Figuring out who's got power and who doesn't is something of a parlor game in Washington. So, a study ranking members of Congress by clout and influence is giving folks on Capitol Hill plenty to talk about this week.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ranked No. 1 in terms of power in Congress, according to this year's power ranking by Congress.org.

Other Nevada lawmakers didn't fare as well. U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., ranked 42nd among the 100 members of the Senate. U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Carson City, ranked near the bottom in the House, at No. 420 out of 435 members.

The annual study ranks members each year based on committee assignments, leadership posts, influence, legislative accomplishments and money they've helped secure for their districts.

"President Bush's heated rhetoric on Iran - including comments about a potential World War III - is even more outrageous now that we know the intelligence community had informed him that it believes Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program four years ago,"

"This is the latest in a long line of inaccurate and misleading comments that got us into the Iraq war to begin with. They further diminish the credibility of a president with a dangerous record of overstating threats," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will bring the Senate in for a series of pro forma sessions over the next two weeks in order to avoid recess appointments by President Bush.

The Senate will convene every couple of days - Nov. 20, Nov. 23, Nov. 27, Nov. 29 - in order to prevent Bush from taking advantage of its absence to place individuals in positions requiring Senate confirmation.

Dear Friend,

If you really want to scare your friends, I recommend dressing as a Washington Republican.

Here's a group of people so shameful they oppose the SCHIP bill that would give health insurance to ten million children. On top of that, they launched a vicious political attack on a twelve-year-old boy, Graeme Frost, who suffered a near-fatal car accident, after he delivered a radio address imploring the President to sign the children's health care bill. They went to his house, spread lies about his parents' finances and even posted his address on a website so his family could be harassed.

I've seen low in my day, but attacking Graeme Frost is really the bottom of the barrel -- and this is only the beginning. In 2008, desperately trying to return to power, Republicans are bound to turn their smear machine on Harry Reid. We have to make sure he has the resources to fight back on behalf of all Democrats.

Fight the Republican smear machine -- make a contribution to Harry Reid today.

After launching their attack on the twelve-year-old boy, Republicans ran away from responsibility until the media finally caught on to their dirty game.

Republican staffers were giving anonymous quotes to reporters proclaiming they had not been involved -- but it turned out they were helping smear the kid's family by sending emails stating his parents should not be eligible for the program because the father owned his own business, and Graeme and his sister attend private school.

Well the truth is, both children were on scholarship, and even the conservative editorial board of the Wall Street Journal wrote, "It turns out, they belonged to just the sort of family that a modest SCHIP bill is supposed to help."

We can expect more of these attacks in the year to come. If Republicans were boxers, they'd spend most of their time hitting below the belt. Well, we beat them and their ugly tactics in 2006, and we'll do it again next year, but Harry Reid needs your support right now.

Fight the Republican smear machine -- make a contribution to Harry Reid today.

Thank you,

James Carville

Because Republicans continue to block votes on important amendments to the Defense Authorization bill, we can make no further progress on Iraq and this bill at this time.

For these reasons, I have temporarily laid aside the Defense Authorization bill and have entered a motion to reconsider.

But let me be clear to my Republican colleagues -- I emphasize the word "temporarily". We will do everything in our power to change course in Iraq. We will do everything in our power to complete consideration of a Defense Authorization bill. We must do both.

"Science has been ignored at the Federal level for too long, but that time is over," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told an audience today in a speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Reid came to the Center to advocate, along with the Action Fund, for a progressive energy agenda that would benefit families, increase energy independence, and reduce global warming. The agenda focuses particular attention on boosting investments in clean alternative energy technologies such as wind and solar power, spurring biofuels production, and encouraging auto companies to build hybrids in return for health care costs relief.

My colleagues here in the Senate, particularly my Republican colleagues, should know that this is precisely my attitude when it comes to bringing about a change of course in Iraq. Although I did not get everything I sought in the bill before us, I will not give up until the supporters of the President's failed policy accept the realities on the ground in Iraq. They accept that the President's plan is not working, that this war must come to an end and that it is time to for our troops to come home in a safe and responsible way.

"After telling a bunch of different stories about why they fired the U.S. Attorneys, the Bush administration is not entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Congress and the American people deserve a straight answer. If Karl Rove plans to tell the truth, he has nothing to fear from being under oath like any other witness."

Breaking a parliamentary roadblock, the Senate on Wednesday began its first formal debate on the Iraq war since Democrats took control of Congress, taking up a measure calling for President Bush to withdraw combat troops by the end of next March. The White House swiftly issued a veto threat.

Reaction to the conviction on Capitol Hill was swift. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid welcomed the jury's verdict and called on Bush to pledge not to pardon Libby. Before the trial began, the Justice Department said it had no pardon file active for Libby.

"It's about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics,"

"This is a civil war we have going on in Iraq," Reid said. "It's not right for us to be refereeing a civil war. It's very clear that's what it is. We never authorized fighting in a civil war."

Reid predicted that the Democrats would "continue to pick up Republicans" in their effort to stop a surge of U.S. combat troops in Iraq.

The majority leader said his party is finalizing its plans to accomplish its goal, but stressed that he would move forward only if Democrats stand shoulder-to-shoulder on strategy.