There were signs early on that Scott Bloch’s tenure at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel — the independent agency created to investigate whistle-blower complaints — was going to be problematic. Among the first moves Bloch made at the office was to remove references to sexual orientation from a discrimination complaint form, training slides, a […]
It did seem odd. Last week, House GOP leaders announced that a bi-partisan bill that would loosen Bush’s restrictions on stem cell research would get a floor vote this year. Why would Hastert and DeLay agree to a vote on a bill that they oppose, the religious right hates, and that might embarrass the White […]
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: * The ever-changing Dem field in the Rhode Island Senate race took another turn yesterday when former state attorney general and U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse (D) advised close family and friends earlier this […]
Alex Young, Karen Bauer, and Leslie Weise, the three Denver residents who were removed from a Bush event because of a bumper sticker, received their free tickets from Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.). Yesterday, the congressman started distancing himself from Bush’s mess. Indeed, to hear Beauprez tell it, this fiasco is the White House’s, and only […]
Remember all that talk from Bush, late in the campaign, about how his tax cuts had finally started producing a strong job market? Well, forget it. Payroll growth across the country was sluggish in March as employers added just 110,000 jobs, the fewest since July. Nevertheless, the soft labor market accommodated enough people to drop […]
Let’s tally up the past couple of weeks for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, exclusively looking at how his friends on the right think of him: * Two weeks ago, an anonymous GOP lawmaker told the New York Times that DeLay’s ethical and legal troubles may very well force him from his leadership post. The […]
Silly me, I thought the independent investigator looking into Henry Cisneros had wrapped up his probe a long time ago. I wasn’t even close. Nearly a decade after he was appointed to investigate then-Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros, independent counsel David M. Barrett spent more than $1.26 million of federal money in the last six […]
One wants to believe that Bush, after talking about Social Security privatization since his first congressional campaign in 1978, would understand the policy pretty well. But the more the president makes his pitch, the more it raises questions about whether he’s intentionally trying to deceive or just confused about major details. Out on the hustings, […]
By now, probably everyone has heard that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay took his attacks on the judiciary to a new level yesterday, making an implicit threat against the judges who upheld the law. Mrs. Schiavo’s death is a moral poverty and a legal tragedy. This loss happened because our legal system did not protect […]