As part of his aggressive new defense strategy, Tom DeLay sat down with the conservative Washington Times yesterday for an exclusive interview yesterday, knowing that the Sun Myung Moon-owned paper would treat him with kid gloves. There was one exchange that kind of summed up DeLay’s approach to ethics problems perfectly. Times Reporter Charles Hurt: […]
Tom DeLay’s strategy in handling the scandals swirling around him took a new turn yesterday: The Hammer tried contrition. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) apologized yesterday for heated comments he made about possible retribution against federal judges for their handling of the Terri Schiavo case, but declined to say whether he favors impeaching those […]
The Bush administration has been predictably obstinate when it comes to producing and distributing taxpayer-financed propaganda in the form of fake-news segments. Officials have been quite upfront about their approach: they’ve been doing it, they’ll keep doing it, and they’re not terribly concerned about independent analyses from the GAO over whether the practice is legal […]
(Editor’s Note: The Carpetbagger Report, as I’ve mentioned in recent weeks, joined the Coalition for Darfur, a bi-partisan online initiative created to raise awareness and resources to address the crisis. This is the sixth in a series of posts from the Coalition.) In the last few days, international donors have pledged $4.5 billion in reconstruction […]
Conventional wisdom tells us that this week — with April 15, it’s Tax Week — should be a problem for Dems. People associate Dems with taxes, many Americans are rushing to meet Friday’s deadline, and the media will soon be awash with foolish stories about so-called “tax freedom day.” It sounds like a week in […]
The fight over judicial nominations was finally starting to go the Dems way. The Senate confirmed a non-controversial nominee unanimously, Bill Frist found himself without the votes he needs to exercise the “nuclear option,” and two major conservative groups (the National Right to Work Committee and the Gun Owners of America) came out against 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: * Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) was a top Dem target going into 2006, but now many leading Nevada Dems say they will give Ensign a pass when he seeks reelection next year. Instead, […]
Fresh off his highly publicized comments calling Tom DeLay an “embarrassment to me and to the Republican Party” who should resign as Majority Leader, Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) is starting to feel some pretty intense heat from his GOP colleagues. It’s not anywhere near Zell-Miller-with-Dems territory, but it’s getting there. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) led […]
A couple of months ago, in his State of the Union, Bush said he’d “listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer” when it comes to shoring up Social Security. I realize he didn’t mean it, but just in case, someone ought to alert him to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ […]
Tom DeLay’s efforts to rally Republicans to his defense continue unabated, but at least a few GOP allies believe their ethically-challenged leader will survive his scandals because they take a minute to explain. These latest stories — which garnered front-page headlines in major newspapers — broke when much of the world was mourning the death […]