Ahmed Rashid, the Pakistani journalist who knows Afghanistan better than anyone, has scored a disturbing interview with Hamid Karzai, in which the Afghan leader really does seem to be getting tired of the American military strategy–specifically, the special operations night raids targeting Taliban leaders, which have been the most successful tactic that David Petraeus (and [...]
Sen. Ron Wyden, of Oregon, has a knack for linking up with Republicans to introduce innovative health care policy that can garner real bipartisan support. When the Affordable Care Act was but a glimmer in President Obama’s eye, Wyden and Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, of Utah, introduced the Healthy Americans Act. This health care reform [...]
After about three hours of private deliberation, the vote came back 9-1. Apart from expulsion, censure is the most serious penalty Rangel could receive. If the full House affirms the recommendation when the chamber returns after Thanksgiving, Rangel will get a formal rebuke from the Speaker in front of his colleagues, a public sanction that [...]
Obama tells his veep to focus “day and night” on getting Senate approval for the seriously endangered nuclear arms treaty. PS Republican foreign policy mandarin Dick Lugar (last seen trying to prevent a horrible Outbreak-type bioterror scenario) is ticked off about the START holdup. I’d never known Lugar to raise his voice before. But at [...]
The House failed to pass a three-month extension of federal unemployment-insurance benefits, leaving up to 4 million Americans at risk of losing their benefits when they expire at the end of the month. Because the bill was fast-tracked to the floor, it required a 2/3 majority to pass. With 258 members in favor and 154 [...]
In a meeting with reporters this morning, James Carville, the former adviser to Bill Clinton, made an off-color joke about President Obama’s masculinity. “”If Hillary gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he’d have two,” Carville joked. This criticism, about Obama’s alleged lack of toughness, is a rising theme on the [...]
What do you do to amp ratings after you’ve won a big victory at the polls and the public has wandered off to start celebrating the holidays? At Fox News, the answer is obvious: you up the ante. Yesterday, we had Roger Ailes–unfair and unbalanced–calling the President a socialist, whose beliefs are at variance with [...]
An Ethics Committee lawyer recommended Rep. Charles Rangel be censured by his peers, citing violations that “undercut the public’s ability to have faith and trust in this institution.” In a hearing before the committee held two days after an subcommittee found Rangel guilty of 11 ethics violations, Blake Chisam, who is serving as the case’s [...]
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