Some of California’s municipalities are so cash-strapped that California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer has commissioned a “default probability model” for city bonds that will allow California lawmakers and the public to identify the cities that are at the greatest risk of default.
If the country goes over the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling may need to be raised by another $4.25 trillion over the next decade even though the federal government will take in a record amount of tax dollars. This could
Speaking Tuesday at an annual dinner honoring the late Jack Kemp, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the federal government could have taken the trillion dollars it spent last year on welfare programs and instead given a check for $20,000 to every
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) objected to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) proposal to take up President Barack Obama’s request to have the unprecedented power to raise the debt ceiling without getting approval from Congress. McConnell made
After purging four conservative House members from key Committees, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) threatened Republican members of Congress on Wednesday by telling them Republican leaders are “watching” their votes to determine future committee assignments. Boehner’s remarks are a sign
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama indicated that having unlimited powers to raise the debt ceiling without Congress’s approval may be more important to him than raising taxes — and he may veto his own tax hike proposal to take the
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) turned down an opportunity to allow the Senate to vote on President Barack Obama’s proposal to avert the fiscal cliff, proving that Obama’s plan is so unreasonable that Senate Democrats do not
When Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling dropped his bid to seek the Republican Party’s 2013 gubernatorial nomination last week against Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, political observers scored Cuccinelli’s likely nomination as a Tea Party victory. But Bolling later signaled that he
On Tuesday, House Democrats unanimously selected Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) to be the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. Waters will be the ranking member on the committee that deals with banking issues. Last year, the House Ethics
The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security, agreed last week to reopen and rehear the immigration case of President Barack Obama’s uncle, Onyango Obama. An immigration judge ruled Obama had to
A new Georgia poll found that former GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, whose embrace of the Tea Party briefly propelled him to the top of the 2012 GOP presidential primary field during primary, leads incumbent Republican Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss
Pimco’s chief investment officer Bill Gross said on Tuesday that Americans should expect to see 1-2% growth for the foreseeable future. “We think that the United States is in a one to two percent growth environment going forward and investors should
Two conservative members of Congress who were booted from powerful House Committees by the Republican leadership said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the House Republican leadership are set on passing major tax increases to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.
A Pew Research post-election poll found that a majority of young voters who were 18-29 years of age preferred bigger government. According to the survey, 59% of young voters said “government should do more to solve problems” while only 37%
Analysts from the Heritage Foundation, a center-right think tank, on Tuesday said the House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-OH) counteroffer to President Barack Obama’s proposal to avert the fiscal cliff was a “dud,” “beyond disappointing,” “bad policy,” and blistered the House Republican leadership
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) denigrated Hispanics in 2010 when Reid said he could not imagine how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican. Martinez charged that Reid, in those remarks, assumed
On Monday, Sarah Palin said the rampant crony capitalism in Washington has unfortunately tarnished the term “capitalism.” Palin was responding to a recent Gallup poll that found Americans viewed “free enterprise” more favorably than “capitalism,” while Democrats favor the federal
President Barack Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter continues to insist that the Obama campaign was not making an argument that “Bain [Capital] was bad,” even though a pro-Obama super PAC essentially accused Mitt Romney of being responsible for a
As speculation ramps up about what First Lady Michelle Obama will do after President Barack Obama’s presidency, Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) believes she should run for office. Clyburn said Michelle Obama is “exactly” what Washington needs. “I’d love to see
Actor Samuel L. Jackson recently called First Lady Michelle Obama “Superwoman,” and said he thinks Michelle Obama could be a future Supreme Court Justice or even president of the United States. “Michelle is Superwoman. What can’t she do?” the “Avengers”
It took the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 159 pages to explain one new Obamacare tax on investments that will be used to pay for Obamacare. Only individuals and families making more than $200,000 and $250,000, respectively, will be impacted by
On Monday, environmental activists protested the Keystone XL pipeline expansion in East Texas by physically going into the barrels and, “using a blockading technique never implemented before,” locking themselves between two barrels of concrete “located twenty-five feet into a pipe
Former Alaska Governor and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin said the country has already gone over the fiscal cliff and House Republicans should not go “wobbly” or be “wusses” during the fiscal cliff negotiations with Democrats and the White House.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday deferred on whether it will take up any of ten pending same-sex marriage cases, including Hollingsworth v. Perry (California’s Proposition 8 case), for review in its next term. The Justices will next consider whether to
President Barack Obama will ask Democrats to keep Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) as Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in January when DNC members meet. A “senior Democratic official” told Politico that “because of the outstanding job she
