The difference, a tour guide informed me on a recent trip to Cartagena, between a pirate and a buccaneer is that latter is officially sanctioned by a state. So, while Queen Elizabeth I rewarded Sir Francis Drake with a percentage of his bounty, pirates just divvied treasure amongst themselves. Texas Congressman and former presidential …
Though we’ve known for a while that Ted Kennedy and Max Baucus were aiming for a June mark up of health care reform legislation, they today sent an official letter (full text after the jump) to President Obama underscoring this intention. The key passage:
Since our committees share jurisdiction over health care reform legislation in the
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As President Obama heads to Mexico, there has been speculation that his administration might add immigration reform to their already ambitious list of legislative goals this year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked today about passing immigration reform this year at an event promoting stimulus money for San Francisco schools. Her
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today she’d like to form a Pecora-style commission to investigate what happened on Wall Street that perpetrated the financial crisis. Ferdinand Pecora was appointed chief counsel to the Senate Banking and Currency Committee by Herbert Hoover in 1929 but it was his work under FDR ferreting out bankers
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Here’s a story from me about the advent of TMZ in DC. One of the folks I spoke with was Mary Matalin, who peered down her nose a bit at the idea of DC reality shows (of course, she was in K Street, but that was in a different league of shows that blurred the line of reality/fiction). “The connection between Hollywood and politics
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The White House is backing away from today’s New York Time’s front-page story checking in on immigration—the hot button issue in 2006 and 2007. The story pretty much ruined Nick Shapiro’s day; Shapiro, one of a bevy of White House spokesmen who divvy up issues, has the up-until-today easy task of dealing with immigration press …
Though as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has clearly moved on, it seems she is still trying to pay off her campaign debt. Below is a fundraising e-mail just received from James Carville. My favorite is the American Idol option — wonder how they scored those tickets?
Dear Jay,
I knew it was going to take an extraordinary effort
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Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter is facing a tough primary in 2010. Remember all those new Democrats Barack Obama’s campaign registered in the Keystone State? Well, 160,000 of them were Republicans that switched their registration – a huge chunk of Specter’s base. The moderate Republican squeaked through a 2004 primary challenge …
In the beginning of the year Senate Dems looked to be in the position of strength – the political meme was that the House would be more vulnerable in 2010. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Bob Menendez was savoring the prospect of five retiring GOP senators, four three in states that trended blue for Obama in 2008: …
One of the most contentious issues that health care negotiators are facing is the question of a mandate: should coverage be forced upon those who do not wish to have it, like car insurance? Obviously, the insurance industry is pushing hard for this, arguing that anything short of 100% participation doesn’t make business sense for them …
The House and Senate passed two $3 trillion+ versions of Obama’s budget late yesterday, handing the president a victory. Not a single Republican voted for the measures – not surprising since budgets are essentially ideological documents — but Dems declared victory that they held most moderates. Only two Dem senators – Ben Nelson …
Here’s the latest from me on yesterday’s global warming gyrations on the Hill.
Al Franken won a round (I’d say the 11th round but it has to be something more akin to 3,000) in his quest to be seated as Minnesota’s next senator. A Minnesota court ruled that upwards of 400 absentee ballots could be opened and counted next Tuesday. Franken currently holds a 225-vote lead. The number of ballots to be opened is down …
