by Jim Tankersley

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) is styling himself a Reagan Democrat - at least when it comes to birthday festivities.

Foster, the businessman and scientist who won a special election earlier this year to replace former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in a Republican-leaning district, announced today that he's signed onto a bill to give former President Ronald Reagan a royal rememberance on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Reagan, of course, was the most celebrated Republican president in recent decades. The bill Foster is co-sponsoring would create a commission to coordinate national and state-level celebrations for Feb. 6, 2011 - the centennial anniversary of Reagan's birth - which would include exploring a special postal stamp and $1 coin to honor "The Gipper." A similar commission is currently planning the bicentennial anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth.

Plenty of Democrats admire Reagan, and plenty of them don't. Foster has bucked party leaders in his brief congressional tenure on issues such as the federal budget - refusing to vote for a plan he called a massive tax increase - but has also voted along party lines on issues such as expanding federal health coverage for kids. His press release on the Reagan commission praises the former president for transcending party lines - and also gives a strong secondary rationale for his co-sponsorship.

"As the Representative of President Reagan's birthplace in Tampico and boyhood home in Dixon," he said in the release, "I am privileged to pay tribute to him by co-sponsoring legislation to create a Centennial Commission in his honor."

Here's the full press release:

by Jim Tankersley

A pair of Republican congressmen from Illinois are set to unveil a plan that promises to all-but end America's foreign energy addiction within 15 years.

Reps. Peter Roskam and John Shimkus will detail the proposal - which they dub the Energy VISION Act - at a Chicago press conference this morning. It seeks to cut American oil imports by 9.5 million barrels a day, which would theoretically allow the country to run only on oil produced in Canada, Mexico, and the United States and its territories.

The plan mixes conservation and alternative fuel production with aggressive domestic energy exploration, including drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and opening vast swaths of land to oil shale development. Democrats have criticized similar domestic production proposals in other Republican energy bills, saying they will do little to reduce gasoline prices in the short- or medium-term.

In a press release, Roskam and Shimkus say the time has come for energy independence.

"Soaring energy prices place an enormous financial weight on our family's budget today, far greater than any time in this nation's history," Roskam says. "Energy costs now consume nearly one-fifth of the after-tax incomes of low and middle-class families - double that of just 10 years ago. It has come time for a national energy policy that places us on a path to independence. This is a common goal to all Americans - Republican and Democrat. For our economic security, our national security and environmental security we must be energy independent within the next 15 years."

"It is past the time to take action," Shimkus says. "There are concrete solutions available. We need to develop our own oil supplies in places like Alaska and off our coastlines that are currently off-limits. We must continue to advance our technology in ethanol, biofuels, wind, and solar power. And even more importantly for the economy of Illinois, we need to use available technology to convert our vast supplies of coal to environmentally safe liquid fuels. No single source is going to be a magic bullet, but by diversifying our efforts we can go a long way toward energy self-sufficiency."

Read on for details from the VISION plan, which is based on the calculation that America needs to replace 9 million barrels of oil a day to wean itself from non-U.S./Mexico/Canada oil.

by Frank James

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, one of Congress's best trash talkers, has some ideas on where President Bush can go.

Riffing off Bush's recent farewell tour to Europe, Emanuel, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, suggests, tongue-in-cheek, the president take a similar tour of the U.S.

Obviously, Emanuel is engaging in some Bush-bashing here, but it's a clever and entertaining form of Bush-bashing. Take a look.

EMANUEL CALLS ON BUSH TO TAKE AMERICAN FAREWELL TOUR

Visit the Treasury Department and learn more about the $236 billion annual surplus you turned into a $410 billion deficit this year. Ask how we managed to accrue $3 trillion in new debt.

by Amanda Erickson

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) made at least $1 million last year, according to financial records released Monday, while the campaign of another Illinois Democrat, Rep. Danny Davis, paid his wife Vera $13,000 for unspecified work.

The annual disclosure forms filled out by lawmakers--which include information on their assets, mortgage payments, debts and investments--offer a glimpse but not a precise picture of their financial affairs because the forms require officials to list only income ranges.

Some interesting tidbits:

• Bill Foster (D - Ill.) sold Electronic Theatre Controls Inc., the theater lighting company that he started with his brother at age 19, for between $1 million and $5 million last year, and promissory notes from the sale may eventually net him another $5 million to $25 million.

•The report of Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel shows that a family member invested between $1,000 and $15,000 in Wal-Mart, the retail giant that has drawn the ire of those protesting its treatment of workers.

A spokesman for the congressman said the investments were made by Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, with her income. "She has some of her own individual assets, including this investment," said Emanuel spokesman Nick Papas.

• Rep. Davis won $5,000 in a lottery last year. It's unclear how the lucky congressman spent his winnings.

See the full story here.

(Photo by Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

by Frank James

Sen. Richard Durbin knew he potentially could be stepping on a cow pie yesterday if he didn't carefully answer a reporter's question yesterday about the inflationary effect U.S. ethanol mandates might be having on food prices around the world.

The Senate's second-in-commade represents Illinois, after all, a state with large farm interests. And his party's presidential and congressional fortunes also depend on voters in states significant agricultural interests.

So Durbin was not only careful in what he said, but he was clear in asking reporters to report his answer accurately. He basically acknowledged that ethanol is part of the problem without saying much that would offend farmers. Budding politicians should study it as a great example of how to straddle an issue.

REPORTER: Senator Durbin, a lot of people, hunger experts, say that the demand for biofuels, ethanol and other biofuels, is contributing a lot to the increase in prices.

But we have to understand that it's had an impact on food prices, and let's be honest about it. Even in the corn belt, we'd better be honest about it.

by Jim Tankersley

A pair of Illinois lawmakers are taking vocal roles in the debate over the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which President Bush submitted to Congress this week.

In one corner, supporting the deal, Republican Rep. Jerry Weller, who writes in an op-ed released by his office that "Illinois farmers and manufacturers are big winners in this agreement... If you’re looking for an even playing field for Illinois corn, pork, and heavy machinery, this agreement is for you."

In the other corner, Democratic Rep. Phil Hare, who joins House colleague Michael Michaud (D-Me.) in a Huffington Post op-ed today that begins: "If we had been born in Colombia, we would probably be dead. That's right. As members of our respective labor unions, the fight for higher wages, better working conditions, and a secure pension could have cost us our lives."

Hare and Michaud focus on violence against labor leaders in Colombia and accuse the government there of doing little to stop it. They also warn the agreement could cost America jobs. Weller defends the Colombian government as a good ally, particularly in comparison to Venezualan president Hugo Chavez. He says the deal would boost the U.S. and Illinois economies.

Both pieces are worth a read.

by Jim Tankersley

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) wants to steer about $114 million in federal funding to Chicago-area groups and projects, according to a list of "earmark" requests for the 2009 fiscal year that his office released this morning.

Nearly half of that money would go to a pair of rail projects -- the CTA Brown Line and METRA's UP-NW Line. Other multi-million dollar requests include road work on Milwaukee Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, initiatives by Children's Memorial Hospital and Chicago Public Schools, and a Navistar International "next generation diesel engine" for military ground vehicles.

"Earmarking" is the practice of reserving portions of appropriations bills for specific projects, often in a lawmakers' home district. Fiscal conservatives often deride the practice as an example of wasteful federal spending; many have called for a moratorium on "earmarks" entirely. New House rules require any earmarks that make it into a bill to include the name of their sponsoring congressman. Emanuel's release goes further than that by detailing all of his earmark requests, even though it's highly unlikely all the projects will win funding.

“In the spirit of this effort to make the process more transparent, I am happy to make public today the complete list of meritorious projects for which I have requested federal help,” he said in a press release today. “I have never opposed the ability of Members of Congress to direct federal funds to vital programs and projects, but the taxpayers deserve to know where their dollars are being spent.”

Read on for the full breakdown of Emanuel's requests.

By Jim Tankersley

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), the newest member of the House, delivered the Democratic Radio Address today. Topic: the economy. Gist: Democrats working hard for the middle class.

“Good morning, this is Congressman Bill Foster from Illinois’ 14th District," he began. "Just three weeks ago, I was elected to Congress in a special election. I haven’t been on the job long, but even at my first constituent meeting at a grocery store in Aurora, Illinois, voters reminded me of what I learned in the campaign.

“The families I met know the challenges our nation is facing better than anyone in a government office building.

“My constituents are worried about the economy, and with good reason. They can barely afford groceries or a trip to the gas station. If they talk about health care, it isn’t about the latest medical advances, but about the latest increase in costs. They want a good college education for their kids, but they’re nervous about tuition increases. And virtually everyone I talked to was worried about their homes and the mortgage crisis.

“I’m a scientist and a businessman, so when I went to the voters of Illinois, I pledged not to continue the endless political bickering in Washington, but to work on solving problems.

“So today, I am proud to report that Democrats in Congress are putting middle-class families first and fighting for real solutions."

By Jim Tankersley

House Democrats have tapped their newest member to rebut President Bush on the airwaves this weekend.

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), who won a special election this month to replace retired former Speaker Dennis Hastert, will discuss the economy in this weekend's Democratic radio address. The speech will be broadcast across the country.

“Now, Democrats in Congress are fighting to cut taxes for middle-class families who need relief, and we’re working to keep families in their homes by addressing the mortgage crisis head-on," Foster will say, according to excerpts of the speech his office released today. "Next week, the House of Representatives will continue to work on a comprehensive plan to help families who are on the brink of losing their homes. Our plan will help more families avoid foreclosure and gives cities the chance to rehabilitate foreclosed homes and put them back on the market."

He goes on to urge an end to foreign oil dependence, additional alternative energy tax incentives and expanding a federal children's health insurance program.

“I am honored to be chosen to speak on a national stage on behalf of my constituents," Foster said in a press release. "From Dixon to DeKalb and from Geneseo to Geneva and everywhere in between, the problems of the 14th District are the same ones felt across the nation – and these are the problems, that both Democrats and Republicans, must work together to solve.”

By Jim Tankersley

Even in a rhetorically charged political season, House candidate Steve Greenberg stands out: He's all but accusing Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) of disloyalty to the United States.

At issue is Bean's support for Serbia, the country her grandparents left for America, and Serbian-Americans' financial support for her re-election campaign. Greenberg, a Republican, said in a press release this week that Bean was "flagrantly working on behalf of foreign interests against the interests of the United States"—and that the Serbian government was repaying her by illegally steering contributors her way. He's also charged Bean with supporting "Serbian criminals" and "anti-American fundamentalists," referring to the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade

Bean's spokesman and her supporters rejected Greenberg's comments, which have touched off a surge of donations from across the Chicago area, home to the largest ethnic Serb population in the U.S.

Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Greenberg "has resorted to saying anything to get attention—regardless of how shameful and desperate." Bean's spokesman Jonathan Lipman said the congresswoman "doesn't respond to ethnically and religiously divisive attacks, even when they go so far as to demonize an entire ethnic community and question their patriotism."

Greenberg campaign spokesman Brad Goodman responded: "It's very typical of Washington politicians, like Ms Bean, when caught under ethical clouds, the first thing they do is blame someone else."

Read the whole story in today's Tribune.

By Jim Tankersley

The candidates who lifted Democrats to House control in 2006 were a carefully culled, largely centrist team that included military veterans, business executives, a tough-talking sheriff and a former pro quarterback.

The list of Republican recruits for House races this year tells a much different story. Against freshman Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), the GOP has ... no one. Same for the race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill).

In the 29 House districts nationwide that Democrats consider most vulnerable for a Republican pickup, only 19 boast a challenger the Democrats deem "credible." For the last 75 years, parties that lost power in the House and Senate, as the Republicans did two years ago, have almost always rebounded to gain seats the following election -- most recently in 1996, when Democrats recovered from the "Republican Revolution" of 1994 to net eight House districts.

But for the GOP this year, all signs point to another election under siege.

Click here for the rest of the story from today's Tribune.

By Jim Tankersley

It didn't take long for Bill Foster to make an impact in Congress.

Foster, a Democratic scientist/businessman, won a special election Saturday to replace retired former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in the House. He was sworn into his seat representing the exurban 14th Congressional District on Tuesday afternoon. By evening, he was casting what was arguably the deciding vote on a white-hot ethics bill.

The bill, pushed aggressively by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), creates an independent, outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members. The House approved it last night, 229-182, with most Democrats in favor and most Republicans opposed. That margin is deceptive: Before final passage, the bill first had to clear a much closer procedural vote, which gave House members a chance to kill the idea without, technically, voting against it.

The bill survived that test by a single vote, with Foster voting in favor.

Only four Republicans joined Foster and 202 other Democrats on that vote. We can't say for sure what Jim Oberweis, the Republican whom Foster beat in the special election, would have done if he were in Congress. But given the party-line nature of the vote, some Democrats on Capitol Hill (who favored the outside panel) are crediting Foster today with the bill's passage.

by Jim Tankersley

Here's the top of my story in today's Chicago Tribune on the nation's great coin crisis...

WASHINGTON - These days, your thoughts are worth 1.7 cents.

That's what it costs the government to forge a penny, thanks to the rising price of metal. A nickel costs 10 cents. Congress, in its infinite wisdom, has concluded that's a pretty bad deal.

A House subcommittee led by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) convened a hearing Tuesday on a proposal to change the composition of both coins. Republicans and Democrats like the concept, particularly its promise to save taxpayers $100 million a year by using cheaper metals at the U.S. Mint. If the legislation clears the House and Senate and President Bush signs it, you could be plucking steel pennies off the street before year's end.

In Washington, of course, nothing is that simple.

Go here for the rest....

by Jim Tankersley

For all the heated disagreements of Congress, Democrats and Republicans typically sugar-coat their criticisms of one another when speaking on the House floor. But Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) pulled no punches this evening, when she defended her friend (and presidential endorsee) Sen. Barack Obama from an attack by a House Republican.

Schakowsky took to the floor to denounce remarks by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who said last week that terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama won the presidential election. Schakowsky called the remarks a "smear campaign" and urged colleagues to condemn them.

Here is Schakowsky's statement:

"I rise to strongly condemn the remarks made about U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama by Congressman Steve King of Iowa who said that if Barack Obama became President, Al Qaida terrorists would, (and I quote) 'be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11'. Why? Because, he said, 'of his middle name...' and 'because of who his father was.'

"Senator Obama, like all of us in this House, swore on the Bible to defend our country from all enemies foreign and domestic. He has done nothing to warrant this attack. He has served his country honorably in the US Senate. This attack on his patriotism, religion, heritage, and middle name amount to nothing more than a smear campaign.

"I would fully expect these comments to come from people like Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter; not from one of my House colleagues. There is simply no room in this country for remarks like these, remarks that Mr. King declares he stands by.

"I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning these hateful remarks."

By Jim Tankersley

The architect of the Democrats' 2006 takeover of the House of Representatives weighed in this afternoon on his party's upset win in Illinois' special congressional election, chalking it up to residual frustration with congressional Republicans, "tactical errors" by the former Speaker and a sleeper issue that could resonate through November.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, seemed positively gleeful in an interview that Democrat Bill Foster beat Republican Jim Oberweis on Saturday in the race to replace retired former GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert – particularly when juxtaposed with Democrat Nick Lampson's 2006 win in the race to replace former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas.

"Never in history have both the Majority Leader and the Speaker lost (their seats in back-to-back elections) to the other party," Emanuel said. "It's unprecedented. It reflects a huge level of anger at the Republican Party."

Emanuel said Hastert erred in stepping down mid-year – perhaps in hopes of handing off his seat to a Republican before the general election – and in backing Oberweis, who had lost three previous political races.

He also said Foster scored by focusing his campaign heavily on a children's health care program that Congress has repeatedly voted to expand in the last year, each time drawing a veto from President Bush. Foster devoted television and mail ads to the issue – which, coincidentally enough, is Emanuel's baby – and said he wanted to help the House override the veto.

Emanuel expects other Democratic candidates to follow suit this fall and warned the special election results signal a "target-rich environment" for Democrats in Illinois in seats such as Rep. Mark Kirk's. The special election, he said, "is the first shot fired in a change election. This is not a one-off."

by Jim Tankersley

Democrats in Illinois and Washington are celebrating today, after scientist/businessman Bill Foster beat Republican dairyman Jim Oberweis in yesterday's special election to replace retired Rep. Dennis Hastert, the former Republican Speaker of the House. And with good reason.

Republicans have cautioned against reading too much into the results and their implications for the fall elections. History, indeed, shows special elections sometimes foreshadow general-election trends and sometimes do not. But there are several reasons why this appears to be more than a typical pick-up of a House seat for Democrats - and why Republicans should worry in the coming months. Consider:

* This was not a "normal" seat in Congress. This was the home of the congressman who, until the GOP lost control of the chamber in the 2006 elections, was the most powerful man in the House. Oberweis was the candidate he backed to replace him. As psychological victories go for a party, this is on par with Republicans knocking off former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.

* Oberweis' loss will fan fears that Illinois demographics are trending away from Republicans. When Melissa Bean beat GOP Rep. Phil Crane in the suburban 8th Congressional District in 2004, Republicans called it a fluke. Then she won re-election, and now she has another suburban/exurban Democrat joining her in Congress. Other Republicans in similar seats outside of Chicago - including Reps. Mark Kirk and Peter Roskam - are surely taking notice of that trend.

by Matthew Hay Brown

The House Democrats' chief fundraiser said the victory in today’s special election for the Illinois seat vacated by Republican former Speaker Dennis Hastert is only the beginning of the hurt his party is going to lay on the GOP this fall.

“Despite spending 20 percent of … their cash on hand, the [National Republican Congressional Committee] was unable to hold a seat easily won by President Bush and held by Speaker Hastert for 20 years,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen crowed. “Americans of all political stripes are rejecting Republicans’ divisive, status quo politics and turning to Democratic candidates for change.”

Democrat Bill Foster, a physicist running his first campaign, scored a 52-48 upset over Republican Jim Oberweis, a dairy owner who was expected to hold Illinois’ 14th Congressional District for the GOP. Foster won even in Kendall County, Hastert’s home base, reliably Republican – until now.

The NRCC took exception to Van Hollen’s analysis.

“The one thing 2008 has shown is that one election in one state does not prove a trend,” spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said. “In fact, there has been no national trend this entire election season. The presidential election is evidence of that. The Democratic candidates are trading election victories from week to week and the nomination could hinge on a few news cycles. The one message coming out of 2008 so far is that what happens today is not a bellwether of what happens this fall.”

By Jim Tankersley

DAYTON, OH – For the past week, and with increasing intensity, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have tried to top each other in their critiques of American trade policy and its effects on factory jobs in Ohio and the nation. They've decried outsourcing and promised to rewrite trade rules to protect U.S. workers.

In Dayton, a city where many workers blame trade for thousands of lost factory jobs in recent years, it got to the point this week where you couldn't watch "SportsCenter" or "Ellen" without Obama or Clinton bashing trade policy at the commercial breaks (er, or so we're told).

But other members of Congress say trade has benefited the country and should keep expanding, including the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain – and a small contingent of Cabinet secretaries and House and Senate members who flew to Colombia this weekend to build a case for a proposed trade deal between that country and America that is currently pending before Congress.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), a freshman who favors expanded trade, called the Tribune from Colombia today to recount a morning of meetings with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who made "a very compelling case" for the proposed agreement, Roskam said.

(Actually, the first topic on Roskam's mind was the news, which Colombian leaders shared with the American contingent earlier today, that Colombian troops on Saturday had killed the No. 2 leader in a cocaine-trafficking rebel group that the U.S. State Department designated a foreign terrorist organization in 2001.)