The Bush gang hoped to have the Armstrong Williams story go by unnoticed by releasing the Education Department’s report late on Friday afternoon, but in light of the significance of the controversy, it shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle. At the outset, the agency’s report, prepared by the Education Department’s inspector general includes limited content […]
Dems won’t let Bush privatize Social Security with private accounts carved out of the system, but let’s also not forget that Republicans won’t let Bush compromise by accepting add-on accounts. Two prominent House conservatives sent President Bush a letter Friday warning him against advocating “add on” personal retirement accounts as part of a Social Security […]
If Senate Dems are going to filibuster another Bush judicial nominee, in turn prompting Senate Republicans to try the nuclear option, it apparently won’t be Thomas Griffith, a Bush nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Though the nomination seemed like a strong possibility for the first filibuster of 2005, late last week Senate […]
Since the Bush White House hand-picked the members of the commission investigating pre-war intelligence failures, one might assume the panel’s members wouldn’t have any trouble getting the information they needed. After all, the commission was practically an extension of the Bush team, had a limited mandate that sidestepped Bush’s mistakes altogether, had no subpoena power, […]
Bill Frist’s decision to participate in a Family Research Council conference on Dems’ alleged opposition to religious judicial nominees is turning into a real fiasco. What was once just another venue to tout the nuclear option has quickly become a public relations problem for which there is no easy escape route. For one thing, negotiating […]
To recap, Bill Frist and the Senate GOP need 50 votes to execute the nuclear option. Dems have their 44 votes, Jim Jeffords’ independent vote, and two Republican senators — John McCain and Linc Chafee — who are on record saying they’d vote against it. Over the last few days, a number of Republicans who […]
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: * Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D), who represented Nebraska but has lived in New York City for 10 years, is considering entering the city’s mayoral race. “I am angry about the way New […]
How far have congressional Republicans strayed from responsible rhetoric on the federal judiciary? Don’t ask. Congress can’t lower judges’ salaries or fire them — provisions tucked into the Constitution by the Framers, who watched judges serve at the whim of King George III. But lawmakers can eliminate their positions altogether. “We could reduce the size […]
Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition golden boy, Bush advisor, and now a candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia, is up to his ears in the Jack Abramoff/casino-lobbying scandal. How bad is it for Reed? Even TV preacher Pat Robertson, Reed’s one-time mentor, is dismayed. Some of Mr. Reed’s past patrons – including the Rev. […]
Well, sort of. Over the weekend, Trent Lott (R-Miss.) responded to the far right’s new favorite argument — Dems are blocking a handful of Bush judicial nominees because Dems hate religious people. As Think Progress noted, Lott appeared ABC News’ This Week and parroted the nonsensical line. Lott: [W]hat has made people uncomfortable is that […]