Dec 10, 2015 5 min read

Wake Up To Politics - December 10, 2015

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Thursday, December 10, 2015
53 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
334 Days Until Election Day 2016 I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP and subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or like me on Twitter and Facebook. More ways to engage with WUTP at the bottom. Capitol Hill News

Congress to Punt Budget Negotiations to Next Week Democrats and Republicans came to agreement on the budget Wednesday: they both agreed they needed more time.
With government spending set to expire Friday – and negotiations far away from producing a budget deal – House Appropriations Committee chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) introduced a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Wednesday, December 16, staving off a potential shutdown until next week.
The House Rules Committee will take up the five-day stopgap measure today, allowing it to pass both houses of Congress by Friday. The House will not be in session over the weekend, meaning an omnibus spending package will have to be negotiated by Monday, so the House can pass it and give the Senate enough debate time before a cloture vote Wednesday.
President Barack Obama signaled Wednesday that he would sign the continuing resolution, and congressional Democrats are expected to follow his lead.
In the meantime, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle will attempt to rekindle negotiations for the $1.1 trillion omnibus package, which has been mired in partisan debate over riders offered by both parties, including “stepped-up vetting of Syrian refugees, abortion funding, environmental issues, financial regulations and a provision to lift the ban on oil exports,” according to CNN.
Suggested Reading The Washington Post write-up on the effects of a shutdown: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/09/23/if-the-government-shuts-dont-plan-on-visiting-yellowstone-financing-your-home-or-xxxx/2016 Central

Early State Numbers Game In the presidential primary process, there are three states more crucial than all others: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina. That trio is the first three to cast ballots in the primaries, and winning or showing well in any of these states can give a candidate momentum as the race begins.
Now that we’re just over 50 days away from the Iowa caucuses, here’s a look at who’s leading and trailing in each early state, using numbers from the most recent poll in each state (Iowa: Monmouth; New Hampshire: CNN/WMUR; South Carolina: FOX News).
The percentage of the first place finisher in the state is bolded, the second place finisher is underlined, third place is italicized. Numbers behind the parentheses denote rank in that state; numbers in front of the parentheses denote the candidate’s percentage in the state.
Here’s a look at the Republican race in all three early states: IowaNew HampshireSouth CarolinaClinton1) 552) 401) 65Sanders2) 331) 502) 21O’Malley3) 6 3) 13) 3

And here are the Republican numbers in the same states (and from the same polling organizations): IowaNew HampshireSouth CarolinaTrump2) 191) 321) 35Rubio3) 172) 143) 14Cruz1) 24 6) 63) 14Carson 4) 137) 52) 15Bush5) 64) 84) 5Christie9) 23) 95) 2Fiorina7) 37) 58) 1Kasich7) 35) 78) 1Paul6) 48) 25) 2Graham12) 08) 25) 2Huckabee9) 210) 18) 1Santorum11) 111) 08) 1Pataki12) 011) 012) 0

Today on the Trail Where are the 2016 presidential candidates today?
New Hampshire John Kasich (Manchester, Merrimack), Jeb Bush (Milford), Carly Fiorina (Bedford, Derry, Concord)
Iowa Marco Rubio (Iowa City, Ames, West Des Moines)
Also today: Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader (a key social conservative group), will announce the group’s 2016 presidential preference today on the steps of the Iowa Capitol. The Family Leader holds a lot of sway with Iowa evangelical voters, the largest bloc in the state, and Vander Plaats endorsed the eventual winner of the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and 2012. This year, the Family Leader nod is widely expected to go to Ted Cruz.
New York Hillary Clinton (New York)
Indiana Ben Carson (Fort Wayne)
Suggested Reading CNN takes a look at the mechanics, and likeliehood, of a potential Independent bid by Donald Trump: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/politics/donald-trump-2016-independent-presidential-campaign/White House Watch

The President’s Schedule At 11:05 am in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, President Barack Obama will deliver remarks before signing the Every Student Succeeds Act into law.
The bipartisan bill is an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind Act, in an attempt to swing authority over public education from the federal government to states and localities.
Not all of No Child Left Behind is struck down with this new law however: students in grades three through eight will still be tested annually in reading and math. But, the state and school district will have a lot more influence over what happens to schools not performing well on the tests.
Suggested Reading More on the details of the Every Student Suceeds Act, from the Associated Press: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EDUCATION_BILL?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-10-03-18-08

Question of the Day

Today’s Question To mark Alfred Nobel’s death on this day, the Nobel Prize is always awarded on December 10 in Stockholm, Sweden (with the exception of the Peace Prize, awarded in Oslo, Norway). Who was the first American to receive a Nobel Prize?
Email me your answer by tonight (wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com) to get your name in tomorrow’s edition of Wake Up To Politics!