Local and national Democrats are mobilizing against former congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, the front-runner for next week’s Democrat primary in Illinois’ special congressional election. The special election is to fill the term of disgraced Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who recently pled
President Obama surprised political observers with a strong push to increase the minimum wage in his State of the Union address last week. Obama called on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $9/hour by 2015, from its current
With Congress out of session next week, due to the Presidents’ Day holiday, it looks inevitable that the sequestration cuts will take effect March 1st. Replacing the $85 billion in cuts scheduled through the rest of the fiscal year isn’t
The House on Friday passed legislation to preserve, for an additional year, a pay freeze for non-military federal workers. The freeze has been in effect for the past three years. The action was necessary because President Obama recently announced that
This afternoon, DOJ informed Judicial Watch that the CIA has uncovered another 7 photos of Osama bin Laden’s body, taken after the raid that ended his life on May 1st, 2011. The previous known photos of bin Laden have been
It’s almost two years until the midterm elections in 2014, so people can be excused their occasional flights of fancy. Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) released a memo to his colleagues arguing that
On Thursday, Obama faced the first set-back of his second term as the Senate blocked a vote on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to head the Defense Department. Politico recalls today that Obama was warned by several advisors and Democrats on the
President Obama’s reelection campaign was built on class warfare and resentment of the wealthy. He spoke broadly about the sins of Wall Street and the financial sector. He vilified his opponent, Mitt Romney, for making money on financial transactions and
It is something of a parlor game among American sports fans to make fun of European football (soccer). It is true that many games end in a draw, or even that no goals are scored at all. There are no
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who, when not obsessing over salt content, wrings his hands about money in politics, has directed his personal SuperPAC to spend $1.3 million, so far, against Debbie Halvorson, former Congresswoman and candidate for the special election to replace
KY Sen. Rand Paul gave an unprecedented second response to the State of the Union address. In the modern political era, the party not in control of the White House responds to the President’s speech. FL Sen. Marco Rubio gave
FL Sen. Marco Rubio gave the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address. Now, delivering the opposing party response to a SOTU address is a very difficult task. The President speaks before the assembled chambers of Congress.
In the modern political era, the party not controlling the White House gives an official “response” to the President’s State of the Union address. This year, FL Sen. Marco Rubio will present the “official” GOP response to Obama’s speech. In
Former active duty Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez has announced his intention to run in the special election to fill the vacancy left by John Kerry. A private-equity investor, Gomez now has until the end of the month to collect the
In just over two weeks, the “sequester”, automatic spending cuts first proposed by the White House in the debt ceiling talks in 2011, will take effect. Unless Congress and the President agree to alternative spending cuts, which seems unlikely, discretionary
Last month, the US Postal Service quietly posted a “request for information” on a government website asking for help in designing a more efficient package delivery system. Its chief competitors, UPS and FedEx, have been using a system called “dynamic
This weekend, the New York Times editorialized that Senate Majority Leader Reid should remove embattled NJ Senator Bob Menendez from his Chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The paper argued that, until Sen. Menendez adequately addresses recent allegations, he
According to a new Quinnipiac poll released Friday, Hillary Clinton is the most popular political figure in the US. 61% of voters have a favorable view of Clinton, against 34% with an unfavorable view. These are her best polling numbers
A new poll released today by Quinnipiac University bears ominous news for Republicans in Congress. For the first time, a majority of Republicans, 51%, disapprove of the job the GOP is doing in Congress. Just 41% of Republicans approve of
This week, rising star Republican governors John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan became the 5th and 6th GOP state executives to sign onto the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. Florida’s Rick Scott, once the most vocal governor opposed to
According the developing accounts, NJ Sen. Bob Menendez has a special relationship with mega-donor Dr. Salomon Melgen. In addition to campaign contributions, Dr. Melgen allegedly flew Sen. Menendez to the Dominican Republic on his private plane and may have provided
The controversy surrounding NJ Sen. Bob Menendez began as a sex scandal. The Senator allegedly traveled to the Dominican Republic for sex trysts with prostitutes organized by a major campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen. Further reporting has unveiled more serious
The Senate Armed Services Committee has delayed a vote on the nomination of Chuck Hagel to serve as Defense Secretary after he failed to turn over requested financial information. Hagel had been asked to disclose details about foreign funding he
Michelle Rhee, former DC Schools Chancellor, has published her first book, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First, that chronicles her evolution as one of the nation’s preeminent education reformers. In 2007, she was appointed to the newly created position of Chancellor
According to reports, President Obama is leaning towards naming EPA official Gina McCarthy to succeed Lisa Jackson as EPA Administrator. McCarthy is currently in charge of air quality at the EPA. She has an extensive background, however, in climate change
