THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL

Since 2011
Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief
wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com

wakeuptopolitics.com @WakeUp2Politics

Capitol Hill News

Senate Energy Panel to Vote on Keystone The Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee will meet today to vote on a bill to approve the
Keystone XL pipeline.
The bill is expected to pass with the panels new Republican majority and
chair, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). One Democrat (at least) plans to vote
for the pipeline: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), a co-sponsor of the legislation.
Republicans hope to pass the Keystone bill through both houses of
Congress, but President Barack Obama has already issued a formal threat to
veto, setting up for a battle to see if Republicans can get to a veto-proof 67vote majority. If they cant, the GOP will try to add amendment to sweeten
the deal for Obama and Senate Democrats. Democrats plan to add poisonpill amendments to undermine the bill, but both sides plan to hold off on
amending until the bill goes to the floor.
House Approves Controversial Economic Math Rule Change Shortly
after the 114th Congress opened Tuesday, the U.S. House approved a
controversial rules change to require a bills economic effect to be figured in
to its cost estimate.
The proposal, known as dynamic scoring, has been pushed for by
Republicans since the 1990s, and was approved Tuesday by a 234-172
nearly party-line vote. The vote changes how pieces of legislation are

scored for how much they will cost the U.S. Treasury, decreasing the cost
be figuring in the economic growth the bill will cause.
Democrats said the change was just a way to make tax cuts look better, by
reducing the cost estimate.
Its absolutely astounding that within minutes minutes of us being
sworn in, our Republican colleagues want to pass a rule that will stack the
deck in favor of trying to give another big tax cut, not to the middle class,
but to millionaires, said Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top
Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), the newly-installed chairman of the House Budget
committee rebuts this claim: Nonsense. All were trying to do is make
certain that members of Congress have more information upon which to be
able to make decisions.
Were saying, If you think a piece of legislation is going to have a big
effect on the economy, then include that effect in the official cost estimate.
So if you think a bill is going to help or hurt the economy, then tell us how
much, Price also said.

Election Central
Vermont Legislature to Choose Governor Today Another race from the
2014 cycle remains to be decided: the Vermont gubernatorial election, which
will be decided by the state legislature today.
Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) received the most votes in the November election,
but received only 46.4% of the vote to Republican Scott Milnes 45.1%,
meaning neither candidate received a majority of the vote. In Vermont
statewide non-federal races, this means the winner will be decided by the
state legislature.
th
At 10 AM Eastern Time today, for the 24 time in history, the Vermont
legislature will choose the states next governor, who will be promptly
sworn in at 1:30 PM today. Who will that be?
Probably Shumlin, since the legislature is made up of 116 Democrats
compared to 52 Republicans, and seven members of the Vermont
Progressive Party, which is left-leaning. According to the Washington Post,

Shumlin would have to lose the votes of at least 33 Democrats and

Progressives to lose reelection.
The incumbent also has history on his side: since 1853, the legislature has
chosen the top vote-getter. Shumlin knows this well, already have been on
both sides of the vote, as a second-place finisher not picked by the
legislature (2002 lieutenant governor race), and as the top vote-getter chosen
by the legislature (2010 governor race). Shumlin is unpopular, and there are
many Democrats angry with him after his failure at the helm of the
Democratic Governors Association this past cycle, so the only silver lining
for Milne ahead of the vote: the ballots are cast secretly, so Democrats
irritated with the incumbent could vote him out.
Jeb Bush Forms PACs to Get Early Start on 2016 With an eye on the
2016 presidential elections, potential Republican candidate Jeb Bush, the
former Florida Governor, has formed two political action committees or
PACs: a leadership PAC and super PAC, both named Right to Rise.
In addition to the super PAC, which Bush can fundraiser from, the
leadership PAC, an organization many potential presidential candidates
already have, will allow Bush to begin hiring staff and policy aides as he
decides on whether he is running for President. The committe will also let
Bush get an early start on polling and ads.
The leadership PAC was announced by Bush on Tuesday with a video on
Facebook, followed by the launch of a website. The site, which has English
and Spanish versions (as does the video; Bush is fluent in Spanish), features
a diverse group of smiling people.
The Florida Republican also began fundraising for the PAC on Wednesday,
with a visit to Greenwich, Connecticut, the hometown of his grandfather
Prescott Bush, the late U.S. Senator from Connecticut and patriarch of the
Bush dynasty.
Fundraising for Right to Rise has been successful so far, raising $100,000 in
just hours after forming the committee Tuesday.
---LINK: A really interesting side-story on the JEB Bush PAC is that the
video was posted on Instagram (on the new Right to Rise account) in a
grainy, vertical Instagram fashion filmed by Bushs bodyman as he walked
down a street in New York City. The first thing you see when arriving at the
Right to Rise website is a window asking you for your email, zip code, cell

phone numberand Instagram username. This Washington Post story

discusses the importance of this; I totally agree with this article: while
Instagram may have fewer users, it is favored by young voters who will be
key in 2016and it is a prime space to post campaign adsfor free. I have
already written on the intersection of Instagram and politics, and I think this
is the social media site to watch in the next few years. Again, here is the
WaPo article.

White House Watch

The Presidents Schedule President Obama continues his pre-State of the
Union tour, today in Phoenix.
At 10:45 AM Mountain Time, Obama will speak at Central High School in
Phoenix on home ownership.
The speech will include initiaves the President will speak about in his State
of the Union address on January 20. While past Presidents have fiercly
guarded the SOTU speech before it was delivered, this year Obama is going
around the country promoting his agenda, and announcing bits of the speech
directly to the American public, so they will hear it before Congress does.
The White House are calling these bits SOTU Spoilers.

McDonnell Sentenced to Two Years

Convicted of 11 counts of public corruption, former Virginia Gov. Bob
McDonnell was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday.
The sentence was much less than the expected 10 to 12 years, what the
prosecutors requested. McDonnell was once seen as a rising star inside the
Republican Party, and as a potential presidential candidate. His wife
Maureen (who was convicted on eight counts and will receive her sentence
next month) were charged with taking $165,000 worth of gifts from a
Richmond businessman as bribery for government favors.
In a brief statement to reporters outside the courthouse following the
sentencing, McDonnell acknowledged the sentence was less than expected,
while remaining defiant and announcing plans to appeal the guilty verdict:

 I want to thank the court and Judge Spencer for the mercy he dispensed to
me todayI also want to say that I disagree with the verdict that was
rendered by the jury in this case and we intend to file our appeal to the
United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
---LINK: McDonnells two years compared to the prison sentences of other
politicians convicted in similar cases. Graphic from the Washington Post.

Question of the Day

Tuesdays Answer On Tuesday, I asked, Which constitutional amendment
mandates that Congress should meet for their new session on January 3?
th
The answer was the 20 Amendment, which changed the beginning/end of
the President and Vice Presidents term to January 20, from March 4, and
the beginning/end of terms of members of Congress from March 4 to
January 3. The amendment also explains what happens when there is no
President-elect.
Anywaysback to Congress: Section 2 of the Twentieth Amendment states,
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting
shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January. Meaning members of
Congress terms begin on January 3rd, and new sessions of Congress should
begin then.
th
ButI asked that question on January 6 , which was the first day of the
114th Congress, when all the House and Senate members were sworn in as
their terms began. Dont worry: Congress didnt break a law. The section
continues, saying, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Which they did with H.J. Res 129, which simply states, That the first
regular session of the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress shall begin at noon
on Tuesday, January 6, 2015.
The amendment was mostly to shorten the lame duck period and push back
Inauguration Day, and the provision on Congress was added to align it with
the presidential term. Why then do members of Congress start their terms
more than two weeks before the President? To ensure Congress can choose a
President if both the President-elect and Vice President-elect die or are
unqualified, and that if the Electoral College cannot resolve who will be

President, the incoming Congress, not the outgoing one, chooses the
President.
GREAT JOBBrad Chotiner, Marlee Millman, Tobias Gibson, and Steve
Gitnik!!!