In a move that should surprise no one, David Safavian, the Bush administration’s top federal procurement official and Jack Abramoff confidant was recently arrested, will be given a terrific opportunity — so long as he testifies against some of his former colleagues. A lawyer for David H. Safavian, the former White House budget official arrested […]
Four months ago, Roll Call had a report noting that Dem congressional leaders, including Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, have come to see Wesley Clark as a “go-to guy” on foreign policy matters. As part of this role, Clark has become a frequent visitor to the Hill, speaking to Dem caucuses on the Hill about […]
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: * Rep. Katherine Harris’ (R-Fla.) Senate prospects just aren’t improving. A new poll from Strategic vision (which, not incidentally, is a Republican pollster) shows incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D) leading Harris, 48% to […]
Just a year ago, John Kerry was criticized repeatedly for allegedly exaggerating the overall financial cost of the war in Iraq. Kerry said the war cost in upwards of $200 billion, a claim the Bush administration, citing OMB data, furiously rejected. So, was Kerry right? Was OMB wrong? It’s hard to say, exactly — because […]
When Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s campaign committee suffered big losses and came up short of money needed to cover a bank loan, there were few consequences. An occasional joke about why he’d want to privatize Social Security in light of his investment record, but that was about it. Likewise, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published […]
About a year ago, under heavy political pressure, Dems finally persuaded the House Government Reform Committee to investigate the Bush administration’s lucrative no-bid contracts with Halliburton. Facing a subpoena threat, the Pentagon started turning over materials to the committee. And while the committee has shown extraordinary, almost ridiculous, levels of patience, the Pentagon still hasn’t […]
The House Dems’ drive to undo Bush’s executive order suspending the Davis-Bacon Act is starting to pick up steam. Three developments of note: First, the number of cosponsors jumped yesterday from to 186, as 15 House Dems jumped on board. This means 95% of the entire House Dem caucus has signed on to this effort […]
The federal government’s preparations in advance of Hurricane Rita making landfall are broad and impressive. Yesterday, it seemed like the entire federal apparatus was operating like a finely-tuned machine — emergency supplies were pre-positioned, evacuation orders were issued, FEMA generators and tarps are already in Texas, military troops and supplies have already been strategically placed […]
(Editor’s Note: The Carpetbagger Report, as regular readers know, has joined the Coalition for Darfur, a bi-partisan online initiative created to raise awareness and resources to address the crisis. This is the latest in a series of posts from the Coalition.) One week ago, experts and observers warned that Darfur risked “sliding into a perpetual […]
It was bound to happen. With the president’s national support in freefall, Republicans facing re-election next year are starting to look over their shoulders and wonder whether they’d even want Bush to campaign with them in their states/districts. The very idea of the president being a liability is without precedent since Bush took office in […]