Guest Post by Morbo I realize that The New York Times editorial page must hire conservatives for the sake of balance, but couldn’t the editors get someone less embarrassing than John Tierney? Tierney is yet another of what I, in a previous post, referred to as the “strapping capitalist lads” (SCLs), rock-ribbed libertarians still salivating […]
Bush visited the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant this week to deliver a speech on — you guessed it — nuclear power. And while the president says odd things fairly frequently, there was one exchange that seemed particularly interesting. Bush: I appreciate the Secretary of Energy joining me today. He’s a good man, he knows […]
The president hosted yet another Social Security event yesterday, and as is always the case, it was held exclusively for pre-screened sycophants. Yesterday’s gathering in a Maryland suburb, just outside DC, however, was slightly better in that the number of protestors rivaled the number of toadies. And what were they protesting? A policy that doesn’t […]
How sure is the White House that there will soon be a vacancy on the Supreme Court? Bush staffers have already started interviewing potential nominees. A small group of senior White House and administration officials has quietly interviewed some of the top candidates for any Supreme Court vacancy, said Republican sources with close ties to […]
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: * Lawmakers in New Jersey overwhelmingly approved a measure to move the state’s primary from June to February. With both chambers in Trenton supporting the measure, the bill goes to Gov. Richard Codey […]
A week after conservatives voted to cut literally all federal funding for public broadcasting within the next two years, it appeared PBS programming was in trouble. The good news is the House reversed course yesterday, sparing public broadcasting funds from the chopping block. The bad news is, others weren’t so lucky. The 284-140 vote Thursday […]
A couple of months ago, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) proposed providing nearly $2 billion in additional funding for veterans’ care. The White House balked and 54 senators successfully derailed the measure. All 54 were Republican. Lawmakers were told not to worry, because the Bush administration would use the VA to provide the necessary benefits. But […]
Appearing on Meet the Press last weekend, John McCain, who opposes abortion rights, said he doesn’t believe Roe v. Wade will be overturned, “at least not any time soon given the tenor of politics in America and the courts in America.” Apparently, some of McCain’s Republican colleagues take a slightly different approach to the issue. […]
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) may be slightly imbalanced, but when he campaigned as a fiscal tightwad intent on limiting government spending, he meant it. Senators, take heed: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) may have a “hold” on your bill. The freshman is using his power as a Senator to put a hold — or secret filibuster […]
It occurs to me that it might be helpful to consider this week’s flap over Karl Rove’s slander from Rove’s perspective. The White House’s top political strategist was in New York at a time when his boss’ approval ratings are tanking, the war in Iraq is failing, the president’s signature domestic policy initiative has become […]