The Party of No finally found something to say yes to:

The House passed legislation Wednesday that would ban misleading mailings designed to appear they’re from the Census Bureau, following criticism that Republican groups were sending fundraising letters using the census name.  [...]

The legislation passed 416-0 …

It looks like 170 House Republicans were willing to shelve their obstructionism for one day to stick it to Michael Steele, given that the bill came about because of:

… a fundraising mailing from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele … The fundraising letter comes in the form of a “survey,” a frequently used device for partisan fundraising, but this one has a twist: calling itself the “Congressional District Census,” the letter comes in an envelope starkly printed with the words, “DO NOT DESTROY OFFICIAL DOCUMENT” and describes itself, on the outside of the envelope, as a “census document.”

House Republicans would willingly say no to mother’s milk for newborns if they could, but they say yes to putting the kibosh on what was described as “among the RNC’s most lucrative fundraising initiatives”?

They must really hate Michael Steele.

In the midst of an ethics committee investigation into allegations of sexual harassment, Eric Massa has announced he will resign on Monday, and released this statement on his official Web site.

Two days ago as I sat reading my new annual CAT scan, having been told that the anomalies in the films may or may not be scar tissue, I decided to finally take the advice that my doctors have repeatedly given me, and that is to take care of my family and myself before my profession. After I decided not to run again I was told, for the first time, that a member of my staff believed I had made statements that made him feel “uncomfortable.”  I was told that a report had been filed with the Congressional Ethics Committee. At no point prior to this had any member of the Ethics Committee communicated with me directly – if fact I first read it on the internet.  

I own this reality. There is no doubt in my mind that I did in fact, use language in the privacy of my own home and in my inner office that, after 24 years in the Navy, might make a Chief Petty Officer feel uncomfortable. In fact, there is no doubt that this Ethics issue is my fault and mine alone. But in the incredibly toxic atmosphere that is Washington D.C., with the destruction of our elected leaders having become a blood sport, especially in talk radio and on the internet, there is also no doubt that an Ethics investigation would tear my family and my staff apart. Some would say that this is what happens when you stand apart from political parties, which I have done. Others will say that this is what happens to a non politician when they go to Washington DC. I want to make something perfectly clear. My difficulties are of my own making. Period. I am also aware that blogs and radio will have a field day with this in today’s destructive and unforgiving political environment. In that investigators would be free to ask anything about me going back to my birth, I simply cannot rise to that level of perfection. God knows that I am a deeply flawed and imperfect person.  

During long car rides, in the early hours of the evening, late at night and always in private, I know that my own language failed to meet the standards that I set for all around me and myself. I fell short and I believe now, as I have always believed, that it is not enough to simply talk the talk, but rather I must take action to hold myself accountable.

Therefore, effective at 5 PM on Monday the 8th of March I will resign my position as the Federal Representative of New York’s 29th Congressional District in the 111th Congress. I do so with a profound sense of failure and a deep apology to all those whom, for the past year, I tried to represent as our Nation struggles with problems far greater than anyone can possibly imagine. I hope that my family, constituents, and fellow Members of Congress can accept this apology as being both genuine and heartfelt and I wish for them and all Americans only the best. I will take all actions possible to ensure that my personal health is secured in that I know that mine is a far more fragile lifeline than most. For the millions of fellow cancer survivors with whom I share this experience, they, more than anyone else, will understand the honesty and openness in this statement.

The Hotline speculates on what could happen next.

Massa’s resignation doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a special, as state law doesn’t require that Gov. David Paterson (D) call one. If he does choose to declare a special, he’ll have to issue a proclamation setting the date of the election. The election will then be held between 30-40 days from the date of that proclamation.

If there is a special election, it would be the fifth such contest between now and Nov. There will be a 4/13 contest to replace Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), where Dems are strongly favored, and two May contested specials in HI and PA. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) plans to resign at the end of Mar., and a date has not yet been picked for an election to fill that heavily GOP seat….

On the Dem side, Massa’s pick appears to be Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan (D), but he has yet to decide on a bid. Assemb. David Koon (D), though, has told county chairs he’ll run. And several other legislators are also taking a look at the contest.

It’s been a year since President Barack Obama signed the $787 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the stimulus package. The largest public…

In his rather quixotic primary bid to unseat sophomore Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton has been reduced to a pretty overt racial appeal in order to justify his candidacy.

The basic gist of the appeal is a photo montage of the eleven members of the state’s Congressional delegation (all of whom are white), with the caption “What’s Wrong with This Picture?”

According to the Memphis Commerical Appeal, for what it’s worth, there was quite a bit wrong with that picture:

The Herenton for Congress 2010 Web site is showing a diagram of the 11 white members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation, and asking, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

It seems that there are at least two things objectively wrong, or at least inaccurate, a Herenton critic pointed out Tuesday. One is that the photograph of U.S. Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., doesn’t look like Duncan and is apparently U.S. Rep. John B. Shadegg, an Arizona Republican.

The other is that the nine U.S. congressmen listed are referred to as “State Representatives.”

As of late Tuesday evening, both of those mistakes had been remedied on the web page.

That said, there is still some substantial dispute about the message behind the montage. In an interview with the Commercial-Appeal, Herenton’s campaign manager, Sidney Chism, stated that the Tennessee 9th was “”the only district [in Tennessee]— the only district — where we can, not should, but can elect a person of color.”

He might want to check with his boss. In an interview two weeks ago with WREG-TV, Herenton seemed a lot closer to using the word “should” rather than “can”:

“This is an 11-member delegation. If you look at this picture, and you’re African-American, you sense the lack of representation,” said Herenton, who resigned as mayor last summer.

“If you look at the map of Tennessee, the 9th Congressional District in the lower southwest corner was carved out so you could enhance the possibility of an African-American being elected,” said Herenton, who said the delegation wasn’t a “true representation of the demographics of this great state.”

Cohen has represented the Memphis-based 9th district since Harold Ford Jr. left in 2006 to run for the Senate (in Tennessee, not New York). He has not been a stranger to rough campaign treatment in the primaries. In 2008, Nikki Tinker not only ran a campaign based in no small part of a similar appeal to Herenton’s, but actually managed to co-mingle race-baiting and Jew-baiting in one of the most vile television ads of the campaign cycle.