Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office has announced committee assignments for freshmen. Our own newly elected Ann Kirkpatrick has been assigned to the Homeland Security committee, along with the newly elected Ben Lujan of New Mexico.

This means that Kirkpatrick will have oversight responsibilities for Janet Napolitano’s department. Hrm…

By the way, Kirkpatrick’s website is up. Like all freshman websites, it will suck until mid-February.

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Filed under Ann Kirkpatrick, Janet Napolitano, Nancy Pelosi

Does Hose Speaker Nancy Pelosi know something we don't? The Speaker named Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva to the much coveted House Ways & Means Committee. Grijalva is rumored to be the front-runner for the Interior position under Barack Obama, but if he does not get the post, his new committee assignment should keep him happy.

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Tucson) has been elected to become co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, along with Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.). The two defeated Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

"I believe it is time for our Caucus to move to the next level and continue to advance our progressive agenda in an effective and pragmatic manner,” Grijalva said in a statement following Wednesday's vote. “By being independent, inclusive, issue and solution based and unified in our policy decisions – we will be more effective.”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) will vote Wednesday to determine whether U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Tucson) becomes co-chair of the increasingly-powerful group of lawmakers, according to his office.

Grijalva spokeswoman Natalie Luna confirmed to PolitickerAZ.com that Grijalva is one of three contenders for the two co-chair slots, which will be filled by the vote. The others are Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.). Woolsey is currently a co-chair, along with fellow Californian Barbara Lee, who is leaving to head the Congressional Black Caucus.

PHOENIX -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is in Phoenix Monday to fundraise on behalf of Bob Lord, the Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

The visit was confirmed at a round table discussion Lord held with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who will also be in attendence. Details are few, but the Speaker will be appearing at the event, which will be held Monday evening to benefit Lord in his effort to unseat U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix).

The campaign of U.S. Rep. Gabreille Giffords (D-Tucson) has issued a point-by-point refutation of the claims in a new ad from rival state Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson), which accuses Giffords of voting along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) 90 percent of the time, including votes against funding for U.S. troops and in favor of civil rights for terrorists.

A nine-page memo was the Giffords campaign's response, in which it tries to pick apart the arguments presented in the attack from Bee.

"Tim Bee did not do his homework," said the memo. "A comparison of the voting records of Congresswoman Giffords and Speaker Pelosi shows that... Giffords voted the same way as Nancy Pelosi 8% of the time given that the Speaker abstains from most of the votes. Furthermore, the Speaker does not take a public position on most votes and has allowed bills to come to the floor that she has publicly opposed."

State Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) has gone negative in his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson) in the 8th Congressional District, releasing a new television ad that attacks Giffords for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "over 90 percent of the time" and for being soft on terror suspects.

State Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) has gone negative in his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson) in the 8th Congressional District, releasing a new television ad that attacks Giffords for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "over 90 percent of the time," failing to support the troops and being soft on terror suspects.

Here is the transcript: 

Voice Over: Nancy Pelosi - leading Congress in the wrong direction.

Gabrielle Giffords - votes with Nancy Pelosi ninety-percent of the time.               

Giffords voted for Pelosi’s plan to end the Iraq war by blocking funding for U.S. troops in battle.

Pelosi supports Giffords’s own bill to allow captured terrorists to be tried in our courts with the same full legal rights as American citizens.  

Gabrielle Giffords votes for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda ninety-percent of the time.

There is no shortage of second and third generations of American political families addressing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy; James Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988; U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the daughter of former New Orleans Mayor/U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu; U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the daughter of former Baltimore Mayor/U.S. Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro; Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, the son of former U.S. Sen. John Culver (D-IA); New York Gov. David Paterson, the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson; and Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Anne Richards.

The Republican takeover of the out-of-session U.S. House will continue into the foreseeable future, said U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) Wednesday.

"We're going to keep it going as long as we can," Shadegg told PolitickerAZ.com. Shadegg, the most senior Republican in Arizona's House delegation and a close ally of the GOP leadership, said the minority Republicans plan to continue to take to the floor of the House throughout the summer recess in protest of inaction on the expansion of domestic oil production, even though the House remains officially out of session and is not scheduled to resume legislative business until Sept. 5.

"The bottom line request of Republicans is that [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] allow the question of domestic oil production to be debated and voted upon," said Shadegg. "So far she has precluded a debate, and has certainly precluded a vote," he said.