At first blush, I can understand why it might be tempting to believe the federal government should reimburse private religious charities for their post-Katrina work. But in a situation like this one, if you’ll pardon the expression, the devil is unfortunately in the details. After weeks of prodding by Republican lawmakers and the American Red […]
When the mainstream media discarded its usual passivity and got surprisingly aggressive in its Katrina coverage, the public responded positively. In fact, the industry has apparently even gotten a boost in the polls. Widely hailed for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the American news media appears to be regaining the trust of the American people. […]
National Journal’s Charlie Cook, probably the best non-partisan election analyst in the country, had an interesting subscriber-only column today about the Dems’ chances of taking back the Senate next year. It’s surprisingly encouraging. The House, for a variety of reasons, may be just out of reach. But Cook said the notion that it would take […]
When former FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford suddenly and unexpectedly retired late last week, many observers were relieved. Crawford had developed a well-deserved reputation for following the Bush model of allowing ideology to dictate policy. In Crawford’s specific case, that meant disconcerting FDA policy on everything from emergency contraception to drug reimportation to regulation of the […]
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: * Adding further credence to months of rumors, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported this week that Paul Hackett has “all but decided” to run for the Senate next year against incumbent Sen. Mike […]
The White House tried a new pitch yesterday in addressing gas conservation: wear a sweater drive less. With fears mounting that high energy costs will crimp economic growth, President Bush called on Americans yesterday to conserve gasoline by driving less. He also issued a directive for all federal agencies to cut their own energy use […]
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been rather quiet since becoming the focus of SEC and Justice Department investigations. Yesterday, however, Frist finally emerged and started laying out a defense. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, facing federal inquiries into his sale of hospital company stock, said yesterday that he had no inside information about […]
I’m very much opposed to the suspension of Davis-Bacon Act, which led to a Gulf Coast Wage Cut. But if, in the aftermath of two massive hurricanes, Congress is willing to take a pay cut, it’s an idea I can get behind. Amid the debate over how to fund the hurricane recovery effort along the […]
There’s plenty of bizarre stories about Republican antics in DC, but to get to the real jaw-droppers you sometimes have to look at the state level. For example, consider this remarkable story of a Georgia lawmaker who wants immunity from a DUI charge because he’s a member of the state legislature. (thanks to Phil for […]
One of the secondary questions surrounding disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff is how, exactly, he managed to evade indictment for as long as he did. Sure, he was finally arrested a few weeks ago, but in light of all of Abramoff’s criminal activities, what took so long? As it turns out, he may have had […]