Photograph by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., makes his way around the Cannon rotunda.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, a Democrat from Michigan, recalls his last substantive issue discussion with a Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.

It was 13 years ago.

He and Bill Thomas, then a Republican congressman from California who served as the committee’s chairman, came to an agreement on a trade deal with China. It required give and take, then compromise, he said in an interview. Levin, 82, hasn’t seen that happen on “truly substantive” legislation since.

The $85 billion in automatic budget cuts that started March 1 — reductions crafted to be so arbitrary and damaging that they would not actually occur — exemplify the dysfunction in Washington that he has seen been building for the last 20 years.

And Levin isn’t alone.

“I see it getting worse before it gets better,” said Rep. Peter King of New York, a Republican. “Too many people in Congress have not been in politics before, and they are not used to the give and take. They don’t understand the necessity of compromise. Ronald Reagan used to take his principles to the table, and make the best deal you can.”

The inability of leaders in Washington to reach an agreement to forestall the cuts, commonly called sequestration, adds to the disillusion Americans express about their government. Only 15 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, according to a Gallup pollpublished Feb. 19.

See the full report at Bloomberg.com.

Original post is Congressional Dysfunction Breeds Nostalgia for Spirit of Compromise by Political Capital.

Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rep. Peter King speaks to the media after a meeting regarding the Sandy aid bill with Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner on Capitol Hill.

House Republicans from districts struck by super-storm Sandy last fall are still seething at Republican colleagues who opposed an aid package.

“It’s going to make it very uncomfortable going back to Congress, working with some of these people,” Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who represents part of Long Island, said today on WOR Radio in New York.

House Republicans who attacked and delayed the aid package made “stupid arguments” and were “treating us like some third-world beggar nation,” King said.

Most Republicans demanded spending cuts to pay for some of the aid package, which included a $9.7 billion flood insurance measure that passed Jan. 4 and a $50.5 billion relief and reconstruction measure that passed Jan. 15. About four in five House Republicans voted against the second bill after an attempt to include offsetting spending cuts was rejected.

King and Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican, noted that some Republicans who opposed Sandy aid previously sought federal money after disasters struck their districts.

“I think these so-called colleagues of ours have made a very, very bad mistake with how they handled this,” LoBiondo said on WOR.

Some members of Congress from disaster-prone areas reneged on a promise to support Sandy aid, LoBiondo said.

“They didn’t even have the courtesy or the guts to tell us that they changed their minds,” he said. “These are the same people who were demanding for their constituents something that they would not give our constituents, people who were really hurting.”

Mick Mulvaney, the South Carolina Republican who led the unsuccessful campaign to finance some disaster relief by cutting spending elsewhere, said in a statement Jan. 15 that his effort was “was not about denying assistance to anyone in need.”

“I hope that we will use this experience to be even better stewards of taxpayer dollars going forward,” he said.

Original post is Rep. King: ‘Very Uncomfortable’ with Sandy Aid Opposition in Party by Political Capital.

Photograph by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Representatives from New York and New Jersey, including Peter King, right, speak to the media after a meeting regarding the Sandy aid bill with Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner on Jan. 2, 2013 on Capitol Hill.

New York Rep. Peter King’s initial call for residents of his state to stop writing checks to the National Republican Congressional Committee because of Congress’s delay in Hurricane Sandy relief-funding would pinch in the pocketbook, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by Bloomberg.

About $1 in every $8 raised by the NRCC in individual contributions greater than $200 came from residents of New York, New Jersey or Connecticut. Residents of those three states contributed $3.9 million.

“National parties fund-raise in New York for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks: That’s where the money is,” said Peter Brusoe, campaign finance analyst for Bloomberg Government. “New Yorkers as a state may vote for the Democratic Party, but there are New Yorkers who are willing to open their checkbooks when the national parties come calling.”

King later backed off his remarks, and Congress today increased the borrowing authority for the government flood insurance program by $9.7 billion, allowing it to continue paying damage claims. A House vote on another $33 billion is scheduled for Jan. 15.

Original post is New York Cash Key for Republicans by Political Capital.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talk with people who are recovering from Hurricane Sandy, while surveying storm damage in Brigantine, N.J., on Oct. 31, 2012.

Memo from Chris Christie to Congress: The American people hate you.

New Jersey’s outspoken governor was fired up today after House Speaker John Boehner delayed a vote on Hurricane Sandy relief funding.

“Disaster relief was something you didn’t play games with, but now in this current atmosphere everything is the subject of one-upmanship, everything’s a possibility, a potential piece of bait for the political game,” Christie said during a press conference. “It is why the American people hate Congress.”

“Palace intrigue” among House Republicans derailed the aid package, Christie said. But don’t blame the Tea Party — the 50-year-old governor said his sights rest squarely on Boehner.

Christie spent much of the autumn campaigning on behalf of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and Republican candidates for the House and Senate. A week after Sandy hit, he drew the ire of some in his party for praising President Barack Obama’s handling of the storm.

Asked today if he would stump against those he deemed responsible for the aid hold-up, Christie said, “We’ll see. Primaries are an ugly thing.”

Christie said Obama called him yesterday to discuss the developments and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called him yesterday at 11:20 p.m. New York time to let him know the vote had been called off.

Christie followed that call with four of his own to Boehner, with none returned. He said he spoke to both Boehner and Obama today, but declined to be more specific.

“There’s only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner,” Christie told reporters today in Trenton. “Last night politics was placed before our oath to serve our citizens.”

Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor pledge to pass the $61 billion aid package in a meeting with New York and New Jersey lawmakers this afternoon.

Boehner promised a Jan. 15 House vote on more than $51 billion in Sandy aid and a Jan. 4 vote on raising the government’s borrowing authority by $9 billion for flood insurance, Rep. Peter King of New York said.

Original post is Christie Slams House for Delaying Sandy Aid Due to ‘Palace Intrigue’ by Political Capital.

Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Destroyed homes in the Breezy Point neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York.

Updated at 4:43 pm

Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, says any campaign contributors from his state or neighboring New Jersey who support House Republicans “should have their head examined.”

King made his comments today on “CNN Newsroom” after Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, prevented the House from voting to provide federal aid to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

“Anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to the Republican congressional campaign committee should have their head examined,” King said on CNN. “I would not give one penny to these people.”

Republicans have no trouble finding New York or New Jersey when they want campaign donations, he suggested. Residents of New York contributed $289 million to campaigns in 2012, behind California, the District of Columbia and Texas, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. New Jersey was 14th with $70 million. The New York City metropolitan area ($226 million) trailed only Washington, D.C., ($254 million) as the No. 1 source of campaign cash in 2012, according to the center.

Donors in the New York City metropolitan area gave $4 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, more than any other region, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Eight of the nine zip codes where the most donations came from were in the New York metropolitan area; the exception being Palm Beach, Florida.

“The people in my party, they wonder why they’re becoming a minority party,” King said. “They’re writing off New York, they’re writing off New Jersey, they’ve written me off and they’re going to have a hard time getting my vote.”

King wasn’t the only one complaining today about his party. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted his fellow Republicans for leaving New Jersey hanging. By mid-afternoon, House Speaker John Boehner met with members of the New Jersey and New York delegations, and he and Majority Leader Eric Cantor announced that two votes will be held for an aid package totaling $61 billion, starting Friday and to be completed by Jan. 15, the first full day of legislative business for the new Congress

Original post is Sandy Saga: Republicans `Writing Off New York, New Jersey,’ King Says by Political Capital.

‘Tis the season for holiday cards!

While  the franking privilege of Congress allows members to send constituent mail without a postal charge, holiday greetings are one thing that can’t be sent sans-stamp.  Members of Congress can instead opt to use campaign funds to spread holiday cheer.

Cards can cost campaigns a pretty penny. In 2011, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York spent $8,264.43 on cards and $2,241.85 on mail during the holiday season.

In addition to a Christmas tree, menorah, crèche, or Santa Claus, congressional holiday mailings include disclaimers, as required by the Federal Election Commission. Even though the card may not advocate a political position or request funds, the FEC applies the same disclaimer rules that would apply to any campaign mailer:

If campaign committees send out 500 cards, they must disclose that they were paid for by the campaign.

Political action committees and parties must identify the full name of the committee, their contact information and the disclaimer that a candidate or a candidate’s committee did not authorize the mailing.

Original post is Happy Holidays from the Hill: This Message Paid for By… by Political Capital.