Hakeem Jeffries (Photo: Facebook)

Months into his first term, his short time in Washington D.C. has Congressman Hakeem Jeffries convinced the Tea Party is out of control.

"Every day I'm in Washington D.C., I'm focused on two things: battling the Tea Party and standing up for President Obama," Mr. Jeffries, a Democrat, said last night at a Brooklyn fundraiser for his successor, Assemblyman Walter Mosley. "The Tea Party folks, they're off the chain. From my perspective, the right thing to do for the country is to make sure we invest in our economy and we stand up for programs like Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid--and stand up for the most vulnerable people among us."

Mr. Jeffries added that he would take the fight to the whole "crew" of Republican leadership, drawing wild applause from his supporters at the Crown Heights restaurant.

"As opposed to what the other side wants to do, which is to basically balance the budget on the backs of children and seniors, working families and the middle class," he said. "And despite what John Boehner says, despite Paul Ryan, despite that whole crew, we're not going to let it happen."

Since replacing the retired Edolphus Towns, Mr. Jeffries has been appointed to the Budget Committee and Judiciary Committee. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, one of the GOP's rising stars, chairs the Budget Committee and has aggressively pushed for spending cuts as a way to trigger economic growth.

Mr. Jeffries, needless to say, is no fan of that approach.

The sixth graders from St. Paul's Lutheran School in their Facebook plea to the White House. (Photo: Facebook)

A group of sixth graders from St. Paul's Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa has turned to the internet to save their school trip to the White House. The children were scheduled to tour the White House on March 16, but their visit was cancelled yesterday along with all other tours of the presidential residence due to "staffing reductions" caused by the so-called "sequester" budget cuts that took effect last Friday after lawmakers failed to make a deficit reduction deal. In an effort to muster support and salvage their trip, the school posted a brief video on Facebook featuring a plea from the children.

"The White House is our house, please let us visit!" the sixth graders say in the clip.

According to Christi Line, the principal of St. Paul's Lutheran, the trip is a "big event" for the children, who are in their final year at the private, Christian school.

"This is our first White House trip and we'd hoped to make it an annual event," Ms. Line told Politicker in a phone call this evening. "This is a new capstone project that we have initiated this year for our sixth grade."

Ms. Line said a parent of one of the students was working to plan the tour. Requests for White House tours are generally processed through the requester's congressional representative. According to Ms. Line, the children were first told their request had been accepted and then cancelled this morning leading to widespread "disappointment" in the class.

"It was kind of a good news, bad news thing. we just found out that our tour had been approved and, of course, we were finding out at the same time that they were not doing White House tours now," said Ms. Line. "Students had been hoping that we would be accepted for a tour. Our trip was coming up in just a couple of weeks and we knew based on when we applied for that that we would find out sort of at the last minute with just a little time left. So, we had been waiting every day to hear."

Ms. Line said the Facebook plea was proposed by the parent who tried to plan the tour. She stressed it was simply an effort to salvage the tour for the children and "not a political statement." As of this writing, the White House Press Office has not responded to a request to respond to the children's video.

"We were absolutely adamant that this not be a political issue for us. This is not about politics for our students, this is just about wanting to have the opportunity to visit the White House. One of the reasons we chose Washington D.C. as opposed to Chicago or St. Louis or some place else for our capstone trip was that it's the kind of trip that not every family has the ability to take on their own," Ms. Line said.

Ms. Line described the D.C. trip as a chance for the students to "find out more about how the government works," to "extend their learning in the classroom about American history" and to learn more about "how they can live out their lives to make the world a better place." Though the sixth graders won't be able to visit the White House, Ms. Line said the school was not canceling the field trip and that the students would visit other landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol, where House Speaker John Boehner has vowed public tours will continue in spite of the "sequester" cuts.

"We will still go to D.C.," said Ms. Line. "We are not canceling our trip because the White House tour will not be accessible to us."

Update (3/7/13 6:57 P.M.): White House Press Secretary Jay Carney responded to the sixth graders' video in a briefing with reporters today and described the situation as "extremely unfortunate," but unavoidable.

(Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously declined to slam House Speaker John Boehner over Congress' stalled Hurricane Sandy aid, took his argument to the next level this morning and suggested federal lawmakers are partially to blame for the delay in the vote on the package because they insert "things that are totally extraneous" into bills such as this. Although Mr. Bloomberg didn't specify the extraneous problem items, the legislation has been criticized by Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan for being “packed with funding for unrelated items, such as commercial fisheries in American Samoa and roof repair of museums in Washington, D.C.”

"There's this 'Christmas Tree effect' where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something. The [Obama] administration does that, that's why you have an omnibus bill--to force everybody to vote for things that would never stand up in the light of day if they were individual," Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show with John Gambling. “I'm sympathetic. Yelling and screaming at [Mr. Boehner] is just not my style. It may be effective, it may not be. Everybody's got to make their own decisions. I think the legislative leaders who criticize and those in the Legislature should stop and think, they do exactly the same thing in terms of ladling on things that are totally extraneous but it's the only way they get them through."

Mr. Bloomberg's relatively subdued stance places him at odds with the overwhelming majority of the politicians in the New York region in recent days, with one exception in the form of Councilman Dan Halloran. But while name-checking several politicians, including Governors Andrew Cuomo and Christie Christie, as well as Congressman Pete King, who "worked hard" on the bill but have subsequently vented loudly at Mr. Boehner, Mr. Bloomberg reiterated that it's simply not his "style."

The mayor further expressed optimism that the bill would get done, as well as an understanding for why Mr. Boehner decided not to hold a vote on it earlier this week.

"Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor I've talked to thousands and thousands--it seems like thousands and thousands--of times, both assure me that the bills will come up. We believe there are the votes there to pass it," he said. "It'll have to go back to the Senate but the votes are there to pass it. It'll come a few weeks later than I would have liked. But, you know, it's easy to go criticize the guy. Running a legislature, as anyone that's ever done it will tell you, it is not easy....It's herding cats. They just passed a big tax bill with a lot of dissension about no spending cuts and I assume that the Speaker thought it was not a good time at that night to bring up a $60 billion bill....All that matters is that we get it done. And I think this will get done."

Dan Halloran (Photo: Wikimedia)

House Speaker John Boehner has been blasted by a slew of local elected officials for delaying the vote on the Hurricane Sandy federal aid package, but at least one politician in New York City appreciates the way he handled the situation. Yesterday, all but two of the sitting City Council members joined Council Speaker Christine Quinn in sending a letter to Mr. Boehner calling his decision to delay the vote "heartless and unfair." However, Councilman Dan Halloran did not sign on and instead sent a letter of his own to Mr. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which he expressed his appreciation that the House delayed the Sandy package that was approved by the Senate because it contained too much unrelated pork and his desire for Congress to pass a more "responsible" bill than the one currently on the table.

"As a fiscal conservative and a hawk on reckless government spending, I appreciate the House's desire to create a responsible bill that will provide the necessary aide [sic]  to the affected areas," Mr. Halloran wrote. "The federal government must act immediately to pass a bill that will address these storm related costs without creating a slush fund of pet projects around the country and around the world."

In his letter, Mr. Halloran listed some of the elements of the Sandy aid bill that was approved by the Senate that he finds unnecessary.

"The United States Senate passed a bill that would have provided some of the much needed money, but it also provided funds for overseas embassies, new federal vehicles, last year's tsunami in Japan, improvements to the Kennedy Space Center and fisheries in places as far from the east coast as Alaska," explained Mr. Halloran.

Mr. Halloran's letter to Mr. Boehner was identical to the one he sent Mr. Reid.

The letter from the other Council members to Mr. Boehner described his delay of the vote on the Sandy bill as a "disgrace:"

"Like many Americans, we are outraged and disappointed that the U.S. House of Representatives left the current session without appropriating the $60.4 billion in emergency spending for victims of Hurricane Sandy. There was support for this package on both sides of the aisle, and it’s a disgrace that the funding was neither allocated nor even voted on by the House. Congress must make this their first priority and vote on it immediately when they return to Washington."

Mr. Boehner has vowed to hold a vote on a Sandy aid package by January 15.

Mr. Halloran is not the only Council member who didn't sign the letter to Mr. Boehner. Councilman Erik Dilan was not included among the initial signatories, but his office told Politicker he was out of town and has since signed on. Councilman Charles Barron also did not sign the letter. We reached out to Mr. Barron to see whether he intends to eventually sign or objects to its contents but, as of this writing, we have not received a response.

View Mr. Halloran's letter to Mr. Boehner and the one sent by the other Council members below.

The Oct. 30, 1975 front page of the New York Daily News.

Speaker of the House John Boehner is taking heat from all sides for delaying the decisive vote on the post-Hurricane Sandy federal aid package. Even his fellow Republicans have blasted Mr. Boehner. Many of the local Democrats who jumped into the fray used the motif of the famous 1975 Daily News cover that implied Gerald Ford told the city to "drop dead" when he vowed to veto federal aid to the five boroughs in their assessments of Mr. Boehner's conduct. Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson explicitly credited his source material in his shot at Mr. Boehner.

"The decision by House Speaker John Boehner to postpone a vote on Hurricane Sandy aid for the New York region is a travesty of epic proportions," Mr. Thompson said in a statement. "The move is reminiscent of the famous newspaper headline from the 1970’s when the federal government refused to help New York City in a time of need. 'Boehner to City: Drop Dead' is an appropriate headline for the Speaker’s actions."

City Council speaker and likely mayoral candidate Christine Quinn alluded to the headline a little less directly when she discussed Mr. Boehner's handling of the aid package on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight this evening.

"I mean it's really unbelievable how Speaker Boehner and his party could just walk away from all the New Yorkers, and people in New Jersey and people in Connecticut in need," said Ms. Quinn. "Quite frankly, Speaker Boehner told them to just drop dead and it's just outrageous."

Long Island Congressman Peter King, who also blasted Mr. Boehner earlier today, had a meeting with Mr. Boehner this afternoon in which he said the speaker promised a vote on the aid would be held by January 15. On CNN, Ms. Quinn responded that she can't be sure Mr. Boehner will stick to that commitment because he previously promised the vote would be held before the 112th Congress finished at the end of last year. She also urged Mr. Boehner to visit New York and "answer to" people who were affected by the storm in the time between now and the aid vote.

"I hope he does the right thing between now and January 15 as he allegedly has promised Peter King, but I'm not going to believe it till I see it because any assurances we've gotten until now have just been wiped away," Ms. Quinn said. "You know what? Speaker Boehner should do between now and when he says he's going to vote? He should come to New York and New Jersey, he should walk with me and others in Queens, he should go to Belle Harbor and Breezy Point, he should talk to those folks whose homes were burned to the ground."

The New York State Democratic Party also used the "drop dead" line, however their statement wasn't aimed at Mr. Boehner. Rather, it was directed at New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox, who expressed disappointment the package wasn't passed, while simultaneously suggesting Mr. Boehner's decision not to hold the vote may have been justified because the Sandy aid bill was "pork-laden."

"Mr. Cox’s defending of the inaction by congress is anti-New York and he has put his political allegiance to his own Republican party over his allegiance to the people of the state. Mr. Cox said the Republican House was justified in not voting because the bill had 'pork.' Not even the extremist Republicans have argued that," the statement began.

Before delivering the kicker, the statement from the state Democratic Party got in a jab at Mr. Cox's father-in-law, former President Richard Nixon.

"New York doesn’t have time for partisanship or Mr. Cox's Nixonian brand of politics. Mr. Cox should get on board with the relief effort or get out of the way. Either way, Mr. Cox’s message today to New Yorkers impacted Sandy was as clear as can be: ‘Ed Cox to NY: drop dead.’"

(Photo: Getty)

Governor Chris Christie is angry.

In addition to a statement blasted out earlier today, New Jersey's outspoken governor held a press conference this afternoon where he said Speaker John Boehner's sudden decision to halt a vote on the Hurricane Sandy relief package exemplifies "why the American people hate Congress."

"Thirty-one days for Andrew victims. Seventeen days for victims of Gustav and Ike. Ten days for victims of Katrina," Mr. Christie said, ticking off how long it took for Congress to pass relief after other natural disasters. "For the victims of Sandy in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, there's been sixty-six days and the wait continues. There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims: the House Majority and their speaker, John Boehner....Last night, politics was placed before our oath to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch."

Mr. Christie, a Republican like Mr. Boehner, went on to describe the House's GOP majority as "selfish" and "toxic."

"It just could not overcome the toxic, internal politics of the House Majority," Mr. Christie said of the bill. "Americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this Congress, which places one-upmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to Washington D.C. in the first place. New Jerseyans and New Yorkers are tired of being treated like second-class citizens. New York deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. New Jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw last night. America deserves better than yet another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why. Sixty-six days and counting. Shame on you. Shame on Congress. "

Asked afterwards if he understood why the vote had been canceled, Mr. Christie said he was left completely in the dark.

"I was given no explanation," he said. "I was called at 11:20 last night by Leader Cantor and was told that he was told authority for the vote was pulled by the Speaker. Our delegation asked for a meeting with the Speaker at the time; they were refused. I called the Speaker four times last night after 11:20 and he did not take my calls....There's no reason for me to believe anything they tell me, because they've been telling me stuff for weeks. And they didn't deliver."

Update (3:09 p.m.): Here's the video:

(Photo: Getty)

The budgetary impasse in Washington continued today, with the White House rejecting Speaker of the House John Boehner's "Plan B" proposal to extend the current, reduced tax rates for everyone but millionaires in an effort to solve the so-called "fiscal cliff." Mr. Boehner responded by holding a press conference of his own this afternoon, where he said the Republican majority in his chamber will pass his plan anyway, and President Barack Obama will either accept it, "or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in American history."

"Republicans continue to work toward avoiding the fiscal cliff," Mr. Boehner said in his extremely brief address. "The president's officer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet the test that the president promised the American people, 'a balanced approach.' I hope that the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us, on a balanced approach. Tomorrow the House will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every American, 99.81 percent of the American people. Then the president will have a decision to make. He can call on the Senate Democrats to pass that bill, or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in American history."

At Mr. Obama's earlier media availability, he said he’s “gone at least halfway in meeting” the Republican's demands on the budget, specifically his offer to only raise taxes on those making over $400,000 or more, up from his previous position of $250,000.

"If there's one thing we should have after this week, it should be a sense of perspective about what's important," Mr. Obama argued, referencing the recent mass-shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that rocked the nation.

If the two sides cannot come to a deficit-reducing agreement by January 1st, all of the Bush-era tax cuts will expire, and an automatic set of spending cuts will be implemented.

(Photo: Getty)

Earlier this morning, Speaker John Boehner and the U.S. House Republican leadership held a press conference to announce a new proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy and avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," or the steep set of spending cuts and tax increases that will arrive by the end of the year if a deficit deal is not reached. Specifically, Mr. Boehner's plan would extend the current tax rates on everyone making less than $1 million a year, a sharp jump from President Barack Obama's own counteroffer yesterday, which conceded a $400,000 ceiling. Mr. Obama had previously stood firm on allowing the tax cuts to expire for everyone making more than $250,000, a number that GOP lawmakers apparently found unacceptable.

"Our hope continues to be to reach an agreement with the president on a balanced approach that averts the fiscal cliff. What we've offered meets the definition of balance, but the President is not there yet," Mr. Boehner began. "What the White House offered yesterday was essentially $1.3 million in new revenues, for only $850 billion in net spending reductions. That's not balanced in my opinion. So, at the same time that we're going to talk to the President, we're going to also move 'plan B.'"

While not sounding especially happy about backing off of his vow to block any tax increases, Mr. Boehner said the need to protect a majority of Americans forced his hand.

"I think we all know that every income tax filing in America is going to pay higher rates come January 1st unless Congress acts," he said. "So I believe it's important that we protect as many American taxpayers  as we can. Our 'plan B' would protect American taxpayers who make $1 million or less and have all of their current rates extended. I continue to have hope that we can reach a broader agreement with the White House that would reduce spending as well as have revenues on the table. I think it'd be better for our country. But, at this point, having a 'backup plan' to make sure that as few American taxpayers are affected by this increase as possible, moving down that path is the right course action for us."

Governor Andrew Cuomo speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday. (Photo: Getty)

Governor Andrew Cuomo spent the day in Washington yesterday lobbying for the approximately $40 billion in federal aid he is asking for to help the state recover from Hurricane Sandy. Politicker spoke with sources familiar with the governor's schedule to get details on how he spent his time and who he met with on his first trip to Washington since taking office.

"The governor hit the trifecta; the White House, the Majority Leader and the speaker,"  an administration official said.

With the country facing the fiscal cliff and the tense budget talks in D.C., securing such a large aid package is a tall order. Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg also made the trip to Washington to lobby for the funds.

Mr. Cuomo's afternoon began at the White House where he met with President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff Jack Lew, budget chief Jeffrey Zients, Director of Legislative Affairs Rob Nabor's and the White House's point person on the long-term Sandy recovery effort, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. The governor was accompanied by his spokesman Josh Vlasto and his senior advisor Howard Glaser. On his way out of the White House, Governor Cuomo also bumped into the president's senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and economic advisor Gene Sperling and he talked with the about the request for recovery aid.

After his time at the White House, Governor Cuomo went to the Capitol Building where he met with New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. The trio had a meeting with Senator Dan Inouye, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, and Senator Thad Cochran, the committee's vice chairman. They also met with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who also sits on the appropriations committee and personally dealt with another large request for federal storm after her state was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Following their meetings with the members of the appropriations committee, Mr. Cuomo, Mr. Schumer and Ms. Gillibrand met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Next, Mr. Cuomo met with leaders of the House of Representatives. He began by meeting with Speaker of the House John Boehner accompanied by two of the New York City area's Republican congressman Michael Grimm and Peter King. Mr. Boehner's support will be pivotal to the push for Sandy aid because, according to Mr. Grimm, he has expressed willingness to approve a package without offsets from other items in the federal budget. This is expected to face opposition from other members of the GOP House majority and Mr. Boehner and other Republicans who support the aid request will be crucial to turning sufficient Republican votes for it to pass. After his meeting with Mr. Boehner, Governor Cuomo also spent about a half an hour meeting with the Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The last item on the governor's list was a press conference with all of the members of New York's congressional delegation. At the press conference, Mr. Cuomo said he hoped to have an aid package finalized by Christmas. Mr. King, who also spoke said Mr. Boehner was strongly supportive of the push for federal Sandy recovery funds.

"The Speaker is committed to making this work," he said. "To do what has to be done."

Mr. Cuomo echoed this sentiment and described his meeting with Mr. Boehner as "positive."

"We're trying to cooperate--collaborate our politics, if you will," he said of working with the GOP.

(Photo: Getty)

Earlier today, President Barack Obama gathered with the majority and minority leaders of both houses of Congress to move forward in avoiding automatic spending cuts and tax hikes set to occur at the end of the year. Although Democrats and Republicans have, at times, seemed to have irreconcilable differences in the process, the various elected officials walked out of the Roosevelt Room with an optimistic outlook that a compromise would be reached.

"I can only echo the observations of the other leaders that it was a constructive meeting. We all understand where we are....We are prepared to put revenue on the table provided we fix the real problem," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, according to a White House pool report. “Most of my members, I think without exception, believe that we're in the dilemma we're in not because we taxed too little but because we spent too much."

Mr. McConnell's comments are notable because Republicans are currently in a stalemate with Mr. Obama on whether to fully extend the Bush-era tax cuts or to let them expire for the top 2% of earners. If neither plan were to come into effect, rates would increase on the entire base of taxpayers.

Congress' other GOP leader, Speaker John Boehner, concurred with Mr. McConnell. “While we're going to continue to have revenue on the table it's going to be incumbent on my colleagues to show the American people that we're serious about cutting spending and solving our fiscal dilemma," he said. "I believe we can do this and avert the fiscal cliff that is right in front of us today."

The revenue issue is part of a larger effort to stop "sequestration," massive automatic spending cuts to education, defense and more if a specific deficit-cutting plan is not arrived at, an event many feel would be economically catastrophic. But, echoing their partisan counterparts, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sounded positive about the negotiation's direction.

"This is the first time we've deal with these issues and feel we understand what the problem is," Mr. Reid said. "I felt very good about what we were able to talk about in there. We have the cornerstones of being able to work something out."

Mr. Reid said his chamber would be working on the issue through the Thanksgiving recess next week.