Post by MacBeth on Dec 31, 2009 9:46:51 GMT -5
2009 was a year of many fierce policy disputes, the death of a Senate icon, scandals that hit both major political parties, and the nation’s first black president.
President Barack Obama said 2009, his first year as commander in chief, has been an “extraordinary year.”
Indeed.
Rank-and-file House members, including Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), became household names.
New scandals hit South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), as old ones involving House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) intensified.
There was no shortage of stunning developments, ranging from Sarah Palin’s (R) resignation as Alaska governor to Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize to Sen. Arlen Specter’s (Pa.) decision to leave the GOP.
There were bizarre moments as well, including Obama going way off message during a healthcare reform press conference by saying Cambridge, Mass., police officers acted “stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. America was introduced to Michaele and Tareq Salahi, alleged White House party crashers. Meanwhile, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said there are 17 socialists in Congress but declined to name them.
Policy disputes on Capitol Hill grew heated amid record government spending on the stimulus package, auto bailouts and an increased U.S. presence in Afghanistan.
Healthcare dominated the year. Democrats missed self-imposed deadlines on getting the bill passed, and took a lot of heat for their legislation at town hall meetings over the summer. But Democrats seized momentum in the fall and winter, passing legislation through both the House and Senate.
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) death in August left a huge void on Capitol Hill. Kennedy, a staunch liberal, was widely respected on both sides of the aisle. In a 2009 survey conducted by The Hill, Senate Republicans said Kennedy was the most bipartisan Democrat in the Senate.
The stock market and the nation’s unemployment rate were volatile throughout 2009. While the market ended the year on an upswing, Obama and congressional Democrats said the unemployment rate is unacceptable and are vowing to enact a jobs measure in early 2010.
A month-by-month breakdown of 2009’s most memorable political events follows.
January
•Obama visits Capitol Hill to discuss massive stimulus package
•Roland Burris shows up in the Senate to be seated
•Deficit soars; unemployment hits 7.2 percent
•Burris (D-Ill.) sworn into office
•Inauguration Day; Obama sworn into office
•Obama signs executive orders seeking closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility within a year
•Kirsten Gillibrand (D) selected as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate replacement
•Obama meets with Republicans on Capitol Hill
•Obama signs pay equity bill into law
•House passes stimulus bill
February
•Obama orders 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan
•Tom Daschle withdraws as Health and Human Services secretary nominee
•Obama signs children’s healthcare bill into law
•FBI raid on PMA shines ethics spotlight on Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.); ethics office later clears Murtha
•Senate strikes deal on stimulus
•Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) withdraws as Commerce secretary nominee
•Congress passes $787 billion stimulus
•Burris under pressure to resign after new information surfaces on Gov. Blagojevich
•Obama addresses Congress
•Obama proposes $3.6 trillion budget plan
March
•Dow drops below 6,800
•House passes housing cramdown bill; measure later falters
•After delay, Congress passes omnibus spending measure
•Obama administration announces it will give ailing auto industry billions of dollars
•AIG bonus controversy explodes
•Election for Gillibrand’s former House seat is too close to call; subsequently stays in Dem hands
April
•Justice Department drops case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
•House and Senate pass their budget measures
•Rep. Bachus claims there are 17 socialists in Congress
•Allegations on Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and wiretaps surface
•Sen. Specter bolts the GOP to become a Democrat
May
•Supreme Court Justice David Souter announces he will retire
•Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) under fire for what she knew about waterboarding
•Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney deliver dueling speeches on military prison in Guantanamo Bay
•Congress passes credit card reform
•Obama selects Sonia Sotomayor to replace Souter
June
•Obama taps Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) to be his Army secretary
•War supplemental passes
•House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) exchange words on the House floor over earmark
•Climate bill passes House, 219-212
•South Carolina Gov. Sanford admits affair with woman in Argentina; Sanford had gone missing for days and his staff claimed he was hiking the Appalachian Trail
•Scandal involving Sen. Ensign attracts headlines
•Al Franken declared winner of Minnesota Senate race as incumbent Norm Coleman (R) concedes
July
•Unemployment hits 9.5 percent
•Alaska Gov. Palin announces she will resign
•Vice President Joe Biden says administration “misread the economy”
•Healthcare reform on the ropes as House and Senate miss deadlines
•Obama says Cambridge, Mass., cops “acted stupidly” in arrest of Gates
•Sotomayor approved, 68-31
August
•Lawmakers confronted at town halls on healthcare reform
•Sen. Kennedy dies
•August is deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
September
•Unemployment hits 9.7 percent
•Obama address Congress on healthcare reform; Rep. Wilson shouts “You lie!” at Obama
•Wilson reprimanded by the House; Pelosi fears political violence
•House passes education reform bill
•Congress votes to strip ACORN of federal funding
•Pelosi commits to public option in healthcare reform bill
October
•Rep. Grayson says Republicans want sick people to die quickly; refuses to apologize
•Pelosi rolls eyes at press conference after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggests Congress will support Obama in whatever decision he makes on Afghanistan
•Obama wins the Nobel Peace Price
•House ethics panel broadens probe of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel
•Senate Finance Committee approves healthcare bill; Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) votes yes
•Reid announces new “opt out” public option
•House ethics committee document leaked to The Washington Post
•October becomes deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
November
•Fort Hood shooting kills 13
•House adopts Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) abortion language to healthcare bill, 240-194
•House passes healthcare bill, 220-215
•Dems win special election for McHugh’s seat as GOP split over candidates; GOP wins gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia
•Unemployment rate increases to 10.2 percent
•Senate health bill clears procedural hurdle
December
•Obama announces 30,000 more troops will be sent to Afghanistan
•Congress holds hearing on alleged White House party crashers
•Obama hosts job summit
•Obama approval drops under 50 percent
•Unemployment drops to 10 percent
•Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) acknowledges he nominated his girlfriend for U.S. attorney post
•Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-Neb.) anti-abortion rights amendment to health bill falls short
•Reid scraps public option; proposes new bill with “Medicare buy-in” plan
•House passes financial regulatory reform bill
•Medicare buy-in dropped; Dem centrists commit to bill
•Congress passes omnibus measure
•Senate health bill clears hurdle on cloture motion with 60 votes; Snowe votes no
•Senate passes healthcare reform bill, 60-39
•Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) leaves Democratic Party to become a Republican
•Dow hits year high of 10,520 points
•Terrorist plot foiled; Nigerian attempted to blow up plane headed for Detroit
•Congress calls for hearings on apparent lapses in homeland security
thehill.com/homenews/administration/73979-2009-an-extraordinary-year-in-politics
President Barack Obama said 2009, his first year as commander in chief, has been an “extraordinary year.”
Indeed.
Rank-and-file House members, including Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), became household names.
New scandals hit South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), as old ones involving House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) intensified.
There was no shortage of stunning developments, ranging from Sarah Palin’s (R) resignation as Alaska governor to Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize to Sen. Arlen Specter’s (Pa.) decision to leave the GOP.
There were bizarre moments as well, including Obama going way off message during a healthcare reform press conference by saying Cambridge, Mass., police officers acted “stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. America was introduced to Michaele and Tareq Salahi, alleged White House party crashers. Meanwhile, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said there are 17 socialists in Congress but declined to name them.
Policy disputes on Capitol Hill grew heated amid record government spending on the stimulus package, auto bailouts and an increased U.S. presence in Afghanistan.
Healthcare dominated the year. Democrats missed self-imposed deadlines on getting the bill passed, and took a lot of heat for their legislation at town hall meetings over the summer. But Democrats seized momentum in the fall and winter, passing legislation through both the House and Senate.
Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) death in August left a huge void on Capitol Hill. Kennedy, a staunch liberal, was widely respected on both sides of the aisle. In a 2009 survey conducted by The Hill, Senate Republicans said Kennedy was the most bipartisan Democrat in the Senate.
The stock market and the nation’s unemployment rate were volatile throughout 2009. While the market ended the year on an upswing, Obama and congressional Democrats said the unemployment rate is unacceptable and are vowing to enact a jobs measure in early 2010.
A month-by-month breakdown of 2009’s most memorable political events follows.
January
•Obama visits Capitol Hill to discuss massive stimulus package
•Roland Burris shows up in the Senate to be seated
•Deficit soars; unemployment hits 7.2 percent
•Burris (D-Ill.) sworn into office
•Inauguration Day; Obama sworn into office
•Obama signs executive orders seeking closure of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility within a year
•Kirsten Gillibrand (D) selected as Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate replacement
•Obama meets with Republicans on Capitol Hill
•Obama signs pay equity bill into law
•House passes stimulus bill
February
•Obama orders 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan
•Tom Daschle withdraws as Health and Human Services secretary nominee
•Obama signs children’s healthcare bill into law
•FBI raid on PMA shines ethics spotlight on Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.); ethics office later clears Murtha
•Senate strikes deal on stimulus
•Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) withdraws as Commerce secretary nominee
•Congress passes $787 billion stimulus
•Burris under pressure to resign after new information surfaces on Gov. Blagojevich
•Obama addresses Congress
•Obama proposes $3.6 trillion budget plan
March
•Dow drops below 6,800
•House passes housing cramdown bill; measure later falters
•After delay, Congress passes omnibus spending measure
•Obama administration announces it will give ailing auto industry billions of dollars
•AIG bonus controversy explodes
•Election for Gillibrand’s former House seat is too close to call; subsequently stays in Dem hands
April
•Justice Department drops case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
•House and Senate pass their budget measures
•Rep. Bachus claims there are 17 socialists in Congress
•Allegations on Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and wiretaps surface
•Sen. Specter bolts the GOP to become a Democrat
May
•Supreme Court Justice David Souter announces he will retire
•Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) under fire for what she knew about waterboarding
•Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney deliver dueling speeches on military prison in Guantanamo Bay
•Congress passes credit card reform
•Obama selects Sonia Sotomayor to replace Souter
June
•Obama taps Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) to be his Army secretary
•War supplemental passes
•House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) exchange words on the House floor over earmark
•Climate bill passes House, 219-212
•South Carolina Gov. Sanford admits affair with woman in Argentina; Sanford had gone missing for days and his staff claimed he was hiking the Appalachian Trail
•Scandal involving Sen. Ensign attracts headlines
•Al Franken declared winner of Minnesota Senate race as incumbent Norm Coleman (R) concedes
July
•Unemployment hits 9.5 percent
•Alaska Gov. Palin announces she will resign
•Vice President Joe Biden says administration “misread the economy”
•Healthcare reform on the ropes as House and Senate miss deadlines
•Obama says Cambridge, Mass., cops “acted stupidly” in arrest of Gates
•Sotomayor approved, 68-31
August
•Lawmakers confronted at town halls on healthcare reform
•Sen. Kennedy dies
•August is deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
September
•Unemployment hits 9.7 percent
•Obama address Congress on healthcare reform; Rep. Wilson shouts “You lie!” at Obama
•Wilson reprimanded by the House; Pelosi fears political violence
•House passes education reform bill
•Congress votes to strip ACORN of federal funding
•Pelosi commits to public option in healthcare reform bill
October
•Rep. Grayson says Republicans want sick people to die quickly; refuses to apologize
•Pelosi rolls eyes at press conference after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggests Congress will support Obama in whatever decision he makes on Afghanistan
•Obama wins the Nobel Peace Price
•House ethics panel broadens probe of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel
•Senate Finance Committee approves healthcare bill; Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) votes yes
•Reid announces new “opt out” public option
•House ethics committee document leaked to The Washington Post
•October becomes deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
November
•Fort Hood shooting kills 13
•House adopts Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) abortion language to healthcare bill, 240-194
•House passes healthcare bill, 220-215
•Dems win special election for McHugh’s seat as GOP split over candidates; GOP wins gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia
•Unemployment rate increases to 10.2 percent
•Senate health bill clears procedural hurdle
December
•Obama announces 30,000 more troops will be sent to Afghanistan
•Congress holds hearing on alleged White House party crashers
•Obama hosts job summit
•Obama approval drops under 50 percent
•Unemployment drops to 10 percent
•Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) acknowledges he nominated his girlfriend for U.S. attorney post
•Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-Neb.) anti-abortion rights amendment to health bill falls short
•Reid scraps public option; proposes new bill with “Medicare buy-in” plan
•House passes financial regulatory reform bill
•Medicare buy-in dropped; Dem centrists commit to bill
•Congress passes omnibus measure
•Senate health bill clears hurdle on cloture motion with 60 votes; Snowe votes no
•Senate passes healthcare reform bill, 60-39
•Rep. Parker Griffith (Ala.) leaves Democratic Party to become a Republican
•Dow hits year high of 10,520 points
•Terrorist plot foiled; Nigerian attempted to blow up plane headed for Detroit
•Congress calls for hearings on apparent lapses in homeland security
thehill.com/homenews/administration/73979-2009-an-extraordinary-year-in-politics