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: * Tonight will be the first Republican presidential debate, with 10 candidates taking the stage to field questions from Chris Matthews. The event will be held at (where else?) the Ronald Reagan Presidential […]
I was doing some research recently on presidential primary debates and came across a transcript of a Democratic event from September 2003. Reading over the candidates’ remarks, the only name that came up as often as George W. Bush was his immediate predecessor. John Kerry said, “We can have the deficit cut in half the […]
When it comes to funding the war in Iraq, Dems (who enjoy public support and majority status in both chambers) feel like they have no choice but to back away from their recently passed withdrawal plan. Conversely, congressional Republicans (who have neither support nor the majority) feel like they have no choice but to back […]
In his speech yesterday to the Associated General Contractors of America, the president seemed almost desperate to generate support for the war in Iraq. But with no coherent talking points left to defend the U.S. presence in Iraq, Bush played the only card he had left. Over the course of the hour-long event, the president […]
Yesterday was one of the busiest and most productive days for the prosecutor purge scandal in weeks, with a flurry of developments. Let’s sort ’em out. First, good ol’ Monica Goodling is now facing a Justice Department investigation for her role in screening career attorneys for party affiliation. The Justice Department has launched an internal […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * In a vote that surprised no one, the House came far short of overriding the president’s veto of war funding this afternoon. The final vote was 222 to 203, not even close to the necessary two-thirds majority. * Speaker Pelosi did have a memorable line shortly before the vote. […]
I try to read the transcript of every presidential speech, but they tend to get monotonous and repetitious. The real fun ones, however, are those rare occasions when Bush opens the floor to questions. When the president is reading a prepared text, I know what to expect. When Bush responds to a question, he’s more […]
Let’s look back to Jan. 11, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat at the witness table in Hearing Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building explaining why “those who talk about engagement with Syria and Iran” are all wet. “That’s not diplomacy — that’s extortion,” she said. Three months later, when House Speaker […]
After the president’s veto of the war-funding bill yesterday, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle took turns most of the morning delivering speeches on how right they are. Some were excellent. Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) told his colleagues, “Yesterday the President vetoed only the second bill that has ever come to his desk. He […]
Apparently, the FDA is no longer functioning when it comes to food safety, but don’t worry, we now have a new “czar.” The Bush administration appointed a new “food safety czar” yesterday and directed him to develop a plan for addressing shortcomings exposed by recent scares in the human food supply. Dr. David W.K. Acheson, […]