The conventional wisdom suggests the midterm elections were an example of voters telling Washington that they want to see Dems and Republicans working together. It sounds pleasant enough, but Matt Stoller pointed to a CNN poll (.pdf) that suggests what voters really want to see is Dems passing their own policy agenda. These are results […]
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: * The New York Times reported today on a recent meeting between Sen. Hillary Clinton and three allies from New Hampshire. According to participants, Clinton wanted to know if Gore was running again […]
I’m embarrassed to admit that I foolishly believed congressional Republicans were no longer capable of surprising me. Looking back over the last 12 or so years, I naively assumed there were some tactics even the congressional GOP wouldn’t try. I stand corrected. Thirty-one-year-old Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is not a large man, standing perhaps 5 […]
The political timing is certainly advantageous for congressional Democrats — just as the new 110th Congress is slated to pass a long-overdue increase in the federal minimum wage, George Will, one of the nation’s most prominent conservative political columnists, comes out against having a minimum wage altogether. A federal minimum wage is an idea whose […]
At yesterday’s White House press briefing, a reporter asked Tony Snow a question that I’ve been anxious to hear for quite a while: “[T]he President has been determined, he’s been resolved, and nobody questions that, but does he get it? I mean, is he fundamentally out of touch with what the reality is on the […]
Ah, those pesky signing statements. You just never know what White House lawyers will quietly put in there. President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans’ mail without a judge’s warrant, the Daily News has learned. The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on […]
Today’s edition of quick hits. * I might have a little more confidence in the Iraqi prime minister if he didn’t seem to hate being the Iraqi prime minister. From a recent interview: “I wish I could be done with it even before the end of this term. I didn’t want to take this position.” […]
The Union of Concerned Scientists has been taking a very close look at how ExxonMobil has been spending its “public information and policy research” funds. The UCS’s findings aren’t surprising, but they are devastating. (thanks to K.Z. for the tip) A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists offers the most comprehensive documentation to […]
Vanity Fair has a fascinating profile on John McCain in its new issue, filled with enough tidbits to write days worth of blogs posts (and I just might). But there are a couple of angles that stood out. The point of the piece will seem familiar to anyone who follows the political scene carefully: McCain […]
It’s rather unusual for the president, especially this president, to write an op-ed for publication, but sure enough, that’s George W. Bush’s byline in today’s Wall Street Journal. (Whether the president literally wrote the piece is open to some debate.) It’s the fourth op-ed from Bush since he became president in 2001. It’s filled with […]