Rumsfeld stumped — now available on video

By now you’ve probably read about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s complete inability to respond to his own comments about the Iraqi threat from before the war. “You,” Rumsfeld said to host Bob Schieffer, “and a few other critics are the only people I’ve heard use the phrase ‘immediate threat.’ I didn’t; the president didn’t.” Despite […]

One step closer to a criminal investigation for Memogate

Two weeks after Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Pickle released a report documenting GOP staffers stealing thousands of Dems documents for 18 months, the matter is poised to go the DoJ for a criminal probe. The matter bounced around the Judiciary Committee members themselves last week, in the hopes that a bi-partisan approach could be identified. When […]

Iraq on the record

Kudos to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and the Dem staff on the House Government Reform Committee for creating an incredibly helpful resource. The Iraq on the Record Report prepared at the request of Rep. Henry A. Waxman, is a comprehensive examination of the statements made by the five Administration officials most responsible for providing public […]

The politics of investigating the Medicare cost cover-up

I have to admit, the Bush administration has been playing the politics of this one better than I expected. Sure, it’s an intellectually dishonest approach, but politically, I think this might work. Shortly after the White House rammed its Medicare bill through Congress, the administration came clean and admitted that its $400 billion program will […]

Do the Dems have a realistic shot at winning back the Senate?

Any hopes the Dems may have had of winning back the Senate majority looked pretty bleak a few months ago, when five of the six Southern Dems up for re-election this year announced they’re retiring. We were at an inherent disadvantage anyway — 19 of the 34 states with Senate elections this year are currently […]

Bush rolls out the ‘I know you are but what am I’ campaign ad

The Bush campaign unveiled its sixth TV ad of the season yesterday, and like the previous five, BC04 continues to avoid referencing even one Bush accomplishment. And what do you do when you can’t run ads touting your own successes? You tear down the other guy. The funny thing about Bush’s latest spot, called “Troops,” […]

This one’s going to be good

Obviously, the presidential race will generate the lion’s share of political attention this year, but the race for Illinois’ Senate seat will be as captivating as any campaign in the nation. Democrat Barack Obama came from behind in the final month before yesterday’s primary to crush his six rivals, winning the primary with a surprising […]

Roy Moore, still on the campaign trail

For a guy who isn’t officially campaigning for president, Roy Moore keeps up an usually busy schedule in several key states. Everyone’s favorite theocrat was in Ohio (20 electoral votes) yesterday, speaking before a packed crowd at the Ashland University Convocation Center. Moore reportedly gave his standard stump speech. “We think an acknowledgment of God […]

Yeah, backing up accusations with facts is important

Now: “If you’re going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign, you ought to back it up with facts,” Bush told reporters in the Oval Office. Then: On May 3, 2000, Texas Gov. George W. Bush alleged that Vice President Al Gore was once a member of the National Rifle Association. […]

What’s causing the record deficits? Not the 2001 recession

When asked to explain the largest budget deficits in the history of the world, President Bush generally relies on a series of unpersuasive excuses, starting with the economic downturn that turned into a recession shortly after he took office in 2001. The New York Times reported today on a report from nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office […]