John Boehner

Republican Party leaders will be on hand to raise funds for the congressional campaign of state Sen. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) Thursday in Washington, D.C. The reception, which will cost contributors $500/person (or $1,000 for a PAC contribution), is set to feature the top two Republicans in the house, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), as well as nine other Republican House members.

The three Republican representatives in the Arizona delegation who are seeking re-election will be appearing: Reps. Jeff Flake, Trent Franks and John Shadegg, as well as Jim Kolbe, who held the 8th Congressional District seat Bee is trying to take away from Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Kolbe's successor.

In order to appear at the fundraiser at 5:30 EDT, Bee will not be able to preside over the Arizona Senate or participate in ongoing budget negotiations. Bee has been criticized by Democrats for campaigning while a constitutional deadline to settle the budget looms.

It is the latest issue to serve as a battleground for the parties in this extraordinarily consequential election year.

As gasoline prices creep indefatigably toward the $4.00/gal. threshold, Republicans are making a concerted effort to shift public consternation over pain at the pump onto Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates, including Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Harry Mitchell, and Sen. Barack Obama.

This week signaled the beginning of an offensive, from Capitol Hill to the Copper Dome, in which Republicans in D.C. and Arizona - and everywhere else in between - will try to make the issue of rising fuel costs a loser for Democrats.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has issued a statement calling for the resignation of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-1), who today was indicted on counts of extortion, money laundering and money fraud.

The Hill reports Rep. Boehner as saying:  read more »