January 21 marked the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC decision that allowed for our elections to be pushed further into the hands of the wealthy elite.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi hit the nail on the head in her statement today on the decision. She said (emphasis added):

Since the creation of the so called "Super Congress" as part of the debt ceiling deal, pressure for the Joint Congressional Committee to conduct their work on further deficit reduction in a transparent way has increased.

I'm not writing off the primary challengers. Who knows? But it's not likely any of them will knock him off.

What is clear though, is that DeLay is running a smart campaign on the ground.

Political contributions are becoming a hot topic in a congressional race in Connecticut. Incumbent Rep. Simmons is dogging challenger Joe Courtney over contributions he received from Rep. Pelosi's PAC. Simmons is getting heat for the $39,000 that he took from DeLay over the years (and which he refuses to return). More on the story can be found at the Norwich Bulletin.

The indicted Tom DeLay has a choice. Play to the jury, or play to the public. Think selfishly about his own hide, or try to staunch the political wound cut deep into the Washington establishment he helped to build.

It's clear that he's pursuing the latter.

Democrats in Congress have asked for an independent panel, similar to that which investigated the events of September 11, to look into what went wrong in the federal government's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.

Embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, however, has "shrugged off" those proposals, according to the Houston Chronicle. Speaking to reporters, DeLay "mocked" Democrats who have said they will boycott the panel unless its composition is altered.

From ABC News' The Note: "Celebrity sightings include Bud Paxon and Susan Molinari; Frank Gaffney and James Guckert, heads together in a serious conversation; RNC chairman Ken Mehlman looking slightly uncomfortable as Morton Blackwell repeatedly called Nancy Pelosi a "San Francisco socialist...'"

James Guckert is better know to most as "Jeff Gannon," the disgraced, ultra-conservative, fake reporter.

From the Hill:

Reps. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) and John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) have been meeting with 30 House Republicans over the past few weeks to coordinate a more aggressive strategy to defend Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), according to a Republican source familiar with the meetings.

The Austin American-Statesman asks if DeLay is reaching a tipping point for the GOP... (from OfftheKuff.com)

We signed on to this letter (PDF) to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging that they initiate an ethics inquiry into the stories from this past week involving travel expenses paid for by registered lobbyists and registered foreign agents.