FroshUpdate - April 15, 2011

Written by Tim Mak on Friday April 15, 2011

It’s been 100 days since Congress has been sworn in, and FrumForum is on the case – with the launch of our new Freshmen Blog, a blog dedicated exclusively to covering the freshman Congressmen of the 112th Congress.

This is FroshUpdate for Friday, April 15, 2011:

Freshmen Blog Launched: Check it out here – www.frumforum.com/freshmen

Frosh Reflect On Lessons Learned: So what have freshmen learned over their first 100 days? FrumForum asked, andwas told about a drug bust, how Congress is both like a dental practice and watching baseball, how to say no to a more senior colleague, and how many people it takes to set up a television in a Capitol Hill office. Reps. Paul Gosar, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Reid Ribble, Jim Renacci, Rick Crawford, Mike Kelly and Kristi Noem contribute. http://bit.ly/dXwDuY

FroshUpdate is a regular look at how the freshman class is making news. Add us on twitter @freshmenFF, or tell others to join our mailing list by emailing frosh@frumforum.com with 'subscribe' in the subject line.

Freshmen Rising: Take a look at the rise in the number of freshmen voting against leadership as the budget battle progressed through five continuing resolutions.http://bit.ly/f4NUVo

Drill, Baby, Drill: Reps. Bill Flores (TX-17) and Jeff Landry (LA-03) have introduced the Putting The Gulf Back To Work Act into the House, requiring the administration to act on all offshore drilling permit requests within 30 days. http://bit.ly/fz6IuN

Something to Do Over Recess: According to OpenSecrets.org, the GOP freshman class still owes a collective $11.9 million in lingering campaign debt. http://bit.ly/hkP6JP

Freshmen Dissent: About a third of freshmen voted yesterday against the budget deal negotiated between President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker John Boehner: http://bit.ly/f4NUVo

Turning Sights towards the UN, Rep. Joe Walsh (IL-08) introduced a bill into Congress today which would deny US funding for the United Nations if the UN did not correct its "anti-Israel bias" and officially retract the "Goldstone Report" accusing Israel of war crimes during its brief 2009 action in Gaza. http://bit.ly/ekslgA

“Stop Demonizing the Rich”: NY Rep. Michael Grimm on CNN (video) … “The job creators cannot be punished….Stop demonizing the rich….. I do not agree with my colleague that we should be raising taxes on anyone. Not the low, middle, not the high.”http://bit.ly/f8S4GV

Internecine Battle: Louisiana Redistricting Pits Rep. Charles Boustany against freshman Rep. Jeff Landry in a primary in 2012. http://bit.ly/e7e0Ru

Gibbs Blasts General Services Admin for cost overruns and what is alleged to be an illegal bidding process. "This is really embarrassing, I think," said freshman Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) said about the process behindthe Poff Federal Building's renovation. "Your testimony is about the project and all the good things you're doing with the building. But you broke the law as far as I'm concerned." http://bit.ly/dKtSTi

Mr. NO: Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), the youngest member of the Republican House freshman class, is also the most contrary, voting against his own party more than any GOP lawmaker. He has voted against the majority 25 percent of the time, a record of dissent that might have been predicted by his nickname as a Michigan legislator: “Mr. No.” http://bit.ly/ed1kza

Trump-West 2012? ‘Rep. Allen West to run for vice president with Donald Trump?’The State Column says that Allen West is “considering” joining potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a bid for president. http://bit.ly/f903Le

Category: Freshmen Blog