From The Archives -- Immigration Reform's Chances
[ Posted Thursday, June 20th, 2013 – 16:00 UTC ]
Does comprehensive immigration reform have a chance of becoming law in 2013?
Archive of Articles in the "Congress" Category
From The Archives -- We've Always Played Politics With Immigration
[ Posted Wednesday, June 19th, 2013 – 16:00 UTC ]
We stand at the beginning of a grand debate on immigration. America goes through these grand debates every generation or so, and what remains constant is that both sides in the fight can be counted upon to accuse the other side of "playing politics" with the immigration issue. This has, indeed already begun.
Republicans are offering up a splendid display of doublethink on the issue, in order to be able to say: "Hah! We were right all along," no matter what happens. Republicans make two accusations, which are completely contradictory (which doesn't seem to bother them at all), that the whole thing is just a cynical political game: (1) Obama and the Democrats want to legalize 11 million people who will then immediately become reliable Democratic voters, and/or (2) Obama and the Democrats will somehow find a way to scuttle the deal because they really don't want to pass any law, they just want to use the issue to beat up Republicans, in election after election. As I mentioned, no matter what happens, they'll be able to fall back on one of these tropes. Democrats, however, are using the second of these (with slight modification) to explain their own wariness: Republicans just want to be able to say: "We tried something" during the next election, and they will find a way to scuttle the deal in the end while blaming Democrats for the legislative failure.
Friday Talking Points [262] -- War On Women Continues Apace
[ Posted Friday, June 14th, 2013 – 16:37 UTC ]
Last week, Republicans seem to have decided that the whole "autopsy" business after they got beaten so badly in the 2012 elections was just hogwash, and that they should double-down on their demonization and scapegoatery efforts. The "Plum Line" blog over at WashingtonPost.com has a good rundown (although now that the site is disappearing behind a paywall, I may have to reconsider linking to its articles in the future).
Hail To The Pigskins?
[ Posted Thursday, June 13th, 2013 – 17:10 UTC ]
Frank Luntz, celebrated spinmeister, has taken on a new task, it seems. He'll be in charge of figuring out a way to convince the public that a blatantly racist major sports team's name is really nothing to get upset about.
Pentagon Should Get Only One Year To Fix Sexual Assault Problem
[ Posted Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 – 16:26 UTC ]
The Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Carl Levin, has just voted down an amendment championed by Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill which would have stripped from the chain of command the decisions on prosecuting sexual assaults in the military. Although the amendment had 28 co-sponsors (including four Republicans), Levin voted against it and the measure will not be part of the military bill they're currently working on. McCaskill or Gillibrand can still bring it back up when the bill gets to the floor (or the House could pass it in their version), but its chances for passage at this point seem somewhat diminished. Levin offered his own way to tackle the problem which does not take the prosecution decision out of the hands of the commanders but does achieve several other positive reforms, including removing the power to overturn a jury's verdict in such cases from the commanding officers.
Friday Talking Points [261] -- Rest In Peace, Fourth Amendment
[ Posted Friday, June 7th, 2013 – 16:33 UTC ]
Every so often as I sit down to write these Friday columns, the spirit of the rant overtakes me. Instead of our usual Talking Points section this week, I offer up such a rant, on the death of the Fourth Amendment. You have all been warned. I did consider calling this rant an "Ode To Dianne Feinstein," but then I thought that was too limiting -- she certainly isn't the only one out there singing from the same hymnbook. And I certainly wouldn't want to have anyone feel left out.
What Will Christie Do?
[ Posted Tuesday, June 4th, 2013 – 17:10 UTC ]
The death of Senator Frank Lautenberg has given New Jersey's governor an interesting choice. Who will Chris Christie appoint to fill the vacancy, and what will it mean for his own political future?
Obama Poll Watch -- May, 2013
[ Posted Monday, June 3rd, 2013 – 17:22 UTC ]
Barack Obama had a pretty bad month inside the Beltway, with Republicans on the warpath over multiple scandals. Outside Washington, Obama didn't have too bad a month at all, as his job approval ratings barely budged. While this calm may seem to indicate that the public has a much higher tolerance for what constitutes a "scandal" than congressional Republicans, there were indications at the end of the month that this may just be a calm before much stormier poll numbers for the president. But first, let's look back on last month. Here's the chart:
Friday Talking Points [260] -- So You Think You Can Rant?
[ Posted Friday, May 31st, 2013 – 16:25 UTC ]
"You know, after watching the popularity arc of such Tea Party favorites as Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, I can't help but wonder why they don't just skip over what appears to be the hardest part of becoming famous for them -- the part about serving in office. Why not just go straight towards being a media darling on the Right? The Fox network could get in on the action in a big way, and broadcast a reality show once a year to search the nation for the next Tea Party superstar. They could call it 'So You Think You Can Rant?' and hire Palin, Bachmann, and Donald Trump to be judges. I bet it'd be a ratings smash, personally."
A Modest Tea Party Proposal
[ Posted Thursday, May 30th, 2013 – 16:31 UTC ]
Michele Bachmann has announced her retirement from Congress. I consider this good news for a very selfish reason: her name is just too easy to misspell. You're typing along, and where there should be a double letter there isn't... and then a little later there is one where there shouldn't be. It's annoying.