“We’re very close to a deal,” Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said Wednesday. “We’ll take the next step,” intoned Senator Olympia Snowe, a prime target for aisle-crossing outreach. “Folks on our side of the aisle want a bill,” Bob Corker, a key GOP architect of portions of the Senate bill, …
Senate
Morning Must Reads: Ifs, Ands or Buts
Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton
–Obama will make a his case for financial reform “in the shadow of Wall Street” today at Cooper Union. A taste:
I believe in a strong financial sector that helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings. But a free market was never meant to be a free license
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Morning Must Reads: Indefatigable
Official White House photo by Pete Souza
–Marco Rubio is the subject of an IRS probe into whether alleged use of Republican party credit cards for personal expenses warrants criminal charges. A wider federal inquiry involving the U.S. attorney, FBI and IRS has been launched into the Florida GOP’s expenses. The latest wrinkle in …
RE: Playing Politics With Goldman
Republicans have been crying foul over the timing of last Friday’s Securities and Exchange Commission announcement of an investigation into wrong doing by Goldman Sachs. Yes, the timing – just as the Democratic push for financial regulatory reform seemed doomed and just as Goldman’s stock was approaching something close to where it …
Morning Must Reads: Fundamentals
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rZL7Op0YTI]
–The DNC revives the famous McCain line to paint Republicans as irresponsible stewards of Wall Street and push financial regulatory reform.
–Bob Corker’s still optimistic: He expects a “70-vote bill” by Memorial Day.
–But he sounded pretty sour on the bill this morning on …
Midday Must Reads: Moving the Needle
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama heads to lower Manhattan on Thursday to push for financial regulatory reform. Expect a confrontational tone and a call for quick action in the Senate.
–Hill aides are saying a motion to proceed could come as early as this week.
— Paul Krugman, Ezra Klein and Ryan Avent are …
Fillibusters, Fights, Fundraising: We’re in an Election Season
This morning Washington woke up to reports on how the White House was going to go after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to the financial reregulation bill. “McConnell’s arguments that the Democrat’s plan for Wall Street reform will perpetuate bailouts is pure fantasy cooked up by Frank Luntz in a right wing focus …
Morning Must Reads: Rules
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–President Obama has directed HHS to establish a rule whereby any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (basically all of them) cannot deny visitation rights to gay and lesbian partners, among others.
–Charlie Crist vetoed a teacher merit pay bill in Florida. Why is that a big …
Morning Must Reads: The First Act
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–If Mitch McConnell raised the curtain on this season of financial reform political theater yesterday, then the White House serves as backdrop for the first act today. Obama is set to meet with Speaker Pelosi, Leader Reid, Senator McConnell, Rep. Boehner and Rep. Hoyer at the White House …
A GOP Financial Reform Bellwether
Bit by bit, bipartisan negotiations in the Senate over financial regulatory reform have broken down. Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Banking Committee split with the Democratic Chairman, Chris Dodd in February. Bob Corker filled the gap, stepping in to try to hammer out a compromise on an issue in which both parties see the …
Morning Must Reads: Steeled
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
–Michael Steele’s woes atop the RNC are being compounded, not helped, by a handful of high-profile resignations, including chief of staff Ken McKay. Rather than looking like he’s getting his house in order, the departures inevitably lead to a series of stories citing the recent risque spending flap …
GOP Party Like It’s 1994?
Not so much. Today, I look at five reasons why this cycle is different from 1994… so far.
TIME 100
As most of our readers know, every year we do a big dead tree edition on the 100 people that mattered most in the past 12 months. Today, the 200 nominees are up. Let the voting for the most influential person of 2009 begin. Will it be President Obama? Sarah Palin? Nancy Pelosi? Katheryn Bigelow? Rahul Singh? Sandra Bullock? And, yes, as …