You HAVE to see this photo: The New Team in Town

[Coexist]

The New Team in Town

Likely Committee Chairs: (top row, from left): Reps. Rangel, Lantos, Frank, Skelton, Dingell, (bottom row, from left): Obey, Waxman, Harman, Conyers, Thompson


After 12 years of Republican rule, the Democrats likely to take over key House committees are promising big changes, from tax policy to homeland security

Article here.

[SoCalDem]

1. Looks like Obey is the "kid"

They are a formidable bunch..

Go Go Go

[displacedtexan]

2. Their eyes match their facial expression.

Refreshing!

[eleny]

3. I heard last night that Harman isn't Pelosi's choice...

....even though she's minority lead on the committee. Pelosi actually wants the third choice but darned if I can recall his name. The second choice has that problem of being impeached as a judge. And Harman has some recent baggage. She's being investigated, so that may put the kibosh on her getting the slot.

[cybildisobedience]

14. good -- get rid of Harmon

She's had MULTIPLE opportunities to stand up to Bush and represent a different point of view, and she's given him cover at every turn.

Pelosi would be wise to dump this turncoat and put in a real Dem.

[butterfly77]

16. I agree with that....

[eleny]

22. Yes, that was the other issue about her

Funny how she's agreed with them so often and then they screwed her on the issue of her staffer obtaining documents. Harmon was pretty pissed. I guess she expected more from her sucking up so often.

[Coexist]

15. please post if you remember who that would be

I am very excited and interested to find who our new leaders will be.
thanks.

[eleny]

24. "Rep. Tom Lantos of San Mateo should head International Relations"

Link at Mercury News/AP - http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15963869.htm

More from there:
"_Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles is in line to chair the Government Reform Committee that will lead the Democrats' oversight investigations.

_Rep. George Miller of Martinez is up for chairmanship of the Education and Workforce Committee.

_Rep. Tom Lantos of San Mateo should head International Relations.

_Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald is in line to take over the House Administration Committee that oversees congressional operations, federal voting and other issues.

The four are now top Democrats on their committees and will be elevated to the chairmanships presuming the Democratic caucus approves."

:hi:

[Coexist]

27. thanks!

:hi:

[grasswire]

32. Alcee Hastings

He was impeached when a federal judge, but he's a great Democrat.

[aquart]

4. Which one has which committee?

I know Rangel is Ways and Means...(okay, just writing it makes me grin) but the others?

[LisaM]

5. Black people! Gay people! Women!

How refreshing.

[Subdivisions]

8. Are you sure they aren't really leading secret lives as

middle-aged ultra-conservative faux-Christian white men?

[Coexist]

11. THAT scandal could bring the Dems down

shhhhh....!

[eleny]

25. I think Baker's Iraq Group grabbed all of those!

[tridim]

34. Yep, just like the rest of America!

America is not only made up of fat, rich, white men. Imagine that.

[Tatiana]

6. Rangel, Waxman, and Conyers.

If I were a Repuke, I'd be real skeered right about now...

[Captain Hilts]

7. Pelosi must NOT permit Hastings to have the Intel Committee. nt

[eleny]

26. See up-thread. She doesn't want him

[Captain Hilts]

33. Thanks! nt

[Aviation Pro]

9. As a diversified crew as you're going to get....

...the pigment challenged crowd is going to be mighty nervous for the foreseeable future.

[Cerridwen]

10. Additional info on each from a cross-post (of mine) in GD/P

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Thursday, November 9, 2006 · Last updated 5:49 p.m. PT

A look at the new leadership in Senate

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A look at the new Democratic leaders and committee chairmen in the U.S. Senate when a new Congress convenes in January. Senate Democrats, including new members elected this week, will caucus next Tuesday to formally pick their leaders.

---

Majority Leader: Harry Reid, D-Nev. Reid's no-nonsense, plainspoken style reflects his origins, growing up in a cabin in the tiny community of Searchlight, Nev. Once an amateur boxer and an official fighting organized crime in his home state, he won a House seat in 1982 and four years later moved to the Senate. Reid, 66, served as former Democratic leader Tom Daschle's deputy for six years until Daschle lost his re-election bid in 2004. Since becoming Democratic leader in 2005, Reid has continued to fight for Democratic causes such as an increase in the minimum wage and opposition to President Bush's tax cuts. But, as a practicing Mormon, he has also at times sided with Republicans on legislation opposing abortion.

---

Assistant Majority Leader: Dick Durbin, D-Ill. Durbin, 62, joined the staff of former Illinois Democratic Sen. Paul Simon after graduating from law school, and in 1982 entered the House as a representative from the Springfield area. He served seven terms in the House before succeeding Simon, who retired from the Senate in 1996. A lawmaker with strong liberal credentials and a smooth speaking style, he frequently represents his party on TV talk shows. A skilled parliamentarian, he also was a natural successor to then-party whip Harry Reid when Reid became Democratic leader in 2005. Durbin has been an advocate of gun control and was an early critic of how the war in Iraq was being carried out.

---

Agriculture: Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin, 66, remains an idealistic but pragmatic liberal after more than two decades in the Senate. He was a principal author of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. His previous brief chairmanship of the committee and championing of farm subsidies helped him four years ago overpower a conservative challenger in a swing state.

---

<snip>

Four paragraph rule, so here's a link to the rest of the list

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. Dingell! THAT is one man who takes NO SHIT from anyone!

THAT is one awesome group! The ONLY one I'm not ecstatic about is Jane Harman, but she's better than any repke could ever be.

[cool user name]

13. Better get rid of the MCA and the Patriot Act ...

....

Please let them get rid of those two grievous assaults on our liberty.

[madokie]

17. Thats ten good people who will make me proud, I just know it.

[Doctor_J]

18. Hell is coming to breakfast

we might find out how we got to this disastrous point in 6 short years.

[undeterred]

19. Only one female.

Oh well, better than none.

[KansDem]

31. Don't forget, their "boss" will be Nancy Pelosi!

Nov. 9, 2006 - The Democrats’ decisive victory in the House of Representatives ended 12 years of Republican dominance and set the stage for a new crop of House committee leaders. The presumptive House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has soaked up much of the media's attention as Republican strategists brand her as too liberal to represent mainstream America. But the members Pelosi appoints to lead critical committees could be nearly as significant as the new speaker herself. Traditionally, committee chairs are doled out to ranking committee members (i.e. based on seniority), although Pelosi could always shake things up and award leadership roles based on ideological criteria. If she takes the former route and honors seniority, the following Democrats could take key committee chairs...
Newsweek

:bounce:

[incapsulated]

20. Man, that is awesome to see!

:bounce:

[LittleClarkie]

21. Obey!

I think that's one of mine!

[Burma Jones]

23. OH MY GOD, MOST OF THEM WEAR GLASSES

we, the normally sighted, are SCREWN.....

[Coexist]

29. and DOMED!!1!

All your myopia is ours.

[crispini]

28. Water Resources, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson!

Woohoo!

[apnu]

30. Waxman rocks!!! (eom)

[huskerlaw]

35. They're not all fat, rich, white men!

:woohoo:

[OneBlueSky]

36. exactly . . . I was going to ask how many of the current . . .

committee chairs are minorities . . . my guess would be none . . .

(and yes, Barney Frank is a minority) . . .

[Lefty48197]

37. Two famous Michigan legislators in that group

John "The Dean" Dingell, and John "The Peoples Representative" Conyers. Looking forward to a lot of good work from that group.