Politics News

McCain, Feingold Team Up Again Over FEC

Seven years after their landmark campaign finance legislation became law, Sens. John McCain and Russell Feingold are reuniting under the banner of spending reform at a time when restrictions have come...
Decisions Indicate Supreme Court Moved Rightward This Term

For the Supreme Court, it was the year of living on the verge.
Iran's Leadership Warns Against Further Protest After Certification of Vote

TEHRAN, June 30 -- Iran's religious and political leadership warned domestic opponents and Western powers Tuesday that no further protests against a disputed election would be tolerated following offi...
Supreme Court to Review Restrictions on Corporate Spending in Federal Elections

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will consider whether to uphold a ban on corporate spending in federal elections, a move that campaign finance experts said could have a dramatic effect o...
Iran's Ahmadinejad Demands Apology From Obama

TEHRAN, June 25 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at President Obama on Thursday, warning him against "interfering" in Iranian affairs and demanding an apology for criticism of a gov...

More at Huffington Post »

Quote For The Day

""Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen" - Ludwig Wittgenstein. Happy Fourth.
July 3, 2009

"Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's...
September 20, 2008
The Miniseries Ends

I guessed right, which I suppose reflects just how much time I've spent trying to figure what goes on in her head. I think the simple truth is that, as even Alaskan Republicans told us last September,...
More Palin Reax

Here's her statement. Joe My God: Just watched Palin's press conference. Bizarre. No real reasons given, just a reference to attacks on her son, Trig, plus a rambling history of the acquisition of Ala...

More at Andrew Sullivan »

A Modern-Day Checkers Speech

Watch Sarah Palin's resignation announcement: Part 1 and Part 2....
Presented By:
Shoe Watch

Any stabs at identifying the other shoe that is certain to be dropping soon? In other news, it seems our Top Seven Sarah Palin Moments of the last year slideshow may need some revising....
Just What She Said

Here's the transcript of Gov. Palin's rambling resignation statement....
Nothing Suspicious About That

Andrea Mitchell says sources close to Gov. Palin say she is now "out of politics for good."...

More at Talking Points Memo »

The Politics of Blackness: You say why Republican party; I say why ... - The South Florida Times

Madison MessengerThe Politics of Blackness: You say why Republican party; I say why ...The South Florida TimesWhenever I see Democrats revise history, I don't know whether to laugh at how uninform...
GOP forum airs health care issues - Houston Chronicle

MyFox PhoenixGOP forum airs health care issuesHouston ChronicleCalling the debate on health care reform a seminal moment for domestic policy, three Republican US senators brought the GOP case to the T...
Bill Clinton to appear at Maloney fundraiser - Newsday

Washington PostBill Clinton to appear at Maloney fundraiserNewsdayWASHINGTON - Rep. Carolyn Maloney's plan to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the Democratic primary next year will get a surpr...
Gov's Office Says Ayotte Promised To Finish Term - WBZ

Examiner.comGov's Office Says Ayotte Promised To Finish TermWBZThe information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communicatio...
Hillary Clinton 'elbowed' aside? - CNN Political Ticker

Straits TimesHillary Clinton 'elbowed' aside?CNN Political TickerWASHINGTON (CNN) – Washington is a town where a sharp elbow is almost a job requirement. The ability to nudge political rival...

More at Google News »

Michelle Obama Reaches Out to DC's Poor

Away from the cameras, the Michelle Obama is reaching out to DC's poor and neglected...
Fineman: What to Expect from Al Franken

Minnesota's new senator is no clown.
The Supremes Rule in the Firefighter Race Case

The Supremes rule in the firefighter race case.
Economy: Obama’s Reforms Won’t Prevent Future Crises

Why Obama's financial 'reforms' won't prevent future crises.
Fineman: The End of Obama's Media Honeymoon

Barack Obama has benefitted from good relations with the press. How will he handle it when things turn sour?

More at Newsweek »

Will Obama Tax Employer-Provided Health Benefits?

To hold down costs, the President may be relenting on an idea he criticized John McCain for during the campaign...
What Happened to the Stimulus?

The Administration's $787 billion booster shot is not the magic bullet some had expected. Inside the White House operation to fix that...
Sotomayor Tie to Civil Rights Group Eyed

A White House counsel says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's involvement with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund should not impact her nomination...
Minnesota Senator Al Franken: How His Vote Could Matter

Now that Franken is finally a Senator, the additional Democrat could turn the tide on several key measures...
EPA Approves California Pollution Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step toward tougher reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks...

More at Time »

Who decides how much White House staffers get paid?

The Obama White House recently released the salaries of its 487 staffers. The highest-paid administration staffer, the president's director of public health policy, David Marcozzi, earns $193,000, whi...
Every update from Slate's Obama Facebook Feed.

"Iran, Sanford, and the fly swat heard 'round the world: Barack Obama's Facebook Feed," by Christopher Beam and Chris Wilson. Posted Friday, June 26, 2009.[more ...]...
Barack Obama's Facebook news feed.

Iran, Sanford, and the fly swat heard 'round the world.[more ...]...
How Obama is using the media to destroy and improve the traditional press conference.

There was a tiny tempest this week in the Washington press corps. The White House arranged to have Nico Pitney of the Huffington Post ask a question he received over the Web from an Iranian. This caus...
The strange, heartless glee at Sanford's downfall.

Mark Sanford is no longer missing, but he's obviously lost. The South Carolina governor's press conference was excruciating: apology, followed by self-flagellation, followed by apology. It was like wa...

More at Slate »

Obama campaign head gets big book deal

David Plouffe has agreed to a seven-figure deal to write a book about last year's presidential election. “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory” will...
Officials turn down Franken request

Democrat Al Franken is asking the Minnesota governor and secretary of state to issue an election certificate that would let him take office in the Senate.
Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.
Franken lead at 49 with absentees left to count

Democratic candidate Al Franken now holds a 49- vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman with almost all of the counting in Minnesota's Senate race done.
Minn. Senate winner won't be known in 2008

With the state Canvassing Board ready to award the last pile of votes in Minnesota's U.S. Senate recount, Democrat Al Franken clung to a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. The final c...

More at MSNBC »

Palin resigning as Alaska governor (AP)

AP - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin surprised supporters Friday and announced she is resigning from office at the end of the month without explaining why she plans to step down throwing into question whet...
MOUNTAIN OF DEBT: Rising debt may be next crisis (AP)

AP - The Founding Fathers left one legacy not celebrated on Independence Day but which affects us all. It's the national debt.
Under Senate health care plan, either way you pay (AP)

AP - First you paid to insure your car. Soon you may have to add health insurance premiums to that stack of monthly bills as well.
Republican: Sotomayor had ties to extreme group (AP)

AP - The top Republican on the Senate committee that will consider Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination says a Puerto Rican civil rights group's papers could shed light on her judicial approach,...
Access scandal echoes beyond Post (Politico)

Politico - For embarrassed Washington Post executives—reeling from what the paper's own ombudsman called a public relations "disaster" over a flier promoting a "salon" for lobbyists to mingle wi...

More at Yahoo News »

Boxer Braces for Challenge from Carly Fiorina

The California senator is up for re-election to a fourth term in 2010.
CBS's Bob Schieffer Opens His Home to Russian Student

The Face the Nation host is a mentor for a student touched by the Chechen school massacre.
Obama Tries to Keep Key Supporters Happy

President Obama slumps to 75 of 100 as he tries to keep key supporters, like gays and lesbians, happy.
GOP Uses Obama to Recruit House Candidates

The message to candidates is 'somebody has to stop this guy.'...
Historic Whispers: Kennedy Chooses Johnson as Presidential Running Mate

49 years ago in July, John F. Kennedy was gearing up for his race.

More at US News »

MITCHELL: PALIN "OUT OF POLITICS, PERIOD"

NBC News: Alaska Governor is "fed up with politics" and "does not want to run for higher office." "She has told some of her biggest backers in the national Republican Party that they are free to choo...
PALIN STEPPING DOWN

Alaska Governor says outside her home Friday she'll resign her office in a few weeks, citing family, among other reasons. VIDEO: Click above for clip from her presser. QUOTES: Read more of what Palin...
Palin Wants to Act "Outside of Government"

Spokeswoman tells Fox News her boss is "not running from pressure" and will be "getting things done in a different way." "She is going to get out there and... rally around the candidates that have th...
Palin's Family Speaks Out

Brother Chuck Heath Jr. decries "non-stop negative media blitz" in Friday interview with Fox News. KEY QUOTES: Read them here. Plus: Husband Todd says she will now focus on "doing the things for Ala...
"A Hard Road Ahead"

Biden says in Friday meeting with PM Maliki that U.S. is "ready if asked" to aid Iraq in future challenges. DETAILS: Get them here. Earlier: VP meets with son Beau, Gen. Odierno. Pool reports here an...

More at The Page »

JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: America's worst ... [America's Worst Governor]

JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: America's worst governor and alcoholic adulterous sex-assaulter crook Jim Gibbons and his power-crazed wife Dawn are finally getting the divorce everybody always knew...
Scott McClellan Can't Ruin George Bush Junior's Day [Happy As Ever]

The great George W. Bush delivered the commencement address at Colorado's Air Force Academy today, the same day that his former hobbit slave was publicizing mean books about him. Here he is this...
John McCain's Biggest Fan: 'Your Name' [Outdoor Advertising]

Ooh looky it's another Kustomized Kampaign Trinket for you, the reader! For just $250, you can show the world that YOUR NAME totally supports JOHN MCCAIN. But are there any names or phrases that...
Even Little-Girl Hillary Was A Conniving Monster [Abc Afterschool Special]

We usually don't like to encourage the comedy YouTube jokes because none of them are funny, or it's something you can watch on the TeeVee, later, on your sofa or whatever, eating your "carry out."...
Scott McClellan's A Big Hit! [Mission Accomplished]

SEE WHAT EVERYONE'S SAYING ABOUT SCOTT MCCLELLAN'S NEW #1 BOOK, GEORGE BUSH JR. MADE VAGUE ERRORS! "I would think if he harbored such deep feelings about things he wouldn't have and shouldn't have.

More at Wonkette »

Ryan Lizza: Sheila Bair, FDIC, and the financial crisis.

Last month, Sheila Bair, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, received a Profile in Courage Award at the Kennedy Library, in Boston. Each year, the Kennedy Library Foundation present...
James Surowiecki: Caveat Mortgagor

In 1937, the Massengill Company began selling a health product called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which contained one of the antibiotic sulfa drugs. Unfortunately, it also contained diethylene glycol, a sol...
Hendrik Hertzberg: Stonewall Plus Forty

The most improbable of America’s mass movements for civil rights--improbable at the time, inevitable in retrospect--got its start at a most improbable hour in a most improbable place. The hour:...
Laura Secor: Protest Vote

More than a hundred Iranian reformists have been arrested in the turmoil following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hastily declared victory in the June 12th Presidential election. Among them is Saeed Hajj...
Hendrik Hertzberg: The Obama Effect

Three days after President Obama’s address to the Arab and Muslim world, voters in Lebanon went to the polls to elect a new parliament. According to the Times, “most analysts” had co...

More at New Yorker »

The Lost Lincoln: Who He Really Was, And Why We Need To Rediscover Him

The past three generations of historians have agreed that Abraham Lincoln was probably the best president in American history and that Franklin Pierce was one of the worst. Pierce, a New Hampshire Dem...
TNR's Founding Fathers Spectacular: Wood On Washington! Schlesinger On Adams And Hamilton! Wilentz On Jefferson! And Much More…

Throughout its 95-year history, The New Republic has featured the work of countless renowned historians on America's founding fathers. For the Fourth of July, we dug up our best book reviews, historic...
How The Iraq War Clouded Obama's Judgment On Iran

In the affairs of states, lessons are often learned too late or too well. Faced with unexpected crises and unwelcome demands for prompt decision- making, governments think by analogy. And they are inv...
TNRtv: Afghanistan's Ambassador On His Country's Big Challenges, From A Thriving Poppy Trade To Legalized Marital Rape

In the second part of a TNRtv series on Afghanistan, Ambassador to the United States Said Tayeb Jawad addresses some of his country's most pressing challenges: a thriving poppy trade, the need for a g...
Congress 2.0: It's 2009--Isn't It Time We Allow Senators Incapable Of Making It To Washington To Vote From Home?

The news that Al Franken is finally going to the Senate has prompted all sorts of musing about the Democrats' new supermajority. But, in fact, the Democrats don't have 60 votes--and it's not even the...

More at New Republic »

More PitneyGate Fallout?

Press focused on who asked questions at Obama town hall...
The Economy Today: School's Out

With Money Tight, Classes Are Slashed...
Normalizing the Filibuster

The Senate’s peculiar institution gets taken for granted...
The Economy Today: Happy New (Fiscal) Year

Economic headlines from California, Utah, North Dakota, and elsewhere...
A Morning of eGov

Notes on the Obama administration’s ambassadors to the Personal Democracy Forum...

More at Campaign Desk »

State Welfare Rolls Feel Impact Of Recession

Welfare caseloads have been going up in most states over the past year, but not in all of them. In fact, cases are going down in some of the hardest-hit areas. That's raised questions about whether t...
In Defense Of The Flag (Sewn For History Class)

Bob Heft, who sewed the 50-state flag as a high schooler, received a B- for his project. Heft's history teacher accused him of not knowing how many states were in the union at the time. The teacher c...
Visiting Sen. Grassley At Home in Iowa

Congress returns to Washington next week with health care on its mind. President Obama and the Democrats agree with Republicans that legislation overhauling health care should be bipartisan. And there...
'It's All Politics': NPR's Weekly News Roundup

In the latest political podcast, NPR Washington Editor Ron Elving and Political Editor Ken Rudin discuss Al Franken and the myth of the 60-vote Senate majority.
Hundreds Of Calif. Homeless March For Land Rights

In Sacramento, hundreds of homeless demonstrate in hopes of securing land to sleep on. In recent months a tent city and a city shelter have closed. With laws that prohibit sleeping in public places, t...

More at NPR »

Friday's Mini-Report

FRIDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Yesterday, U.S. troops faced minimal resistance in Afghanistan. Today was far more difficult: "Taliban insurgents stepped up attacks Frid...
Palin to resign

PALIN TO RESIGN.... Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) decided to shake up an otherwise slow news day with an astounding announcement: not only has she decided to skip a re-election campaign next year, she's...
Quote of the Day

QUOTE OF THE DAY.... Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) of Nevada. Reid says he expects the tactic of gentle persuasion to work best, given the size of his Senate Democratic flock and the political...
Pondering ratings success

PONDERING RATINGS SUCCESS.... Reader D.R. posed a question via email the other day, and I promised him I'd respond online. He asked: I detest Fox News (except Shepard Smith) but why are their ratings...
Relevant facts aren't 'smears'

RELEVANT FACTS AREN'T 'SMEARS'.... The far-right's obsession with Alan Carlin continues. Today, the Wall Street Journal ran this wildly unpersuasive piece from Kimberley Strassel on the subject. [Carl...

More at Washington Monthly »

Palin Steps Down: Is it Over for Her?

The stunning announcement may spell doom for her political future. (Read more from Ed Driscoll here.)...
The Real Michael Jackson Disappeared Long Ago

The pop icon's death got me thinking about another era in my life in which his music was part of the soundtrack. (Also read Roger L. Simon: Mainstream Media Michael Jackson Obsession Continues to Top...
In Washington, Conservatives Are Never Really ‘In Power’

The GOP is always vastly outnumbered in the executive branch's bureaucracy — no matter who is president.
How to Talk to Reporters at Your Tea Party

A little preparation can help you get your message out properly. (Sign up as a citizen reporter for PJTV here.)...
What Was That About Jobs, Madam Speaker?

After pitching new spending programs as job creation, the horrendous unemployment numbers spell trouble for Dems.

More at Pajamas Media »

Was Obama rude to wounded veterans during a visit to the National Naval Medical Center?

A chain e-mail that makes such a claim gets several facts wrong and is disputed by an official who was present at the meeting.
Is ACORN providing workers for the 2010 census?

No. ACORN employees will not be taking the census. The group is one of more than 30,000 "partners" that will help publicize the event.
The 'Real' Uninsured

Some critics say fewer people lack access to health coverage than official statistics make it appear. We break down the numbers.
Pushing for a Public Plan

Two liberal groups ramp up their efforts in support of a major health care overhaul.
Is Obama planning to increase the federal tax on gun ammunition by 500 percent?

No such proposal has been made by the Obama administration. And nobody in Congress has introduced any bill to increase the 11 percent federal excise tax on ammo.

More at Fact Check »

STUNNER: A Palin announcement: Resigning in weeks; “It hurts to make this choice. But I’m doing what’s best for Alaska”

Read this post »...
Strike of the Sword

Keep our Marines in your prayers as head off for the holiday weekend. [...] Read the rest »...
GoDaddy.com celebrates America

Read this post »...
1776: A letter from husband to wife

Ravishing Light and Glory.
Cap-and-Tax Watch: Protests across the country

Read this post »...

More at Michelle Malkin »

Sarah Palin resignation -- VIDEO

Celebrate the crazy: You notice at the beginning of the clip, she takes a shot at lame duck governors who take overseas trade missions? As I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run fo...
TX-Gov: Ronnie Earle moves toward gubernatorial run

Remember Ronnie Earle? He was the Travis County District Attorney who indicted Tom DeLay back in 2004. Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle inched closer to seeking the Democratic nom...
Palin to resign as governor

Update (12:50PM) -- "America is looking north to the future." Must be running. Update (12:45PM) -- Video of Palin's statement just now. We'll post it soon, but the birds making noises over her announ...
Midday Open Thread

An idea whose time has clearly come: Draft Bachmann. California is busy printing up IOU's. That's not a messed up budgeting system at all... Gay sex has been decriminalized in Delhi, which is expected...
FL-Sen: Not very Republican-y of you, Charlie

This isn't how Republicans are supposed to act. Gov. Charlie Crist ran afoul of the state Constitution when he refused to fill an appeals court seat because all of the picks submitted to him were wh...

More at Daily Kos »

Sarah Palin To Quit As Alaska Governor

Late last year, I spoke with a number of Republican Party activists about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. What would she need to do to have a chance in 2012? Could she be the conservative star that the m...
Michele Bachmann is Cens(us)less

The constitution doesn't require much participation from the American people. It protects their rights -- free speech, to bear arms, a fair trial, etc – but it doesn't even make voting mandatory. Th...
Europe's Ambassadorial Angst

A dispatch from Swampland London correspondent Catherine Mayer: Last night Richard LeBaron, America's Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in London, hosted the annual Independence Day shindig at Winfield Ho...
Washington Post Flap: How They Played It

The New York Times puts its story about the Washington Post controversy on Page One, with a headline that calls it a "Pay-for-Chat Plan;" the Washington Post puts its own version back in the Style Sec...
Going To The Chapel, Take Two

I know I'm a bit dim, but it sounds to me like the President confirmed my story about his church preference in a conversation today with a group of Catholic reporters. We have attended services at Cam...

More at Swampland »

The Week Ahead: Obama's big trip

THE WEEK AHEAD: Obama's fourth major international trip takes him from Russia to Italy to Ghana, Congress is back, Al Franken gets seated and George W. Bush and Nancy Reagan birthdays. For our m...
Budget woes in the states

From NBC's Alex Beinstein, James Rankin, and Katelin SchartzThe economic recession has not hurt individual Americans across the country; it has also negatively affected state governments, which must b...
Kennedy committee releases health plan

From NBC's Ken StricklandDetails on some of the most contentious elements of health-care reform were released today by one of Senate committees drafting the bill. The Senate Health Committee un...
Obama on Michael Jackson's death

From NBC's Scott FosterIn an on-camera interview today with the AP, President Obama was asked for his reaction to the apparent perception in the black community that he wasn't "respectful enough"...
Biden makes surprise visit to Iraq

From NBC's Mark MurrayThe vice president's office just announced that Joe Biden has arrived in Iraq. The visit comes just days after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country's largest cities. He...

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