Subject: POLITICO Huddle, Presented by FairReform.com: BOEHNER: NO AUMF IN LAME DUCK -- Third day of Syria strikes -- Some campaigns are plain bad -- Why don’t incumbents talk to D.C. press? -- TRAFICANT FIGHTS FOR LIFE
From: "POLITICO Huddle" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 06:26:53 -0600

By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or 
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ALERT -- Boehner not feeling lame duck for AUMF: The speaker tells the New York Times that "the House and the Congress itself should speak" on an authorization of force for taking on the Islamic State. But the lame duck isn't the time to do it -- which is exactly when the Senate is planning to go for it. "Doing this with a whole group of members who are on their way out the door, I don't think that is the right way to handle this," Boehner said, agreeing with Ted Cruz on something. 
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OBAMA APPLIES GLOBAL PRESSURE: As President Barack Obama seeked to bolster the global coalition to take on the Islamic State and Khorasan in the Middle East, he gave the United Nations a far different treatment than he gave the American public on prime time a couple weeks ago, writes Josh Gerstein. "Obama watered down his noble-America rhetoric. Instead, he promoted a more benign kind of American optimism likelier to be soothing to the ears of those on the world stage ... It was a far cry from his speech to the American people just two weeks earlier, where he suggested that despite his best efforts to have powers around the globe resolve crises in their neighborhoods, U.S. military forces
 would again be called on to lead the fight against a terrorist group nearly half a world away." 
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Reaction from the Hill --Sen. Lindsey Graham: "When President Obama then pledges not to use ground forces against ISIL, he emboldens the enemy. They hear what we, the United States, will not do to defeat them." Sen. Tim Kaine: "I applaud the President&#39;s efforts to build a strong, multinational coalition to defeat ISIL and look forward to a full Senate debate on U.S. military action."

THIRD DAY OF U.S. STRIKES: While we were sleeping, the U.S. air campaign against Islamic militants in Syria continued. "At least four oil installations and three oil fields were hit around the town of Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ... At least 14 militants were killed ... another five people who lived near one of the refineries in the northeastern Hassakeh province were also killed." AP: 
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Terrorist leader believed dead -- Per USA Today: "National security adviser Susan Rice told NBC News on Wednesday that the White House had seen social media reports that the allied airstrikes had killed the leader of the Khorasan terrorist organization, Muhsin al-Fadhli. 'We can&#39;t confirm that at this stage,' Rice said." 
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What U.S. allies are doing: "Parliament is to be recalled on Friday to endorse British air strikes in Iraq following assurances from the leader of the opposition, Ed Miliband, to the prime minister that his party will support UK military involvement in the country ... Parliament will not debate any UK action in Syria at this stage." The Guardian: 
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ON THE ROAD AND STRUGGLING: Alex Isenstadt always tells it like it is. And today he's naming names of the worst campaigners of the 2014 cycle -- and most of them are in Congress or trying to be. Rep. Bruce Braley's run for Iowa Senate has been an open gaffe market, marred by laundry complaints during a government shutdown and unneighborly behavior. Former Majority Leader Eric Cantor's stunning loss was the climax of a "lackadaisical, messy campaign," while Pat Roberts's complacency in Kansas could cost the GOP in the Senate. Chris McDaniel had a legitimate shot at beating Thad Cochran in Mississippi but now is blowing whatever political capital he had by challenging the election results
 that showed him losing. Perhaps in a different category altogether is Sean Eldridge, a wealthy venture capitalist running for Congress in New York. His grim campaign, Alex writes, "may be the most confounding of them all." 
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Speaking of campaigns: It's worth checking out Phillip Rucker's dispatch from Kansas, where Roberts's trail talk with Bob Dole is raising a few eyebrows. For example: Roberts voted against Dole's personal pleas for approval of a disability treaty. Now they are campaigning together. 
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AVOIDANCE MANEUVERS: Speaking of campaign season, yesterday we glommed onto the story of the White House editing pool reports -- a comparative contrast to the healthier media access in the Capitol. While we loooove talking to staffers, our lifeblood is the congressional hallway interview, one of the few nonscripted moments in a lawmakers' day that actually gets beyond behind the talking points. But as election-time nears, as it did this month, normally chatty incumbents go quiet . People up for reelection just don't want to talk to D.C. reporters for fear of saying anything even perceived as a gaffe becoming a million-dollar attack ad, Mark Begich excepted.That's why Mark Udall, Kay Hagan,
 Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor and Pat Roberts weren't easy to find in the Capitol's halls this month as reporters staked them out for their RED STATE DEMS or WHAT'S UP WITH KANSAS election stories. There are numerous way to evade the media in the Capitol, and these 2014ers know the routes well.

-- Claire McCaskill, 2012 red state Democratic survivor, told us why this is: "You just keep your head down and thats why I think our candidates are doing that. I will tell you that our Democratic candidates that are running in states that Barack Obama didn&#39;t win, they could care less about what you guys in Washington are saying. It is absolutely as far on the bottom of the list you could get." Ouch.

-- Most likely to change his tune after the midterms -- Cory Booker is currently in the ElizabethWarren/Mazie Hirono/David Vitter camp: No hallway interviews period.Republicans had predicted Booker would become an instant Senate pundit, but thus far he's evaded that stereotype. But we have an inkling that may change after the midterms should he win a full term.

EBOLA OCO $ ADVANCES -- David Rogers, keeping an eye on what's important: "A White House plan to tap into overseas war funds to help pay for the U.S. response to Ebola cleared an important hurdle... as Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee agreed it was an acceptable use of the contingency dollars ... A total of $1.06 billion is at stake, comprised of two requests on September 8 and 16 to fund the Defense Department's greatly expanded role in providing hospital equipment, personnel and airlift capacity in West Africa ... Wednesday's decision is important in itself since the GOP had initially raised questions about even using the [Overseas Contingency Operations] account, which
 is counted outside the budget caps adopted last December." 
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** New Chamber of Commerce Poll Results:  65% of voters reject retroactively taxing companies that move their headquarters outside of the United States. See the full results at
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4679286d1173905d93434666cd3eb2025433247fb8d878860999d175ae7b40cb 
 http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4679286d1173905d93434666cd3eb2025433247fb8d878860999d175ae7b40cb . ** 

HELLO CAPITOL Hill. Welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill. It's dreary outside today but the weekend is looking good -- we'll be spending as much time outside as we can once the drizzle stops. I enjoyed rocking with you the last few days and will leave you in the capable hands of Lauren and Seung Min the next few days. Send us tips: 
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TODAY IN CONGRESS - Zip.

Wednesday's most-clicked link: A tie between 2010 throwback "Barbara Boxer aide charged with possession of pot" and "Capitol Hill Staffer Arrested on Gun Charge Returns to Work."

Not intended to be a factual statement: @realDonaldTrump: "Someone unknown tweeted incorrectly that I&#39;m for Sen. Mitch @McConnellPress for speaker. I&#39;m supporting him for Senate Majority Leader."

TRAFICANT IN CRITICAL CONDITION: Jim Traficant, an expelled former House member from Ohio, is fighting for his life this morning. "Traficant was driving a 1943 Ford tractor about 7:50 p.m. Tuesday at his family farm ... when the vehicle struck a large steel blade on the ground, said Goshen Police Chief Steve T. McDaniel ... That caused the tractor to flip with Traficant still in the vehicle's seat, but trapped with the tractor on top of him ... It is believed that Traficant suffered a heart attack on the tractor, said Linda Kovachik, a longtime family friend and former aide when Traficant was in Congress. ... Traficant is in a medically-induced coma with numerous tests and scans being done,
 said Kovachik ... Doctors will determine if there is any brain activity about 72 hours after he was brought to St. Elizabeth, Kovachik said." The Youngstown Vindicator is the place to monitor this story: 
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THERE MUST BE SOME OTHER WAY: Gallup paints a pretty rough sketch of public opinion regarding the two-party system. "58%, say a third U.S. political party is needed because the Republican and Democratic parties 'do such a poor job' representing the American people. These views are little changed from last year&#39;s high. Since 2007, a majority has typically called for a third party ... The historical 60% high favoring a third party came in a poll conducted during the partial federal government shutdown last October." 
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Bright side: At least our government peacefully transitions when the ruling parties lose election.

THE STRUGGLY SENATE: The Senate Republican campaign arm and Policy Committee are in sync, blasting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's stewardship of the Senate as the clock ticks down to November. As the NRSC emails us "Fire Harry Reid" from the email address 
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked] , the RPC is pumping out numbers that speak to the Senate's lethargic legislating even if you look past their partisan motivations. The numbers illustrate how few interesting votes there have been in the Senate since immigration reform passed: More than 2,000 amendments introduced since July 2013, but just 23 amendment votes (14 GOP, 9 Dem). I stopped checking the amendment tracker last fall; what's the point? RPC paper: 
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CVC CONCERNS: D.C.'s delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is asking the Architect of the Capitol to review working conditions at the Capitol Visitor Center after her staff was told that workers are barred from adequate drinking water access, those temporarily in wheelchairs are forced to use sick days and people with disabilities are being forced into early retirement. She writes to AOC Stephen Ayres: "Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) tour guides and visitor assistants continue to have concerns about safety that have gone unaddressed.In addition, I am fearful that the CVC is engaging in labor practices that could be unlawful." 
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#GRAHAMSTANDING: One of the few interesting contested House races is going down in Florida, where Gwen Graham is using her father's famous last name and a moderate profile to take on beleaguered incumbent Steve Southerland. Our buddy Katie Glueck catches up with Graham, who is "zeroing in on a message that balances emphasis on local issues and the 'North Florida way' with elements of the national party's pitches to women - all while publicly keeping Washington Democrats at arm's length ... Graham emphasizes her disagreement with several aspects of Obamacare. And when asked ... whether she would back Nancy Pelosi for minority leader, she said: 'There needs to be new leadership on both sides
 of the aisle.'" 
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AN ISSUE-BASED CAMPAIGN: Rep. Bill Cassidy will not stand for Sen. Mary Landrieu assisting in a kegstand. Per AP: "Citing his work as a doctor and his role as a parent, the GOP congressman Wednesday said 'keg stands' and other binge-drinking activities should be discouraged. He said: 'It&#39;s not something to celebrate.'" This story has legs (in the air). 
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Shelby Boxenbaum of Matt Cartwright's office was the first to name RFK Stadium and the Ethel Kennedy Bridge as two Anacostia River landmarks named for a famous D.C. couple. I attended a very sparsely attended United game at RFK last night, but the boys advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals with a big win anyway.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -What are the two largest congressional districts east of the Mississippi River? The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at 
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GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says "Sign Up."
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** Republicans and Democrats agree: No president should be able to go back in time and impose taxes on American employers and their workers that weren't owed in the first place.

But today, there is a movement to retroactively re-write U.S. corporate tax laws and selectively punish some American businesses. In fact, the White House has said it supports actions that would enact retroactive taxation.

There is no question that our tax code is antiquated; it hasn't been substantially revised since 1986.

Yet the only laws that businesses can follow are the ones we currently have. Per those laws, one way American businesses can better compete with foreign competitors is through the practice of inversion.In order to truly address the root cause of inversions, Congress must pass comprehensive tax reform.

Learn more and make your voice heard at
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FairReform.com. **

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