Speaker John Boehner called it “a very nice lunch,” and sounded optimistic notes on finding “common ground.” Rep. Kevin McCarthy, another member of the GOP leadership, spoke of looking to places “where we can work together.” Rep. Eric Cantor praised “the need for all of us to work together.”
That was the news coming out of Wednesday’s …
For all the hoopla over the Patriot Act extension failing the House last night, it really isn’t that big a deal. The majority often brings items up under suspension – meaning the bills are so innocuous that the regular rules are waived because they’ll likely easily pass, mostly post office namings and resolutions congratulating …
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who is exploring a bid for the Republican nomination, told S.E. Cupp, who hosts an online radio show on Glenn Beck’s website, that Sarah Palin is skipping CPAC because of her “business opportunities” and “other responsibilities” such as raising her five children.
“I don’t live in Alaska …
For presumed GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty, health care is a signature cause. The former Minnesota governor hopes to use the topic against opponent Mitt Romney, who supported health reform in Massachusetts similar to the national plan. Pawlenty has also garnered attention by spearheading the effort to resist the Affordable Care …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Ed Kilgore has a solid obituary for the Democratic Leadership Council, which succumbed to old age this week after a significant 27-year run. But I’d like to add a few words: When I started writing a regular political column for New York Magazine in 1987, the DLC was one of the few organizations around that was thinking creatively about …
As Michael Scherer noted, Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, announced today he won’t run for a second term. Webb’s decision not to engage in a rematch with former Senator George Allen, whom Webb beat in 2006 by less than half of 1% of the vote, blows open the field for Democrats. Virginia went for President Obama in 2008 53% to John …
Former Virginia Governor and Senator George Allen, a Republican, is now the clear front runner to reclaim his seat in the U.S. Senate in 2012. His onetime rival, Democrat Jim Webb, has decided not to seek reelection, which will force Virginia Democrats to begin casting around for a replacement candidate. The obvious choice is Tim Kaine, …
AP has a powerful new report out this morning on the CIA’s failure to hold employees accountable for misdeeds. For example:
When a suspected terrorist froze to death in a CIA prison in Afghanistan in 2002, the CIA inspector general faulted Matt, the spy running the prison, and expressed concerns about Paul, the top officer in the
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Swampland alum Jay Carney is set to take the briefing podium next week, and as CNN’s Dan Lothian reports, he has been training behind closed doors to prepare.
Carney would stand behind a podium in a room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The team of staffers played the role of reporters, and would ask him questions on
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(White House Photo/Pete Souza)
–After missing a Jan. 31 deadline, Treasury could release its housing finance reform proposals as soon as Friday. They are expected to lay out a plan for slowly dismantling government-backed mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie, as well as offer a buffet of options for a diminished federal role in the …
The Tea Party doesn’t have a leader, but it does play favorites. Several of them turned up Tuesday night for a Congressional town hall hosted by the Tea Party Express and billed as the first of its kind. Crammed into an airless conference room at Washington’s National Press Club, the standing-room crowd was energized and eclectic. A …
Ever since the TSA started putting back-scatter devices into use at selected airports last fall, I’ve been waiting to have the chance to opt out and register a one-woman protest against the machines. (Jeff Goldberg doesn’t get to have all the fun.) However, most of my recent air travel has been with a tiny traveling companion, and I’ve …
Or something like that. Our colleague John Cloud explains:
After decades of studies that have controlled for varying levels of trust in the political system, interest in political news, strength of moral convictions, geographic mobility, religious involvement, and voter age, political scientists have found that these factors account for
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