Turning point in the House on Iraq

Knight Ridder ran an interesting report late yesterday, explaining, “If [tag]Congress[/tag] ever turns against the [tag]war[/tag] in [tag]Iraq[/tag], analysts may look back at this week as a [tag]turning point[/tag].” Given what we saw yesterday, it’s a perfectly fair assessment. [T]hree [tag]Republicans[/tag] in the [tag]House[/tag] of Representatives endorsed a resolution calling for a robust and lengthy […]

Prevention First Act continues to percolate along

By one important standard, [tag]Democrat[/tag]s have little reason to change its focus on [tag]abortion[/tag] rights — the party is mostly [tag]pro-choice[/tag], and so are most Americans. By another equally key standard, however, Dems are looking to expand their reach and appeal to voters who are willing to vote for the party, but have been hesitant […]

Libby says Bush personally authorized leak to NYT

We learned in February that [tag]Scooter Libby[/tag] told a grand jury that he was authorized by his “superiors” to disclose classified information to reporters about Iraq’s weapons capability in June and July 2003. Who did that include? The conventional wisdom was that it was Dick [tag]Cheney[/tag]. Yesterday, Libby reportedly explained that it went a little […]

Curt Weldon gives up on decency

Rep. [tag]Curt Weldon[/tag] (R-Pa.) is no doubt feeling some pressure. He’s one of the more vulnerable House GOP incumbents this year and he’s facing recently-retired three-star Vice Adm. [tag]Joseph Sestak[/tag] (D), who’s been making real strides in the district. But there are some places candidates just can’t go, no matter how desperate they are to […]

Matthews and DeLay — unplugged

In the unlikely event you didn’t catch this elsewhere yesterday afternoon, I thought I’d mention [tag]Harry Shearer[/tag]’s amazing scoop on the Huffington Post yesterday, showing behind-the-scenes video on MSNBC’s [tag]Chris Matthews[/tag] and [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] chatting during a commercial break. They assumed no one would ever hear what the two were talking about. They were wrong. […]

The parties quietly trade places

Quick quiz: a prominent political figure in Washington criticized congressional Republicans yesterday for their lack of ideas and leadership. Howard Dean? Rahm Emanuel? Harry Reid? Try [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag]. Departing Rep. Tom [tag]DeLay[/tag] of Texas said yesterday that House Republicans have no vision or agenda and have let the Democrats choose the GOP leadership. “We don’t […]

You mean Bush’s tax cuts were overwhelmingly slanted to help the rich?

I hesitate to even mention this because the revelation is painfully obvious, but the New York Times’ front-page piece on who benefited from [tag]Bush[/tag]’s [tag]tax cuts[/tag] on investment income was so good, it deserves all the attention it’s getting. The first data to document the effect of President Bush’s tax cuts for investment income show […]

McCain finds that the far-right is hard to satisfy

John McCain doesn’t have a lot of experience pandering to the GOP’s religious right base. For years, he believed that the party should distance itself from “agents of intolerance.” All of that came to an end last week, of course, when McCain embraced Jerry Falwell and announced that he no longer believed that the man […]

Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, and genocide in Sudan

The more we learn about [tag]Jack Abramoff[/tag], the more breathtaking his conduct appears. His outreach to the [tag]Sudanese[/tag] government, however, is not only appalling, it also includes a helpful tie-in to [tag]Ralph Reed[/tag]. Two eyewitnesses say that former lobbyist Jack Abramoff proposed to sell his services to the much-criticized government of [tag]Sudan[/tag] to help improve […]

‘Pension reform,’ with a twist

This gave me a crazy idea. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), who is no longer running for reelection and is leaving Congress shortly, should do well in the private sector — as long as he doesn’t get convicted of anything serious. The immensely profitable — ask Bill Clinton — speaking circuit awaits, along with perhaps a […]