One of the Democratic tendencies that seem to bother the netroots and progressive activists more than anything is “deals” congressional leaders strike with Republicans. Invariably, these “compromises” tend to concede far too much to the GOP, and worse, lead to a problematic result that could have been avoided. Take Hans von Spakovsky, for example. He […]
Larry Craig loses court case — will it matter?
Most legal experts agreed that Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) had little chance of withdrawing his guilty plea to disorderly conduct charges in Minneapolis, but his legal team believed it was worth a try. Today, the judge in the case rejected Craig’s request. A Minnesota judge has denied Sen. Larry Craig’s request to withdraw his guilty […]
White House uses circular reasoning to deny torture charges
The New York Times reported this morning that in two separate, secret legal opinions signed by the Attorney General, the Bush administration quietly contradicted its official line and endorsed “the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.” After insisting publicly that “torture is abhorrent,” Bush officials “provided explicit authorization to barrage terror […]
Trent Lott considering a new ‘Gang’
Progress on most major policy initiatives has been difficult in the Senate this year, due entirely to the fact that the chamber’s Republicans have decided to filibuster everything that moves. Indeed, the Senate GOP caucus is on track to block more legislation in the 110th Congress than any in the history of the country — […]
Thursday’s political round-up
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: * Yesterday afternoon, Hillary Clinton picked up one of her biggest union endorsements yet, winning the support of the American Federation of Teachers, which has 1.4 million members nationwide. * The fight between […]
Bush’s not-so-compassionate conservatism
The president held one of his longest public events of the year in Lancaster, Pa., yesterday, appearing on stage for nearly an hour and a half, about two-thirds of which was devoted to Q & A (with a largely sympathetic audience). Bush seemed anxious to explain his opposition to expanding the S-CHIP program for kids […]
Dobson to GOP: I’m not bluffing
After attendees to the Council for National Policy’s meeting dished about their willingness to abandon the GOP if Rudy Giuliani gets the Republican presidential nomination, there was some talk that the religious right leaders were bluffing. There’s simply no way, the theory goes, that these far-right leaders would help elect a Democrat by withholding support […]
GOP exodus continues — Domenici to retire
Historically, when a party’s incumbents start retiring en masse, it’s indicative of a party in serious trouble. With that in mind, the Republican Party’s chances for congressional gains in 2008 will grow even bleaker today when Sen. Pete Domenini (R-N.M.) will announce his retirement. Mr. Domenici has battled a series of health problems and was […]
Fred Thompson: From GOP savior to campaign punch-line
It seems almost amusing to think that as recently as, say, August, a significant portion of the Republican Party was absolutely convinced that actor-lobbyist-politician Fred Thompson was going to ride into the presidential forum on a white horse and save the party from electoral ruin. Sure, Thompson backers said, there’s a learning curve for anyone […]
Bush’s Justice Department secretly endorsed torture
In December 2004, Bush’s Justice Department issued a statement insisting that “torture is abhorrent.” It was an encouraging step from administration officials who were willing to concede that there were limits to presidential authority when it came to brutal interrogations. But it was a lie — shortly thereafter, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales signed off on […]