I wish he’d make up his mind

In a rare press conference a couple of weeks ago, Bush made it sound as if he does not now, nor will he ever, have a Social Security plan of his own. Asked how the scheme might work, Bush said, “I don’t get to write the law.” Asked about his priorities, Bush said, “[T]he law […]

It’s only the nation’s capital; it doesn’t need Homeland Security money

Even for the Bush gang, this one’s dumber than usual. D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week’s inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects. Federal officials have told the District […]

You don’t want to get the elderly angry

Of all the age groups to antagonize, Bush has picked the worst one. In the debate over adding individual investment accounts to Social Security, the president gets the strongest support from the youngest voters. But they make up the age group that is least likely to vote and was least likely to support him in […]

The Coalition of the Leaving

Yet another country is pulling out of Iraq. The government of Ukraine, acting a day after an explosion killed eight of its soldiers in Iraq, announced Monday that it would withdraw its 1,650-member force by the middle of 2005. Ukraine has been moving for months toward pulling out its forces, but officials have remained vague […]

Chertoff replaces Kerik as Bush’s DHS nominee

Wondering who will be the latest nominee to replace Tom Ridge as the director of Homeland Security? Wonder no longer. President Bush has chosen federal appeals court judge Michael Chertoff to be his new Homeland Security chief, turning to a former federal prosecutor who helped craft the early war on terror strategy, The Associated Press […]

Why I couldn’t care less about ‘Memogate’

I hope my readers aren’t expecting too much in the way of commentary on the “scandal” surrounding the CBS/Dan Rather/bogus memos/Bush’s Guard service story. This may be the political story-of-the-day, but the truth is, I don’t care. Yes, I realize CBS screwed up in a huge way. Those involved with the story were careless, reckless, […]

Dean to seek DNC chair

In one of the more anti-climactic moves in a while, Howard Dean will surprise absolutely no one today by announcing that he will seek the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. The announcement is expected at around 1 p.m. Tuesday, the sources said. Dean is expected to inform DNC members of his decision first, before […]

The anti-50-state strategy

I hate to be a contrarian about a goal that has won near-universal praise, but I’m not sure why there’s so much talk about having the next Dem presidential candidate run a 50-state race. At this point, it seems to be a rare point of agreement amongst almost everyone in the party. For example, it […]

The most wide-open race in decades

I wanted to follow up for a moment on a point Tim Russert mentioned in passing yesterday. “Before we go, Byron York mentioned Newt Gingrich, thinking about running for president. Professor Bob Shmulen of Notre Dame sent me a note the other day saying 2008 will be the first time in a long, long time […]

About those trained Iraqis…

Tom Schaller touched on a point today that’s been bugging me for a while. If we’re really lucky, and we ask the media really nicely, maybe there might be some follow up? During the campaign, Bush repeatedly spoke of the success he saw in training Iraqis for the nation’s security forces. During the first debate, […]