Photo credit: Huffington Post
What is it that makes second terms so politically treacherous? Received wisdom tells us that scandal is rooted in hubris – a newly re-elected President, having stared down the threat of political extinction, now thinks himself invulnerable, and soon enough is caught up in scandal.
But I think something more fundamental is at work. Continue reading
President tuned into bin Laden killing, tuned out of Benghazi attack.
Five House Committee Chairmen last week released an “Interim Progress Report” on their joint investigation into last September’s terrorist attack on a US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. The report, given little attention by most major media outlets, was immediately denounced by Democratic Members of those 5 committees as a “partisan staff report” that violated “regular order.”
They’re right both about the report’s partisan tenor and its departure from regular order. The procedure for filing committee reports is almost as old as Congress itself. That process is well-defined and includes, where appropriate, a section for the minority to state its views. There is nothing of the sort in this “interim report.” It reads more like an indictment than a judgment. It presents only one side of the story.
That one side of the story, however, includes a chronology that is carefully documented and well-sourced. Continue reading
Putting aside personal animosity for the greater good.
House conservatives yesterday scuttled a bill that would have denied the White House money it urgently needs to implement the new health reform law. But a prominent Senate Democrat, who helped write the law, maneuvered to deny the Administration those desperately needed funds. Meanwhile, Speaker Boehner and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid are locked in quiet talks to exempt themselves and their staffs from the new law.
Got all that? Continue reading
VP lives rent-free in this 9,000 square foot house.…and gives little to charity (Photo credit: White House Museum)
I don’t want to pick on Joe Biden.
He seems a decent enough guy, and if he sometimes says odd things (like “we to have spend money to keep from going bankrupt”), his musings are at least authentic expressions of his sometimes confused state of mind. He is not a phony. Continue reading
Budget debates make good political theater. Each party forces recorded votes designed to score political points and embarrass members of the opposing party. The House had fun yesterday with some amendments before adopting the Republican proposal written by Paul Ryan (R‑WI). The Senate began debate on its proposal last evening and is bracing for Friday’s “vote-a-rama” – a day of recorded votes on dozens of politically-barbed amendments advanced by members of both parties. Continue reading