A pair of Texas lawmakers who were opposed to federal aid for Hurricane Sandy relief suddenly love the idea of federal aid to help West, Texas recover from a massive explosion at a fertilizer factory. That includes Tea Party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz and the congressman who actually represents West.
Category Archive: Politics
Apr 23 2013
Terrorism and Public Policy
Kevin Drum was asked a few days ago who he was secretly hoping the bombers would turn out to be. His answer was “whatever kind of person is least likely to have any effect whatsoever on public policy.” And that’s a good answer. Because such situations are often exploited to support very bad policies (Patriot …
Apr 23 2013
Bachmann Staffer to Admit Breaking the Law
Another interesting development in the multiple investigations of campaign law violations by Michele Bachmann. In an Iowa Senate probe, her former chief of staff is going to admit that the campaign illegally paid a state senator by funneling it through a third party, a pretty serious violation.
Apr 23 2013
Business as Usual Continues in Politics
When President Obama took office, he promised to change business as usual in Washington. No lobbyists would work in his administration, he declared, but quickly made so many exceptions to the rule that it became irrelevant. And in reality, as Noam Scheiber notes, virtually nothing has changed; the revolving door is still revolving as quickly …
Apr 22 2013
More Investigations of Bachmann
It seems the probe of Michele Bachmann’s alleged campaign improprieties is expanding. Sources have told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the Office of Congressional Ethics is now looking into whether she illegally used campaign staff to promote her book.
Apr 22 2013
GOP Leaves Sanford Out to Dry
In the wake of allegations that he had illegally trespassed on his ex-wife’s property several times, the National Republican Campaign Committee has decided not to support him in his campaign to regain his old House seat. The punchline is that they’re pretending that it’s because he’s so good at politics:
Apr 16 2013
Jon Stewart on Rand Paul’s Howard U. Speech
Rand Paul gave a poorly received talk recently at Howard University, one of the most prestigious historically black colleges in the country. He claimed that the only thing keeping black voters from supporting the GOP was that they just didn’t know the history of Republican support for civil rights. And of course, he pretended that …
Apr 10 2013
Landrieu’s Political Cowardice
Though nearly every other Democratic legislator in Congress has finally “evolved” on marriage equality, Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana has steadfastly refused. And her excuse is that while she personally thinks gay people should have the right to marry, her constituents don’t:
Apr 07 2013
Look, an Environmentalist Billionaire
In a political system controlled by big money, environmentalists have long had a problem: They simply cannot match the spending of corporations and wealthy individuals with a vested interest in killing their agenda. But now they’ve got a billionaire on their side — and it’s got the Democrats sweating a bit, as Politico points out.
Apr 05 2013
Second GOP Senator Endorses Marriage Equality
A second Republican senator has come out in favor of marriage equality, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois. He joins Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio as the only Republicans in the U.S. Senate to do so. Kirk does not say that he takes this position because of a gay son, but merely because it’s the right …
Apr 04 2013
Kristol Insults Young, Pro-Equality Voters
Bill Kristol, who really should give a portion of his income to Dick Morris for keeping him from being the least accurate pundit in the country, did a Daily Caller podcast and dismissed young voters who favor marriage equality as people who don’t know anything and shouldn’t influence the Republican party:
Apr 04 2013
That House Report on DOMA
During oral argument on the DOMA challenge last week, Justice Kagan quoted from a House report on that legislation. In case you were interested, you can find it here. It’s a report from the House Judiciary Committee to the full House when the bill was sent to the floor for a vote. Section V of …
Apr 04 2013
That Convenient ‘Evolution’ on Marriage Equality
John McWhorter takes aim at something that has annoyed me as well, the fact that so many politicians who are changing their positions on whether gay couples should be allowed to get married have described themselves as “evolving” on the subject.
Apr 03 2013
Palin’s Empty Anti-Consultant Nonsense
John Avlon has been looking at the FEC filings for SarahPAC, Sarah Palin’s primary vehicle for pretending to still be politically relevant by throwing a little money — and I mean a little money — at mostly losing candidates (I’m looking at you, Christine O’Donnell). I’m sure you’ll be shocked to hear that those records …
Mar 30 2013
Cruz Plays Pretend on Reagan
Sen. Ted Cruz may be new to the senate, but he’s apparently well-schooled in the mythical version of Saint Ronald Reagan. FactCheck takes a look at a recent statement by him that stands history completely on its head in claiming that Reagan reduced spending and debt.
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