(Courtesy of the White House Flickr feed)
Welcome to Swampland, Massimo Calabresi
Allow me to introduce the newest addition to our ever-growing Swampland team, Massimo Calabresi.
A Washington Correspondent for TIME since 1999, Massimo has done stints covering the State, Treasury and Justice Departments, the CIA, the White House and Congress. Prior to that he served as Central Europe Bureau Chief during the Balkan …
Morning Must Reads: End-Around
Rep. Mike Castle listens to testimony during a hearing about the American International Group on Capitol Hill March 18, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
–There are a bunch of interesting primaries today in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and D.C. …
Warren as Interim Consumer Board Chief?
Both Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that the White House is considering making Elizabeth Warren the interim head of the newly formed Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection at the Federal Reserve as early as this week. Though details were scarce — would this be a recess appointment (though the Senate just came …
Don’t Worry, Wealthy Americans, the GOP’s Still Got Your Back
At the end of the day, the Republican movement on extending tax cuts just for the middle class turns out to be apparently no movement at all. By now most of the inside-the-Beltway crowd – if very few real people across the country – knows that in a pre-taped interview with CBS’s Face the Nation that aired on Sunday, Minority Leader …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Election Road Trip, Day 8: The Feingold Race
Middleton, Wisconsin
Traveling Companion: Jim Pinkerton
Event: Russ Feingold interview
Here’s something I’ve been noticing: more than a few Republicans don’t want to come out and play this year. Couldn’t find hide nor hair of Pat Toomey, the Senate candidate in Pennsylvania (and I offered to visit him during the week …
Rebuking Gingrich
Democrats are eagerly chastising Newt Gingrich for his claim that Barack Obama governs according to a “Kenyan, anticolonial” mentality. But that’s not at all surprising. The more interesting question is whether any Republicans will follow suit. At least one prominent conservative pundit already has. Says National Review‘s
Don Berwick Speaks!
Just not to me – or any other media types for that matter. The new head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid has, until today, been kept under virtual lock and key by the Obama Administration. He was installed via recess appointment, circumventing the Senate confirmation process, which would have included a public hearing. He hasn’t …
Jerry Brown: “I Did Not Have Taxes With This State” UPDATED
The rap on the California Democrats’ great gubernatorial hope, Jerry Brown, is that he is refreshingly his own guy. He says what he thinks, when he thinks it. And this may be one of his top selling points against his Republican rival, Meg Whitman, who campaigns like a corporate robot, always on message, always bland, working voters like …
Boehner’s ‘Calculated’ Move
John Boehner may have been speaking yesterday from the principled position that extended tax cuts for some Americans are better than extended tax cuts for no Americans. But it’s a little amusing to see his spokesman describe his position this way:
“Despite what Obama says, Republicans are not holding middle-class tax cuts hostage and
…
The Delaware Tiebreaker for DeMint and Graham
On Saturday, Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina conservative who thus far has had a winning season of 7-2 in Senate GOP endorsements, made an 11th-hour decision to back Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell (in addition to Ovide Lamontagne in New Hampshire) ahead of Tuesday’s primary. O’Donnell, a Tea Party darling, is taking on Rep. …
Morning Must Reads: Albatross
Reuters/Jason Redmond
–Congress returns from recess to a full plate.
–Minority Leader Boehner, for a fleeting moment, flirts with compromise on the Bush tax cuts.
–Jerry Brown takes the bait from that Whitman ad featuring Bill Clinton and, to the chagrin of Democrats everywhere,
In the ArenaUncategorized
Election Road Trip, Day 7: Union Maid
Detroit, Mich.
Traveling Companion: Rodney Crowell
Events: Breakfast with Polidori family; meeting with United Auto Workers activists; Dinner with Doug Ross and friends, Macomb County; Breakfast with Kevin Gentry and friends, Brighton, Michigan; Rocky Rajkowski Town Hall, Birmingham, Mi.
Well, this has been a very busy 48 …