Nancy Pelosi

PHOENIX -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is in Phoenix Monday to fundraise on behalf of Bob Lord, the Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

The visit was confirmed at a round table discussion Lord held with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), who will also be in attendence. Details are few, but the Speaker will be appearing at the event, which will be held Monday evening to benefit Lord in his effort to unseat U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix).

The campaign of U.S. Rep. Gabreille Giffords (D-Tucson) has issued a point-by-point refutation of the claims in a new ad from rival state Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson), which accuses Giffords of voting along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) 90 percent of the time, including votes against funding for U.S. troops and in favor of civil rights for terrorists.

A nine-page memo was the Giffords campaign's response, in which it tries to pick apart the arguments presented in the attack from Bee.

"Tim Bee did not do his homework," said the memo. "A comparison of the voting records of Congresswoman Giffords and Speaker Pelosi shows that... Giffords voted the same way as Nancy Pelosi 8% of the time given that the Speaker abstains from most of the votes. Furthermore, the Speaker does not take a public position on most votes and has allowed bills to come to the floor that she has publicly opposed."

State Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) has gone negative in his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson) in the 8th Congressional District, releasing a new television ad that attacks Giffords for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "over 90 percent of the time" and for being soft on terror suspects.

State Sen. Pres. Tim Bee (R-Tucson) has gone negative in his bid to unseat freshman U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Tucson) in the 8th Congressional District, releasing a new television ad that attacks Giffords for voting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "over 90 percent of the time," failing to support the troops and being soft on terror suspects.

Here is the transcript: 

Voice Over: Nancy Pelosi - leading Congress in the wrong direction.

Gabrielle Giffords - votes with Nancy Pelosi ninety-percent of the time.               

Giffords voted for Pelosi’s plan to end the Iraq war by blocking funding for U.S. troops in battle.

Pelosi supports Giffords’s own bill to allow captured terrorists to be tried in our courts with the same full legal rights as American citizens.  

Gabrielle Giffords votes for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda ninety-percent of the time.

There is no shortage of second and third generations of American political families addressing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week: Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy; James Roosevelt, Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988; U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), the daughter of former New Orleans Mayor/U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Moon Landrieu; U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey; Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, the daughter of former Ohio Gov. John Gilligan; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the daughter of former Baltimore Mayor/U.S. Rep. Thomas D’Alesandro; Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, the son of former U.S. Sen. John Culver (D-IA); New York Gov. David Paterson, the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson; and Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Anne Richards.

The Republican takeover of the out-of-session U.S. House will continue into the foreseeable future, said U.S. Rep. John Shadegg (R-Phoenix) Wednesday.

"We're going to keep it going as long as we can," Shadegg told PolitickerAZ.com. Shadegg, the most senior Republican in Arizona's House delegation and a close ally of the GOP leadership, said the minority Republicans plan to continue to take to the floor of the House throughout the summer recess in protest of inaction on the expansion of domestic oil production, even though the House remains officially out of session and is not scheduled to resume legislative business until Sept. 5.

"The bottom line request of Republicans is that [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] allow the question of domestic oil production to be debated and voted upon," said Shadegg. "So far she has precluded a debate, and has certainly precluded a vote," he said.

Congressional candidate Jim Ogsbury: Campaign photoTEMPE -- 5th Congressional District Republican candidate Jim Ogsbury used the 30-foot statue of U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Tempe) near the ASU campus as the backdrop for an attack against the freshman representative, who he hopes to have the opportunity to unseat, on the topic of energy legislation. 

"This statue has done more to lower gas prices" than Mitchell, said Ogsbury, who spoke before a small gathering of press and supporters.

"In 2006, while running for Congress, Harry Mitchell pledged to do something about the price of gas," said Ogsbury. "But since Harry Mitchell went to Congress, the price of gas has increased 68 percent. And what has Harry Mitchell

U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Tempe) is lobbying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to include a renewal of  alternative energy investment tax credits in a new economic stimulus package. In a letter sent to Pelosi on Monday, Mitchell wrote, "I believe we have a real opportunity to brighten our future by investing in solar energy. "In Arizona, we’re lucky to enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine a year," wrote Mitchell. "Investing in solar energy is vital to Arizona’s economy."

Specifically, Mitchell addressed the need for the tax credits, set to expire at the end of the year, to proceed with the proposed Solana solar power generating station, a $1 billion project to be constructed near Gila Bend.

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-6) is considering whether or not to support the Post-9/11 GI Bill, introduced by Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-5) and supported by more than half the U.S. House, including 71 Republicans. If Flake decides to become a cosponsor, he would be the sole member of Arizona's GOP contingent to do so.

Democrats at all levels are pushing for the bill, designed to include reservists and National Guard troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan to be covered under the same educational. News of Flake's deliberation comes on the day the Washington Post published a story entitled "Some Veterans Find GI Bill Falls Short," and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised the bill.

This has been the week of the GOP going after Democrats over rising fuel costs, trying to marry that party to consumer woes. The Democrats have responded, but now Emily Bittner, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, is lending her voice.

Republicans claim the Democratic leadership in Congress is failing to lead on this issue, and furthermore advocating a stance that will lead to higher gas prices. Democrats countered today with a list of specific legislation that they say works to achieve the object - with a note from Bittner saying Republicans care more about Big Oil than the middle class.