There’s lots of chatter today on the web and in print about the remarkable exchange between Barbara Boxer and Condi Rice. In case you missed it, the Senator (and grandmother) from California told the (single) Secretary of State that she couldn’t understand the sacrifice that Americans are making in Iraq because: You’re not going to [...]

In today’s WSJ, , Rudy and Newt are urging “workfare” for Iraq: The administration should direct a small percent of that amount to create an Iraqi Citizen Job Corps, along the lines of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. Isn’t that exactly the kind of program Republicans spent decades trying to shut down [...]

“I’d much rather lose a campaign than lose a war.” It’s true, Jay, that few people doubt McCain sincerely believes in what he is advocating. But when he first took this position of calling for more troops, it was something of a free shot for him: It didn’t look all that risky politically, because Rumsfeld [...]

The Dems just made it official. They are having their 2008 convention in Denver: Judith Stoler, our logistical coordinator here at TIME, was way ahead of the news: She learned months ago that the DNC had already booked 90% of all the hotels you would want to stay in there. And of course, the rates [...]

Today’s Washington Post tells us that House Democrats are seriously considering cutting off the money for Bush’s plan to send nearly 22,000 more troops to Iraq–which would be the most serious foreign policy confrontation between a President and Congress since the Vietnam War. But that takes two houses. The group to watch here is not [...]

If John Boehner starts missing a lot of votes, Ana, we’ll know why. He’s over on the other end of the Capitol bumming cigarettes from Barack Obama. The smoking ban is a big win for Henry Waxman. When the Republicans still ran things,some staffers in the Energy and Commerce Committee offices used to stub their [...]

I probably shouldn’t be wading in between Joe and his fans here, but I’ll be listening Wednesday night to see what the President says to address the political problem in Iraq. Strikes me that when David Brooks starts sounding like Joe Biden on the need for some kind of decentralization that would recognize the deep [...]

Health care was an issue you didn’t hear much about during the campaign last year. But with medical costs soaring and the number of uninsured growing, it remains near the top of voters’ concerns, and once again, it appears that the states may have to step in where Washington refuses to. The Republican Governor of [...]

The Washington Post this morning tells us that the House Democrats are already getting thrown off step. Where they had hoped to dominate the week’s news by passing their six-point First Hundred Hours agenda, they now are rebuilding the schedule around Iraq. That’s not necessarily bad news for them, however. Many Democrats have had some [...]