Jim Webb dropped out of the Democratic primary, saying Democrats have moved too far left, Republicans too far right, and ignoring the truth: American voters just aren't interested in that center-part hairstyle. Government officials should be fired for not doing their jobs, Marco Rubio said during a rare Senate floor appearance between long stretches of not voting on legislation. And Congress still has no plan to raise the debt ceiling, even though Douglas Holtz-Eakin said failing to do so would reduce America to an "economic fetal position" and we thought Republicans cared about fetuses. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, October 20th, 2015:
SENATE CALLS 'NOT IT' ON DEBT LIMIT -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he'd rather have the Keystone Kops in the House handle the nation’s looming default crisis. Barron-Lopez: "With just two weeks left before the U.S. runs out of borrowed money and is forced into a default, congressional leaders have yet to offer a timetable for when they'll increase the debt ceiling. Pressed on when the Senate plans to bring up legislation to address the looming deadline, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that it's up to the House. 'Obviously we don't prefer a clean debt ceiling,' McConnell said. 'We'll see what the House sends over and act accordingly.'” [HuffPost]
SANCTUARY CITIES SAFE FOR NOW - Elise Foley: "Senate Republicans failed Tuesday to move forward with a bill to punish so-called 'sanctuary cities' and certain unauthorized immigrants -- a vote that showed immigration issues are an exception to their arguments against meddling in local decision-making and efforts to limit mandatory minimum prison sentences. The bill needed 60 votes to move forward, and failed with only 54. Even if it had eventually passed, it would have faced a veto from President Barack Obama. It did, however, allow Republican candidates for president to go on the record in opposition to jurisdictions that do not fully cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GOP candidates Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.) voted for the bill, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) did not vote. Two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin (W.V.) and Joe Donnelly (Ind.), joined Republicans in voting to move forward with the bill. Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois joined Democrats in voting against it." [HuffPost]
PAUL RYAN BIDEN HIS TIME - Matt Fuller and Emma Dumain: "With a special GOP conference meeting scheduled for Tuesday night, members may finally learn what Paul D. Ryan is thinking. Sort of. 'I don’t anticipate a final decision tonight,' Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck told CQ Roll Call Tuesday. A source close to Ryan told CQ Roll Call that if the Ways and Means chairman is asked Tuesday night whether he’s open to running for speaker, he would probably offer some insight. The hint that Ryan would engage with the press is significant, since the Wisconsin Republican is famous for dodging journalists in the hallways -- especially over the past couple of weeks." Huh? [Roll Call]
HARRY REID BLOWS KISSES TO RYAN - Reid thinks Paul Ryan would be a great House Speaker, since Ryan is fair-skinned and has no Wisconsin dialect, unless he wants to have one. Jen Bendery: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says if he had his way, he'd pick Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to be the next speaker of the House. 'I'm a Paul Ryan fan,' Reid told reporters. 'He appears to be one of the people over there that could be reasonable. I mean, look at some of the other people,' the minority leader continued. 'I don't agree with him on much of what he does. I think what he's done with Medicare and Medicaid, what he wants to do with it, I disagree with. But generally speaking, I think we've been able to work with him.'" [HuffPost]
Haircuts: Paul Blumenthal, Heather Caygle, Timothy Cama, Mike Lillis.
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TREY GOWDY'S HAIR READY FOR SPOTLIGHT - Jason Zengerle: "It wasn’t so long ago that the third-term Republican congressman from South Carolina was a virtual nonentity on Capitol Hill, a point he concedes himself. 'I would not be on the list of what I believe to be the top 20 most effective members of Congress,' Gowdy told me. To the extent he was known at all, it was for his golf handicap (a 1.7, he says, the lowest in the House) and for his bewildering haircut -- an ever-changing coiffure that has rotated between a faux-hawk, a slick-back, and a modified mullet. And yet, in the last several weeks, Gowdy has been pestered -- at times outright begged -- by his congressional Republican colleagues to take McCarthy’s place as Majority Leader and Boehner’s as Speaker of the House. And on Thursday, the very thing that has made Gowdy one of the most important Republicans in Congress will make him the most important Republican in America." [GQ.com]
MARCO… MARCO….. - Igor Bobic: "After being widely criticized for his absenteeism in the Senate, where he has missed more votes than any other legislator, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) argued that government officials should be fired for not doing their jobs. In a rare appearance on the Senate floor Tuesday, where his first vote in nearly a month was to end sanctuary cities, the presidential hopeful advocated for a proposed bill that would institute more accountability in the scandal-plagued Department of Veterans Affairs. 'If you work at the VA, and you aren't doing your job, they get to fire you,' Rubio said of the proposed bill. 'I think people are shocked that that doesn't actually exist in the entire government, since there's really no other job in the country where if you don't do your job you don't get fired.' ...Tim Miller, the communications director for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of Rubio's rivals in the race for the White House, cheekily tweeted Tuesday that he agreed with the senator." [HuffPost]
BECERRA BURN - "House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra of California called him 'no show Rubio' in a call with reporters hosted by the Democratic National Committee. 'You miss a third of all of the votes you're supposed to cast in the Senate, and you show up for this political one,' he said."
GEORGE W. BUSH THINKS TED CRUZ IS A MAJOR LEAGUE A - He's the second guy caught badmouthing Cruz to the moneybags lately, the first being John Boehner, who called Cruz a "jackass" in August. Eli Stokols reports: "'I just don't like the guy,' Bush said Sunday night, according to conversations with more than half a dozen donors who attended the event…. One donor, paraphrasing the former president’s comment in response to a broad question about how he viewed the primary race and the other Republican candidates, said: 'He said he found it ‘opportunistic’ that Cruz was sucking up to Trump and just expecting all of his support to come to him in the end,' that donor added." [Politico]
Jim Clyburn thinks Joe Biden should stay out of the race.
TUNE IN TO WATCH CONGRESSMEN CURSE - Elise Foley: "You'll also learn about how immigration reform died in the House last year. In the documentary 'Immigration Battle,' airing tonight on PBS's 'Frontline,' filmmakers Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson go behind closed doors with congressmen and staffers working on reform efforts, especially Luis Gutierrez. Some tidbits: John Boehner asked Mario Diaz-Balart, who was also working with Paul Ryan, to do a whip count for a reform package. Mick Mulvaney said he thought most Republicans were ready to do reform up until a bunch of kids crossed the border illegally last summer. And pro-reformers were open to a bill that legalized undocumented immigrants without a special path to citizenship, as long as it didn't ban citizenship either."
BYE JIM WEBB - "Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb dropped out of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday, ripping both major parties for 'being pulled to the extremes' while suggesting he may consider an independent bid…. In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Webb said political candidates are 'increasingly out of step with the people they're supposed to serve,' claiming Americans also are increasingly independent -- and uncomfortable with 'the extremes.' 'For this reason, I'm withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party's nominee for the presidency,' Webb said." [Fox News]
NOBODY KNOWS WHAT WEBB'S BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS - Sam Stein and Paige Lavender report: "A source close to Webb told The Huffington Post that the decision to drop out of the primary was so abrupt and so closely held that as of Friday night, only a small group of people knew it was coming. 'He never mentioned to me an independent run,' said the source, who noted that Webb may have not yet decided on one. 'And he never mentioned dropping out to me in our conversation on Friday.'" [HuffPost]
Donald Trump is still doing good in the polls.
BEN CARSON IS BAD AT THIS - Jon Ward: "At one point I mentioned that rival presidential campaigns were criticizing his views on abortion. 'And what is my position on abortion?' he asked, prompting me to explain what his critics were saying. " [Yahoo]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Chris Rock made an excellent Redskins joke.
BOY WHO MADE CLOCK MEETS PRESIDENT - Molly Reilly: " Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim teenager who was arrested and sent to juvenile detention last month after bringing a homemade clock to his high school, visited the White House Monday evening following a personal invitation from President Barack Obama. Ahmed, 14, attended the White House's Astronomy Night, along with other students, teachers, scientists and astronauts, as well as TV personalities like Bill Nye and the stars of 'Mythbusters.' It's the second time the White House has hosted the event, which includes stargazing on the White House's South Lawn. Obama and Ahmed met and chatted briefly during the event. 'We have to watch for and cultivate and encourage those glimmers of curiosity and possibility, not suppress them, not squelch them,' Obama said at the event." [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- Illegal ketchup mess.
- Cute baby rhino.
- Fantastic fjord fotos.
- Erotic carp calendar.
TWITTERAMA by @Kate_Sheppard
@katherinemiller: On Thursday, we will all be reminded that Congressional hearings are very "I have more of a comment than a question."
@jbendery: "I have no idea what Donald Trump is doing." -- WH spox Earnest, speaking for millions
@Bencjacobs: As best I can tell, Jim Webb's presser to drop out today is his first public campaign event (besides the debate) in the month of October
@timothypmurphy: I guess it's time for...Webb 2.0
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