The relationship between the Bush White House and the AARP has been, shall we say, complicated. Last year, the seniors’ group reluctantly endorsed Bush’s Medicare scheme, much to the consternation of the organization’s membership. From there, the administration and the AARP drifted, leading Bush to blow off the group’s national conference in October — despite […]
You’ve probably heard reports about exit polls showing big gains for Republicans among Hispanic voters this year. You may not have heard, however, that those gains were terribly exaggerated. NBC News on Friday revised its estimated support that President Bush received from Hispanics on election day from 44 percent down to 40 percent. Support for […]
I continue to disagree with incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on some social issues, but I continue to be impressed with him as a party leader. Yesterday, Reid was on Meet the Press, which was his first major interview since the election (and his promotion). As far as I’m concerned, he said all the […]
I’ve been anxious to see how the GOP would react to the new revelations concerning the wildly incorrect information federally-funded abstinence programs offer to students. Would they attack the messenger? Pretend they didn’t hear about the problems? Embrace the lies as the appropriate lessons? Bill Frist, at least yesterday, came close to saying the right […]
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson, in announcing his resignation Friday, said there’s one fear that keeps him up at night. Thompson had said he worries “every single night” about a possible terror attack on the food supply, and despite dramatic increases in inspections of food imports, only “a very minute amount” of food is tested at […]
There were a few internal Carpetbagger matters I wanted to briefly bring to readers’ attention. First, many of you wrote in with positive feedback regarding my guest-posters during my short respite last week. In particular, many of you enjoyed Morbo’s musings. With this in mind, and because he volunteered, Morbo will be contributing fairly regularly […]
Posted by Morbo Across the country, outraged fundamentalist Christians are threatening to boycott Target stores because the Minneapolis-based chain has excluded Salvation Army bell-ringers from its establishments this holiday season. Target officials say they don’t allow other groups to solicit in its stores, and they no longer want to make an exception for the Salvation […]
C’mon, general, this is getting silly. Asked if he has any regrets about the statements he made before the war that he was confident that weapons of mass destruction would be found, [Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] said, “It’s not over yet,” indicating he thinks it […]
At a White House briefing on April 17, 2002, just days after President Hugo Chávez fell victim to an unusually-brief coup, a senior administration official told reporters, ”The United States did not know that there was going to be an attempt of this kind to overthrow — or to get Chávez out of power.” As […]
The cabinet-related news was coming fast and furious yesterday. Here’s a recap with a few updates that you might have missed. * Tommy Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, resigned today. He’s the eighth cabinet member to go in less than a month. Mark McClellan is the leading candidate to replace Thompson, which […]