To hear Senate Republicans tell it, their gains in the 2004 cycle were a message to Dems: don’t stand in the way of the GOP agenda. This is a particularly common line of attack when it comes to judicial filibusters, where Republicans constantly warn Dems of a public backlash against “obstructionism.” But for all their […]
My new daily feature about campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In Rhode Island, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) took a pass late last year on challenging Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.) in 2006, and endorsed Rep. James Langevin (D), the current Dem […]
Last month, we learned that Wal-Mart had been violating child labor laws in several states. As part of a deal with Bush’s Labor Department, the corporate behemoth paid a modest fine (about $136,000), but reached an agreement whereby Wal-Mart would get 15 days notice before Bush’s Labor Department investigates any other “wage and hour” accusations, […]
When Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist looked at DC’s infamous K Street, home to the city’s powerful lobbying industry, and noticed a problem: some of the lobbyists weren’t Republicans. It was a calamity that demanded a remedy. They created the “K Street Project” — a concerted effort on […]
Late last week, the White House, in response to a lawsuit from Judicial Watch (a conservative “watchdog” group), released hundreds of documents relating to Bill Clinton’s controversial end-of-term pardons. Much to Judicial Watch’s chagrin, the Bush White House blacked out most of the information. The only items not deleted from the material are the names […]
It’s been interesting to see just how much time the president spends away from work and on vacation, but Bush’s personal priorities are even more revealing when one considers what it takes for him to cut a vacation short. In August 2001, for example, Bush received an intelligence briefing that told him, “Bin Laden Determined […]
This revelation was raised on a lot of blogs the past two days, but it’s the kind of thing that shouldn’t get lost in the weekend shuffle when not as many people are online. No matter how one feels about the competing merits of the Terri Schiavo case, it’s a tragic story. It’s been debated, […]
Guest Post by Morbo I smack the right wing around on this blog on the weekends and am happy for the opportunity to do it. But when a conservative has the gumption to stand up to the kook element in his own political party, I think that individual deserves a word of thanks. That’s why […]
Guest Post by Morbo According to a recent report in The New York Times, evangelical Christians are suddenly interested in global warming. We’re told religious conservatives are awakening to an understanding of their role as stewards of God’s creation and are ready to save the planet. Nah. Five or six of them might be. The […]
Guest Post by Morbo Back when Ralph Reed was running the Christian Coalition for Pat Robertson, I thought he was just an annoying twerp who, like many religious fundamentalists, burned to use the power of the government to force his backward theological views onto everyone else. These days I think even less of Reed. I’m […]