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
Today, it was revealed that a small group of House members have been meeting to draft legislation on immigration reform. The effort is reminiscent of the “Gang of 8” agreement in the Senate announced with great fan fare just over
Last November, President Obama won a narrow reelection and the Democrats in the Senate added two seats to their caucus. A few high-profile Republicans lost their races. The outcome has prompted the usual round of hand-wringing from the media, pundits
Penny Pritzker, heiress to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, has been an important backer of Barack Obama’s political career. A fixture of Chicago Democrat politics, billionaire Pritzker has bundled tens of millions of dollars in contributions to Obama’s campaigns. She helped
The exodus of Obama’s cabinet continued this afternoon with the resignation of Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. The Nobel laureate physicist announced his departure this afternoon in a letter to President Obama. He plans to step down at the end of
Last Friday, the Obama campaign fired up its vaunted voter machine and urged supporters to call Congress in support of gun control. The email alert to Obama’s list of more than 20 million supporters was intended to flood Congress with
The Labor Department reported this morning that the economy added 157,000 jobs in January, down sharply from November and December. Revised hiring figures show the economy added 247k and 196k jobs, respectively in the final two months of 2012. The
Chuck Hagel’s uneven performance during the first round of questioning before the Senate Armed Services Committee has raised questions about his nomination’s viability. His answers, often stumbling and confused, have raised more questions about his fitness to run the Defense
Yesterday, MA Governor Deval Patrick appointed a long-time aide to temporarily fill the vacancy left by John Kerry’s departure for the State Department. The Governor also selected June 25th as the date of the special election to serve out the
Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee begins its consideration of the nomination of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. The former Republican Senator from Nebraska is a combat veteran, but has little other experience in America’s national security infrastructure. His
Today’s dismal GDP report has put Democrats and their media allies into a furious spin cycle. Economists had expected a slight uptick in the economy of just over 1% growth. Instead, the Commerce Department reported that GDP in the 4th
According to a new Reason-Rupe poll released today, just 27% of Americans believe that an assault weapons ban would have helped prevent the tragedy at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT. 67% of Americans believe that the ban, which expired in
On Monday, the Senate cleared a $50.5 Billion relief package to aid the clean up and recovery from SuperStorm Sandy. The bill now goes to President Obama, who has said he will sign the measure. Including the $10 Billion in
Today, Sen. Marco Rubio, joined by a bi-partisan group of seven other Senators, announced the framework of a deal on immigration reform. The details are sketchy, but the deal will provide a foundation for coming talks on the issue. The
Former SC Governor, Mark Sanford, surprised the political world with his announcement that he would seek his former Congressional seat in this Spring’s special election. The Charleston-based seat is vacant due to the resignation of Rep. Tim Scott who was
This weekend, IA Dem Sen. Tom Harkin shook up Iowa politics with a surprise announcement that he would retire at the end of his term in 2014. The far-left Senator had been widely expected to seek reelection next year and
The winner of the “Most Serious About Deficits” Award goes to Rep. Mo Brooks. This week, the Alabama Republican proposed a Balanced Budget Amendment with an interesting enforcement provision. The constitutional amendment would require a balanced budget in five years and
On Friday, two-term GA Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced he would not seek reelection next year. Conservatives and grass roots activists in the state had been actively seeking a primary challenge to Chambliss. At least two members of the GOP House
Yesterday, the Senate approved changes in its rules relating to ending a filibuster. The rule change has been a top priority of outside progressive groups, who believe the rule blocks enactment of their agenda. In recent weeks, Majority Leader Reid
A new survey from Gallup finds an overwhelming majority of small business owners reporting that taxes (80%) and health care costs (73%) are hurting their businesses. A majority report that these two issues are hurting their businesses “a lot.” The
This afternoon, as expected, the House passed a measure to temporarily “suspend” the nation’s debt ceiling until May 19th. The measure also contained a provision that would withhold congressional paychecks after April 15th until such time as Congress passes a
The House GOP proposal to “suspend” the nation’s debt ceiling gained momentum yesterday as the White House stated it would support the move. Senate Majority Leader Reid signaled he is willing to bring the measure to a vote. Club for
Presidential inaugurations are a civic ritual in our nation. It is a rare moment when official Washington, and the country, set aside partisan battles and celebrate a sacred tradition of American democracy. Campaigns are hard-fought but when they are done,
Obama’s second Inaugural address should put to rest any doubts that he has no interest in real negotiations to curb government spending. In the 18-minute speech, the word “deficit” was used once and only in relation to bringing down health
