The media and the left are agitated that Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell were caught on a “hot mic” discussing the utter lack of a White House strategy to navigate the government shutdown fight. Paul notes, in his conversation
While House and Senate Republicans attempt to reopen specific federal agencies, Senate Democrats have formed a united block against what they call a “piecemeal” approach. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has slammed Republicans for trying to “cherry-pick” which parts of
Since the government shutdown, House and Senate Republicans have proposed restoring funding to specific agencies or government functions while the parties seek consensus on the larger issues. The House has proposed legislation to reopen the National Parks, the National Institutes
A plurality of Americans, 44%, say Republicans deserve more blame for the government shutdown, according to a new CBS poll. But, a surprising 35% believe President Obama, who has publicly refused to negotiate with the GOP, deserves more of the
As the federal government enters day three of a partial shutdown, talk in Congress is turning increasingly to a “grand bargain” that would include entitlement and tax reform as a way to resolve the current fiscal impasse. Rep. Steve Stivers,
Washington DC is a company town. As LA is dominated by the entertainment industry, the DC area is dominated by the federal government. When the government shuts down, furloughing hundreds of thousands of workers, there is going to be a
On Monday, just hours into a government shutdown, the Park Police tried to block access to the WWII memorial. The memorial, which is basically a landscape feature in a public park, was temporarily cut off from veterans of World War
The Obama Administration has decided to block access to public memorials on the National Mall as a result of the government shutdown. Like its decision to end White House tours when the sequester cuts took effect, there is no rational
Payroll firm ADP reported Wednesday that the economy gained just 166k jobs in September, far below economists’ expectations of a 180k gain. ADP also revised down its estimate of August job gains from over 170k to just 159k. Because
On Tuesday, the House GOP proposed legislation to restore funding for the National Park Service, the Veterans Administration and DC local government, but a united block of Democrats, with the White House’s blessing, blocked the funding. The GOP was trying
The House first tried to defund ObamaCare. Then, it tried to delay the whole law and then just the individual mandate. In the final hours before the midnight deadline, the House ended with a simple proposal. It would agree to
Voyager 2, a space-probe first launched in 1977 and now nearing interstellar space, has a twitter feed. I learned this because, as a result of the government shutdown, the space-probe has informed the planet that it can no longer keep
Late Monday, as the government neared a midnight deadline triggering a shutdown, the House voted to appoint conferees to negotiate a solution to the funding crisis. These conferees would form the House contingent of a “conference committee” of Reps and
As I write this, the U.S. is just hours away from its 18th government shutdown over the last 35 years. Beyond expectations, House Republicans are sticking to their guns and insisting that President Obama and Senate Democrats make changes to
On Monday, the House announced that it would pass a third Continuing Resolution to keep government open past Monday’s midnight deadline. The announcement came soon after the Senate rejected the House CR that would delay ObamaCare for one year. The
Worried that Republicans would get most of the “blame” from a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is quietly gauging support for a one-week stopgap spending measure that would buy Congress more time for talks. With Democrats and President
Democrats and the media are convinced that the public will “blame” Republicans for the looming government shutdown. This is predicated on memories that Republicans were “blamed” for the last government shutdown, in 1995-96. The media certainly did “blame” the GOP
If the government shuts down at midnight on Monday, it will largely be the result of a strategy pursued by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Democrats have lined up so squarely behind Reid’s strategy that President Obama cancelled planned
With all eyes trained on the fight over government spending and Obamacare, the House is scheduled to take up a non-controversial land-swap bill that would trade 2000 acres of federal land in Arizona for 5000 acres of pristine land owned
Having defeated President Obama’s quest to shoot holes in the Second Amendment, a GOP Leadership aide recently told the Huffington Post the House would soon spend time examining the link between link between video games and violence, essentially kicking off
UPDATE: The House voted 231-192 to keep the government open and delay Obamacare. Harry Reid has said that the Senate will reject the measure. ** On Saturday, House GOP Leadership announced plans to take up the Senate stop-gap spending bill and
A new poll released by Public Policy Polling on Friday finds Sen. Ted Cruz now leading the pack of possible candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination. Garnering support from 20% of Republican voters nationwide, he edges out Sen. Rand Paul
On Friday, Sen. John McCain indulged in his favorite pastime–going to the media and criticizing his fellow Republicans. Speaking to CBS, McCain said the GOP was “dysfunctional” and blamed Sens. Cruz and Lee for driving wedges between Republicans over their
The consequences of three of the biggest political battles of the last four years are all converging over the next two weeks. With a polarized Congress and an intransigent Obama Administration, there is no clear path to settle the current
On Friday, the Senate voted 79-19 to invoke cloture and end debate on the House-passed Continuing Resolution. The vote paves the way for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to offer an amendment to restore funding for ObamaCare. Funding for the
