PERRspectives: Congress Archives

Congress Archives

	For Hatch's GOP, No Reconciliation with the Truth When it comes to the budget reconciliation process in the Senate, the truth is not setting Republicans free. On Sunday, John McCain vowed to end the use of reconciliation to change Medicare, despite the GOP's repeated deployment of that same tactic for 30 years. Now, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who previously warned Democrats that resorting to the 51 vote simple majority to pass health care would trigger a "holy war," ignored his own voting record to declare in the Washington... more Posted on March 2, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	The Bunning Linguist As the lone objector standing in the way of a bill extending unemployment benefits for Americans hard hit by the recession, Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning may at this moment be the most hated political figure in the United States. And with good reason. His obstructionist grandstanding has not only single-handedly halted the extension of some unemployment and COBRA benefits, but led to the furlough of thousands of transportation workers and even blocked the Medicare "doc" fix needed to prevent a... more Posted on March 2, 2010 \| Comments (2)

	GOP Wins Gold Medal for Obstructionism Canada may have eked out a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the United States in the Olympic hockey final on Sunday, but when it comes to political obstructionism, it's no contest. The AP is just the latest to document the Republicans' runaway gold medal in the filibuster. On track to easily shatter their previous record, the GOP has made obstructionism the new normal in Washington. As the chart above cited in January by The Atlantic's James Fallows shows, the number... more Posted on March 1, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	CBO Latest to Confirm Success of Stimulus With its estimate Tuesday that the $787 billion Obama stimulus package created up to 2.1 million jobs in the last quarter of 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) joined in the near-unanimous chorus of voices proclaiming the package's success. Of course, it wasn't just the overwhelming consensus of economists which concurred that the stimulus saved or created about two million jobs while adding over three percentage points to U.S. gross domestic product. As the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal,... more Posted on February 23, 2010 \| Comments (3)

	GOP Budget Proposal: Ration Medicare, Privatize Social Security Throughout the bitter debate over health care reform, talking points about "rationing" and "cuts to Medicare" have been the twin pillars of Republican fear mongering. For example, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in June warned of reform that "denies, delays, or rations health care," only to falsely charge weeks later that Democrats "are going to pay for this plan by cutting Medicare, that is cutting seniors." But with the publication of the Republican "shadow" budget by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI),... more Posted on February 4, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	GOP Hypes April Fool's Budget at Obama Meeting During their unprecedented televised gathering Friday, 140 House Republicans were intellectually and politically outnumbered by President Obama. Perhaps on no subject was the rout more complete than on the federal budget. Led by Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Republicans touted their own alternative budget proposed by Wisconsin's Paul Ryan. But as Americans should recall, with its new windfalls for the wealthy, gutting of social programs and privatization of Medicare, that budget was laughed off the national stage - and not... more Posted on January 30, 2010 \| Comments (0)

	Deficit Hawks, Peacocks and Virgins Shaking his head at the bad economics and worse politics of the White House's proposed spending freeze, Paul Krugman deemed President Obama not a deficit hawk, but a "deficit peacock." "You can identify deficit peacocks," he wrote, "by the way they pretend that our budget problems can be solved with gimmicks like a temporary freeze in nondefense discretionary spending." But while Krugman is right to take Obama to task, he omitted an even more cynical player in the fiscal discipline... more Posted on January 29, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	After Threatening Judges, Republicans Rush to Alito's Defense While legal analysts like Glenn Greenwald and Jonathan Turley lamented Justice Samuel Alito's "serious and substantive breach of protocol" during last night's State of the Union address, conservatives are predictably apoplectic about President Obama's temerity in questioning the Supreme Court's campaign finance decision in that setting. As it turns out, the right-wing hypocrisy in defense of Alito is double. After all, President Bush didn't just routinely use the State of the Union to castigate "activist judges." For years, Bush's amen... more Posted on January 28, 2010 \| Comments (2)

	Obama's Deficit Attention Disorder During his first State of the Union address Wednesday, President Barack Obama will apparently endorse two bad ideas whose time hasn't come. The first, a freeze affecting $477 billion in domestic spending, has been rightly labeled "appalling" (Paul Krugman), "a mistake on par with John McCain's 'suspending my campaign' gaffe" (Nate Silver), "fundamental unseriousness" (Brad Delong) and worse. The second, an executive order creating a "deficit commission," is just the latest in a generation of Potemkin crusades against the national... more Posted on January 26, 2010 \| Comments (2)

	Democrats Waver on Ending Bush Tax Cuts for Wealthy Last year, President Obama kept his campaign promise to cut taxes for 95% of American households. But facing tough reelection prospects in November, a group of House Democrats is getting weak in the knees when its comes to Obama's pledge to reduce the budget deficit by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for Americans making over $250,000 a year. By delivering a massive windfall for the richest Americans while producing red ink as far as the eye can see, that... more Posted on January 22, 2010 \| Comments (0)

	For GOP and Media, Obstructionism is the New Normal As Massachusetts residents vote in large numbers for a new Senator, 538.com, Pollster.com and other analysts are predicting an upset victory for Republican Scott Brown. If so, the GOP's victory will be double. The Republicans will not only have succeeded in replacing Ted Kennedy and ending the Democrats' 60 vote supermajority, but have already triumphed in redefining their unprecedented obstructionism as the new normal in American politics. And in that, they have been aided and abetted by the press and... more Posted on January 19, 2010 \| Comments (2)

	Why Republicans Win in Massachusetts That the Massachusetts Senate race is now a toss up, with some polls now putting Republican Scott Brown in the lead, is rocking the American political landscape. After all, the campaign to replace Ted Kennedy takes place in a state Barack Obama carried by 26% in 2008, one which Gallup last August showed leaning Democratic by a whopping 34-point margin. But Brown's surge past the flat-lining Martha Coakley isn't merely the result of a dismal economy and the tea party... more Posted on January 15, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	Targeting Reid, Republicans Forget Bush Forced Lott Out The preposterous Republican campaign to equate Harry Reid's off-the-record "dialect" comment with neo-Confederate Trent Lott's lavish public praise of Strom Thurmond has shifted into overdrive. But even as Michael Steele, Jon Kyl and other leading lights of the Party of Hate press Reid like Lott before him to surrender his Senate leadership post, they conveniently omit President George W' Bush's essential role in forcing Lott's resignation. Just as important, the GOP is silent as to why Bush, desperate to improve... more Posted on January 11, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	GOP Defends Trent Lott, Calls for Reid to Resign While President Obama declared "the book is closed" on Harry Reid's past "negro dialect" comment, Republicans are using the imbroglio to reopen the book on the disgraced Trent Lott. On Sunday, RNC chairman Michael Steele and Arizona Senator Jon Kyl insisted Reid should resign his post as Senate Majority Leader like Trent Lott before him. Sadly for the Republicans, there is no double standard at work here. Trent Lott didn't merely lavish praise on the legendary racist and segregation stalwart... more Posted on January 10, 2010 \| Comments (1)

	IRS Audits Finally Reversing GOP Bias for Wealthy Score one for working Americans. After enduring both the worst economic downtown and steepest income inequality since the Great Depression, new data from the Internal Revenue Service revealed that lower and middle class taxpayers are being audited at lower rates than the wealthy. And that may finally signal a roll back of the kid gloves treatment for the rich which followed the successful Republican war on the IRS in the 1990's. As the AP reported, in its efforts to recover... more Posted on December 23, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Bipartisanship's Willing Executioners Republicans win, even when they lose. That appears to be the conventional wisdom after the Democrats' crucial victory in the Senate health care vote this weekend. In its wake, media outlets gave credence to John McCain's assertion that thanks to President Obama, Washington is "more partisan" and "more bitterly divided than it's been." That followed the pronouncement of CNN's supposedly moderate Republican analyst David Gergen, who proclaimed the party line vote "a tragedy" since it did not garner a "super... more Posted on December 22, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Orrin Hatch: New GOP Majority the Solution to Republican Failures From 2001 through 2008, what Thomas Frank deemed the Republican "wrecking crew" essentially demolished U.S. prosperity and the American dream. For the eight years George W. Bush presided in the White House and the six that the GOP controlled Congress, Republican stewardship produced endless budget deficits, a massive tax windfall for wealthy Americans, an unnecessary war in Iraq, sharp increases in poverty and those without health insurance and, of course, the worst economic calamity since the Great Depression. But as... more Posted on December 8, 2009 \| Comments (4)

	GOP Embraces Medicare Official Bush Tried to Fire Politics, especially Republican politics, makes for strange bedfellows. With the AARP by their side, President Bush and his GOP allies in 2003 pushed for their unfunded and deeply flawed Medicare prescription drug plan. Now in their scorched earth campaign to block health care reform backed by the seniors' organization, the right-wing has declared war on the AARP. And the Republican partner swapping doesn't end there. Six years before Republicans hailed chief Medicare actuary Richard Foster this weekend for questioning the... more Posted on November 16, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Hutchison and the Republican Hypocrisy on Term Limits Among the most recycled quotes on this web site is Karl Marx's old chestnut that historical events occur twice, first as tragedy and then as farce. And so it is with the latest cynical Republican call for Congressional term limits. After sweeping into the majority with their disingenuous term limits pledge in the 1994 Contract with America, Republicans including Jim Demint (R-SC) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) are back with a proposed constitutional amendment limiting House members to three and... more Posted on November 13, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	For Midterms, Republicans Hope to Party Like It's 1966 As Politico reported Monday, Republicans in the wake of Saturday's cliff-hanger health care vote in the House immediately began their campaign to target vulnerable Democrats in traditionally GOP districts. But for a Republican Party looking to retake the House of Representatives in 2010, the formula for success may not be Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution that swept out 52 Democrats in 1994. Instead, the GOP role model may be Richard Nixon, whose one man whirlwind campaign during the 1966... more Posted on November 9, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	House GOP Reverses Role from 2003 Medicare Rx Vote With its talking babies and warnings of government takeovers and terrified seniors, the grandstanding by House Republicans during Saturday's narrow 220-215 passage of the Democratic Affordable Health Care for America Act was entirely predictable. And if that vote count sounds familiar, it should. Six years ago with the AARP by its side, it was the House GOP which eked out a victory for its deeply flawed and unfunded Medicare prescription drug program by an identical margin. But while the roles... more Posted on November 8, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	When Opting Out is Not An Option While the Obama White House, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Congressional Democrats debate among themselves whether a so-called "opt out" public health insurance option will be included in reform legislation, Minnesota Governor and GOP presidential wannabee Tim Pawlenty has already weighed in. Asked if he would "lead a charge" in his state to opt out, Pawlenty replied, "I think so because I don't like government run health care." That's easy for him to say. As it turns out, Minnesota... more Posted on October 26, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Will Red States Opt Out of Blue State Generosity? Just in time for the debate over the merits of a state-by-state "opt out" of a national public health insurance option, the Commonwealth Fund has released its 2009 state health care scorecard. As in 2007, the data reveals the critical condition of red state health care. All of which could present Republican governors and legislatures with a dilemma: will they refuse to offer lower cost insurance coverage for their residents by rejecting a system funded in part by blue state... more Posted on October 9, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Carper's State Run Health Plans a Bridge to Nowhere As Democrats in the House are nearing a consensus on health care reform, Delaware's Tom Carper has introduced a potential compromise in the search of common ground in the Senate. Hoping to bridge the chasm between the watered down Baucus bill and the persistently popular public option, Carper has called for the creation of health insurance plans instead run by state governments. But by sacrificing national economies of scale and failing to address the wide disparities in state health care... more Posted on October 7, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Baucus Bill Latest Proof of Krugman's Law With his seriously compromised and deeply flawed legislation, Senator Max Baucus has achieved rare bipartisan consensus on health care: virtually everyone from both parties hates his bill. But with his feeble acknowledgement that despite all of his kowtowing to his GOP colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee "no Republican has offered his or her support at this moment," Baucus once again confirmed "Krugman's Law." That is, no amount of appeasement is sufficient for Republicans to ever back Democratic proposals on... more Posted on September 16, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Owner of 13 Cars, McCain Aims to Block Cash for Clunkers Moments after the House passed a $2 billion extension to the wildly popular "cash for clunkers" program, John McCain in a double-irony announced he would oppose the bill in the Senate. Ironic, it turns out, not merely because the Arizona Senator has 13 cars and so could benefit even as he personally stimulates the economy by updating his fleet. Given his campaign 2008 tax proposals that would have delivered millions of dollars to himself and beer heiress wife Cindy, McCain's... more Posted on August 2, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Honduras Crisis Recalls Bush Support for Chavez Coup On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton turned to Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias to mediate the crisis in Honduras. But even as President Obama from Moscow announced, "America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies," Republicans in Washington readied a resolution supporting the coup. If that line from the supposedly pro-democracy GOP sounds familiar, it should. Back in 2002, the Bush administration backed... more Posted on July 8, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	GOP in 2007: CIA "Misleading" and an "Anti-Bush Cabal" That House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has badly bungled the imbroglio over what she knew and when about the Bush administration's regime of detainee torture is hard to dispute. Seemingly snatching PR defeat from the jaws of victory, Pelosi should have instead simply called the Republicans' bluff and insisted on investigations of torture architects, perpetrators and "accomplices" alike, letting the bipartisan chips fall where they may. But by savaging Pelosi for her statement that the CIA "misled" Congress, Bush's Republican water... more Posted on May 20, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Specter to Get the Jeffords Treatment from Republicans Long before Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced he was switching parties, his conservative colleagues began targeting him over his blasphemous support of the Obama stimulus package. Republican Chairman Michael Steele, who in February said he was "open" to punishing Specter, today called the new Democrat's about-face "not only disrespectful, but it's just downright rude." As it turns out, the venom Republicans have reserved for Arlen Specter is just more of the same poisonous retribution they wrought on Vermont's Jim Jeffords... more Posted on April 28, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Specter Switches Parties in Final Hamlet Act The Washington Post and AP are reporting that Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter will officially change parties. But while Specter's gambit to escape both his reactionary party and an uphill battle in the 2010 GOP primary could provide Democrats with a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate, President Obama's allies shouldn't be so sure. After all, whether involving his tortured indecision and reversals over NSA domestic surveillance, the U.S. attorneys purge, presidential signing statements, the Employee Free Choice Act and... more Posted on April 28, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	GOP "Death Tax" Fraud Back from the Grave In 2001, President Bush waged a largely successful campaign to curb the estate tax. But eight years after denouncing that scourge of the ultra-rich, Republicans have resurrected their "death tax" talking point, complete with its repeatedly debunked claims about the impact of estate levies on small businesses and family farms. Even as they decry the deficit spending the Bush recession has required, Congressional Republicans aided and abetted by some Democrats are pushing an estate tax windfall for the wealthiest Americans... more Posted on April 2, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	The Republicans' Deficit Attention Disorder "Reagan," Dick Cheney once famously declared, "proved that deficits don't matter." Not, that is, when a Republican is sitting in the Oval Office, as the tripling of the U.S. national debt under Ronald Reagan and doubling under George W. Bush confirmed. Now with the mystery budget unveiled to great fanfare - and even greater laughter - by House Republicans last week, the on-again/off-again deficit hawks of the GOP are at it again. Having blasted Barack Obama's supposed "banana republic" budget... more Posted on March 31, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Issa: No More Laura Bushes The blogosphere is buzzing with the news that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is pushing for new requirements in federal law to mandate First Lady Michelle Obama open her policy work to the public. But what Issa first started in 2008 as a campaign to rein in a future President Hilary Clinton and first spouse Bill could well have been a reaction to another out-of-control presidential wife. Given her high-profile White House roles on AIDS, gangs and Burma, Congressman Issa may... more Posted on March 28, 2009 \| Comments (1)

	Will McCain Back Obama on Bush Signing Statements? As the New York Times revealed Monday, President Obama has instructed administration officials not to rely on the hundreds of signing statements issued by his predecessor. That move should please John McCain. After all, the Republican presidential candidate not only pledged "never to issue a signing statement." Back in 2005, McCain was doubled-crossed when President Bush issued a signing statement effectively negating the Detainee Treatment Act he authored. In his Times piece, Charlie Savage (who earlier won a Pulitzer Prize... more Posted on March 9, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	CBS Falsely Portrays Stanford as Democratic Bagman On Wednesday, federal authorities reported they did not know the whereabouts of Texas banker and scammer Allen Stanford. But what we do know for certain about the financier whose frauds may yet rival the $50 billion Madoff Ponzi scheme is that he donated generously to both political parties in Washington. Of course, that would be news to viewers of CBS Evening News. Because while Stanford gave early and often to Texas Republicans John Cornyn, Tom Delay and George W. Bush,... more Posted on February 18, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	AP Perpetuates Myth of GOP Fiscal Discipline In the wake of Congressional Republicans' unified rejection of President Obama's just signed $787 billion economic recovery program, the AP's Liz Sidoti wrote Tuesday that "GOP tries to restore image of fiscal discipline." Sadly, that image is now as ever a myth. Far from the deficit hawks of Republican legend, the modern Republican party from Reagan forward devastated the U.S. treasury, leaving mounting debt and hemorrhaging red ink for as far as the eye can see: As the chart below... more Posted on February 17, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	GOP Repeats History of One-Way Bipartisanship The Senate's passage Tuesday of the economic recovery package followed a now-familiar 30 year pattern. The Democratic President Barack Obama, like Bill Clinton before him in 1993, faced a monolithic wall of GOP opposition to his economic program. But Republicans Ronald Reagan in 1981 and George W. Bush 20 years later enjoyed substantial Democratic support for their dangerously irresponsible and regressive tax cuts that as predicted drained the federal treasury. Now as then, for Republicans the road to economic stimulus... more Posted on February 10, 2009 \| Comments (3)

	Tentative Stimulus Deal Confirms Krugman's Law As I noted earlier, the Senate has apparently reached a $780 billion compromise stimulus package after supposed moderates amputated over $100 billion in funding for health care, education and other vital initiatives. While many of my liberal allies disagree with my assessment that President Obama got rolled by bringing a knife to a gun fight with Congressional Republicans, it's hard to disagree with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's January 5th prediction of what would come to pass. Call it... more Posted on February 6, 2009 \| Comments (3)

	Senate Republicans May Filibuster Obama Stimulus Package Last year, the Roadblock Republicans of the 110th Congress set the all-time filibuster record. Forcing 104 cloture votes by October 2008, the Senate's GOP minority easily eclipsed the old mark of 61 filibusters. And now, fresh on the heels of "elated" and "celebrating" House Republicans' refusal to provide a single vote in support of President Obama's $825 economic recovery package, Senate Republicans are now suggesting they will filibuster the stimulus bill. That's the word from ThinkProgress, which Friday afternoon offered... more Posted on January 30, 2009 \| Comments (6)

	Barack the Appeaser Back in May, President Bush, John McCain and the conservative echo chamber slandered Barack Obama's proposed diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East as "appeasement." Of course, President Obama is no appeaser of America's enemies abroad. But as his latest capitulation to Congressional Republicans over contraceptive funding in the stimulus bill suggests, Obama's willingness to appease his political foes at home is another matter. Obama's economic recovery package is quickly becoming a case study in the iron law of Washington: the... more Posted on January 27, 2009 \| Comments (5)

	GOP on Stimulus: Obstructionism Now, Obstructionism Forever When it comes to blocking President Obama's economic stimulus plan, what is old is new for the conservative movement. Fearing a permanent Democratic majority if Bill Clinton succeeded in passing his health care reform package, Bill Kristol in 1993 famously rallied Republicans with a memo urging his party to halt it at all costs. With Congressional Republicans and right-wing talking heads now circling the wagons, history is apparently repeating itself. Afraid not that Obama's plan might fail, but that it... more Posted on January 26, 2009 \| Comments (2)

	Blocking Holder Cornyn's Latest Defense of Bush Crimes Less than a week into the Obama presidency, Texas Senator John Cornyn has emerged as the new face of the obstructionist Republican Party in Congress. Rejecting President Obama's calls for a new spirit of cooperation, Cornyn on Tuesday delayed the inevitable confirmation of Secretary of State Clinton. The next day, Cornyn pushed back the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General by at least a week out in hopes of a extorting a pledge not to pursue torture prosecutions against... more Posted on January 22, 2009 \| Comments (0)

	Abramoff, MZM Scandals Still Threaten GOP Over the past two election cycles, the Republican Party in Congress has been decimated thanks in part to its myriad scandals and the accompanying stench of corruption. But recent developments in the Abramoff affair and the unfolding drama of crooked defense contractor MZM suggest the body count is not yet complete for the GOP. For Democrats, Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham bagman Mitchell Wade remain the gifts that keep on giving. The Abramoff imbroglio, which to date has featured 15... more Posted on December 1, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Lieberman Won't Get the Jeffords Treatment from Obama On Tuesday, Senate Democrats will decide the turncoat Joe Lieberman's fate as the chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. But whether Lieberman retains his chairmanship or even his place in the Democratic caucus, President-elect Barack Obama will apparently play little to no role. It's just another stark contrast with George W. Bush, whose campaign of retribution against Jim Jeffords in 2001 drove the Vermont Senator out of the Republican Party. That some of Joe Lieberman's former colleagues... more Posted on November 16, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	How the GOP Learned to Love the Judicial Filibuster Nothing focuses the mind, the expression goes, like the sight of the gallows. And so it is for beaten and battered Senate Republicans when it comes to the use of the filibuster to block the judicial nominees of President Barack Obama. After years of insisting President Bush's picks for the bench deserved an "up or down vote," Arizona Senator Jon Kyl and his allies in the GOP minority are now threatening to turn to the judicial filibuster. Of course, after... more Posted on November 14, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Abramoff Gets Four More Years. Delay to Get Off? Even as John McCain took to the stage of the Republican convention to belatedly decry his party's surrender to "the temptations of corruption", two of its leading miscreants were back in the news. In Washington, GOP lobbyist extraordinaire and scandal architect Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in prison. But meanwhile in Texas, indicted former House Majority Leader Tom Delay won a technical victory that could keep him out of jail altogether. Comparing himself favorably to Osama Bin Laden,... more Posted on September 5, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Technicality May Keep Tom Delay Out of Jail Almost three years after his indictment on conspiracy and money laundering charges, former House Majority Leader Tom Delay may escape prosecution. Thanks to a technicality in Texas' money laundering statute, the man who once compared himself to Jesus may walk out of court, if not on water. The Austin Statesman reported this morning that the charges against Delay and his two co-conspirators John Colyandro and Jim Ellis "may be dismissed because the 2002 campaign finance case involved checks and not... more Posted on August 25, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Abramoff Update: Ney Released, Reed to Hold McCain Fundraiser Senator John McCain may have helped investigate the Jack Abramoff affair, but the stench of the scandal continues to engulf McCain's campaign and his Republican Party. On Friday, convicted friend-of-Jack and former Ohio congressman Bob Ney was released from a Cincinnati halfway house. And on Monday, McCain will attend an Atlanta fundraiser hosted by former Christian Coalition wunderkind Ralph Reed, who partnered with Abramoff in extracting millions of dollars from tribal Indian clients. In Ohio, Bob Ney was released after... more Posted on August 16, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Issa Adds Russert Outrage to His Hall of Shame As ThinkProgress reported earlier today, the execrable California Congressman Darrell Issa used the occasion of Tim Russert's wake to appropriate the memory of the late Meet the Press host for political purposes. Of course, Issa had guaranteed himself a particularly hot seat in Dante's inner circle long before he enlisted Russert on the House floor today to make a case for off-shore oil drilling. From attacking the families of dead Blackwater contractors and accusing Valerie Plame of perjury to playing... more Posted on June 17, 2008 \| Comments (10)

	McCain's AIDS Mentor Coburn Blocks Senate PEPFAR Bill A year after he admitted "you've stumped me" when asked whether contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV, John McCain once again finds himself in the AIDS spotlight. On Wednesday, Americans learned that arch-conservative Tom Coburn (R-OK) is blocking Senate action on a proposed tripling of President Bush's global AIDS program. That would be the same Tom Coburn John McCain extolled in March 2007 as "the guy I really respect" when it comes to policy for AIDS and contraceptives. As... more Posted on June 13, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	Phase 2 Report Ends Roberts' Iraq Intel Stonewall Four years after Kansas Senator Pat Roberts triumphantly cleared the Bush administration of misusing pre-war Iraq intelligence, the Phase 2 report of the Senate Intelligence Committee he once chaired today reached a much different conclusion. After Roberts successfully stonewalled past the 2004 and 2006 elections the studies examining White House statements on the Iraqi threat and the role of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans, his successor Jay Rockefeller today concluded: "The president and his advisers undertook a relentless public... more Posted on June 5, 2008 \| Comments (9)

	High Stakes for McCain in Grassley's Televangelist Probe Just days after rejecting the endorsements of his "ministers of war" John Hagee and Rod Parsley, John McCain may be about to confront another faith-based conundrum. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) is facing withering criticism from prominent conservatives and evangelical leaders over his Senate probe into the finances of Kenneth Copeland and other so-called "prosperity gospel" televangelists. Republican nominee McCain may have to choose between his party's increasingly disgruntled religious right base and a fellow Republican Senator he once called a... more Posted on May 26, 2008 \| Comments (15)

	House GOP Makes, McCain Breaks 2012 Balanced Budget Promise The once-vaunted Republican marketing machine has fallen and can't get up. On Monday, House minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) unveiled a new slogan for the GOP, only to learn that "The Change You Deserve," was fittingly already in use to market the anti-depressant drug Effexor. Now a central promise of the Republicans' 2008 rebranding effort, to balance the budget by 2012, is dead on arrival. As it turns out, Republican nominee John McCain already abandoned his short-lived, first term balanced... more Posted on May 14, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Voting Record Contradicts Maverick Myth On Wednesday, John McCain's home state Arizona Republic did some good excavation work in the ongoing demolition of the GOP nominee's maverick myth. Analyzing his Senate voting record since 1999, the paper found McCain rarely strayed from the Republican Party line. But that's only a small part of the unraveling of the McCain maverick fable. As I previously detailed, John McCain in his eternal quest for the GOP nomination has repeatedly reversed long-held positions and compromised core principles to curry... more Posted on May 8, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Five Questions for Petraeus and Crocker In their testimony before Congress today, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker began painting a picture of American progress in Iraq. But even as the United States faces a diminishing threat from Al Qaeda thanks in part to former Sunni insurgents the U.S. has largely co-opted, American forces find themselves increasingly engaged in an intra-sectarian Shiite conflict in which Iran is seemingly backing all sides. And with General Petraeus calling for an indefinite pause in the drawdown of U.S.... more Posted on April 8, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Three Iraq Stories, More Conservative Exploding Heads The life of the American conservative is a perpetual crisis of cognitive dissonance, especially when it comes to the run-up to the Iraq war. So three new stories this week are certain to cause right-wing minds to explode, or at least to seek the safe harbor of denial. First came word of a new book from Rumsfeld aide Douglas Feith revealing that President Bush declared "war is inevitable" in December 2002, months before UN weapons inspectors produced their report on... more Posted on March 11, 2008 \| Comments (4)

	McConnell, Mukasey Confirm Bush Domestic Surveillance Was Illegal Exactly two years ago, I dissected the Bush administration's dubious legal justification for its illicit program of NSA domestic surveillance. Then, I argued that the President's twin claims that his constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief and the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) allowed Bush to operate outside the legal mandate of FISA were specious. As it turns out, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey apparently agree. In "The Republicans' Constitutional Crisis," I... more Posted on February 23, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Bush to Add Veto to Torture Signing Statement When it comes to the debate over Congressional legislation to ban waterboarding of detainees by the CIA, President Bush is proving Marx's dictum that historical events occur twice, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce. After all, while the White House is threatening to veto the new interrogation restrictions passed this week by the House, President Bush happily issued a signing statement to the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act letting him alone judge what constitutes "cruel, inhuman,... more Posted on December 16, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Trent Lott's Next Career Washington is abuzz with the news that Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott will resign by the end of the year. Speculation abounds regarding the motivation for the Mississippi Senator's sudden departure as well as what comes next. (Rumors of health problems and an affair with the bastard love child of one of Strom Thurmond's bastard love children proved to be unfounded). But while the Politico and other outlets are reporting Lott's quick exit is fueled by his desire to evade... more Posted on November 26, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	McCain, Betrayed by Bush, Rejects Signing Statements This week, Republican White House hopeful John McCain denounced George W. Bush's unprecedented use of presidential signing statements. As well he should. After all, it was President Bush's December 30, 2005 signing statement on McCain's amendment to the Detainee Treatment Act that made waterboarding and other acts of torture the continuing policy of the United States. On Monday, McCain announced that as President, he would reject signing statements altogether: "I would never issue a signing statement. It is wrong, and... more Posted on November 23, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Break the War Funding Deadlock: The Iraq Apology Amendment One day after the House approved an Iraq war funding bill mandating American troop withdrawals, Republicans blocked a similar measure in the Senate. With GOP intransigence and a certain veto from President Bush leading to a high-stakes showdown they seem destined to lose, Democrats need a different strategy - at least for now. One way forward is to give President Bush the money for his fiasco in Iraq with no strings attached save one: he must apologize for it. Call... more Posted on November 16, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	FISA, Yahoo and the GOP Double-Standard on Telecom Immunity As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to debate the renewal of FISA revisions made in August, President Bush and his Republican allies in Congress are endorsing a unique double-standard when it comes to immunity for telecommunications firms. Within the United States, they argue, service providers such as AT&T and Verizon must cooperate with U.S. government demands for access to Americans' electronic communications and should be immune from citizens' lawsuits. But in China and elsewhere, as Republican reaction to this week's... more Posted on November 14, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	The Avenging Angel Smites Bush Consumer Safety Chief After a brief hiatus, the Avenging Angel, punisher of right-wing miscreants, resumed delivery of conservative smitings. The retribution begins in Washington with Nancy Nord, the head of the Bush Consumer Products Safety Commission. First Nord demanded that Congress not increase the staffing and budget for her woefully under-funded agency in the face of massive Chinese product recalls. Just days later, the Washington Post revealed that she and her predecessor Hal Stratton received up to 30 paid trips from companies they... more Posted on November 2, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Cheney's Law and the Constitutionality of FISA Last night's airing of the PBS Frontline documentary "Cheney's Law" could not have come at a more fitting time. As Congress begins debate on a new FISA bill and the issue of immunity for telecommunications firms, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey begins confirmation hearings in the Senate. But as Frontline reminded us last night, the architects of the Bush administration's NSA domestic surveillance program believe FISA itself is unconstitutional. First, a little background. Cheney's Law describes the Vice President's decades-long... more Posted on October 17, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Chris Matthews: Bush White House "Good Guys" Won't Silence Me At a party last night celebrating the 10th anniversary of his MSNBC show Hardball, Chris Matthews lashed out at the Bush administration for its efforts to control his editorial content. But if his claims that "they will not silence me" ring a little hollow, they should. After all, Chris Matthews has spent the last several years telling us that President Bush, his White House and the Republican leadership team are "good guys." Matthews' tough talk didn't end there. Without mentioning... more Posted on October 5, 2007 \| Comments (6)

	The Meaning of Blackwater In Washington today, all eyes are on the Blackwater hearings. But the relentless focus on potential atrocities committed by unaccountable, grotesquely overpaid private security firms in Iraq and Afghanistan obscures the larger issue for the United States. That is, mercenary forces simply should have no place in the national security structure of an American democracy. No doubt, mounting allegations of inappropriate use of force by Blackwater in Iraq justify the inquiry by Chairman Henry Waxman's House Committee on Oversight and... more Posted on October 2, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Blackwater, Habeas Corpus and the Global Muslim Backlash Seldom do disparate breakings news stories converge to paint a larger picture. Even as news of atrocities by American military contractor Blackwater rocked Baghdad, Republicans in the Senate blocked the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act, ensuring that the most draconian features of the Bush administration's detainee policies remain in place. Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) lamented the presence of "too many mosques in this country." It's no wonder a recent Pew Research Center poll revealed plummeting approval ratings for the United... more Posted on September 19, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Required Reading for Petraeus, Crocker Testimony With the long-awaited surge progress report from General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker due beginning today, Perrspectives has updated its Iraq Document Center. The repository includes the latest news, statistics, key reports and other essential materials surrounding the Iraq war and its run-up. For more background to assess the Petraeus and Crocker testimony, the Iraq Document Center includes several recent reports concerning progress in Iraq, the state of the Iraqi security forces, and the stability of the Al Maliki... more Posted on September 10, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	The Unpology of Larry Craig As I predicted on Tuesday, the Larry Craig saga quickly moved to the disgraced Senator's inevitable resignation. But as I also predicted, Larry Craig's parting statement featured that classic Republican denial of culpability, the Unpology. Announcing his September 30th resignation, the Idaho GOP Senator artfully avoided accepting accountability for his men's room escapades. Instead, he offered the appearance of apology only for their aftermath: "I apologize for what I have caused. For any public official at this moment in time... more Posted on September 1, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Democrats Snatch Defeat from Jaws of Victory on FISA With their shocking surrender over President Bush's draconian new FISA law this weekend, Congressional Democrats snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They not only had the votes to safeguard American civil liberties and prevent the legalization of past Bush White House criminality. On FISA as we knew it before August 5, 2007, Democrats had the law - and public opinion - on their side. Until President Bush signed the so-called Protect America Act, his regime of warrantless NSA domestic... more Posted on August 7, 2007 \| Comments (6)

	Specter's Latest Hamlet Act This week, Senator Arlen Specter offered his latest performance as Hamlet in the unfolding Alberto Gonzales drama. Just one day after essentially accusing Gonzales of perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Specter once again backed away from taking action against the Bush administration and instead criticized his Democratic colleagues for "playing politics." As I've written before ("Specter's Failure to Launch"), Specter like Shakespeare's Danish prince simply can't bring himself to avenge the crimes of his king. Something certainly is rotten... more Posted on July 27, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Up or Down Vote: Death of a GOP Talking Point On Thursday morning, July 19th, the beloved GOP talking point "up or down vote" was officially declared dead. Its demise was little noticed in the aftermath of the Senate Republicans' successful all-night filibuster to block the Reed-Levin bill seeking to begin U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq. "Up or down vote" was killed by a desperate Republican Party trying to obstruct Democratic accomplishments at any cost in advance of the 2008 elections. And so far, the GOP seems to be getting... more Posted on July 22, 2007 \| Comments (37)

	S-CHIP On Bush's Shoulder With his vocal opposition to the expansion of the S-CHIP program to provide health care coverage for more of America's children, President Bush is returning to the same tried and true formula he first pioneered in Texas. That is, Bush initially fought the legislation on ideological grounds before caving to popular pressure and grudgingly accepting some version of the bill. Then, as with the Texas S-CHIP program, the Texas Patients Bill of Right and the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit,... more Posted on July 19, 2007 \| Comments (5)

	Vitter, Cunningham and the GOP's Parliament of Whores Some men pay for prostitutes while others get them for free. But whether Senator David Vitter or Rep. Duke Cunningham paid for pleasure with their cash or their votes, their Republican colleagues appear ready to protect their Johns all the same, at least as long as public opinion will allow. That seems to the lesson emerging from Washington today. While Vitter's GOP friends in Congress went on record to support their man, a new report from the House Intelligence Committee... more Posted on July 16, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Issa Accuses Valerie Plame of Perjury Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) added another plaque to his wall of shame during House hearings today looking into President Bush's commutation of the Scooter Libby's sentence. Ever eager to defend the President and the flagging hopes of the Republican Party, Issa accused outed CIA agent Valerie Plame of perjury. Issa's previous career lowlights included his role in the firing of U.S. attorney Carol Lam and his pathetic weepy withdrawal from the 2002 California governor's race. But confronting Ambassador Joseph Wilson... more Posted on July 11, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	CIA: Resurgent Al Qaeda Now at Pre-9/11 Capability On Saturday, Americans learned that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2005 cancelled a major U.S. raid into Pakistan designed to decapitate much of Al Qaeda's senior leadership. Now, a new CIA assessment details the steep price the U.S. is paying for President Bush's failure to enforce his mantra of "no safe havens." U.S. intelligence analysts, the AP reports, have concluded Al Qaeda has "rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the 2001 terrorist attacks." This... more Posted on July 11, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	GOP Senator and Values Merchant Vitter on DC Madam List Louisiana Senator and family values merchant David Vitter is apparently the latest Republican stalwart to run afoul of his own libido. The AP reported Monday night that Vitter's name turned up on the client list of the DC Madam. And as Salon reported back in 2004, this episode is not Vitter's first prostitution imbroglio. The coming Vitter implosion is all the more enjoyable, given his pretensions as a national player. An outspoken storm-trooper in the battle against so-called "partial birth... more Posted on July 9, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Gonzales Lies to Congress. Again. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has lied to Congress - again. Raw Story is reporting that despite Congress' passage of the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007, Gonzales has once again used the interim hiring authority for U.S. attorneys rescinded by that bill. Sadly, this is precisely what Gonzales promised Congress - under oath - he would never do. During his January 18th testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, misled the Senate about the critical importance of a hitherto... more Posted on June 14, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	How to Override the Bush Stem Cell Veto With Harry Reid's stem cell research bill headed to a Senate vote this week, Congressional Democrats and President Bush are on the brink of yet another confrontation. But while the White House is promising to repeat its 2006 veto, the ending can be different this time. All the Reid legislation needs is a name change - and a little help from Ronald Reagan. The failure to override President Bush's veto in 2006 shows that broad bipartisan backing in Congress, aggressive... more Posted on April 10, 2007 \| Comments (4)

	Gonzales, Doan and the Republican Diversity Defense "Diversity" is one word that is rarely associated with the conservative movement in general and the Republican Party in particular. From immigration and affirmative action to redistricting and minority voting rights, the lily-white GOP and its amen corner advocate a monotone, melanin-free vision for America. But when it comes to efforts by Republicans Alberto Gonzales and Lurita Doan to convert their federal agencies into entrenched partisan redoubts of the GOP, the right has been very quick indeed to turn to... more Posted on April 1, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Cornyn Threatens Judges, Protects Gonzales When it comes to defending the criminal wrong-doing of the Bush administration, few Republicans in Congress circle the wagons better than Texas Senator John Cornyn. With the exploding scandal over the firings of U.S. attorneys threatening the White House, Cornyn has come to the assistance of fellow former Texas Supreme Court justice, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. How ironic then that the same John Cornyn who defends "the Judge" now was the same man who two years ago excused violence against... more Posted on March 25, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Specter's Failure to Launch Watching Republican Senator Arlen Specter challenge Bush administration wrong-doing is like witnessing a failed rocket launch. After the initial furious explosion of hot air, Specter almost immediately loses momentum and never breaks the dark gravitational pull of planet Bush. Specter's performance Thursday during the Senate Judiciary Committee's debate over issuing White House subpoenas in the firing of U.S. attorneys was certainly no exception. After the testimony two weeks ago of six of the fired prosecutors, Specter joined the bipartisan chorus... more Posted on March 23, 2007 \| Comments (5)

	Bush Iraq Irony Watch: "A Clean Bill Without Strings" At this point in his dismal tenure, virtually any statement emanating from President Bush is dripping with irony. Today's speech marking the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq is no exception. For even as the President lambasted Congressional Democrats about the need for "clean" Iraq war funding bill "without strings" attached, it is the Bush White House which continues to rely on such hidden provisos in its political purge of prosecutors and manipulation of the federal budget. In his... more Posted on March 19, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Top 10 Reasons Gonzales Must Go In the wake of his tortured press conference yesterday, politicians and papers across the nation are calling for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But despite the flood of revelations that the White House and Gonzales' Department of Justice authored a plot to purge U.S. attorneys for purely partisan political advantage, President Bush is standing by his man. Alberto Gonzales must resign. But his departure is required not merely because of his ham-fisted and duplicitous role in the firing... more Posted on March 14, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	NEW: The U.S. Attorney Scandal Documents For the latest news, hearings, legal filings and other essential documents on the Bush administration's politically motivated prosecutor firings, visit Perrspectives U.S. Attorneys Scandal Document Center. The U.S. Attorneys Document collection includes: A complete archive of the latest news articles on the prosecutor firings, including updates on planned Congressional hearings and Alberto Gonzales' decision to reverse course on the White House's threat to legislative revision of the Patriot Act. Access to transcripts of recent Congressional testimony by the fired prosecutors,... more Posted on March 9, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Fool Me Once: Bush and Iran As the debate over Iran's involvement in attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq heats up, the Bush White House is facing a credibility gap of historic proportions. Four and a half years after mangling the old saying himself, President Bush's Iran saber-rattling is suffering from the same "Fool Me Once" syndrome he bungled in September 2002: "There's a lot of talk about Iraq on our TV screens, and there should be, because we're trying to figure out how best to... more Posted on February 13, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	Boehner: The American People Embolden the Enemy The House of Representatives began its debate on Iraq today. And almost on cue, House Republican leader John Boehner offered up the "embolden the enemy" talking point, still #1 on the list of Top 10 GOP Sound Bites. As the AP reported, Boehner put on an Oscar-worthy performance: "We will embolden terrorists in every corner in the world. We will give Iran free access to the Middle East. And who doesn't believe the terrorists will just follow our troops home?"... more Posted on February 13, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Bush Denies GOP Treason Label for Democrats A chastened President Bush ventured into enemy territory on Saturday to address the annual gathering of House Democrats. Obliterated in the November elections and facing both abysmal poll numbers and open rebellion over Iraq within his own party, the formerly fierce Bush with tail between his legs feigned a spirit of bipartisan cooperation: "I welcome debate at a time of war and I hope you know that. Nor do I consider a belief that if you don't happen to agree... more Posted on February 4, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	My Conversation with Al Franken In an AP story Wednesday, a Democratic official confirms that Air America headliner Al Franken is in fact entering the 2008 Minnesota senate race against Republican Norm Coleman. Hopefully, the comedian turned Senate candidate can deliver some comeuppance to Coleman, who said of his late predecessor in 2003, "I am a 99 percent improvement over Paul Wellstone." In honor of his looming campaign, Perrspectives take a look back at my May 2005 interview of Al Franken...... more Posted on February 1, 2007 \| Comments (0)

	Top 10 State of the Union Highlights For those who had the good fortune to miss his 2007 State of the Union address, President Bush just offered the American people a stunning profile in rhetorical obfuscation and political comeuppance. Domestically, his seeming move to the middle on energy, immigration and health care may have alienated his own base while offering some prospect for deals with the Democrats. (Jim Webb's Democratic response is available here.) But in foreign policy and the war in Iraq, President Bush's language was... more Posted on January 23, 2007 \| Comments (5)

	SOTU Preview: 10 Things to Watch Tuesday's State of the Union Address should offer Americans compelling viewing. After the GOP's electoral disaster in November and the resounding thud that greeted the "surge" in Iraq, the 2007 SOTU can be said to officially mark the last throes of the Bush presidency. In anticipation of tomorrow night's presidential flight of fantasy, here are 10 things to look for in the 2007 State of the Union: 1. An Unhealthy Vision As his Saturday radio address made clear, President Bush... more Posted on January 22, 2007 \| Comments (3)

	Gonzales: New FISA Role for Domestic Spying In what may be a major reversal of course, the Bush administration may yet submit to the rule of law regarding its illegal NSA domestic spying program. The AP is reporting that Attorney General Gonzales notified Senate Judiciary Committee leaders Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) that the Justice Department will once again submit wiretap requests to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Courts. "As a result of these orders, any electronic surveillance that was occurring as part of the... more Posted on January 17, 2007 \| Comments (1)

	The Minimum Wage in Red and Blue In Washington this week, the Democratic-controlled House takes on the first minimum wage increase since 1997. But while the federal government has blocked help for 13 million working Americans (9.8% of the workforce) for a decade, many states have already moved forward with their own minimum wage hikes. And as you might imagine, few of them happened to vote for George W. Bush for president. As ThinkProgress detailed this week, a host of states have already implemented new wage baselines.... more Posted on January 10, 2007 \| Comments (2)

	Top 10 GOP Sound Bites, 2006 Final Edition As 2006 comes to a close, the Top 10 GOP Sound Bites chart has been turned upside down. In the wake of the Republicans' midterm election nightmare and the battering of the Iraq Study Group report, a bevy of GOP favorites have fallen off the list. Nowhere is the shake-up more evident than in the declining fortunes of the Republicans' Iraq Remix LP. Smash hits with a great beat you could dance to like George Bush's thumping "Stay the Course"... more Posted on December 29, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Gordon Smith and the Resurrection of Trent Lott Back in November, BlueOregon highlighted the key role played by Oregon's Gordon Smith in restoring Trent Lott to the Republican leadership in the Senate. Now, the December 18th issue of the New Republic offers the rich backstory on Smith's indispensable help in resurrecting the disgraced Lott at the expense of the milquetoast Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander: "But then, Oregon Senator Gordon Smith rose to give a nominating speech for Lott. Smith's address was deeply emotional: He described Lott's honorable character... more Posted on December 28, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Reyes Joins Bush in Failing Foreign Affairs 101 On Monday, Democrats began to pay the price for the ongoing feud between Californians Nancy Pelosi and Jane Harman. In one of the first tests of her leadership, Speaker Pelosi bypassed Harman in favor of Texan Silvestre Reyes to head the House Intelligence Committee. Sadly Reyes, like candidate George W. Bush before him, failed his first test on foreign affairs. In an interview in CQ on Friday, Reyes displayed staggering ignorance of the environment in the Middle East and across... more Posted on December 11, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The Avenging Angel Smites Hastert, Frist and Romney The Avenging Angel, punisher of conservative miscreants, enjoyed another busy week delivering retribution to the wrong-doers of the right. In one of the least surprising political announcements in recent years, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist decided against a run for the White House in 2008. After his SEC insider trading investigation, misuse of campaign funds, stem cell flip-flop and Senate floor misdiagnosis of Terri Schiavo, Frist's presidential ambitions were already on life-support. Frist's political career, the Angel grins,... more Posted on December 8, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	GOP Quotes of the Week, Iraq Chaos Edition Just weeks removed from their midterm calamity, the leading lights of the right continue to suffer from rhetorical destruction. The entropy in Baghdad, the looming report of the Iraq Study Group and the last throes of a rudderless Bush administration have produced yet another bumper crop of classic Conservative Quotes of the Week: "We've been in this phase [in Iraq] for a while." President Bush, November 28, 2006. "This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to... more Posted on December 1, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Senate Rights Bush's Wrong on Wellstone With control of the Senate about to change hands, Democrats can begin the work of righting some of the many wrongs perpetrated by President Bush. Last week, the Senators took one small step forward, unanimously passing a resolution honoring the memory and contributions of their late colleague, Minnesota Democrat Paul Wellstone. The Senate's warm embrace of Wellstone provides a stark contrast with President Bush's mean-spirited, partisan slight in October 2002. Of Wellstone, killed along with his wife and campaign staffers... more Posted on November 25, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Lott, Romney Revive Republican Race Card While the GOP this week wrestled with its new status as minority party, leading lights Trent Lott and Mitt Romney showed the Republicans' attitude towards minorities remains unchanged. In the Senate, the Republicans resurrected Mississippi's Trent Lott as the new Minority Whip. Lott, who surrendered his Majority leader post in 2002 following his ebullient praise of GOP centenarian segregationist Strom Thurmond, squeaked by Tennessee's Lamar Alexander 25-24 in the closed-doors vote. Trent Lott, of course, is one of the most... more Posted on November 17, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Bush Sinks GOP Majority Over Rumsfeld With the midterms now in the rear view mirror, history will record that President Bush committed the defining gaffe of the 2006 campaign. Try as they might, conservatives failed to turn John Kerry's clumsy "stuck in Iraq" stumble into the moment that snatched Democratic defeat from the jaws of victory. As it turns out, it was President Bush who sealed the fate of the GOP's congressional majority by offering job security for the "fantastic" Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during the... more Posted on November 15, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Sacrificial Sham: Bush Changes the Subject with Rumsfeld Sacking With Wednesday's post-election sacking of Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush showed once again that he's more concerned about managing the news cycle than America's national security. Facing the prospect of explaining away his party's "thumping" at the hands of the Democrats, Bush instead hoped to change the topic. The "blue wave" that swept the Republicans from Congress can in no small measure be attributed to Bush's failed presidency in general and the disaster in Iraq in particular. Exit polls revealed that... more Posted on November 9, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Divide, Suppress and Conquer: The GOP's 25% Strategy for 2006 As Tuesday's vote approaches, Democrats are buoyantly optimistic about their prospects for retaking control of Congress. President Bush is wildly unpopular. His handling of Iraq, the election's dominant issue, is backed by less than a third of the electorate. On issue after issue, voters across the United States support Democratic positions. And in generic Congressional polls, a majority of Americans consistently prefer Democrats over Republicans. Almost none of which matters for the Republican braintrust. For the GOP, 2006 isn't a... more Posted on November 6, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Documents of Mass Destruction: GOP Puts Party Before National Security with Iraq Papers Once again, the Republicans have put partisan political advantage ahead of national security. And as the New York Times reports today, they may have just given Iran the recipe for a nuclear bomb as a result. As the Times article details, back in March conservatives desperate to salvage President Bush's debunked WMD rationale for the Iraq war demanded the publication of thousands of Saddam's captured documents. As it turns out, those "Operation Iraqi Freedom" papers published on a public web... more Posted on November 3, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Kerry's Failed Joke, Bush's Sick Humor John Kerry's failed "stuck in Iraq" joke once again highlighted the Massachusetts Senator's uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But as George Bush, Dick Cheney and their amen corner try to make hay at Kerry's expense to help the GOP's flagging midterm prospects, they should take care that Americans not be reminded of the President's own sick sense of humor. After all, Bush's jokes usually come at our expense. A sense of humor has always been... more Posted on November 1, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Abramoff: The Gift That Keeps on Giving While all eyes have been focused on the collateral damage from the FoleyGate scandal on Republicans' midterm prospects, convicted GOP uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. A flurry of stories over the past two weeks highlighted the Abramoff taint that keeps spreading across Republican ranks in Congress and the White House. GOP nerves no doubt grew more agitated with the news that Jack will be ensconced in the nearby federal prison... more Posted on November 1, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The GOP Plays the Race Card in Tennessee In one of the least surprising developments of the 2006 mid-term election, the Republican National Committee is turning to the race card early and often. Nowhere is the GOP's race-baiting more prominent than in Tennessee, where an RNC ad titled "Call Me" depicts African-American Democrat Harold Ford as a Mandingo playboy debauching the white women of the South. The RNC effort to help its candidate Bob Corker is no doubt designed to conjure up memories of Lily Belle in Neil... more Posted on October 30, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Jim Webb and the Pornographers of the Right With the truth about his neo-Confederate proclivities and stock swindles putting his Virginia Senate reelection bid in doubt, Republican George Allen turned to fiction to smear his opponent, Vietnam War hero Jim Webb. Citing disturbing content from Webb's combat novels (one of which, "Fields of Fire," appears on the Marine Corps' recommended reading list), Allen and his amen corner have implied that Webb is a misogynist, pedophile or worse. As it turns out, poorly crafted, soft-core pornography seems to be... more Posted on October 29, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Hutchison Backs Iraq Partition, Endorses Clinton Balkans Policy With the looming midterm elections and the imminent report from James Baker's Iraq Study Group facing them like a double-barreled shotgun, Congressional Republicans are beginning to cut and run on President Bush's failed Iraq strategy. In recent days, Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and John Warner (R-VA) have garnered most of the attention with their critiques of a "stay the course" policy that has left Iraq "drifting sideways." But it is Kay Bailey Hutchison from the President's home state of Texas... more Posted on October 20, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Republican Quotes of the Week The Republican implosion over Iraq, the Foley scandal and the North Korean nuclear crisis has produced yet anothe bumper crop of conservative quotes, quips and catastrophes. A small sampling from the talking heads of the right: "He [Rumsfeld] leads in a way that the good Lord tells him is best for our country." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace, October 19, 2006. "House Democrats plot to establish a Department of Peace, raise your taxes, and minimize penalties for crack... more Posted on October 20, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Top 10 GOP Sound Bites, FoleyGate Edition The last two weeks have produced a dramatic shake-up in the Top 10 GOP Sound Bite list. The exploding Mark Foley scandal, the disintegration of Iraq and the new terrorist detainee legislation sent a bevy of Republican ditties racing up the charts. Meanwhile, some old conservative standards have fallen by the way side. Soon-to-be former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert now has three smash hits at the top of the charts. Hastert's hard-rocking cut "(Democrats) Pamper the Terrorists" from... more Posted on October 19, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	GOP Ads We'd Like to See While the past week may not have been kind to the Republican Party, the events of the last several days need not spell doom for the GOP during the upcoming mid-term elections. After all, Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman and the Republican braintrust will not allow the Foley scandal, the explosive allegations in the new Bob Woodward book, the latest Abramoff developments or the downward spiral in Iraq to redefine the GOP. To help the Republicans extricate themselves from their current... more Posted on October 4, 2006 \| Comments (5)

	George Allen Not Kosher Virginia Senator George Allen has once again confirmed the wisdom of the old aphorism that when stuck in a hole, stop digging. Just days after the "Macacagate" episode highlighted Allen's neo-Confederate proclivities, his ham-handed response to revelations of his Jewish ancestry put Allen in hot water. During his September 18 debate with Democrat Jim Webb, a bitter Allen reacted angrily to reporter Peggy Fox's question about his Jewish roots. Perhaps sensing that stories of his grandfather (and namesake) Felix' Jewish... more Posted on September 20, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	The Amazing Race Card There's an old saying that a gaffe is what results when a politician inadvertently tells the truth. By that standard, then, the Republican Party must be confessing its deeply held beliefs when it comes to race. After all, despicable racial slurs like Arnold Schwarzenegger's lecture on black and Latino blood and George Allen's MacacaGate are only the latest signs that racial bigotry is not the exception in the GOP, but perhaps the rule itself. Bush League Racism The rot starts... more Posted on September 13, 2006 \| Comments (5)

	Stevens and Tomlinson Latest GOP Smitings The Avenging Angel, punisher of miscreants of the conservative ascendancy, offered yet more retribution this week in response to the latest Republican buffoonery. The fun and frolic began with Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens. The Republican porkmeister suffered a double-dose of humiliation just in time for Labor Day. Just days after it was revealed that Stevens was the "Secret Senator" who put a hold on a public database for federal grants and earmarks to contractors, the FBI pursuing corruption tied to... more Posted on September 3, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	God, Guatemalans and Other GOP Gaffes Just days after Senator George Allen's MacacaGate scandal, the Republican Party continued to offer a cornucopia of egregious gaffes and uproarious utterances. In Montana, Senator Conrad Burns lived up to his recent claim that he could "self-destruct in one sentence." Just weeks after attacking out-of-state firefighters who came to the aid of Montana, the Senator belittled the "nice little Guatemalan man" who does work on the Burns' house. Perhaps joking about Hugo's green card might earn Burn's a ticket back... more Posted on August 27, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	George Allen's Family Affair By now, Perrspectives readers have grown familiar with the surprising neo-Confederate tendencies of Virginia Senator and presidential aspirant George Allen. (His abiding love of the CSA flag and the heritage of the ante bellum South are all the more surprising, given that Allen was born and raised in Southern California.) Today, the New Republic's Ryan Lizza offers a deeper glimpse of Allen the thug and redneck as a young man, courtesy of the Senator's own sister. In 2000, Allen's sister... more Posted on August 23, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Delay, Ney Ballot Blunders Baffle GOP As the mid-term elections near, convicted Republican hyper lobbyist Jack Abramoff may well be the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. Even as the GOP rushes to drop its Abramoff-tainted candidates from ballots in Ohio and Texas, its political problems only build. In Ohio, six-term Republican Representative and Abramoff golfing buddy Bob Ney dropped out of his race against surging Democratic challenger Zack Space. But State Senator Joy Padgett, Ney's hand-picked successor, may be ineligible to run under Ohio... more Posted on August 8, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The Avenging Angel Smites Burns, Bolton and Steele The Avenging Angel, punisher of the rascals of the right, had yet another busy week delivering payback. Out in Big Sky country, GOP Montana Senator Conrad Burns found himself in hot water this week for insulting firefighters who had been battling blazes in his state. In the midst of a tough reelection bid against Democrat and rancher John Tester, Burns heaped scorn on the visiting Augusta Hotshots from Virginia, telling them they had "done a poor job" and "should have... more Posted on July 30, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Bush's Voting Rights Act In Washington today, President Bush signed a bill extending by 25 years the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In so doing, Bush once again succeeded in having it both ways. While publicly proclaiming his support for the Voting Rights in public, the Bush Justice Department has blocked its enforcement at every turn. The President's rhetoric, of course, is designed to establish Bush's civil rights credentials and aid the Republican Party's outreach to moderate and African-American voters. On Martin Luther King's... more Posted on July 27, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Hoekstra's War on the CIA For most watchers of the CIA, the return of Steven Kappes to Langley as the agency's number 2 man is a welcome development. Fluent in Farsi and Russian, the 23-year veteran of the clandestine service can bring a renewed focus on the CIA's core intelligence-gathering mission. Unfortunately, Kappes' return almost certainly signals the resumption of Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra's partisan war on the CIA. Hoekstra (R-MI), the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, was a strong supporter of Porter Goss, his former... more Posted on July 26, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Specter's Op-Ed: Cowardice He Can Live With In a bizarre Washington Post op-ed ("Surveillance We Can Live With") pitching his ill-conceived NSA eavesdropping compromise, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) shows all of the hallmarks of a man in the throes of severe cognitive dissonance. While essentially pronouncing the illegality of George Bush's illegal domestic surveillance program, he cannot bring himself to harm his President or his party. As we've come to expect, the battle between Specter's inner demons yields only frustration and cowardice. Specter gets... more Posted on July 23, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	IRS Slashes Staff Auditing Wealthiest Americans In the latest sign that Republican class warfare is alive and well in Washington, the IRS is planning draconian cuts to its team of estate tax lawyers handling the audits of the wealthiest Americans. In the next 70 days, the IRS will shed almost half of the 345 lawyers assigned to monitor the gift and estate taxes paid - or not paid - by those with some of the largest fortunes in the United States. This latest effort to gut... more Posted on July 23, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	George Allen's Flag Desecration As the Washington Post reports today, the already bitter Virginia Senate race between incumbent George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb is getting downright nasty. Watching his lead dwindle and his 2008 presidential hopes put in peril, the Vietnam-era freeloader Allen is attacking the patriotism of the Vietnam war hero Webb over the former Navy Secretary's refusal to join Allen in backing a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration. Ironically, it is the Confederate Flag George Allen seems most concerned about it.... more Posted on July 13, 2006 \| Comments (6)

	Bush Stem Cell Veto Threat is Dems' Opportunity In an interview with the Denver Post editorial board, Karl Rove signaled that President Bush would use the first veto of his presidency to block Congressional stem cell legislation. For Democrats, that veto threat could be just what the doctor ordered. In a nutshell, Bush's 2006 base-baiting, red meat strategy could well backfire when it comes to stem cell research. In May 2005, 50 Republicans joined a united Democratic block in passing the bi-partisan Castle-Degette bill by 238-194. (The House... more Posted on July 10, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	All Opposed, Say Ney Republican Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio's 18th district may be among the most vulnerable GOP incumbents in this fall's mid-term elections. Already facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Zack Space, Ney's deep involvement with imprisoned Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff has put his reelection to a 7th term very much at risk. And the bad news only got worse for Ney this week. Matthew Parker, the director of Ney's congressional district office, was subpoenaed as part of the Justice Department's probe... more Posted on July 3, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Hamdan Deals Blow to Bush Domestic Spying The Supreme Court's ruling today in the Hamdan case wasn't merely a defeat for the Bush administration's system of military tribunals for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. As ThinkProgress describes, the majority's explicit rejection of broad presidential powers claimed by the White House to be inherent in the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) also imperils Bush's dubious arguments for the illegal NSA domestic spying program. The challenge for President Bush and his allies is clear. As... more Posted on June 29, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Supreme Win for GOP, Delay in Texas Redistricting Case Tom Delay may have left Congress in disgrace, but the U.S. Supreme Court presented the former Majority Leader with a parting gift on Wednesday. By a 7-2 vote, the Court essentially endorsed Delay's unprecedented Texas Congressional redistricting plan that delivered six new House seats to the Republicans in 2004. The only minor setback for the GOP came in a separate 5-4 ruling that Texas' new 23rd district violated the 1965 Voting Rights Act with its suspicious gerrymandering shifting 100,000 Hispanic... more Posted on June 28, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Warren Buffett Defends the Estate Tax On Monday, billionaire financier Warren Buffett made two important contributions to the public good. First, he announced a staggering gift of $30 billion of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Perhaps more important for America's future, Buffett came out swinging in defense of the estate tax. During his press conference, Buffett offered a strong progressive argument in support of the estate tax: "I would hate to see the estate tax gutted. It's in keeping with the idea... more Posted on June 27, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	The Avenging Angel Smites Rush Limbaugh June has been a busy month for the Avenging Angel, smiter of conservative miscreants. The fun and frolic starts with Rush Limbaugh, the face of right wing radio and prescription drug fraud. On Monday, Rush once again ran afoul of the law over his pill predilection. Only weeks after doing a deal over charges of doctor shopping for the painkiller oxycontin, Limbaugh was stopped at the Miami airport for possession of Viagra without a prescription. Like Bob Dole before him,... more Posted on June 26, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Iraqi PM, U.S. Commander: Cut and Run Just days after President Bush and his Republican allies in Congress lambasted their Democratic opponents for supposedly wanting to "cut and run" in Iraq, the Iraqi government and American military leadership in Baghdad essentially endorsed the Democratic position to set a timeline to draw down U.S. troops. As Newsweek first reported on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki endorsed a timetable for American withdrawal as part of 28-point national reconciliation plan submitted to the Iraqi parliament today. While Maliki proposed... more Posted on June 25, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The Republican Rap Sheet This weekend, Democrats in Congress moved quickly to oust Louisiana Representative William Jefferson from his seat on the powerful House Way and Means Committee. Facing strong opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi showed that Democrats would be quick to punish ethical transgressors within their ranks. The contrast with the Republican culture of corruption could not more stark. Jefferson, who housed $90,000 in cold cash from a Nigerian bagman in his freezer, is the exception that proves... more Posted on June 20, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Ann Coulter and Conservatism's Continuum of Hate On the House floor Thursday, Democratic Congressman Rahm Emmanuel threw down the gauntlet and challenged his GOP colleagues to repudiate the bilious words of Ann Coulter. But as should be clear by now, they simply can't. Whether the issue concerns gay Americans, 9/11, abortion, judicial appointments or political corruption, a seamless continuum of hate runs from today's governing conservatism through to its most extreme proponents. And that means the Congressional GOP differs only in degree - not in kind -... more Posted on June 9, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Delay's Parting Shots June 8th will be remembered as a good day for freedom loving peoples everywhere. In Iraq, the brutal terrorist and Al Qaeda mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. air strike. And in Washington, the indicted former House Majority leader and K Street mastermind Tom Delay bid adieu to Congress. But while Zarqawi went out with a bang, Delay hardly went out with a whimper. In his House valedictory of venom, viciousness and deceit, an unapologetic Delay showered... more Posted on June 9, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	Pat Roberts on Civil Liberties: Drop Dead During his opening comments in the CIA confirmation hearings of General Michael Hayden, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) returned to a favorite Republican sound bite in defense of illegal domestic surveiilance by the NSA. Roberts proclaimed: "I am a strong supporter of the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and civil liberties. But you have no civil liberties if you are dead." On February 3rd, Roberts, who has stonewalled the Phase II investigation into the misuses of pre-Iraq war... more Posted on May 18, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Hayden Learns the 4th Amendment The CIA confirmation hearings for General Michael are underway and the Bush administration is pulling out all the stops for their man. Yesterday, the White House flip-flopped and provided briefings on its illegal NSA domestic surveillance programs to the full Senate and House intelligence committees. And today, General Hayden showed he did his homework and finally learned the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As the AP reported, Hayden today sought to defend the legality of the NSA domestic... more Posted on May 18, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The Question for Hayden: Is FISA Unconstitutional? With the confirmation hearings for his CIA director nomination set to begin on Thursday, General Michael Hayden will no doubt be grilled on the broadening scope and dubious legality of the domestic surveillance programs during his tenure at the NSA. As we learned last week, Hayden's NSA not only conducted warrantless electronic eavesdropping on Americans, but clandestinely built a massive database of their phone records as well. And just today, Brian Ross of ABC News revealed that he had been... more Posted on May 15, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	This Week in Republican Corruption The Avenging Angel, smiter of conservative evil doers, has had a very busy week. From the White House to the Kentucky State House, from Langley to K Street, the latest batch of Banana Republicans was exposed, indicted or jailed. Let's start with Robert Ray, Kenneth Starr's successor as Bill Clinton Grand Inquisitor, who got his just desserts this week in New York. Ray, who famously said of Clinton, "no person is above the law," surrendered to the NYPD on charges... more Posted on May 15, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Poll: Double Win for Bush on NSA Phone Records A new poll from the Washington Post suggests that the President Bush may be winning a double victory with his illegal NSA domestic surveillance programs. Americans seem willing to buy the White House's "tough on terrorism" hype at the expense of the law and their own civil liberties. And as an added ironic bonus, the President gets another opportunity to decry leaks that supposedly jeopardize national security. Surprisingly, the poll data show Americans even more content with revelations over government... more Posted on May 12, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Katherine Harris Down 30% On this Saturday before Easter, one resurrection that looks increasingly unlikely is that of Katherine Harris. In a new poll from Ramsussen, the Florida Congresswoman and doyenne of electoral deceit finds herself trailing incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson by a staggering 30% in their Senate race. Harris' ill-fated Senate run was stillborn almost from conception. As I noted previously, the national GOP shunned her polarizing campaign from the start. In February, the trial of Duke Cunningham bagman Mitchell Wade revealed that... more Posted on April 15, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	Republican Terms Unlimited In 1994, the GOP rode the Contract with America and its call for term limits to an overwhelming victory in the midterm elections. Newt Gingrich, the architect of the '94 Republican Revolution, saw the term limits pledge as an essential ingredient to retaking the House. But in 1991, Gingrich called terms limits "a terrible idea." To no one's surprise, many of his Republican colleagues who took the pledge now agree with him. As CQPolitics reports, Tennessee Representative Zach Wamp and... more Posted on April 14, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	GOP Cornered by Bush Leak That President Bush authorized Scooter Libby to selectively leak portions of the highly classified October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate as part of a coordinated assault on Joseph Wilson and other debunkers of pre-war Iraq WMD claims should come as a surprise to no one. What is surprising is that at least one Republican has the courage and the honesty to acknowledge the hypocrisy and shamelessness of a President now revealed as "leaker-in-chief." Representative Ray Lahood, an Illinois Republican and staunch... more Posted on April 7, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	A Conversation with Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga Jerome Armstrong (founder of MyDD) and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (of DailyKos fame) are bringing their "Crashing the Gate" book tour to my home town of Portland. Their PDX itinerary on April 9th and 10th concludes with an event Monday evening to help Rob Brading unseat Oregon House Speaker Karen Minnis. Earlier this week, I had chance to catch up with Jerome and Markos in advance of their upcoming Portland trip. We discussed their book, the state of the Democratic Party... more Posted on April 5, 2006 \| Comments (5)

	Delay to Resign The Galveston County Daily News is reporting that Tom Delay will resign his seat this spring or summer. Coming just days after the guilty plea of his former aide Tony Rudy in the Abramoff affair, Delay has apparently decided not only to drop out of his reelection race, but to resign altogether. Delay cited troubling poll numbers as driving his decision. More likely, the collective weight of the Abramoff, Buckham, and TRMPAC scandals brought the Hammer down, so to speak.... more Posted on April 3, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Tom Delay's Christ Complex Tom Delay has never been shy about comparing himself to Jesus Christ. In 2001, Delay defended his none-too-subtle campaign to bring his fundamentalism to the United States Congress, "People hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ." At last weekend's "War on Christians" conference, Delay's American Taliban allies elevated his Christ complex to the level of a crusade. Vision America founder and conference host Pastor Rick Scarborough led the way in the deification of Delay. Scarborough, whose latest book is... more Posted on March 31, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Brand W and the Midterm Elections Facing dismal poll ratings and the potential loss of both the House and Senate, the Republican National Committee appears set with its 2006 mid-term election strategy. Call it "Brand W." That is the central message in a memo from GOP pollster Jan van Lohuizen to RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. Acknowledging the GOP's current challenges, van Lohuizen says the key to maintaining Republican control of Congress is reenergizing and mobilizing the Party's dispirited base. To do that, the memo claims, the... more Posted on March 29, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Terri Schiavo: One Year Later This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. While the battle to respect her wishes is thankfully past, the war over individual autonomy and the protection of private, personal life choices is far from over. As many of the leaders of the religious right convene at VisionAmerica's "War on Christians" conference, Terri Schiavo's parents Mary and Bob Schindler are coincidentally set to release their tell-all book. Meanwhile, husband Michael has broken his public silence, issuing his... more Posted on March 27, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Poll Watch: Bush and GOP Spiral Downward The latest wave of public opinion polls shows that President Bush's downward spiral continues unabated. The Wall Street Journal reports that Bush's approval rating has plummeted to 37%, with CNN coming in at 36%, a precipitous 10% drop from January. And while a comparatively upbeat Washington Post survey from March 6th put the President at a 41% approval rating, a devastating assessment from the Pew Research Center showed Bush at only 33%, the lowest mark of his presidency. There can... more Posted on March 16, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Harris Stays In Refusing to bow to the inevitable, Republican Congresswoman and 2000 GOP recount heroine Katherine Harris is staying in the 2006 Florida Senate race. Sidestepping a major address planned for this evening, Harris instead used the friendly confines of the Fox Hannity and Colmes program to declare her intent to continue her quixotic campaign the Democratic incumbent, Bill Nelson: "I'm staying. I'm in this race. I'm going to win. I'm going to put everything on the line." Ms. Harris may put... more Posted on March 15, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	Norton, Norquist and Abramoff's Body Count In what may be the latest addition to Jack Abramoff's Republican body count, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced her resignation today. With Abramoff's legal team threatening to tell all about the "friends of Jack" throughout Congress and the Bush White House, Norton preemptively ended her career in government. As the Denver Post, ThinkProgress, Atrios and others report, Norton certainly has a lot of explaining to do. Norton protected her deputy and former energy industry lobbyist Steven Griles even after her... more Posted on March 10, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Senate Intel Committee Caves on NSA Inquiry As predicted yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee today confirmed its status as a rubber stamp for the White House. The Committee, led by staunch Bush ally Pat Roberts (R-KS), rejected vice-chairman Jay Rockefeller's call for an investigation of the President's illegal NSA domestic spying program. Bowing to pressure from the White House, Majority Leader Frist and its chairman, the Intelligence Committee agreed only to institute a seven-member subcommittee, which along with staff, would receive full briefings on the program. Rockefeller... more Posted on March 7, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Frist's Flagging Prospects Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is at it again. Just days after threatening to gut the Senate Intelligence Committee if it launches an investigation of President Bush's illegal domestic spying program, Frist announced his new number one legislative priority: the Flag Amendment. Dr. Frist, whose accomplishments to date include witness malpractice in the Schiavo case and an SEC investigation for insider trading, once again has his eyes focused on the culture war prize of flag desecration: "I look forward to... more Posted on March 7, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Senate Showdown Tuesday on Domestic Spying Tomorrow is shaping as "Showdown Tuesday" for the Senate Intelligence Committee. On Tuesday, the Intelligence Committee led by Kansas Senator Pat Roberts will decide whether to investigate President Bush's illegal NSA domestic wiretapping. At this point, the vote could go either way. Whether Roberts' committee once again abdicates its oversight role likely comes to down the votes of three Republican members previously critical of the NSA program: Mike DeWine of Ohio, Maine's Olympia Snowe and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. DeWine,... more Posted on March 6, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	The Decline and Coming Fall of Katherine Harris Last week, I wrote about the tough times for the Florida's doyenne of electoral deceit, Katherine Harris. Already badly trailing in her Senate race to unseat Democrat Bill Nelson, revelations a week ago showed that Harris accepted $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Duke Cunningham sugar daddy, defense contractor MZM. Now comes the latest chapter in the decline and fall of Katherine Harris. On March 1, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reported that former Harris scheduler Mona Tate Yost left her... more Posted on March 5, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	GOP Scandals Converge in Texas Redistricting Case On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case that brings together three simmering Republican scandals. The GOP's unprecedented Congressional gerrymandering, Tom Delay's ethical failings and the Department of Justice's gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will be among the story lines as the Roberts Court takes on the 2003 Texas redistricting cases. On its face, the Texas cases concern the constitutionality of a new Congressional district map put in place by Texas Republicans in 2003. Coming only... more Posted on February 27, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Hammer Time: Texas GOP Sends IRS After Delay Foe Two years ago, I wrote about the "Payback Principle" as one of the hallmarks of the Bush presidency. As it turns out, declaring total war to smear, intimidate, defame and destroy political opponents is common practice within the Texas GOP. That's what Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) found out when a Tom Delay ally in Congress triggered an IRS audit of the non-profit. As the Washington Post reported today, the IRS cleared Texans for Public Justice after an audit commenced... more Posted on February 27, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	From Bad to Worse for Katherine Harris Things just keep going from bad to worse for Katherine Harris. The GOP's 2000 Florida recount heroine is facing almost certain defeat in her upcoming 2006 Senate race, a campaign her one-time Republican backers in DC pulled out all the stops to prevent. Now comes the news that Harris accepted $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Duke Cunningham's bagman, Mitchell Wade of defense contractor MZM. Michael Crowley in The New Republic details Harris' fall from grace among national Republicans. Celebrated... more Posted on February 25, 2006 \| Comments (4)

	The Republicans' Constitutional Crisis When it comes to President Bush's illegal domestic spying program, his Republican allies over the last several days have shown that discretion is indeed the better part of valor. From the beginning, the administration's amen corner has aggressive claimed that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) and the wartime Commander-in-Chief powers give President Bush the statutory and constitutional basis for sidestepping the FISA process for domestic electronic surveillance. But most in the GOP are downright sheepish... more Posted on February 20, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Just Say Noe to Thugs For those who have been following the ethical trials and travails of the GOP, the Buckeye State brings us the latest chapter of the Banana Republicans. Ohio Republican fundraiser extraordinaire Tom Noe, a Bush pioneer and close supporter of Governor Robert Taft, has been indicted on 53 new counts of stealing over $1 million from a dubious state investment in rare coins. These counts come on top of earlier charges of illegally funneling over $45,000 to President Bush's 2004 reelection... more Posted on February 13, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Playing Dumb: Bush on Abramoff, Lay and Libby Facing increasing pressure over his ties to convicted Republican uber lobbyist Jack Abramoff, George W. Bush is doing what comes naturally: playing dumb. And why not? It worked for him with Ken Lay and the Valerie Plame leak. On January 26th, President Bush denied any relationship with Abramoff, a "Pioneeer" who raised over $100,000 for his reelection campaign: "You know, I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don't know him." Sadly for the President,... more Posted on February 9, 2006 \| Comments (2)

	The White House Flip-Flops on NSA Program Oversight President Bush has flip-flopped once again. Just 24 hours after Vice President Cheney firmly declared the administration would not more broadly share information with key Congressional committee members regarding Bush's NSA domestic spying program, the White House reversed course - sort of. The seeds of the turnabout were sown with yesterday's challenge from House Intelligence Committee member, Republican Heather Wilson of New Mexico. Wilson, who is also one of the few House GOP members to return contributions from Tom Delay's... more Posted on February 8, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The GOP's "Give Me Death" Defense on Domestic Spying During a break in the Senate testimony by Attorney General Gonzales this morning, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions resorted to the now standard Republican defense of President Bush's illegal domestic spying program. Call it the "Give Me Death" strategy. During brief comments to the press, Sessions referring to the rightness of Bush's domestic spying after 9/11 declared melodramatically: "Over 3,000 Americans have no civil rights because they are no longer with us." The Republican leadership is singing from the same Karl... more Posted on February 6, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	The Top 10 State of the Union Highlights Faced with negative polls and a pessimistic American nation, President Bush's just completed 2006 State of the Union Address naturally focused on the theme of "the Hopeful Society." But like the stillborn "Ownership Society" vision before it, Bush's 2006 SOTU will be remembered not for its policy program, but for its partisan political purposes. The top 10 highlights: 1. Demonize the Democrats The President continued Karl Rove's 2006 electoral strategy to once again run on national security and brand the... more Posted on January 31, 2006 \| Comments (6)

	The Sad Symbolism of Samuel Alito and Coretta Scott King There are days when the convergence of events can't help but deliver a larger message, to augur change or signal the passing of one era and the start of another. With the coincident confirmation of Justice Samuel Alito and the death of Coretta Scott King, today is one of those days of historical - and symbolic - significance. In Washington, the U.S. Senate confirmed Alito by 58 to 42, possibly changing the the direction of the Supreme Court for a... more Posted on January 31, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	The Democrats' States of the Union With President Bush only two days away from delivering his 2006 State of the Union (SOTU) address, the Democrats and their progressive allies have mobilized to offer both critiques of and alternatives to the latest installment of this failed presidency. The Center for American Progress has organized its ThinkProgress State of the Union Extravaganza to provide analysis and reaction to the President before, during and after the address. A pre-SOTU webcast in conjunction with Air America's Majority Report begins at... more Posted on January 29, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Branding the NSA Domestic Spying Scandal As part of its all-out campaign to defend its indefensible illegal domestic wiretapping program, the Bush administration is turning to one of its tried and true marketing techniques - branding. The product? The "Terrorist Surveillance Program." In speeches this week, President Bush, former NSA program manager Air Force General Michael Hayden and other White House surrogates will toe the party line and refer to the "terrorist surveillance program." To support the new GOP talking points, the White House web site... more Posted on January 24, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Republican Plantation Politics On the same day that Republicans howled over Hillary Clinton's use of "plantation", a GOP term of art, President Bush was practicing some plantation politics of his own. In Washington on Monday, the President honored the life of Martin Luther King Jr. by calling for the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. "We all must recognize we have more to do," Bush intoned, "And Congress must renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965." Too bad his Justice Department... more Posted on January 17, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Ralph Reed: Abramoff Crony and Fox News Scandal Analyst Fox News has nothing if not, as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright might say, "cojones." Perhaps never more so than on Sunday, when its Big Story Primetime show featured Republican lobbyist and strategist Ralph Reed offering analysis on the Jack Abramoff scandal: 1:00am Big Story Primetime Abramoff Ripple Effect? Republican strategist Ralph Reed speaks out on the wide-spread impact of the disgraced lobbyist's scandal. Who better that Reed to provide insight and context into the exploding Republican scandals on... more Posted on January 16, 2006 \| Comments (3)

	DeLay Down, Not Out Tom Delay, the former exterminator and ethically-challenged Texas representative, has bowed to the inevitable and finally stepped down from his House Majority Leader role. Facing a revolt from his own GOP colleagues in the wake of the Abramoff plea and new revelations of corruption, the Hammer in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert grudgingly gave up on his pyrrhic quest to hold on to his leadership post. Still, an unrepentant Delay vowed to fight for reelection even in the... more Posted on January 7, 2006 \| Comments (0)

	Jack Abramoff & the Banana Republicans With today?s guilty plea by Republican uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Congressional GOP and its K Street poject may be in for a world of hurt. As many as 20 people in the House, Senate and other Republican circles in DC may be implicated. For all the latest news, documents, legal filings and timelines on the growing Abramoff and Delay imbroglios, be sure to visit the Perrspectives Abramoff/Delay Scandal Center. In the mean time, here?s an updated Most Wanted poster of... more Posted on January 3, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	The NSA Scandal Resource Center The Perrspectives Resource Center has just been expanded to include a new document library for the exploding Bush-NSA Spying Scandal. The NSA Scandal Document Library includes the latest Bush spying scandal news, essential Department of Justice memos and key laws such as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the War Powers Resolution, the 2001 Authorization of Military Force (AUMF) and more. Key Supreme Court decisions involving presidential war powers, such as the 1952 Youngstown v. Sawyer and 2004's Hamdi v.... more Posted on January 1, 2006 \| Comments (1)

	Yoo Da Man Karl Rove is widely credited with being "Bush's brain." But when it comes to the administration's dangerous and unprecedented expansion of presidential war powers, John Yoo is the President's mouthpiece. Only 34, Yoo, formerly of the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel and now a professor at the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law, joins Paul Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney as one of the preeminent if unlikely policy architects in the Bush pantheon. Wolfowitz, the former Defense Undersecretary, was... more Posted on December 23, 2005 \| Comments (3)

	The Republican Rap Sheet The explosion of scandals engulfing the Banana Republicans is producing a growing body count. In just the last week, California Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned his House seat after pleading guilty to taking over $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractor MZM. Jack Abramoff partner Michael Scanlon entered a guilty plea for his role in swindling Native American tribes, a turn of events that may imperil a host of others in Congress, including Ohio Representative Bob Ney. Meanwhile, the PlameGate/CIA... more Posted on December 1, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Cheney and the "Same Intelligence" Myth In "Bush Rewrites History", I argued that in attacking opponents of its uses and manipulation of pre-war intelligence, the Bush White House and its amen corner were propagating four new myths. First, President Bush, Vice President Cheney and their allies claimed that Congress has access to the "same intelligence" as the White House. Second, the President and his team asserted that two investigations of the Iraq war run-up found no evidence that the President or his administration had manipulated pre-war... more Posted on November 28, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Medicare's Prescription for Failure Last week saw the launch of the enrollment period for the new Medicare prescription drug plan. Judging by the initial reception by beneficiaries, Congress and the market alike, the Medicare drug benefit is off to a rocky start. That should come as a surprise to no one for a program that was designed to fail. All over the country, overwhelmed seniors wrestled with over 40 competing plans featuring conflicting formulary lists and dramatic geographic variations in premiums. Beneficiaries' confusion was... more Posted on November 23, 2005 \| Comments (4)

	The Avenging Angel Smites Schmidt, Woodward It's been a very busy week for the Avenging Angel, punisher of conservative miscreants. Last week, Bob Woodward, the famed Watergate reporter, confirmed that he sold his soul to the devil. First, Woodward penned two Bush hagiographies in exchange for exclusive access to the White House. Now it it turns out that Woodward, who on October 27th dismissed the CIA leak case as "gossip" and chided Patrick Fitzgerald as a "bull-dog", himself was told of Valerie Plame's identity in June... more Posted on November 22, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Bush Rewrites History When in a hole, one of the timeless maxims of politics states, stop digging. President Bush, facing plummeting poll numbers, the festering PlameGate scandal and a growing national consensus that he misled the country into war with Iraq, has apparently decided to keep digging. In shameless and angry speeches in front of military audiences on Veterans Day and again in Alaska on Monday, the President in essence accused his critics of giving aid and comfort to the enemy. But in... more Posted on November 15, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	Roberts' Iraq Stonewall Crumbles Over the past week, Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas chose to ignore the old dictum, "when in a hole, stop digging." As I wrote last week, Roberts has been a key leader of an elaborate GOP effort to stonewall investigation into the Bush administration's uses and misuses of pre-Iraq war intelligence. Stung by the closed Senate session in which Democrats savaged his obvious obstructionist tactics, Roberts came out swinging. Now, Roberts is insisting that there is no evidence of... more Posted on November 7, 2005 \| Comments (9)

	Why the Senate Went to a Closed Session In case you were wondering, this is why Harry Reid forced the Senate into a closed session. Republican Chairman Pat Roberts on the Phase 2 Report on possible Bush White House manipulation of Iraq WMD intelligence: "I don't think there should be any doubt that we have now heard it all regarding prewar intelligence. I think that it would be a monumental waste of time to replow this ground any further." (March 31, 2005) "To go though that exercise, it... more Posted on November 2, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Bush's Premature Withdrawal In one of the least surprising announcements to come of out Washington in recent years, President Bush bowed to the inevitable and pulled the Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers. Positioned as a principled withdrawal by a stalwart White House counsel concerned with preserving executive privilege, in reality the Miers collapse was both a total defeat for the President and a potent symbol of his political cowardice. The Bush nomination of Miers was stillborn. She was cannibalized by movement conservatives,... more Posted on October 27, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Predicting the Democrats' Slogan in '06 The Hill is reporting that the Democratic Party may have settled on a slogan for the 2006 mid-term elections. The Democratic tag line being explored is "Together, America Can Do Better" or "Together We Can Do Better." Even at this early date, I can say that I wholeheartedly approve. Why? Because I suggested the exact same slogan to the Kerry campaign on July 14, 2004. In a memo titled "The Pessimism Gap", I argued over a year ago that the... more Posted on October 25, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Blowback: Bush, Plame and the Politics of Payback Washington is on pins and needles as all await word from CIA leak special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Reuters reports that Fitzgerald may convene the grand jury as early as Tuesday to seek indictments. What began as an investigation into the outing of a covert CIA operative has grown to encompass perjury and obstruction of justice, and perhaps even cast doubt on the candor of the administration's rationale for the Iraq war. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Bush White House is... more Posted on October 23, 2005 \| Comments (9)

	Tom Delay's Media War Anyone who thought indicted Congressman Tom Delay would pass quietly into the night learned otherwise this week. The former House Majority Leader unleashed a full-scale assault against Travis County DA Ronnie Earle in court, on television and on the Internet. In so doing, Delay showed he is both ethically-challenged and media savvy. The legal challenges came as a surprise to no one. Delay's attorney Dick DeGuerin began by filing a motion to dismiss the case against his client. Ronnie Earle... more Posted on October 15, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	Stirling Work on the Delay Case Over the last several months, Perrspectives has amassed a large and growing document library regarding Tom Delay and his laundry list of scandals. One of the most important additions to the Tom Delay Scandal Document Center comes from Stirling Newberry of Blogging the President. Over at BOP and in a post at DailyKos, Newberry has unearthed a treasure trove of memos, emails and other correspondence involving Delay's TRMPAC, Texas legislators, Texas Republican contributors, and the Hammer's own staff. Last week,... more Posted on October 6, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Miers Fails the Three Strikes Test The judicial philosophy of Harriet Miers, President Bush's surprise choice to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, remains a mystery. But what little is known about Miers suggests she is a political operative with some extreme views if not extreme qualifications. In a nutshell, Miers fails Perrspectives' "Three Strikes Test" for the Supreme Court. Back in July, I urged Democrats to hold their fire on John Roberts and focus instead on Bush's second nominee, taken for granted to... more Posted on October 4, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	America's Most Wanted The cavalcade of Republican corruption continues unabated. Only days after the first of two indictments of Tom Delay and the commencement of an SEC investigation into insider trading by Bill Frist, the PlameGate investigation is heating up once again. The Washington Post reports that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may pursue criminal conspiracy charges against Karl Rove and Cheney chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the payback outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. And ABC's George Stephanopolous claimed Sunday that... more Posted on October 2, 2005 \| Comments (11)

	The GOP Scandal Documents With Tom Delay indicted and Judith Miller released from jail, the bubbling pot of Republican corruption, cronyism and skullduggery is reaching a boiling point. Ever the schadenfreude merchant, the Perrspectives Document Library is only to happy to offer the essential documents and materials for the Delay, Rove and other festering scandals of the Banana Republicans. The Tom Delay Scandal Center has all the key background for the Delay case and its spawn, including Jack Abramoff and David Safavian. The essential... more Posted on September 30, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Delay Indicted. Frist Investigated. God in His Heaven. It's been a bad day for the Banana Republicans. First, House Majority Leader Tom Delay was indicted. Then, the SEC announced it is launching a formal investigation into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's insider trading scandal. For today at least, God is in His Heaven and all is right with the world. Let's start with Delay, the man who promised to bring a "biblical worldview" to government. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle indicted the Hammer for TRMPAC's illegal use... more Posted on September 28, 2005 \| Comments (3)

	Sins of Commission The American people are rightly outraged by President Bush's refusal to call for an independent commission to investigate the disastrous government response to hurricane Katrina. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed that 81% of Americans would like to see an independent panel versus only 18% backing a Congressional inquiry. Democrats will pay no price for opposing both the defanged joint committee pushed by House and Senate Republicans and the sham White House investigation led by Bush homeland security advisor Frances Townsend.... more Posted on September 21, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	John Roberts, Chief Umpire? Among the rhetorical flourishes that characterized his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings, none perhaps will prove to be as lasting or strategic as John Roberts' "umpire" analogy. Designed to disarm both conservative opponents of so-called "judicial activism" and liberal foes of right-wing ideology on the bench, the eloquent Roberts offered the soothing platitude, "Judges are like umpires. Umpires don't make the rules; they apply them." Roberts� umpire approach was warmly received by fawning Republicans on the Committee. Democratic members, though,... more Posted on September 21, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Trojan Horse: The Bush Plan for Katrina Last Thursday�s speech by President Bush in New Orleans� Jackson Square kicked off the administrations� cynical campaign to snatch political victory from the jaws of defeat in the wake of its disastrous Katrina response. Karl Rove�s strategy for the coming 2006 mid-term elections will modeled on his 2002 GOP success with the Department of Homeland Security. With the Gulf States devastated, hundreds dead and thousands displaced, President Bush and the GOP will lace a popular recovery program featuring massive federal... more Posted on September 19, 2005 \| Comments (9)

	Bush's Katrina Cop Out The President's prime-time "Katrina Comeback" address was vintage Bush. Primarily designed to help him, and not the Gulf States, recover from his administration�s disastrous bungling of the Katrina response, Bush's speech offered to shower money on the devastated South. But in his typical fashion, George W. Bush held no one accountable and shunned independent oversight of the response and the rebuilding. Most of all, the Free Lunch President refused to ask the American people to pay for it. Let's start... more Posted on September 15, 2005 \| Comments (16)

	9/11 and the Culture of Grief This fourth anniversary of the devastating September 11 Al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington were marked with the usual ritualistic displays of grief and remembrance. Some, like the World Trade Center ceremony in New York were heartfelt and moving. Others, like the Bush administration�s so-called "Freedom Walk" in Washington DC appropriated (or perhaps more accurately, misappropriated) the symbols of 9/11 for partisan political ends. And some, like the Nick Lachey/Jessica Simpson pop rendition of "America the Beautiful" simulcast... more Posted on September 11, 2005 \| Comments (5)

	Estate Tax or Dynasty Dividend? In the wake of Katrina's devastation along the Gulf Coast, Americans should be united in providing relief, resources and support to all in need. But sadly, that massive relief effort will take place during a time divisive - and fundamental - debate about the very meaning of national unity in the United States. As New Orleans struggles for survival, the President and his amen corner are waging a full scale assault on the estate tax, what they derisively (and effectively)... more Posted on September 4, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	New Orleans Pays the Death Tax Now should not be the time, as Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly has noted, for the politics of blame. In the wake of Katrina's devastation along the Gulf Coast, Americans should be united in providing relief, resources and support to all in need. But sadly, that massive relief effort will take place during a time of divisive and fundamental debate about the very meaning of national unity in the United States. As New Orleans struggles for survival, the President... more Posted on August 31, 2005 \| Comments (36)

	What Is To Be Done: A 10-Point Plan for Iraq The debate over the American debacle in Iraq sounds more and more like the Fram oil filter ads from the 1970's. In those spots, a hard-nosed mechanic tells consumers, "you can pay me now or pay me later." The inevitable result of the current political dialogue over Iraq will be the "Fram choice" for Americans: the United States can lose now or lose later. On the right, President Bush and his fellow travelers refuse to accept accountability for selling a... more Posted on August 20, 2005 \| Comments (13)

	Chaos Theory: Bush & The Bolton Diversion As expected, President Bush Monday morning made a recess appointment of John Bolton to the post of UN ambassador for the United States. This, despite Bolton's inability to get Senate approval, his lie regarding his testimony in the Plame affair, and the possibility of his own involvement in a White House orchestrated smear campaign against the Wilsons. Bush's move, though, may be less about his famed loyalty or legendary intransigence, and more a diversion aimed at creating chaos. At this... more Posted on August 1, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Holding Fire on Roberts In yesterday's piece "Supreme Limitations on Democrats", I argued that liberals and progressives of all stripes should not reflexively oppose the nomination of Judge John Roberts to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. (Admittedly, when I wrote the piece, it was Judge Edith Brown Clement I had in mind.) The argument for restraint in the confirmation process is straight-forward. It's not just that Roberts is clearly a first-rate legal talent, unlike a Clarence Thomas. He simply does not cross the threshhold of... more Posted on July 20, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	Markets, Public Goods and Military Recruiting During Thursday's hearings of the Armed Services Committee, several Republican Senators blamed the usual suspects for the shortfalls in Army and Marine recruiting. James Inhofe (R-OK) lambasted unnamed Senate colleagues, adding the potential recruits are being discouraged "because of all the negative media that's out there." Kansan Pat Roberts chimed in, "with the deluge of negative news that we get daily, it's just amazing to me that anybody would want to sign up." But while these conservative Senators predictably pointed... more Posted on June 30, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Sharpening Their Clause: The Coming Bush Judges Only days after the Senate reached a tenuous compromise to preserve the judicial filibuster, it appears the first Supreme Court vacancy of the Bush era may be imminent. AP reports that Chief Justice Rehnquist is preparing to step down and that the White House is already preparing to nominate his successor. There is an emerging consensus regarding the leading contenders for Bush's first Supreme. (Jeffrey Rosen in The New Republic provided a thorough run down last fall.) More important than... more Posted on May 30, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Nuclear Freeze and Bipolar Disorder AP has reported that the Senate 12 have brokered an 11th hour deal to avert a showdown over the nuclear option. The deal announced by Senator John McCain preserves the Democrats right to filibuster, but gives Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor a vote on the Senate floor. If the early blogosphere feedback is any indication, the Right and Left share a common sense of rage and betrayal at the outcome: "Cowards. A Bunch of M-Fing Cowards!!!! "Trust"?... more Posted on May 23, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Judicial Filibuster Documents and Resources The Perrspectives Document Library has been expanded to include materials and resources for the Senate showdown over the judicial filibuster. The Judicial Filibuster Resource Center includes resource guides from the Center for American Progress and Media Matters, key background articles on the origins of the Nuclear Option, and background on key GOP players like Bill Frist and Manuel Miranda. The Judicial Filibuster Document Library also includes comparisons and archives of judicial vacancies under Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. For... more Posted on May 19, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	A Conservative Theory of Evolution On Sunday, April 24th, Senate Majority Leader Bill First will join James Dobson, Tony Perkins and assorted members of the conservative American Taliban for "Justice Sunday." This made-for-TV event is part of the Right's ongoing war against Senate Democrats' use of the filibuster to block a handful of Bush judicial nominees. As Frist prepares to implement the nuclear option, it is worth noting the subtle irony at the center of the Justice Sunday event. As their flyer states: "THE FILIBUSTER... more Posted on April 21, 2005 \| Comments (7)

	Tony Perkins Joins the American Taliban With the Family Research Council's "Justice Sunday" coming on April 24th, FRC head Tony Perkins has earned a charter membership to the American Taliban. Perkins has led the Family Research Council since 2003, after previously founding the Louisiana Family Forum to fight the "increasing influence of the homosexual community on public policy issues" and authoring that state's covenant marriage legislation. Perkins likes to refer to the "homosexual death-style" and labels civil unions "a serious threat to the health of our... more Posted on April 19, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Delay's Judas Kiss As Malcolm Gladwell might put it, the Tom Delay saga may have reached a "tipping point." Across the House, the Senate and even the White House, Delay is under a withering assault from his erstwhile Republican allies. Many in the GOP, including the leadership, increasingly view Delay's judicial jihad and ethics imbroglio as threatening the Republican Congressional majorities in 2006. And while momentum has been building for his ouster, Delay's doom may be sealed by his own friends: Christopher Shays... more Posted on April 10, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	The Tom Delay Resource Center Perrspectives is pleased to offer a new set of resources for monitoring Tom Delay and his looming ethical implosion. The Delay document library includes press coverage and tools from DropTheHammer.org, Common Cause, Public Citizen and the Campaign for America's Future. Visit the Tom Delay Resource Center today! For other Tom Delay program-related activities, see: Easter Reflections on Tom Delay The American Taliban The Avenging Angel's Top 10 Unpunished Transgressors List Tom Delay Hypocrisy Watch... more Posted on April 9, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Conservative Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry Once again, the conservative punditocracy and blogosphere is learning the painful lesson that the truth does not necessarily set you free. From Fox News and Rush Limbaugh to virtually the entire right-wing blogosphere, the regiments of right-wing venom were all wrong about the much-hyped "GOP Schiavo talking points memo." Over the past 10 days, they called it a fraud, or in Limbaugh's case, a Democratic forgery, all in the hope of a redux of the CBS Memogate affair. Unfortunately for... more Posted on April 7, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Easter Reflections on Tom Delay In recent days, criticism has unfairly rained down on House majority leader Tom Delay for supposedly comparing himself to Jesus. As Delay put it in his own defense, "people hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ." On this Easter Sunday, it is worth noting that the similarities between Jesus and Tom Delay are striking: UPDATE: A PDF version is available here. For more on Tom Delay, see "The American Taliban" and "The Avenging Angel."... more Posted on March 27, 2005 \| Comments (29)

	To Err is Texan Three critical points have been almost entirely absent from the media's discussion of the Terri Schiavo affair. I've written about two and others in the blogosphere have done a great job addressing the third: 1. Moral Arguments Favoring the End of Life Support A thorough discussion of the very strong moral arguments in favor of honoring Terri Schiavo's end-of-life request to her husband has been completely missing in the media. For my take, see: "Schiavo, Mill and the Culture of... more Posted on March 21, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Schiavo, Mill and the Culture of Living President Bush often likes to speak of a �culture of life�, a catch phrase that neatly frames his opposition to reproductive choice and stem cell research. The tragic case of Terri Schiavo, now featuring dangerously irresponsible and unprecedented Congressional intervention, is only latest chapter in his conservative playbook. It is high time to end the melodrama of Republican political opportunism and regain control of this debate. Progressives must do this not because we�re �right� or because our position in this... more Posted on March 20, 2005 \| Comments (4)

	Bill Frist: Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide Like death and taxes, you can always count on Bill Frist's hair to perfect and his politics to be opportunistic. His unprecedented and inappropriate meddling in the case of Terri Schiavo is no exception. Tom Delay is using the Schiavo case to distract attention from his imminent ethical implosion. The Republican Party leadership is using the Schiavo tragedy to energize its anti-choice base. In the case of the Senate Majority Leader, he's abusing his medical credentials and flouting his Hippocratic... more Posted on March 19, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	Expanded Progressive Resource Center Perrspectives is pleased to announced the expansion of its Resource Center. It offers Democrats, liberals and progressives of all stripes one-stop shopping for political news, polls, columnists, blogs, publications, think tanks, and other organizations. Perrspectives' Resources also include extensive online sources for budget, demographic, economic and electoral data. New additions include: Expanded library of demographic data, including global, regional, state and city sources. New Social Security reference materials, including GOP uber-consultant Frank Luntz's GOP playbook. A new library of Oregon... more Posted on March 17, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	Fresh Air and Gray Skies: An Even Hand at NPR For the raging right, National Public Radio is the poster child for liberal bias in the media. From Accuracy in Media and the Media Research Center to the National Review and Bill O'Reilly, NPR (or "National Palestine Radio" to its detractors), is the bete noir. How very surprised, then, they must have all been while listening last week to NPR's Terry Gross on the Fresh Air program. Over three days last week, Gross brought in some of the heaviest hitters... more Posted on February 20, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	Turning the Tables The Senate�s passage of the �Class Action Fairness Act� (CAFA) last week showcased two of the Republicans� most successful strategies for dominating political debate � Unopposable Utterances and Opposite Attractions. With the GOP stranglehold on the White House and Congress, it is high time the Democrats fought back using the very same weapons against them. But first a little background. The first of the Bush administration�s troika of tort reform initiatives (malpractice award caps and Asbestos litigation curbs are the... more Posted on February 17, 2005 \| Comments (0)

	A Banner Day for Republican Fraud Q: What do the new Bush Medicare budget forecast and ex-Talon News reporter Jeff Gannon have in common? A: They are both frauds exposed on the same day. Medicon Today, the Bush administration revealed that its 10 year forecast for Medicare, including the supposed prescription drug benefit, will be $1.2 trillion. That's $1.2 trillion between 2006 and 2015, not the $400 billion sold to Congress in December of 2003 or the $534 billion figure updated only two months later and... more Posted on February 9, 2005 \| Comments (2)

	On the Wrong Side of History Once in a rare while, tectonic historical change occurs with the span of only few days. The dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall heralding the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union, was one of those watershed moments. And for many Americans, the events of the last 10 days of January, with the Rice confirmation, the Bush second inaugural, and the Iraqi elections, represent a democratic tide sweeping the Middle East, a sea change the whole world is watching. Sometimes, though,... more Posted on February 1, 2005 \| Comments (5)

	Bush's Social Security Smoke Screen As we previously discussed in "The Party of Choice", the Bush Social Security privatization is only loosely concerned about increasing market returns for retirement savings, providing greater freedom to American investors or even staving off a supposed funding crisis. Win or lose, the Bush plan seeks nothing less than to dramatically redefine the role of government while cementing the image of a majority Republican Party as the party of choice. But you don't have to take our word for it.... more Posted on January 6, 2005 \| Comments (1)

	Doing Well by Doing Good: The American Opportunity in Global Tragedy In the wake of the devastating tsunami that killed thousands and threatens hundreds of thousands more across Asia, much of the coverage and debate in the United States has centered around whether or not the initial U.S. $35 million aid package is, in the words of U.N emergency coordinator Jan Egeland, "stingy." Lost in the petty bickering and wounded American pride is a unique opportunity for the United States to change its badly weakened global image by leading and funding... more Posted on December 30, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	Rumsfeld and the Aspin Test Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's comments to U.S. troops last week highlight once again the need for new leadership at the Pentagon. But while some Republicans are finally beginning to raise doubts about Rumsfeld, they have yet to hold him to the GOP's "Les Aspin Standard." That is, decisions that needlessly cost American lives in battle cost defense secretaries their jobs, but apparently only if Bill Clinton is president. John McCain, who sold his soul to George Bush in order to... more Posted on December 13, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	Mind Games: Intelligence Reform and the Next 9/11 After much grandstanding by members of its Republican majority, the House of Representatives passed the intelligence reform bill on Tuesday. The Senate's OK and President Bush's signature should be forthcoming in short order. With many of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations soon to be law, Americans will now rightly ask if reform will really help prevent another major terrorist attack here at home. The short answer is "yes, but only if." The long answer is that the revamped National Intelligence Directorate... more Posted on December 7, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	Red America: Coming to a Body Near You Sometimes, a single day of news tells you everything to know about what is or what is to come. On April 2, 2004, for example, the New York Times featured no fewer than seven stories covering different scandals, deceptions, stone-walling and perversions of science by the Bush administration. November 9, 2004 is another one of those days. Today's headlines provide a chilling preview of what life will be like over the next four years in George W. Bush's Red America:... more Posted on November 9, 2004 \| Comments (22)

	An Expanded Bush Second Term Agenda? During his November 4th press conference, President Bush offered few surprises in highlighting his aggressive second term agenda. Aside from potentially radical (and staggeringly regressive) tax reform, there was little new about Social Security privatization, caps on malpractice awards, and holding the line in Iraq. Rumors abound, however, that Bush's stalwart GOP allies in Congress have even more dramatic plans for spending the political capital W "earned" during the campaign. Put on the backburner prior to the election, several new... more Posted on November 5, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Bush Top 10 Flip Flop List Four years ago, George W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination for President, and famously set the moral tone - and expectations for his presidency: "So when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God." It has not, of course, worked out that way. As we pointed out... more Posted on October 1, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	States' Blights As the past week�s Democratic debates in Los Angeles and New York showed once again, there are generally very few substantive policy disagreements between John Kerry and John Edwards. On the issue of same-sex marriage in particular, there is very little difference in their approach: play it safe. That may be politically expedient and even politically necessary, but unfortunately, it also dangerous to the cause of personal liberty. Unlike abortion rights, which enjoy consensus support nationwide, same-sex marriage is still... more Posted on March 2, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	Slippery Slope Here we go again. Once again, the anti-choice movement, with support from congressional conservatives and President Bush, is pushing legislation that chips away at women�s reproductive rights. Once again, squeamish Democrats in the House and Senate are going along for the ride. And once again, they are playing directly into their opponents� hands, helping to bring about the gradual undermining of abortion rights... Continue reading "Slippery Slope"...... more Posted on February 25, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	Miranda Warning Oliver North is living proof that crime does pay. The Fox analyst and host of �War Stories�, North was a central figure in the Reagan era Iran-Contra scandal, clandestinely funneling money and arms to the Nicaraguan contras in clear violation of the 1984 Bolland Amendment. North, of course, is also a convicted felon, though his 1989 conviction was later overturned on appeal by none other than Laurence Silberman, the newly named chairman of President�s Bush WMD panel. Enter Manuel Miranda,... more Posted on February 22, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part VI: The Democrats' New American Bargain in Action In 2004, Democrats must answer the GOP assault on national unity with a program based on reciprocity, responsibility and opportunity that calls on the best in Americans and their government. On national security, Democrats must not only pass the threshold of credibility, they must demonstrate clear leadership compared to the GOP. There is no better way to do this, substantively and symbolically, than through national service. While the volunteer army currently seems sufficient to fight foes abroad such as Afghanistan... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part V: A New American Bargain Democrats need a new, revitalized public philosophy and politics not only to achieve victory in 2004, but also to have any hope of attaining majority status in the next decade. In contrast to a conservative Opt Out ideology increasingly at odds with the best American civic traditions, Democrats should seek to usher in the "Reciprocity Society." Characterized by shared national identity and values, commitment to common goals and public institutions, national service, mutual responsibility, and universal opportunity, the Reciprocity Society... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part IV: Identity Politics and the Threat from the Left Unfortunately, Democrats cannot credibly speak of a politics of national unity and common American interest unless they make a clear break with the identity politics, multi-culturalism, and group privileges of the party's left. Democrats during the Clinton reign in the 1990's made great progress overcoming two of the three barriers to the party gaining majority status: being trusted on national defense and to provide economic growth. On cultural issues, however, the Clinton program of "100,000 cops" and welfare reform (not... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part III: Branding the Opt Out Society Democrats in 2004 would do well to emulate two successful approaches of their opponents in branding the GOP and its Opt Out philosophy. In 1994 with Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" and again with the 2000 Bush campaign, the Republicans succeeded in both labeling the Democrats as outside the mainstream while effectively positioning their own program in easily understood, hard hitting and, at least superficially, universally appealing sound bites. The result was and continues to be GOP domination of the... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part II: On Your Own The impact of the Opt Out Society can be seen across the policies the Bush administration has pursued since coming to office. These are consistently defined by three characteristics. First is market idolatry; all public policy issues are framed in terms of market choice, competition, and privatization. From school vouchers to a market for pollution credits, any outcome that results is by definition the right one, since it was freely decided by the market. Second, the politics of the Opt... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Opt Out Society, Part I: Introduction There's an old saying that says, "don't bring a knife to a gun fight." Another old saw goes "know your enemy." Truer words were never spoken as Democrats approach the 2004 elections. President Bush, fresh off his victory in Iraq, the staged performance on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, and the capture of Saddam, has maintained strong approval ratings. But while the president wraps himself in the flag and the banner of unity in the American war against terror, the... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	The Smallness of King George Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Richard Nixon represents the dark side of the American spirit." Well, RFK never met George W. Bush. Not since the days of Tricky Dick has the White House seen such a secretive, paranoid and vengeance-filled occupant. President Bush may not have the Plumbers, CREEP (the Committee to Re-elect the President), or the "Enemies List", but in its essence his administration has all the same hallmarks as the Nixon team. The politics of retribution, secrecy, and... more Posted on February 9, 2004 \| Comments (0)

	State of Disunion Even with his shaky State of the Union address and dipping approval ratings, President Bush unfortunately remains in a strong position for the 2004 election. Saddam is captured, GDP is surging, and his reelection war chest has a staggering $100 million in the bank. And while his Democratic foes battle each other in primary contests across the country, Bush used his prime-time address to the nation to unveil his future for America, one grandly titled the "Ownership Society." The administration's... more Posted on January 21, 2004 \| Comments (0)