The Carpetbagger Report

It’s something of an open secret on the Hill, but Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) temper can be so explosive, it tends to alienate friend and foe alike. Consider yesterday’s brouhaha over the new immigration-reform package. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) hasn’t spent much time in the Capitol this year as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination. […]

First up from The God Machine this week is a disconcerting story about what happens when religious ministries have to compete for access to the federal treasury: they start acting like every other interest group. St. Vincent College, a small Benedictine college southeast of Pittsburgh, wanted to realign a two-lane state road serving the campus. […]

Guest Post by Morbo Now that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz has resigned, it’s time to examine an overlooked issue from the sorry affair: Why did the Religious Right support this embattled neocon? What did this issue have to do with religion, abortion, gay rights or any of the other obsessions of the neo-Puritan brigade? […]

Guest Post by Morbo Recently, I was struck by a photograph that ran on the front page of The New York Times. The archival photo from 1957 depicts Elizabeth Eckford, a young African-American woman, walking toward Central High School in Little Rock. She is surrounded by a crowd of people. (See it here.) Eckford carries […]

Today’s edition of quick hits. * In the face of a presidential veto threat over defense appropriations, House Dems are taking Bush on over raises for the troops:”Mr. President, you have consistently called on Congress and the American people to support our troops. Considering the sacrifices that our military families make, the Democratic proposal to […]

By late last night, it appeared that a compromise between congressional Dems and the White House on war funding was very close. Predictably, it looked like Dems were going to give up far too much in exchange for very little, and then hope to find more success the next time around. But as it turns […]

Yesterday, a reporter confronted the president with a straightforward request for information: “Sir, did you send your then Chief of Staff and White House Counsel to the bedside of John Ashcroft while he was ill to get him to approve that program? And do you believe that kind of conduct from White House officials is […]

This morning’s White House press gaggle, hosted by Bush spokesperson Tony Fratto, was genuinely amusing. I realize bringing in a third-string press secretary is no way to get the White House’s A game, but this was just silly. Q: Senators Schumer and Feinstein are going to introduce a no confidence resolution for Attorney General Gonzales […]

Way back in early March, Paul Krugman noted an important angle to the prosecutor purge scandal: if the fired U.S. Attorneys were ousted for failing to “play ball” with the White House’s political agenda, some of the U.S. Attorneys who weren’t fired kept their jobs because they did “play ball.” In particular, Krugman highlighted New […]

Since Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) was given a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee — sparking a mini-rebellion among conservative activists — there’s been considerable scrutiny of some of the controversial lawmaker’s more notable scandals. With this in mind, Roll Call reports today that an eyebrow-raising earmark Calvert championed was cleared by the House […]