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 […]
Reasonable people throughout the political world are outraged at Karl Rove’s contemptible remarks from last night, which politicized 9/11 and slandered half the country. The calls for Rove to either apologize or resign his position at the White House are clearly justified. But what, exactly, did he say, and what was the full context? It […]
We learned this week that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), responding to a complaint filed by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), has agreed to launch investigation into dubious contracts between Bush administration agencies and various media outlets. “I am pleased to see the GAO has decided to move forward with my request for an investigation,” […]
Karl Rove in April (via Froomkin): “Unless you have clear evidence to the contrary, commentators should answer arguments instead of impugning the motives of those with whom they disagree.” Rove, yesterday: “Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our […]
That didn’t take long. The newly-formed Christian Alliance for Progress (which I mentioned the other day) held a launch event at the National Press Club yesterday. A few hours later, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family was already taking shots at the group for trying to be politically liberal and Christian. Peter Brandt, senior director […]
The White House may struggle in defending Dick Cheney’s assertion that the insurgency in Iraq is in its “last throes,” but at least one leading military official doesn’t mind acknowledging the truth: Cheney’s wrong. The top American military commander in the Persian Gulf disputed a contention by Vice President Dick Cheney that the Iraqi insurgency […]