On Tuesday Jackie Speier won a special election to fill the CA CD12 seat of the late Rep. Tom Lantos.   She was sworn in this morning by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and was warmly greeted by her colleagues both Democrats and Republicans.  She demonstrated that she had a mind of her own when she gave a fiery speech criticizing President Bush for his Iraq policy.  The SFGate reports the following

"The process to bring the troops home must begin immediately," Speier told fellow lawmakers including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. "The president wants to stay the course and a man who wants to replace him suggests we could be in Iraq for 100 years. But Madam Speaker, history will not judge us kindly if we sacrifice four generations of Americans because of the folly of one."

The reactions of Democrats and Republicans was quite different

While Democrats applauded, Republicans began a chorus of low boos. Some Republicans who had congratulated her just moments before, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), walked out of the hall in protest.

Her daughter was among 60 friends and family watching the ceremony and speech from the House gallery.  When the boos started she asked "Why are they booing my mom?"

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It got little coverage since it amounted to a Democrat replacing a Democrat but on Tuesday there was a special election in northern California's 12th congressional district to replace Tom Lantos who died of cancer in February. Former state senator Jackie Speier needed more than 50% of the vote on Tuesday to avoid a June 3 run-off and in fact managed to win a whopping 78% of the vote and so will fill out the remainder of Lantos's term and then seek re-election in November.

Speier was sworn in to congress today and wasted no time demonstrating why she is going to be a spirited and outspoken progressive addition to the Democratic majority:

For a few feel-good moments on the floor of the U.S. House today, Jackie Speier basked in bipartisan applause as she was sworn in as its newest member. Her family, supporters and kids cheered as she embraced her new colleagues.

Then, in her first speech in Congress, Speier spoke out about Iraq, and the boos and hoots began from the Republican side of the aisle.

"When will we get out of Iraq?" was the most frequent question she heard, she told the House, while campaigning in the special election she won Tuesday to succeed the late Rep. Tom Lantos.

"The process to bring the troops home must begin immediately," she said, as several Republicans loudly booed. Rep. Darrell Issa, a Vista Republican, bolted from his seat and left the floor.

The hoots grew in volume as Speier, a Hillsborough Democrat, continued.

"The president wants to stay the course and a man who wants to replace him suggests we could be in Iraq for 100 years," she said, a reference to Republican John McCain's assertion that U.S. forces could be there decades, if they are not under attack.

Just to give you another idea of what sort of member of congress she'll be, Rep. Speier posted a big thank you over at calitics yesterday. Julia Rosen returned the love after reading about Speier's first speech on the floor of the house.

When we talk about electing more and better Democrats, this is what it looks like. [...]

Thank you Rep. Speier.  Just phenomenal work.  Keep it up.

We want more of this!

Being a socal guy, I have limited experience with Speier although she impressed me enough in 06 when she was running for Lt. Governor to win my vote in the primary. But if the calitics kids are pumped about her representing us in congress, that's good enough for me. One really important step toward a progressive governing majority.

Oh, and by the way, there's someone else who is pretty happy to see Speier in the House of Representatives today.

Her campaign was gleeful over two superdelegate endorsements on Thursday, as Mrs. Clinton arrived in Pennsylvania for a full day of campaigning.

Sophie Masloff, a former mayor of Pittsburgh, will endorse Mrs. Clinton Thursday night at a dinner for Allegheny County Democrats.

The Clinton campaign said that they have also picked up the support of Bill Burga, a former president of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

Jackie Speier, a California lawmaker who this week took over the late Tom Santos's seat in Congress, has also announced her endorsement of Mrs. Clinton.

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Both elected branches have irons in the fire, according to an LA Timespiece:

The [California Medical Association] has sponsored a bill that would limit administrative costs, including profits, to 15% of health insurance premiums. Current law sets a 15% limit on overhead, but it does not include profit. The bill, SB 1591, passed the state Senate on May 25 and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

Another bill, AB 2281, proposes to cap out-of-pocket expenses to $5,250 for individuals and $10,500 for families. It was narrowly defeated late Wednesday, getting 38 votes, three short of the majority. Seven Assembly members failed to vote and 35 opposed it.

In parallel with this, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has produced his own proposal to limit health insurance profits.

On the substance, take this as a heads-up (not my field of expertise!).

On the process side, note that Garamendi is running for the Dem Lt Gov nom against Liz Figueroa and - Jackie Speier, who's cropped up here before - from me, for the almost single-handed stand she took against the evil prison union, the CCPOA, in the CA Senate.

[The link from a Kos piece.]

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As a Southern California resident, I'm disgusted with John Garamendi's attack ads against Jackie Speier. I am so impressed with Jackie's positive ads; they really emphasize her character and accomplishments. She is a strong enough candidate to promote herself in an entirely positive manner.

Garamendi must be sensing that he doesn't have much to stand on if he's spending his money (and Jackie's outfundraised him by over $1 million dollars) tearing apart his most formidable opponent.

Don't we want to elect people in California who can run on their own merits? I was already voting for Jackie because of her record on standing up for women, protecting financial privacy, and her goals of using the LG position to truly serve California public universities. But Garamendi's attacks would have pushed me over the edge, even if I hadn't already made up my mind.

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Cross-posted from Calitics: the progressive community blog for California.

I think both Lt. Governor candidates have aspects in their favor.  Jackie Speier has a tremendous air of potential around her.  She just might be the first female governor of California.  She is my state senator, and I have really appreciated her efforts, both on behalf of her constituents and for the state in general.  She is a friend of marriage equality and  has been a strong supporter of environmental protection.  Check out her issues page for more info.

However, Garamendi is no dummy politician.  He knows what's going on here.  Recently, dave j of seeingtheforest  cross-posted a story about the attack ads by the insurance lobby against Garamendi.  It's quite an interesting story.  Basically, Garamendi impliments some overdue regulations.  The insurance companies don't dig on that, so they threaten him with a $2 million attack ad campaign if he does it.  Garamendi does, and oh, btw, he sends a letter to the FBI and Bill Lockyer accusing the insurance lobby of extortion.

It's all an interesting and sordid tale.  The real meat and potatoes of the blogosphere.  Check out the flip...

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