At times, I almost feel sorry for Senate Majority Leader [tag]Bill Frist[/tag]. Watching him I’m reminded about that old joke about seeing a turtle on top of a post: You wonder how it got there, what it was doing there, you know it doesn’t belong there, and you just want to help get the poor […]
I’ve heard the argument from those who want to legalize prostitution that the “industry” could produce quite a bit of revenue for government treasuries: if [tag]prostitution[/tag] were legal, it could be [tag]taxed[/tag]. Apparently, at least one Republican senator has heard this, too. Republican Sen. Charles [tag]Grassley[/tag] of Iowa is hoping to stamp out the sex […]
For months, nearly every national poll has shown Democrats with pretty sizable leads over Republicans on generic ballot questions and on issues of national significance. Now that the GOP believes it has “so much good news popping out these days I don’t know where to start,” has the party made any gains with the public? […]
A couple of years ago, [tag]Tom DeLay[/tag] orchestrated a massive re-[tag]redistricting[/tag] scheme in Texas in which state Republican lawmakers, doing DeLay’s bidding, redrew congressional boundaries. The scheme worked and six new [tag]Republicans[/tag] were elected. Today, the [tag]Supreme Court[/tag] approved nearly the entire thing. Justices agreed that one of the newly-drawn districts, District 23, was illegal […]
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: * Maryland’s gubernatorial race, widely considered one of the Dems’ best pick-up opportunities, is looking more and more favorable all the time. A new Washington Post poll shows Baltimore Mayor [tag]Martin O’Malley[/tag] leading […]
[tag]Congress[/tag]ional [tag]Republicans[/tag] gave up, quite literally, on passing a substantive policy agenda several weeks ago, choosing instead to focus on divisive bills, which they didn’t expect to pass, in the hopes of rallying the base in advance of the [tag]midterm[/tag] [tag]elections[/tag]. The result has been as annoying as it is futile. The better part of […]
Earlier this month, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McCrery (R-La.) raised a few eyebrows when he told a conference of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that he’d like to see lawmakers take up [tag]Social Security[/tag] [tag]privatization[/tag] again next year. Apparently, he’s not the only one — Bush wants another round, too. […]
Dan Froomkin summarized the problem nicely yesterday: “In accusing the press — and specifically, the [tag]New York Times[/tag] — of putting American lives at risk, President [tag]Bush[/tag] and his allies have escalated their ongoing battle with the [tag]media[/tag] to nuclear proportions.” Indeed. We’ve see Bush and his supporters get upset over media revelations on the […]
Just to follow up on yesterday’s item about Arlen Specter’s hearings on Bush’s penchant for [tag]signing statements[/tag], the discussion in the Judiciary Committee turned out to be unusually compelling. At one point, [tag]Bruce Fein[/tag], an associate deputy attorney general during the Reagan administration, addressed Congress’ options in restricting a president’s ability to announce which parts […]
The Senate came within one vote of actually passing a constitutional [tag]amendment[/tag] on [tag]flag burning[/tag] yesterday afternoon, giving us another two-year reprieve before [tag]Orrin Hatch[/tag] starts this nonsense up again. In the end, the [tag]vote[/tag] went exactly as it was supposed to. The 66 senators who had expressed support — 14 Dems and 52 Republicans […]