Republican Midterm Outlook Rosy

A USA Today/Pew Research Center poll suggests that the midterms are looking bright for Republicans. Of those asked, 47 percent said they intended on voting Republican or leaned towards the party. Around this time in 1994, when the Republicans took the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, 47 percent favored Democrats and only 45 percent said the same for Republicans. Since the Republicans already hold the House, the effect will not be as dramatic as 1994, but it could provide them with enough of a boost to take the Senate. When deciding how to vote, 27 percent say that jobs are the most important issue, followed by healthcare at 21 percent. Nineteen percent say the Federal budget deficit is the most significant issue for them.

USA Today: Poll: For the Midterms, a Tilt to the GOP

Vice President Joe Biden Addresses Immigration at Graduation

Vice President Joe Biden spoke on immigration reform during the course of a commencement address at Miami Dade College this weekend. He stressed the need for finding a way to provide citizenship for the 11 million people who are in the United States illegally, since, he said, immigration benefits the economy. When a member of the audience heckled, “Stop deportations!” the Vice President responded, “We’ll do that, too, kid, but let me finish my speech.” Although it might be presumptuous to glean any particular policy prescriptions from a response to a heckler, Republicans have frequently said they are wary of working with the President because they do not trust him to enforce immigration law.

Associated Press: Biden: Immigration Crucial to American Innovation

House to Create Select Committee on Benghazi

The House of Representatives will create a select committee to examine the Obama Administration’s response to the attacks on American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and military personnel in Benghazi, Libya in 2012. According to Republicans, the Administration has been untruthful about the nature of the attack. A conservative group, Judicial Watch, recently obtained emails they say corroborate this claim. “They include a newly declassified email showing then-White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes and other Obama administration public relations officials attempting to orchestrate a campaign to ‘reinforce’ President Obama and to portray the Benghazi consulate terrorist attack as being ‘rooted in an Internet video, and not a failure of policy’”, the group writes. The Administration initially said the attack was a protest against a video insulting Mohammed, but it later backtracked. Some Republicans had previously called for a select committee, but the latest revelations convinced Speaker John Boehner to permit its creation. Boehner claimed the Administration has resisted Congress’ oversight authority with respect to the attack.

Judicial Watch: Weekly Update: JW Finds Benghazi Smoking Gun!

Associated Press: Boehner to Appoint Select Benghazi Committee

National Journal: Boehner Pushes for Special Committee to Investigate Benghazi

And for our latest post: Using the “Pen and Phone” to Blur the Separation of Powers