The frustrating part of watching today’s hearings on Bush’s warrantless-search program is how little reality seems to matter. Over the last seven weeks or so, various legal and policy arguments about Bush’s domestic surveillance have been offered as part of a defense. Some are questionable, some are in dubious gray areas, and some are just […]
I’m listening to the warrantless-search program hearings — I’d live-blog if I could figure out how to listen, analyze, write, and publish at the same time — and there haven’t been too many surprises. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) has been particularly strong following up on some of Gonzales’ previous comments, while Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) […]
It’s almost amusing to hear the president’s allies credit tax cuts for job creation; you’d like to think they’d know better by now. But not the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, which did a fine job summarizing a poor argument. Yesterday’s report of 193,000 new jobs in January (and a revision of 80,000 […]
The debate over whether the Dems would unveil a policy agenda in advance of the 2006 elections has been frustrating, but we seem to be making progress. At first, there was considerable debate among congressional Dems about whether to craft a national agenda at all. Some insisted we unveil a Contract with America-like document to […]
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: * Over the weekend, New York gubernatorial candidate William Weld’s (R) campaign was caught manipulating news accounts before publishing them on the campaign’s website. Without notifying readers, Weld’s campaign removed anything negative relating […]
When the nation’s governors visit DC later this month for the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association, many want to speak with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Unfortunately, Rummy doesn’t want to return their phone calls. The governors want to talk to Rumsfeld about his plans for National Guard troop reduction. The Pentagon’s response […]
How did the hearing on warrantless searches begin this morning? With a fight over whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should testify under oath. Big surprise — every Republican on the Judiciary Committee agreed that he should not be sworn in, while every Dem argued he should be. Since Republicans outnumber the Dems, Gonzales is testifying […]
We’ll no doubt hear a lot today and this week about the president’s $2.7 trillion federal budget, which will be unveiled today. One angle that may not get the attention it deserves is one fairly important expenditure that the budget neglects. President Bush today will propose a $2.7-trillion budget that would take another slice out […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee kicked off its hearings on the president’s warrantless-search program just minutes ago, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appearing as the only witness (so far). I’m cautiously optimistic that the session will be productive, but time will tell. Here are a few things to consider as the day gets started. * At […]
One of the more annoying angles to the Plame scandal has been the persistent claims by administration allies that Valerie Plame may have been in the CIA when the White House helped expose her identity, but she wasn’t undercover. The Bush gang exposed her work, conservatives say, but this would only be a big deal […]