Just when it seemed Bill Frist was trying to distance himself from some of the loonier, anti-judicial branch segments of his party, he reverses course. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will host a private tour of the Capitol next week led by a controversial Republican religious operative who advocates the impeachment of “activist” federal […]
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), in his most detailed response yet to his self-generated controversy, sat down with the Houston Chronicle yesterday. Was it finally time for the senator to concede that he had crossed a line of decency and accept responsibility for his lapse in judgment? Of course not. Sen. John Cornyn admitted Wednesday that […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Working under the assumption that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) will run for governor next year, Rep. Henry Bonilla (R) has been laying the ground work for his Senate campaign. So far, […]
The Republicans have seemed a bit more indecisive than usual when it comes to the “nuclear option.” Some weeks, their rhetoric is all bravado; other weeks they emphasize compromise. Some weeks, they talk about having votes to spare to pass the change to the filibuster rules; other weeks they’re scrambling to get to 50. Some […]
In general, I get a little uncomfortable when lawmakers, on either side of the aisle, start playing doctor. That said, a Colorado bill, mandating that health care facilities let rape victims know about their emergency contraception options, didn’t seem terribly intrusive. In fact, it seemed to be a common-sense part of the overall Dem drive […]
Earlier this week, a Justice Department official told the Washington Post that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, as part of his effort to get the Patriot Act renewed, would support some minor revisions, including changes to access to library data. This was, to be sure, welcome news. There have been reports of FBI investigators visiting dozens […]
The latest Gallup poll showed widespread discontent among the populace over the Republican agenda. But even more interesting is a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showing that rank-and-file Republicans aren’t all that impressed with their elected leaders either. Almost three months into President Bush’s second term, a raft of economic and social issues — Social […]
How do Bush’s odds look for getting the privatization scheme through Congress? Put it this way, one of the chamber’s most moderate Dems is calling Bush’s idea “dead.” U.S. Senator Max Baucus, the senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said President George W. Bush’s proposal to create private Social Security accounts has no chance […]
As conspiracy theories go, the idea that Senate Democrats falsified GOP talking points on Terri Schiavo to make Republicans look bad was always pretty weak. Dems, frankly, just aren’t that clever. I’ve avoided giving the theories too much attention because I was waiting to see if Republicans came up with any shred of compelling proof. […]
(Editor’s Note: The Carpetbagger Report, as I’ve mentioned in recent weeks, joined the Coalition for Darfur, a bi-partisan online initiative created to raise awareness and resources to address the crisis. This is the fifth in a series of posts from the Coalition.) Eleven years ago today, the president of Rwanda was killed when his plane […]