Whatever She's Wearing, We Love It
From the women at Slate:Could Michelle Obama have better color sense? Like Dana, I am loving her apolitically chartreuse outfit. (Although there is some fussiness in the scarf's interface with the...
View ArticleThe Geithner Hearings
The Senate Finance Committee begins hearings this morning on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary. Perhaps the biggest question, as far as Geithner's qualifications are...
View ArticleGeithner's "Troubled Tax History"
Greetings from the Geithner hearings. The Treasury Secretary-designate's tax problem was one of the first things mentioned today by Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus in opening statements....
View ArticleDemocrats for Geithner
After chairman Max Baucus, the first two Democrats to question Geithner -- Sens. Jeff Bingaman and John Kerry -- have both said up front that they intend to vote for Geithner.P.S. After Grassley, the...
View Article"You're Going To Be Confirmed"
That was Republican Sen. Pat Roberts to Geithner, moments ago.
View ArticleEric Holder Vote Delayed
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a brief meeting this afternoon in which Republicans forced a one-week delay in a committee vote on the nomination of Eric Holder to be attorney general. Chairman...
View ArticleObama Took the Oath a Second Time
As for the messed-up oath at the inauguration yesterday, some observers said that right-wing nuts would be hinting darkly that Obama wasn't really president because he had not taken the...
View ArticleThe Geithner Rush Job
I'll have a story up in a few hours on today's Timothy Geithner hearing. There's a lot of action going on tonight in the Geithner matter, all of it happening under a tight deadline of tomorrow morning...
View ArticleTough But Fair
In 2001, during the confirmation of John Ashcroft to be attorney general, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee forced a one-week delay in the committee's vote on Ashcroft, saying there had not...
View ArticleTimothy Geithner's Story
Give Timothy Geithner credit. He has a story, and he’s sticking to it. Even if it’s not the whole story.When the treasury secretary-designate walked into his confirmation hearing before the Senate...
View ArticleTimothy Geithner's Story
I have a new article today on the Senate Finance Committee's confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner. As expected, some Republicans questioned Geithner closely about his...
View ArticleAccepting the Unacceptable
A senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said he believes Timothy Geithner’s failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes is “completely unacceptable” and would in any other time...
View ArticleSenate Democrat: Geithner's Tax Offenses "Completely Unacceptable"
I have a new story up today on the Geithner nomination:A senior Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee said he believes Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner's failure to pay Social Security...
View ArticleLimbaugh Responds to Obama
According to an account in the New York Post, President Barack Obama yesterday told Republican leaders, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." With George W. Bush now off the...
View ArticleTreasury Secretary Geithner
This afternoon, the Senate is scheduled to take up the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary. The debate promises be brief. By unanimous consent, the Senate has allotted just one...
View ArticleThe Geithner Debate
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch is opening up the Geithner debate with a strong statement of support for Geithner. Hatch is repeating an argument he has used in the Senate Finance Committee -- that a...
View ArticleThe Geithner Debate 2
After Hatch's endorsement, Republicans Chambliss, Inhofe, and Thune all said they'll vote against Geithner. Susan Collins announced earlier that she, too, will vote against Geithner.
View ArticleGeithner Confirmed
As expected, the Senate confirmed Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary. But 34 senators voted against the nomination, including Democrats Tom Harkin and Robert Byrd, both of whom cited Geithner's...
View ArticleDemocrats Who Don't Believe Geithner
After the Senate's debate yesterday afternoon on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury, ten Republicans voted to confirm Geithner. But only one of them, Sen. Orrin Hatch,...
View ArticleObama and the War War
One more word about Obama's interview with Al Arabiya. The president has promised to escalate the war in Afghanistan. He has promised a very aggressive stance toward Pakistan. And yet in his...
View ArticleRead the Bill
Drudge is highlighting a section in the Democratic stimulus bill allocating $335 million for the prevention of sexually-transmitted and other communicable diseases. But just looking at the part of the...
View Article"Overwhelming" GOP Opposition to Stimulus Bill
Just talked to a very clued-in Republican on the Hill. This person wouldn't predict a unanimous Republican vote against the Democratic stimulus package, but said there would be "minimal" GOP support...
View ArticleThe Public and the Number One Reason for a Stimulus
Just talked to Republican pollster David Winston about the public's view of the stimulus bill. His results suggest that Republicans can do a lot more questioning of what is in the Democratic bill,...
View ArticleOur Bar Hopping, Muslim Converting, Allegedly Raping CIA Station Chief
That's a pretty amazing story from ABC News:The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women...
View ArticleThe RNC Race
Greetings from the Capitol Hilton hotel, where the voting for Republican National Committee chairman is taking place. They've just had the first ballot, and, with 85 votes required for victory,...
View ArticleBlackwell Pulls Out
With just 15 votes. Throws support to Steele. After four ballots, Steele is at 60 votes -- just behind Katon Dawson, who has 62. Blackwell's votes can't get Steele to the magic number of 85. That...
View ArticleWho's Limousine Lounging Now?
Back in 1986, when Tom Daschle was a member of the House, President Reagan nominated a man named Richard Lyng to be Agriculture Secretary. Daschle didn't like the nomination. Why? Lyng, Daschle...
View ArticleSen. Conrad on Nominee Tax Problems
Sen. Kent Conrad, the third-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said this of the tax problems of Timothy Geithner, then under consideration to head the Treasury Department:On the matter...
View ArticleThe Future of the Stimulus
Have spent some time today talking to Republican and Democratic members of the Senate, as well as political strategists, about what is coming with the stimulus bill. The first thing is that the...
View ArticleA Personal Note
I have some news to share with you, and it is that I have decided to leave National Review. Starting next Monday, I will be the chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner. Making the...
View ArticleLet's Have An Economic Recovery House Meeting!
Barack Obama just sent me a letter, and it's very MoveOn.org:Byron --The economic crisis is growing more serious every day, and the time for action has come.Last week, the House of Representatives...
View ArticleDaschle -- And Solis, Too
While everyone is looking at Tom Daschle's tax problems (I am too, working on a story for tomorrow morning), a new issue has arisen concerning another Obama cabinet nomination, that of Rep. Hilda Solis...
View ArticleNew York Times Calls For Daschle To Withdraw
From the paper's new editorial:When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice. Mr. Daschle, as the co-author...
View ArticleHow Did Daschle Realize He Had a Limo Problem?
One of the unanswered questions concerning Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle’s tax problem is why it suddenly occurred to Daschle, in June 2008, that the car and driver he had...
View ArticleHow Did Daschle Realize He Had a Limo Problem? And What About That Audit?
I have a new story up about Tom Daschle's tax problems. One of the key unanswered questions in the whole mess is why it suddenly occurred to Daschle, in June 2008, that the car and driver he had been...
View ArticleOne Against Daschle
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who has said in private meetings that he plans to oppose the Daschle nomination, will soon become the first senator to publicly say he plans to vote against Daschle. Word...
View ArticleLetter from Killefer to Obama
Just released by the White House:Dear Mr. President, I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment...
View Article"This Bill Is Stinking Up The Place"
That was Sen. Lindsey Graham, a few moments ago, at the Republican news conference on the stimulus bill. "In the House, the bill was written because Nancy Pelosi said she won," Graham told reporters....
View ArticleRepublican Momentum
On Capitol Hill, you can feel the Republicans' growing sense of confidence. They've scored a lot of hits on the stimulus bill, and now they're aiming higher. "We'll try to make the bill better," Sen....
View ArticleWe Plan To Live Up To Our Ethical Standards Very, Very Soon
A number of bloggers are pointing out this ethics pledge on Barack Obama's campaign website:Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are rushed through Congress and to the president before the public...
View ArticleThe Wine/Cheese/Chai Tea Recovery
A few days ago the Obama White House sent out a note to its email list asking people to take part in "Economic Recovery House Meetings" this weekend. "The economic crisis is growing more serious every...
View ArticleObama: Republicans Are Peddling "False Theories...Phony Arguments and Petty...
Do you believe Barack Obama is open to a bipartisan approach on the stimulus bill? Then you should take a look at the president's speech last night to the House Democratic Issues Caucus in...
View ArticleObama: If It's Spending, It's Stimulus
In his Williamsburg speech, Obama also gave his most concise answer yet to the question of whether the stimulus bill will really stimulate the economy. His answer: if it's spending, it's stimulus....
View Article"They've Cut A Deal With Three Of Our Guys"
Just got off the phone with an influential Republican senator. I asked how things stood with the stimulus, and he answered instantly, "They've cut a deal with three of our guys. They're delaying us...
View Article"Until One Of Us Dies"
Here's a note from a not-too-happy Pennsylvanian, concerning my post quoting an influential senator to the effect that Democrats have cut a deal with three Republicans:Perhaps you could let your...
View Article"I Was Shocked"
Just talked to Sen. Lindsey Graham. He, too, is worried that Democrats will very soon push the stimulus bill through the Senate with three or four Republican votes. And then I asked him about his...
View ArticleOne Republican Senator Who Won't Vote Either Way
One interesting side story in this Senate stimulus fight is the role of Republican Sen. Judd Gregg. There are just 41 GOP senators, so every vote is important to the party. But does Gregg vote with...
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