One alert reader, whom I fondly call Chief Osceola, brought a funny one to my attention. John Hargrave created a project he calls “The Senator Prank,” in which he posed as a 10-year-old boy to ask each member of the Senate what their favorite jokes are. A bi-partisan group of 15 senators wrote the “kid” […]
This one needs a better name. Bribegate? That’s no good. I’m open to suggestion. No matter what you call it, the investigation into the illegal bribes offered to Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) on the House floor during the Medicare debate has reached the big time. The House Ethics Committee announced yesterday it will conduct a […]
Yesterday, I wrote about the battle for control of the Senate and how the Dems’ chances have improved in recent months. But that’s the Senate; how does the House look? No matter how predisposed one is to optimism, seeing a scenario in which we’ll get the House back is difficult, but not impossible. There are […]
The Wall Street Journal moves the ball forward in a major way today on the Medicare cost estimate scandal, obtaining a copy of an email written during congressional debate in which Medicare’s actuary was warned specifically not to share the truth with Congress. Specifically, the actuary was told to “work up the numbers,” and was […]
I’ve gone out of my way to avoid the absurd flap over Kerry’s support from unnamed world leaders — I just find it too dumb to even comment on — but Salon noticed a great exchange on the matter that I’d like to pass on. Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and […]
What if we were to take the worst stereotypes about southern conservatives, compile the nuttiest elements of their ideology, and put it all into one small town. What would it look like? Rhea County, Tennessee. Rhea County commissioners unanimously voted to ask state lawmakers to introduce legislation amending Tennessee’s criminal code so the county can […]
I remember “scandal fatigue” was a conservative buzz phrase in the late 90s. The point, obviously, was to suggest the Clinton years were marred by too many controversies and that the public could use a little down time, free of strife and scandal. (Never mind that virtually all of these alleged indignities turned out to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]