Newt Gingrich talked policies, and the crowd seemed to like it. Rick Santorum announced that “America belongs to God,” and he was politely applauded. But it was Donald Trump, a real estate investor who became a reality show star, who finally got the crowd’s 2012 election juices going on the first day of the Conservative Political Action …
Mubarak Is Not Leaving, At Least Not Now
In a speech that aired worldwide, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak just reiterated that he will remain in office until September. Protesters had demanded – and some news outlets, including NBC News, had reported today – that Mubarak would step down in the face of massive resistance to his tenure. Mubarak’s defiance has enraged a huge …
Has Obama Lost Wall Street and Business Donors?
Four years ago, I did a story about how three “pioneers,” or top bundlers for President George W. Bush, were giving money to Barack Obama.
[Madison Dearborn Partners founder and then deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago John] Canning says he’s fed up with the Republican Party. “It’s become a party that’s taken
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100 Billion Dollars!
Last year, in the Pledge to America Republicans said if they gained control of the House they would lop $100 billion off the 2011 federal budget. Lo and behold they won. But the week they took office, they said that given that fiscal 2011 was already partly over so they would cut more like $60 billion. I never quite got this move as it …
Egyptian Military Figures to Watch
As the Egyptian military issues “Communique #1” and Mubarak’s ouster appears imminent, Swampland’s very cursory guide to military figures to watch follows:
Kyl Retiring
Politico reports that Jon Kyl won’t seek re-election in 2012.
If true, this is a big loss for the GOP in the Senate, as Kyl is one of their toughest cross-aisle knife fighters. It’s also a loss for conservatives, as Kyl has overtly and covertly advanced their cause as effectively as any Senator over the last 15 years.
Re-election …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Latest Column
On how to move ahead in the middle east.
Morning Must Reads: Unapologetic
Speaker Boehner, Majority leader Cantor and Majority Whip McCarthy appear before the press at the White House following a lunch with President Obama on February 9. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)
–The House GOP rolls out the specifics of its proposal to cut $74 billion from Obama’s 2011 budget. Conservative members may buck the leadership …
CPAC 2011: What to Expect at the GOP’s Annual Cattle Call
The Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day carnival of Republican ladder-climbers and red meat throwers, convenes Thursday in Washington . The nearly 40-year-old tradition is expected to attract 10,000 activists and set the tone for a party navigating new highs and old divides on its way to a presidential nomination …
Rep. Chris Lee Abruptly Resigns Over Alleged Craigslist Communiqués
The Republican congressman from New York’s 26th district stepped down Wednesday after Gawker posted e-mails purportedly between Lee and a woman who posted on the “Women for Men” section of the classifieds site Craiglist. The flirty but mostly PG back-and-forth included a photo of what appears to be the married, 46-year-old congressman …
Forget Investment Banking Kids, Become A Campaign Consultant
Meg Whitman, who lost her campaign for California Governor last November, spent four times as much as her opponent, Jerry Brown, and $144 million of her own fortune. California Watch, an investigative reporting site, breaks down some of the numbers of just how much her staff got paid:
Republican campaign strategist Scott Howell was paid
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Rogers’ First Cuts
The House Appropriations Committee today released a preliminary list of 70 programs they intend to trim – or in some places slash. The committee tomorrow is expected to release it’s omnibus appropriations package to fund the government for the rest of 2011. Congress last year failed to pass any of the 2011 appropriations bills and …
White House Increases The Pressure On Omar Suleiman
The New York Times led today’s paper with a claim that Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman was “leading an American endorsed ‘orderly transition” in Egypt.
In recent days, it has at times appeared that this is the case. On Monday, PJ Crowley, the spokesman for the State Department, noted that it “would be a challenging undertaking” …