(WDCpix)

Where it all happens. Or most of it, anyway. (WDCpix)

House Republicans are so “elated” and “delighted” that they’re “celebrating” after not a single one of them voted for an economic stimulus package this week that included $1.08 billion for Minnesota over the next two years. In a statement, GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann said, “Our economy needs a stimulus proposal that actually creates jobs and reinvigorates the economy. This misguided legislation is not it.”

Rep. Collin Peterson, the 7th District Democrat, joined Bachmann and Republicans in voting against the measure, which heads to the Senate on Monday. “Had this stimulus bill been limited only to programs directly resulting in job creation and infrastructure projects, and for unemployment compensation and food stamps, I might have felt comfortable voting for it,” he said. “However, increasing the price tag on this massive package to include tax giveaways and additional spending on programs that have little or nothing to do with economic development is the wrong way to do this.”

Rep. Erik Paulsen used YouTube to explain his no vote. He says he “absolutely” supports some kind of stimulus package, just not this one. His gripe with this plan is that it was really more of a supplemental spending bill, he says, not a jobs-creation vehicle. (Democratic Reps. Jim Oberstar and Betty McCollum disagree; they see the stimulus bill as a way to both create jobs and save existing ones.) Watch it:

Democrats’ Peterson and Rep. Tim Walz have signed on to the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act, which would halt the automatic pay increase for Congress members scheduled for next year. They’re the only Minnesota delegates to agree to the freeze. The 111th Congress started out 2009 with a 2.8 percent raise. Up $4,700 compared to last year, the average congressional salary is now $174,000.

Democrats could be headed for a filibuster-proof majority, according to the AP. If Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is indeed tapped to be Barack Obama’s Commerce Secretary, it’s likely Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, will name a replacement from his own party. Republicans, who would go down to 40 seats, are fighting mightly to prevent that from happening. If Al Franken beats former Sen. Norm Coleman and a Democrat gets Gregg’s seat, the Dems get their 60-seat majority.

Rep. Keith Ellison will again sit on the House Financial Services Committee, which deals with one issue that deeply affects the North Minneapolis neighborhood that’s home to his district HQ — the mortgage crisis. “If we can keep people in their homes, stop the fall in home prices and by doing so, fix the home mortgage crisis, we begin to put our economy back on track,” he said in a statement.

In a post I meant to link to earlier, Smart Politics finds that Ellison has a pretty strong mandate: He was elected with the second largest margin of victory ever for the 5th Congressional District and bested all first-term incumbents in margin of victory for reelection.

Earlier: Capitol Catchall: Committee appointments, Peterson’s ‘puters, Klobuchar on DTV