With all the talk lately about corrupt lobbyists’ relationships with lawmakers and a culture of arrogance in which public officials hand lobbyists their bills in restaurants, it’s encouraging to see Dems seize the opportunity and hold themselves out as leaders for reform. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) plans to introduce a bill to overhaul lobbying laws, […]
Like a lot of people, I got an email yesterday about a new initiative from the guys who put together the Stop Fake News.org campaign. This time, they’ll working on a consensus candidate for the Supreme Court. I don’t think this work, but it’s worth talking about. The idea is to “draft” 5th Circuit Court […]
I’m not surprised that Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday. She was part of the Gang of 14’s “compromise” deal and, in order to defeat her nomination, opponents would have needed every Dem vote plus six Republicans to break ranks with their party. That wasn’t […]
Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had what he thought was a good idea: set up one of those celebrity cruises, charge his die-hard fans a bundle of money, and enjoy the adulation while doing his schtick on the open seas. There was only one problem: no one’s interested. O’Reilly’s cruise would have cost participants between $1,099 […]
(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.) The big news regarding Darfur this week is that the International Criminal Court has […]
I’ve been hesitant to weigh in on Howard Dean and his more colorful comments of late, but the problem doesn’t seem to be going away and I want to add my two cents. I’m not prepared to blame Dean, but I believe it’s up to him to make this situation better before it becomes an […]
In 2002, the Bush administration announced that it would buy oil and gas rights on a large section of land in the Florida Everglades. At the time, this seemed like a good move. Environmental groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, which is not always fond of the administration’s policies, endorsed the proposal and Interior […]
I don’t want to get my hopes up, because I’ve been disappointed before, but it sounds like CNN is aiming to become … a serious news network. CNN announced a slate of programming and anchor changes Monday intended to refocus the No. 2 cable news network on hard news and analysis, and away from opinion […]
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.) announced yesterday that she will run the Senate next year, taking on incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). If today’s news about her campaign is any indication, her role […]
Two years ago this month, a report from the Environmental Protection Agency was going to provide the first comprehensive review of what is known about various environmental problems, where gaps in understanding exist, and how to fill them. Naturally, there was a large section on global warming — right up until the White House stepped […]