GOP Unleashes 2010 Salvo on First Day of Congress

By Michael O'Brien, The Hill

The first day of the 111th Congress marked the first vote at which Republicans took aim, marking an opening salvo in their 2010 electoral efforts.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) sent out a release in 54 districts, many of them held by newly-elected, first-term members of Congress, criticizing them for voting in favor of a House rules that abolishes term limits for committee chairmen and limits the GOP's opportunity to present alternatives to Democratic legislation.

The NRCC said the Democrats "quickly toed the party line" after being elected, and alleged the lawmakers reneged on campaign promises to foster an open and ethical Congress.

“Debbie Halvorson was happy to help Nancy Pelosi cement her grip on power so that members of Congress like Charlie Rangel and Barney Frank can forever wreak havoc on our financial system with their grossly negligent behavior,” NRCC Spokesman Ken Spain, said in a release targeting the newly-elected Illinois congresswoman, emblematic of language in releases aiming at 53 other Republican targets.

Spain added: “While middle-class families are struggling in the face of an economic crisis, Debbie Halvorson, on the same day she was sworn-in to office, ignored calls for relief from her constituents and instead voted to make it easier for her fellow Democrats to raise taxes.”

The NRCC cryptically promised that the lawmakers' rules vote today "will not be welcomed" by voters come 2010.