Republican National Committee raises nearly $9 million

On Thursday the Republican National Committee reported that in October they raised $8.79 million, a new record for the party's monthly earnings. The grand old party now has $11.2 million in cash and has topped 1 million active donors as of November 11. Additionally, the party has registered a record 305,000 new contributors this year alone. Things are definitely looking up monetary-wise for the Republicans less than one year before the critical midterm congressional elections that could sway the majorities in both houses of congress. The Democratic Party has yet to release its earnings for October but did earn a little over $8 million in September. It's ridiculous how much money these parties receive for campaigning and helping their candidates get elected. Can anyone say campaign finance reform? If you're curious about this subject and don't trust my summarizing, go to http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/19/rnc-reports-9-million-cash-haul-last-month/.

Senate Committee Investigates Fort Hood Shooting

Today a special Senate investigation committee began looking into whether the Fort Hood, Texas shootings of November 5 could have been prevented if authorities had acted differently. According to a memo written two years ago by the supervisor of the shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan demonstrated poor judgement and a lack of professionalism in his employment at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The committee is attempting to determine whether federal authorities knew enough about Hasan's condition to do something that would have prevented the shootings. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman, is leading the investigation. It would sure be a shame if this tragedy could have been prevented after all. But for the families and friends of the victims, it is useless to investigate this issue now, as it has already occurred and it's not like investigating it more will make it less of a tragedy. More information on this topic can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/19/fort.hood.hearing/index.html.

Reid Unvails Specifics of Health Care Bill

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) today released the specifics of the new health care bill that was passed by House of Representatives two weeks ago. The 2074 page bill guarantees coverage for 94 percent of Americans and will cost $849 billion. The bill's financing will rely on Medicare spending cuts, greater taxes for the upper class, and greater charges on patients undergoing elective plastic surgery. Reid says the measure will reduce deficits by $127 billion in ten years and $650 billion in twenty years. The implementation of the bill, however, depends on if it receives the 60 votes necessary in the Senate, a proposition that is still uncertain. Read more about this story at httP://news.yahoo.com/s.ap/us_health_care_overhall. I'm glad all this health care debate is finally getting somewhere. I suppose it's alright if we spend the $849 billion on the bill now as long as it saves the country money in the long run, as Reid claims. On to the Senate!

Obama Forging His Own Afghanistan Policy

After meeting with his national security team today, President Obama has decided not to accept any of the four options his own policy presented to him and instead create on sending troops to Afghanistan. This policy could alter the current plan on how many more troops we send to Afghanistan as well as the timeline for when U.S. troops will give the Afghan government control. The specifics of Obama's strategy are not yet known, but he plans to announce them after he returns from a visit to Asia on Nov. 19. This breaking news story can be found at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqyaFh_efr-brDq0rMLF1hkop0tgD9BTNRHO0. It seems pretty bold for Obama to go against his advisors. Only time will tell whether he made the right decision.

Penry Drops Out of CO Governor Race

Monday afternoon Josh Penry, a Republican from Grand Junction who currently serves as the Colorado State Senate Minority Leader, officially announced that he is dropping out of contention for the state governor election next summer. Penry's main justification for this move is that he wishes for the Republican Party in Colorado to be unified behind one strong candidate for the governor election. He believes that Scott McInnis, who is ahead in the polls and has more finances, is in a better position to get elected at this point, although Penry will not officially endorse McInnis or Dan Maes (the other Republican candidate). More information can be found at http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=126716&catid=339. This is an interesting move, as I would think competition between McInnis and Penry would make the Republican Party in Colorado stronger and thus better suited to take the office of governor. But then again, I don't care for Penry that much as I disagree with his "drill baby, drill" mentality.

House Passes Health Care Bill

The big news of the weekend was that the House of Representatives passed the health care bill by a vote of 220 to 215 late Saturday night. 39 Democrats voted against the bill and 1 Republican (from Louisiana) voted for it. The proposed bill will cover 96 percent of Americans and provide subsidies for people who cannot affort health insurance. More about the bill can be found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120214124&ps=cprs. As monumental as this may seem, I don't think anything will come of the House's bill anytime soon, as with the speed of American politics we could still be debating this issue during the next presidential election. It's unlikely that the Senate will pass the bill too, and thus a special commitee will be formed and we will be back to square one.