in the House, West would be wise to choose words carefully lest he not expect to make the occasional deal across the aisle. But, there is this vibe from the very green freshman that it’s just him and, perhaps, his Tea Party versus the world.

It’s an attitude that has no fans on the left and is, with each passing day, gaining few fans from the House GOP leadership, perhaps tired of watching West play sideshow on multiple talk programs to discuss Westisms rather than policy or the Republican agenda. In fact, they reportedly pushed for Kaufman’s resignation. And when newly-minted House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) set a new schedule for Members to spend more time in their districts rather than in Washington, West blasted back and called it “time off.” But, wasn’t this the same West who nailed and defeated former Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL) for spending too much time inside the Beltway and not enough time with his constituents?

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Ellison in Politic365.com, 1.10.11 ...

2011-01-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

The fear of the “T” word seems almost palpable in describing the gruesome events that took place this past Saturday. There is little explanation or reasoning for the omission, except that it’s very obvious what most Americans won’t call 22-year old Jared Loughner. It goes without saying that the man is deranged. Fairly obvious that he’s unstable. But, tell us what we don’t know. Get straight to the core of the matter here. Let’s not fool ourselves and everyone else struggling to make sense out of it. Loughner is a terrorist, clearly fit within the strictest definition of the term.

While other top public officials tip-toed around it, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton almost went there, just short of dropping the “T” word. Instead, she chose “extremist.” While clearly holding back, it was one of the braver rhetorical stands we’ve heard in the past few days. Her comparison to the Middle Eastern “extremism” we routinely see plastered on global headlines is sure to raise a few brows and ‘how-dare-she’ remarks back home, especially since she said it while in Abu Dhabi.

But, let’s keep it real. The “T” term gets quickly applied within every second a suicide bomber blasts a busy street corner in Pakistan or when a crowded European commuter train is vaporized. We find some sort of geopolitical logic, however violent and horrific, to explain the indiscriminate mass killings of innocent civilians in various corners of the world. Even before responsibility is investigated or admitted by some obscure political fringe group wanting their spot blown, we’re already using the “T” word.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 1.10.11 ...

2011-01-10T10:48:00.004-05:00

Amidst niceties, welcome-backs and hugs of lawmakers stumbling over Articles in the Constitution, Congress is bracing for the big cheese of government cheddar scraps as they return for one of the more bombastic sessions in recent political memory. The eight hundred pound gorilla beating up reluctant legislators is an eye-popping national debt that’s reached starts-with-a-“T” proportions.

Observers expect some of the nastiest fights on Capitol Hill to revolve around the national debt, which hit $14 trillion recently … and counting: an in-your-mug reminder of the loaded fiscal shoveling Congress must perform or risk certain financial death.

It’s an unpleasant New Year reality that has muted the chest-thumping of emboldened House Republicans and their newfound majority, high-wire acting between rhetoric and tough decisions in the face of a quarrelsome conservative base. And there is concern among Democrats and Republicans who fear debates over the budget could be pushed to the brink with initial brawls over whether or not to raise the current debt ceiling limit set at $14.3 trillion.

It’s a question tapping on the head of every Congressional member like a school yard bully fishing for lunch money: Vote to cap how much the government borrows, and everything from D.C. to the global economy defaults in a fast credit meltdown. Vote to increase the limit on how much Uncle Sam I.O.Us, and the debt gets unbearably higher.

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Ellison in Politic365.com, 1.7.11 ...

2011-01-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

As if it wasn’t bad enough for Democrats, still licking their wounds from last year’s elections, the party’s House caucus leadership still finds itself in a state of obnoxious disarray and factionalism. The signs of bitter internal fights are still apparent, from anxious progressives clearly dissatisfied with the current political playing field and bitter moderate Blue Dogs blindly grabbing through the darkness of a Capitol Hill abyss.

Months of circular firing squads and intra-party finger pointing all came to a head this week as an unprecedented display of mutiny occurred during the roll call votes on the House floor for Speaker and Minority earlier this week. It was the first time since 1997 anything comparable had ever happened in Congress: nearly 10 percent of the House Democratic caucus rejected former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) bid for Minority Leader, with 18 Democrats voting for other candidates, 1 voting present and another not even bothering to show up.

The moment was not festive at all for Pelosi this week, with longtime observers drawing comparisons to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), the white-haired loquacious technocrat who found nine Republicans defying his re-election bid as Speaker – and who ultimately stepped down shortly after the GOP’s majority slimmed in 1998. The scene left angry Democratic Hill aides and party strategists dumbfounded by Pelosi’s teeth-gritting cheesy grin as she handed new Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) the ultimate political trophy: the thick wooden hand-crafted gavel of the House chamber.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 12.5.10

2010-12-05T15:59:00.010-05:00

This past week the December lame-duck Congressional session closed with heavy doses of sweaty legislative lifting and partisan wrangling over the fate of everything from deficits to unemployment benefits. But, the climate on Capitol Hill melted into a surreal soup of ethics mayhem, capped by the humiliating censure of longtime Black Harlem politician Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and new developments surfacing in the matter of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

Rangel’s 333-79 censure vote on the House floor marks the first time in 30 years a member of Congress faced such humiliation before their peers. And while a dejected Rangel still has a job and can get back to representing his district, the record will remain unchanged. The dark blot on Rangel’s legacy continues to keep him up late at night.

Waters, in stark contrast, tipped off a frantic week of new disclosures with roundhouse rhetorical kicks at the House Ethics Committee. The Congresswoman had already blasted the secretive body by the previous week’s end for indefinitely delaying her trial originally scheduled for Nov. 29.

And in a carefully orchestrated offensive of appearances, press releases and comments calibrated for maximum impact, a defiant Waters stood outside the hearing room where her trial was scheduled, drawing a small crowd of reporters — right at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 29, the same time she would have faced the committee.

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Ellison spits a HuffPost, 12.4.10

2010-12-04T16:06:00.002-05:00

Throughout 40 years of public service, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) never thought it would come down to this: finding himself in the well of the House floor, publicly chewed by his peers in a humiliating 333-79 censure vote. Rangel, a vaunted legislator deeply steeped in the workings of the House, knows very well what that means. Even though his job and nearly $175,000 salary are very much intact, the dark mark of censure will haunt the Rangel name for near eternity.

Rangel is now the first member of Congress in 30 years to receive the embarrassing public rebuke of censure. It's not a good look or legacy for the Korean War hero. Ironically, he finds himself in a situation eerily reminiscent of his legendary and controversial predecessor Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY). In 1970, then a young rising star New York State Assemblyman, Rangel made an ambitious bid for Powell's seat, arguing the longtime Congressman was frequently absent from the district, but also challenged by the dark cloud of ethics, as well. Congress censured Powell and stripped him of his seat in 1967 due to a brewing ethics scandal, but he regained it in 1969 after winning a case before the Supreme Court.

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Ellison in Philadelphia Tribune, 11.29.10 ...

2010-11-29T16:15:00.000-05:00

From a flushed $100,000 check to $80,000 stuffed into a bra, an ensuing corruption scandal in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Prince George’s County, Md. unfolds like a steamy soap opera with far-reaching implications beyond its residents and anxious politicians wondering where it all ends up.

Two weeks following the arrest of outgoing County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and his wife, newly minted County Councilwoman-elect Leslie Johnson, the indelible image of the once powerful Johnsons escorted from their Mitchellville home in handcuffs leaves this predominantly African-American jurisdiction in a state of ceaseless shock.

The impact of a longstanding federal investigation into alleged county corruption and pay-to-play is feeling much like a proverbial punch to the stomach.

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Ellison in The Philadelphia Tribune, 10.24.10

2010-10-24T15:21:00.001-04:00

It was just two months ago when talking heads in the political chatter class were writing-off the prospects of Democratic nominee and 7th Congressional district Rep. Joseph “Joe” Sestak (D-Pa.) in Pennsylvania’s most hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

Most polls found the former Vice Admiral down by double-digits, survey after survey a crushing crepuscular of defeatist predictions: a Reuters/Ipsos poll in August had the Republican nominee and former Congressman Pat Toomey ahead by 10 points; Franklin & Marshall’s survey also found Toomey ahead, 40 percent to Sestak’s 31 percent; and as the dog days of August set in, independent Public Policy Polling had Sestak nine points behind Toomey, with a range of other polls offering dismal projections for the Democrat who managed to outrun the once invincible incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) only months before in a bruising primary.

But, observers may have prematurely tossed Sestak into the political graveyard, pegging him as another casualty of “Republican enthusiasm gaps” and tea party tidal waves in battleground states. Only a week away from electoral ground zero, Sestak surged ahead to pull an almost inexplicable 1-point lead over Toomey in another Public Policy Polling survey.

THE ELLISON REPORT

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