Archive » Politicians

**Written by Doug Powers Last week, George Will said that if a Republican wins the presidential election next November, it will be either Tim Pawlenty or Mitch Daniels. Will’s prediction on the GOP side has already narrowed by half: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said early Sunday that he won’t run for president because of family [...]

**Written by Doug Powers The 1st Amendment doesn’t say freedom of the press cannot be abridged “unless the press reports what Congress does 24 hours a day and uses words the government doesn’t like.” At least not yet. From CNS News: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), when talking to Capitol reporters, said that Fox News makes [...]

Murder, they wrote

**Written by Doug Powers It was my intention to tune in tonight to Mike Huckabee’s Fox News show and watch his announcement live, but the weather provided me a window of opportunity of about two and a half hours to get the lawn mowed sans raincoat, so I took it. By the time I had [...]

**Written by Doug Powers As the Washington Post reports, Kohl will be the sixth Democrat-aligned Senator not to seek re-election ahead of 2012: Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl will announce his retirement today according to an informed Democratic source, a decision that sets up a competitive open seat contest in a state that has already drawn [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Thank goodness the Dodd-Frank bill took care of the problems, eh? From Reuters: Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) on Friday said it would ask for an additional $8.5 billion from taxpayers as it continues to suffer losses on loans made prior to 2009. The largest U.S. residential mortgage funds provider [...]

Pardon the tears

**Written by Doug Powers I’m on the run early today, but I didn’t want the morning to slip by without putting this up for discussion. In a somewhat surprising move, Arizona Governor Brewer vetoed the “birther” bill. Two-thirds of the Arizona legislature would now be required to override: (CNN) — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed [...]

“Remarkable leader”

**Written by Doug Powers We had about ten updates and several hundred comments on the other budget/shutdown watch thread, so we’ll move to a weekend version for more discussion. One of the greatest tragedies this nation has ever encountered was narrowly averted last night. I speak of course of the devastation a government shutdown would [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Because the fiscal nightmare that California has become is in part due to the free lunch culture run amok, Jerry Brown unwittingly waxes somewhat metaphorical with this one. Sacramento Bee: Gov. Jerry Brown said in a telephone town hall with state employees last night that partisan bickering is more rampant than [...]

**Written by Doug Powers I didn’t believe it when I heard that the Democrats chose an anti gun control pro-lifer who’s opposed to the health care law to be the next head of the DNC, and sure enough, my disbelief has been totally confirmed: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) will be the next head of [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Democrat caucus-parrot Chuck Schumer is sticking to his claim that the Tea Party is “extreme”: Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said he doesn’t regret reporters overhearing him telling Democratic colleagues that Republican budget cuts should be painted as “extreme.” Schumer and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., sparred on just where the Tea [...]

**Written by Doug Powers New York Rep. Anthony Weiner has made it a personal crusade to crack down on parking ticket scofflaws. So, as is the case with so many members of Congress, he’s become too distracted with policing everybody else to concern himself with the fines he’s been getting for parking the Weiner-mobile unlawfully: [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Here’s a lesson on the Constitution that’s worthy of a Schoolhouse Rock parody if anybody can think of a word that rhymes with “Lautenberg.” Sen. Frank Lautenberg was speaking at a Planned Parenthood demonstration and let loose with this (transcript by way of Hot Air): The Republicans in Congress claim they’re [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Last year, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner took personal ownership of the magnificent health care law, even to the point of proclaiming “the bill and I are one” like a monk trying to attain enlightenment using nothing but willpower, outbursts and a trillion dollars of other people’s money. In short, Anthony [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Senator Claire McCaskill has been so busy promoting oversight and transparency in congressional travel that she forgot to practice it in her own life. Whoops: Sen. Claire McCaskill is selling the personal plane that has caused her turbulence in recent weeks after POLITICO revealed she used taxpayer money to cover the [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Quick note: Apologies for the slow posting the past couple of days. I’m “on the road” and haven’t gotten in as much time for a little writing as I originally hoped — which is merely an admission that I’ve failed miserably at the art of simultaneously blogging while playing blackjack. The [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Alternate title: “Pot meets kettle” We already know that Sheila Jackson Lee thinks her constituents are dumb (many of them voted for Sheila Jackson Lee, so that’s tough to argue against), but she also, according to this article, accuses her staffers of being sub-stupid: A lot of politicians give nicknames to [...]

Tickle me budget cuts

**Written by Doug Powers As you would expect in Chicago politics, all potential Team Rahm transition co-chairs were subjected to stringent background checks… except for the ones who weren’t: (CNN) – A co-chair of Chicago mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel’s transition team resigned from her new post Friday after it was revealed that she left her high-level [...]

H&R Schlock

**Written by Doug Powers How did Richard Dreyfuss end up not being involved in this? Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush will serve as honorary chairmen of a new center at the University of Arizona that will focus on civility in political debate, university officials will announce Monday. The National Institute for Civil [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Sheila Jackson Lee makes people laugh on a daily basis, at least until they remember that she’s a member of Congress with control over the lives of others — at which point it’s like discovering that “Dummo the Clown” who’s been entertaining you in the airport terminal is also your pilot. [...]

**Written by Doug Powers I was hoping when Gregory asked Boehner how come he doesn’t spend more time lecturing people who aren’t entirely convinced President Obama was born in Hawaii that Boehner would have replied, “You probably see Chris Matthews more than I do, David, why don’t you do it?” But it wasn’t to be: [...]

Overwhelming temptation

Let’s get ready to rumble

**Written by Doug Powers When a politician refers to the general public as “ill informed” on an issue (in this case it’s hospital closures due to the health care law) it’s just another way of calling them ignorant or stupid. Even so, it’s hard to argue with Sheila Jackson Lee (D-umb Constituents) when she makes [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Note: to enhance your reading experience, this post comes equipped with an on-demand laugh track ********** Former Michigan Governor Granholm initially planned on getting a job teaching job creation in the state she ran for eight years, but I think the guy who would have hired her lost his job a [...]

**Written by Doug Powers Over the weekend, Congress will be consumed by the important national business that will no doubt involve sending their colleagues text messages that say things like, “OMG, I totally heard that he’s going to ask you to go to the SOTU with him!” Back when this idea was first floated, there [...]