Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–It’s primary day in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Contests between Lincoln and Halter, Paul and Grayson, and Specter and Sestak, as well as a special election between Critz and Burns in PA-12 are widely seen as yardsticks by which to measure this cycle’s anti-establishment …
As debate over SB1070 continues to rage, The Arizona Republic convenes a panel of experts to parse its practical applications. It should come as no surprise that when and how the controversial new law should be enforced remains open to interpretation. The five-person panel included two Arizona legislators: a Republican who sponsored the …
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–With all eyes turning to Tuesday’s primaries, a Halter-Lincoln runoff looks likely in Arkansas, Rand Paul is crushing in Kentucky, and the Sestak-Specter contest is shaping up to be a squeaker.
—Nate Silver looks at how anti-establishment candidates may fare in general elections, …
For more than a week, I’ve been wondering why Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and that committee’s top Republican Ricahrd Shelby haven’t introduced their managers’ amendment, the final piece that will allow financial regulatory reform to pass the Senate. The bill was scheduled to be finished, after all, at the end of …
The first draft of history is always going to be controversial, especially when it’s on something as touchy as health care reform – monstrous legislation the full effects of which we will not know for years to come. So it should probably come as no surprise that Jonathan Alter’s take on Barack Obama’s first year in the White …
Ever want to be a Supreme Court Justice? Aside from getting a President to nominate you, all you have to do is answer this little questionnaire and let a few senators ask you questions about it.
I wrote this week’s cover story, The New Sheriffs of Wall Street, about SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair and COP Chair Elizabeth Warren. An excerpt:
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Some initial reactions to the Kerry-Lieberman energy and climate bill here and here. Brad Johnson has a useful side-by-side comparison with the House bill. Our colleague Bryan Walsh looks at the big picture.
–The politics are a different beast from health care or financial reform. As …
As Adam notes, incumbents should take Rep. Allan Mollohan’s loss of his primary as a shot across the bow but there are 13 members it should terrify. Mollohan was one of the 14 Democrats who voted for Bart Stupak’s amendment in November and for health care reform on final passage. Republicans are targeting this group, accusing them of …
Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson
–Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Washington today for meetings with President Obama. Our colleague Tony Karon writes it will be a tense debate over when and how to strike a deal with the Taliban. Marc Ambinder describes the optics: “two parents who tolerate each other and cannot …
…the White House:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSy60QpI8gY]
During Elena Kagan’s Senate confirmation hearing, the American public will get a sneak peak of a particularly contentious case that may reach the Supreme Court – the constitutionality of the new health reform law. Several Republican senators have already indicated they plan to ask Kagan about her view of the law’s mandate that …
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—John Dickerson examines Obama’s argument that Kagan, like Sotomayor, understands the everyman and brings empathy to court. It well may be her (and his) judicial philosophy, but it’s not something well-grounded in Kagan’s credentials or life story. But the purpose of the empathy narrative …