[tag]Congress[/tag] may have a 23% approval rating in an election year, but that’s apparently not incentive enough for the [tag]House[/tag] and [tag]Senate[/tag] to even try to [tag]govern[/tag]. In fact, the opposite seems to be true. Republican leaders in Congress have all but abandoned efforts to pass major [tag]policy[/tag] initiatives this year, and are instead focusing […]
[tag]John McCain[/tag] is obviously anxious to make the GOP’s far right base happy for 2008 purposes, but he’s apparently willing to take on some high-profile TV preachers when it comes to legislation on [tag]cable[/tag] television programming. [tag]McCain[/tag] is expected to unveil a bill this week that would give cable companies regulatory incentives to offer their […]
We can only hope this isn’t some kind of trial balloon. [tag]President[/tag] George W. [tag]Bush[/tag] said on Wednesday he thought his younger brother [tag]Jeb[/tag] would make “a great president” but the two-term [tag]governor[/tag] of [tag]Florida[/tag] had given no hint about his intentions. “I have no idea what he’s going to do. I’ve asked him that […]
Talk about awkward. President [tag]Bush[/tag] was in [tag]Florida[/tag] yesterday trying one last time to cut the political legs out from under the woman who helped put him in the White House in 2000. Rep. [tag]Katherine Harris[/tag] met the President when he landed at MacDill Air Force Base and they chatted briefly while she gripped his […]
Occasionally, I think I can no longer be surprised. Stories like this one in the Wall Street Journal prove me wrong. The Senate last week approved $109 billion in additional spending for the wars in [tag]Iraq[/tag] and [tag]Afghanistan[/tag], including $1.5 billion in added Iraq [tag]reconstruction[/tag] money. The administration has spent $20.9 billion to reconstruct Iraq’s […]
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: * This morning, Florida House Speaker [tag]Allan Bense[/tag] (R) announced that he will not run for the Senate, despite pressure from the entire GOP establishment, including the president, to take on [tag]Katherine Harris[/tag] […]
How precarious is the [tag]GOP[/tag] hold on [tag]Congress[/tag]? It’s reached the point in which lobbying firms on DC’s infamous [tag]K Street[/tag] are actually hiring [tag]Democrats[/tag]. Not long ago, a Hill staffer with a background working for House Democrats had few prospects on K Street. Many potential jobs were earmarked for Republicans, either as a result […]
The AP ran a report last night on [tag]Bush[/tag] visiting [tag]Florida[/tag] to tout his Medicare prescription drug plan. It was mostly boilerplate stuff, with one exception. He stopped by Broward Community College, where government officials set up tents and tables with laptops to help dozens of seniors there choose among the myriad plan options available. […]
What has to be the dumbest “controversy” of the year — whether it’s wrong to sing the national anthem in a language other than English — unfortunately continues to percolate. Monday, the Senate passed a resolution (S.RES.458) “affirming that statements of national unity, including the [tag]National Anthem[/tag], should be recited or sung in [tag]English[/tag].” The […]
Given these results, Republicans who were worried about the elections in November have every reason to panic. Americans have a bleaker view of the country’s direction than at any time in more than two decades, according to the latest [tag]New York Times[/tag]/[tag]CBS[/tag] News [tag]poll[/tag]. Sharp disapproval of President [tag]Bush[/tag]’s handling of gasoline prices has combined […]