Senate Republicans have grown frustrated with large and small business trade associations for not helping enough to oppose the Democratic healthcare overhaul. GOP lawmakers have turned their focus on two groups in particular, the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which they say should be playing a more active role. Read Full Story

WASHINGTON – National Republicans met with two potential challengers to U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson on Wednesday as the GOP establishment continued to search for a candidate who can topple the outspoken freshman Democrat from Orlando. State Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, and businessman Bruce O’Donoghue sat down with GOP lawmakers and strategists from the National Republican Congressional Committee in meetings that participants described as productive — although no verdict was r... Read Full Story

Watch “The O’Reilly Factor” weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET! BILL O’REILLY, HOST: In the “Factor Follow-up” segment tonight: As we reported last night, Congressman Alan Grayson, a Democrat from Orlando, Florida, has said a number of irresponsible things. The latest outrage, calling this female lobbyist a whore. Grayson apologized for that, saying: “I did not intend to use a term that is often seen as disrespectful to women.” But the fact rem... Read Full Story

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on Tuesday threatened that he may work with Republicans to torpedo healthcare reform unless he gets a vote to strip abortion-related provisions out of the House bill. Stupak wants a floor vote on a measure that would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for abortions. And in an interview on C-SPAN on Tuesday, he suggested if Democratic leaders don’t give him the vote, he’ll work with Republicans. Read Full Story

The Securities Investor Protection Corp. said the amount it has committed to advance to Madoff victims so far has topped half a billion dollars, exceeding the total of all previous advances that SIPC has paid out since its inception in 1970. Bernard Madoff, now in federal prison, ran a multiyear Ponzi scheme involving billions of dollars that collapsed last year. Read Full Story

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday that it was the “correct move” for House lawmakers to investigate Countrywide, the beleaguered mortgage lender from which he received several loans. Critics have targeted Dodd and other lawmakers for more than a year for receiving special treatment from Countrywide. As part of a broader investigation, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Friday that it would subpoena documents about loan practices from Countrywide. Read Full Story

A push in Congress for broader gun rights is threatening to derail Amtrak and stall a transportation spending bill. Gun-rights advocates in Congress are pressing appropriators to keep a provision that would let Amtrak passengers check in handguns with their baggage. Read Full Story

Something wasn’t sitting right with former Rep. Jim McCrery after he finished a telephone interview on the donations made to former colleagues while he sits out a mandatory yearlong ban on lobbying them directly. Sure, he had kept his campaign committee open for business — which he insists help his firm, Capitol Counsel — but he spent most of his leadership political action committee’s money before he left and turned over the reins to fellow Louisiana Republican Charles Boustany. Read Full Story

The GOP has unveiled a new tactic in its ongoing effort to dominate social media sites like Twitter and Facebook: a sarcastic Facebook Application that assesses a “tax” on Facebook users deemed to have more than the average number of friends. “Rise of the Imperial Friendship Fairness Czar” is the title of a news-like post on the GOP’s recently redesigned website, under a section heading called “Voices of Reason.” Read Full Story

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson today has taken down a link to his campaign website that originally was included as part of his online campaign to memorialize Americans who have died because they did not have access to health insurance. The move follows an outcry by Republicans, who said the Orlando Democrat was using the site to steer donors and volunteers to his campaign. A Grayson aide said they have heard no response from the House ethics committee, but decided to do it on thei... Read Full Story