Wisconsin Democrats knocked off two GOP state senators on Tuesday night, exacting a hard-fought political price on Republican lawmakers for restricting collective bargaining rights of state and local employees. National advocacy …
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Mutually Assured Revulsion: Why Americans Hated the Debt Debate and Why It’s Not Going to Change
Pew came out with a new poll on Monday confirming what we all already knew: The American people think the last several weeks in Washington have been a disgrace. In fact, the words most often volunteered to the pollsters were …
Harry Reid’s Canny Waiting Game
The House on Thursday is expected to vote on its latest iteration of a debt ceiling increase matched with spending cuts. With less than a week left before the government starts suspending services to avoid default, the Senate has …
Has Nancy Pelosi Been Marginalized in the Debt Debate?
At Thursday’s White House meeting between President Obama and congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out in stark terms the awful economic repercussions of allowing the debt ceiling to lapse. Everyone in …
Nancy Pelosi Wants a Little Respect (But That’s Not All She Wants)
The protagonists in the debt-limit dealing are obviously President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, the golfing buddies and party leaders. The Senate’s 60-vote threshold for legislation—and the potential for random …
Democrats, in the Dark, Dig in Their Heels
Forgive House Democrats if they’re fuming a bit about the hairpin turn in the debt-limit negotiations. Reports that the White House is willing to consider cuts to entitlement programs as part of a grand bargain that far exceeds prior proposals caught them by surprise. At a briefing with reporters Thursday afternoon, House Minority Leader …
Anthony Weiner’s Characteristically Undignified Exit
The Anthony Weiner scandal ended in much of the same way it began. Hecklers hijacked the New York congressman’s Thursday afternoon press conference in New York City, rudely interrupting a somber resignation announcement with …
Weiner Tells Democratic Leadership He Will Resign
Rep. Anthony Weiner called House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Steve Israel Wednesday night to inform them that he will be resigning from Congress. The last month has seen Weiner tweet a lewd picture to a 21-year-old …
The Race for Hispanic Voters Heats Up
President Obama didn’t hold back any praise on Tuesday during his day-trip to the Caribbean. “Puerto Rican artists contribute to our culture,” he declared at the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rican entreprenuers create American jobs.”
He spoke these words before an audience that has no say in the electoral college that …
Debt Limit Talks Enter Crunch Time, But Negotiators Remain Far Apart
Between now and August 2, Congress is highly likely to vote to raise the federal debt limit. And yet, much of what you read and hear seems to suggest otherwise. News headlines are forbidding. Business gurus issue dark warnings; …
Austin, Texas: Obama’s Home Away From Home
Barack Obama’s first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border as President is the main attraction of Tuesday’s Lone Star state swing. Obama will tour a cargo facility and give a speech in El Paso, the latest effort in a push to court a …
Parties Divided on Admonishing Pakistan
How do you react when you suspect a friend has been aiding your worst enemy? If you’re Rep. Ted Poe, you demand they prove their loyalty. “Pakistan has a lot of explaining to do. It seems unimaginable that Osama bin Laden was …
In the ArenaViewpoint
The Republican Crackup
Ezra Klein–this is boring, but it’s almost always the case–has yet another smart piece today in which he posits Barack Obama as a moderate Republican from the early 1990s. I don’t know about the label, but the substance is …