Indeed, a deal has been struck and votes are expected as early as tomorrow in the House and before the weekend in the Senate. The final hiccup resolved itself after three hours when Speaker Pelosi compromised by allowed that the $10 billion not be spent specifically on school construction but giving governors the option to [...]
Mike Huckabee says the stimulus bill is “anti-religion.” The Christian Coalition calls it “an attack on people of faith.” The Traditional Values declares that the economic package “stimulates anti-Christian bigotry.” My goodness. Maybe the devil really is in the details. Or…maybe this is a classic case of social conservatives ginning up yet another false charge [...]
Not so fast, say House Dems who have been closeted for the last two-and-a-half hours trying to make heads or tales of the complex bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama’s legislative director Phil Schiliro have been in the speaker’s office with them. At issue, I’m told, is a $10 billion increase to [...]
So say the Democratic House and Senate negotiators working on the stimulus bill. It’s just in time for a conference meeting on the bill, scheduled start right about now. The final pricetag is said to be $50 billion less than the package the Senate approved yesterday. We’ll find out soon enough what got cut–and what, [...]
Following up on Karen’s posts on Pete Hoekstra, here’s a story from me about Congress’s love affair with twitter. And leaders – take note – this can be dangerous as the Virginia Senate proved (hat tip, Indy’s dad Jon Steinman). But what’s fascinating about this to me is the civic journalism aspect: if, God forbid, [...]
Henrietta Hughes, who pleaded with President Obama in a Town Hall on Tuesday for a home, has been offered the second home of state Sen. Rep. Nick Thompson “for as long” as she needs it.
Does having a MySpace page on which you don’t hide the fact that you’re a lesbian constitute “telling” the military about your sexual orientation? What about kissing your girlfriend in the checkout line in Wal-Mart? It does if you serve in the Kansas Army National Guard, which recently discharged an Iraq war vet for being [...]
Before Rep. Barney Frank’s House Financial Services Committee. Watch live here. UPDATE: Best question so far comes from Frank: “If in good times you were told you were not going to get bonuses, what part of your job would you not do?” MORE: The various CEOs’ testimony can be read here.
It gets worse, as the Taliban pull off a mini-Mumbai at the Ministry of Justice in downtown Kabul, a day before Holbrooke arrives. On the other hand, Anne Applebaum makes a point I’ve been meaning to make here: the Afghan Army is surprisingly strong, made up of mixed-ethnic units (unlike the Iraqi Army).
Ilan Goldenberg makes some good points disputing my recent Iran posts. He may be right that holding off top-level negotiations until after Iran’s June elections would be offensive to the Iranians–and also convey the impression that we’re backing a horse in that race. But I’d be wary about dealing with Ahmadinejad before the elections, since that [...]
