TIME’s Katy Steinmetz pulls together the best lead I have read all morning:
In terms of Senate hearings, this one had all the right stuff: high stakes, passionate speeches, shutdowns and — as if that weren’t enough — astronauts with a score to settle. Not just any old astronauts either. Attending the Senate Commerce, Science and
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I wrote this week’s cover story, The New Sheriffs of Wall Street, about SEC Chair Mary Schapiro, FDIC Chair Sheila Bair and COP Chair Elizabeth Warren. An excerpt:
In the ArenaUncategorized
On the Pennsylvania Senate primary.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Some initial reactions to the Kerry-Lieberman energy and climate bill here and here. Brad Johnson has a useful side-by-side comparison with the House bill. Our colleague Bryan Walsh looks at the big picture.
–The politics are a different beast from health care or financial reform. As …
“Who would really want this job for more than one term? …But I have to run now, otherwise it’ll mean letting someone like Mitt Romney step in and get credit for the good stuff that happens after we’ve been through all this crap.”
–President Obama in November, 2009, as reported by Jonathan Alter in his new book “The …
In the ArenaAfghanistan
It will be days before we can unpack what actually happened in this week’s meetings between U.S. and Afghan officials. The big question concerns reconciliation: Will the U.S. back Hamid Karzai’s efforts to lure the Taliban into a coalition government? In the meantime, the estimable Spencer Ackerman has a report from a source in Kandahar, …
What is it about Senator Lindsey Graham that brings out the Mr. Smith in the most inveterate politicians? First, Chuck Schumer unveils their working draft of immigration legislation in the vain hope that by making a good faith, bipartisan bid some other Republicans might sign on; the response has not been deafening. Now Senators John …
On the second day of hearings into the oil spill still pouring crude into the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate, lawmakers pointed to a faulty blowout preventer, the safety mechanism that is supposed to seal a well in the event of an accident. In a blistering assessment, Congressman Bart Stupak of the House Energy and Commerce Committee …
In a joint press conference with Hamid Karzai at the White House Wednesday, President Obama spoke rather directly about an issue that is central to his Afghan strategy.
When there is a civilian casualty, that is not just a political problem for me. I am ultimately accountable, just as General McChrystal is accountable, for somebody
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As Adam notes, incumbents should take Rep. Allan Mollohan’s loss of his primary as a shot across the bow but there are 13 members it should terrify. Mollohan was one of the 14 Democrats who voted for Bart Stupak’s amendment in November and for health care reform on final passage. Republicans are targeting this group, accusing them of …
Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson
–Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in Washington today for meetings with President Obama. Our colleague Tony Karon writes it will be a tense debate over when and how to strike a deal with the Taliban. Marc Ambinder describes the optics: “two parents who tolerate each other and cannot …
Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia lost his bid for a 15th term in Congress Tuesday night as state Senator Mike Oliverio wrested the party nomination from the 28-year veteran lawmaker’s grasp.
Mollohan, whose father represented West Virginia’s first district before him, fell prey to a fierce anti-Washington campaign …
On Tuesday, we got word that the ten-year cost of the new health reform law may be more than the $938 billion that was reported when the bill became law. In a letter released yesterday afternoon, the Congressional Budget Office said $115 billion more in discretionary spending could be spent to fully implement the law. This is not pocket …
