Following up on an item from yesterday, John McCain seems to seriously believe he can a) eliminate congressional earmarks; and b) use the savings to pay for hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts. The first claim is dubious; the second relies on poor arithmetic. (Note to McCain: $18 billion is less than $400 […]
There are competing tallies showing how Democratic superdelegates are planning to vote — it’s not an exact science, and some of these party leaders are still changing their minds — but by one updated count, Hillary Clinton now has the support of 252 superdelegates, 24 more than Barack Obama’s 228. That leaves 314 uncommitted, sought-after […]
OK, one more thing about Wednesday night’s Democratic debate and then I’ll let it go. Determining which of the discussion topics was the most inane is tricky, but I’d have to go with the flag lapel-pin question. Early on in the debate, Charlie Gibson said he wanted to offer a question that “goes to the […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * Suicide bombing in Iraq: “A suicide bomber struck the funeral of two Sunni tribesmen who joined forces against al-Qaida in Iraq, killing at least 50 people Thursday and reinforcing fears that insurgents are hitting back after American-led crackdowns. The sudden spike in bloodshed this week adds to the other […]
At this point, it’s probably safe to say the most memorable aspect of the Democratic debate in Philadelphia was the response it garnered. Today, for example, Barack Obama seemed to take great pleasure in mocking what transpired last night. MoveOn.org is on the case as well. Apparently, it’s enough to make George Stephanopoulos feel like […]
On “Hardball” the other day, John McCain was confronted a bit with his record of siding with the Bush White House on Iraq policy. McCain didn’t want to talk about the past. “We can look back at the past and argue about whether we should have gone to war or not, whether we should have […]
In the annals of Republican corruption in Congress, Alaska Rep. Don Young has always been slightly more entertaining than most. Generally, corrupt lawmakers make some efforts to hide their transgressions. Young just doesn’t seem to care. To briefly recap for those just joining us, Young authored a $10 million earmark in the last Congress for […]
To hear the White House tell it, protecting the United States and its interests against al Qaeda is the government’s top priority. It makes revelations like these all the more alarming. The Bush administration doesn’t have a comprehensive strategy for eliminating Osama bin Laden’s sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal region and preventing the region from being […]
When presenting hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts this week, John McCain and his campaign said the cuts wouldn’t necessarily worsen the deficit. The key, they said, is McCain’s commitment to cutting spending by eliminating congressional earmarks. On its face, the claim is simply foolish. Even if McCain could eliminate the entire practice […]
It wasn’t my intention to write a fourth item on last night’s Democratic debate in Philadelphia, but the NYT’s David Brooks appears to be the only prominent voice in the country to have watched the train wreck and come away impressed. I understand the complaints, but I thought the questions were excellent. The journalist’s job […]