August 7, 2008
A Few Decent Members (Armstrong Williams)
I was recently in Alaska, where I witnessed firsthand the love most Alaskans have for their embattled elder statesman, Sen. Ted Stevens (R).
Since 1968, Stevens has committed just about all his time and energy to helping the great state get everything it deserves, and then some. And the citizens up there recognize that and are willing to give the recently indicted Republican the benefit of the doubt on this one. But Stevens’s behavior throughout the years is symptomatic of a larger problem that I fear is permeating American politics today, and certainly the Republican Party. > Read More
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What's This August 4, 2008
Where’s the Outrage from Democrats? (Bill Press)
It takes a village. That’s what Hillary Clinton said, of course. But it applies to Barack Obama, too.
What I’m wondering is: Where’s the village of Democrats that should have been out there, defending him from attacks by John McCain last week?
Just look at what happened: McCain accused Obama of being more interested in winning an election than winning a war. McCain accused Obama of not caring for the troops. McCain said Obama was nothing but a ditzy celebrity like Paris Hilton. And McCain accused Obama of playing the race card. > Read More
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What's This August 1, 2008
GOP Sit-In on the House Floor (Jim Mills)
There may not have been any tie-dyed T-shirts, psychedelic mushrooms or tear gas, but House Republicans on Friday staged an end-of-day floor "sit-in" of sorts to protest the Democrats adjourning the body for the August break without taking up energy legislation.
Republicans (a few dozen, anyway), a full five hours after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) officially sent members off on their traditional month-long August recess, continued taking turns speaking in the chamber, without the benefit of lights, microphones or cameras capturing their words. > Read More
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What's This The Bungling Speaker (Stuart Roy)
In my postings here at The Hill’s Pundits Blog I’ve tried not to be overly partisan while posting about conservative thoughts and ideas. There is a distinct difference. Instead, I’ve tried to offer some insight into the strategy, thinking and tactics that are being utilized on the Hill and in the campaigns.
So pardon me as I deviate from that and say that today I could not be more proud of the House Republicans. As The Hill’s Jackie Kucinich has reported, the Republicans in the House have taken over the floor to decry energy prices. This would not be so unusual until you realize that the Democrats — who run the House — voted to adjourn the body this morning and leave for the traditional August recess. By adjourning, it meant the Republicans who wanted to speak on the floor after official business was finished — something called Special Orders — were denied the opportunity. They lost their audience of hundreds of thousands or more on C-SPAN and the ability of reporters to cover their speeches by watching on television. > Read More
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What's This July 30, 2008
The Ted Stevens Indictments — Time for a Deep Breath (Jim Mills)
Having once, in a public setting and in front of my peers, been called a "smartass" by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), I suppose I should feel a certain amount of satisfac — er … let's just say I should be feeling "not sad" right about now. But, the truth is, I am quite sad …
I can probably count on one hand the numbers of times in my life when I have been accused of being the "voice of reason,” or a "moderating influence,” so it is with some amount of hesitancy that I suggest we all slow down a little bit, do some deep breathing, and not get too far ahead of ourselves here.
Insert here any one of my public, personal tirades about this kind of "thing" over the years (or insert your own, which would, no doubt, be much better) and you will get a good sense of my anger at those "public servants" who sometimes, indictable or not, develop a terminal case of what I call "creeping entitlement" after years of service. > Read More
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What's This July 29, 2008
No Little Plans (John Feehery)
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is quoted in the morning newspapers saying, “I am here to save the planet.” In other word, no drilling offshore. No drilling in ANWR. No drilling where the oil is.
Pelosi is doing a slew of media interviews to promote her new book, Know Your Power. Haven’t had a chance to read the book, but I am sure it will be an interesting read.
And it is good to know that her current political goal is something small, like saving the planet. No. 2 on her list is achieving world peace and No. 3 is curing the common cold. It should be pretty much all achievable for her. After all, she knows her power, as the book says. > Read More
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What's This July 28, 2008
Tom Coburn (John Feehery)
When I worked in the House Republican leadership and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was a member of the House, I didn’t like his style of politics. He seemed unreasonable. He held up legislation. He made us work weekends. He led revolts against the leadership time and time again. He was inconvenient.
Now that he is a member of the Senate and I am back in the private sector, paying taxes and worrying about the debt, my view of Coburn has changed. I love the guy. > Read More
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What's This July 24, 2008
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up (John Feehery)
Over the last couple of days, evidence has piled up about how the Democrats would govern if they gained control of all the branches of government. They would put themselves first.
We started learning about Charlie Rangel’s living arrangements in Harlem. Rent-controlled apartments are hard to find in the Big Apple, but not for the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He was able to get four of them in a sweetheart deal that saves him about $30,000. The abuse was so egregious that he was forced to complain about himself to the ethics committee. > Read More
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What's This July 22, 2008
Spotlight: House Committee on Homeland Security (Armstrong Williams)
Every now and then, I like to shine a spotlight on the shenanigans of our beloved U.S. Congress and its members. After all, there’s so much “news” being generated in this town that it’s nearly impossible to catch it all. So with this feature, I’ll try and call attention to items that should really make Americans’ blood boil. Rest assured, this column will be an equal-opportunity critic — challenging both Democrats and Republicans.
This week’s spotlight looks at a story that barely registered a blip on Washington’s audacity-meter last week. I’m referring to a story in Congress Daily reporting on turmoil within the House Homeland Security panel. > Read More
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What's This July 14, 2008
Civility from the Top Down — A Message to President 44! (Kathy Kemper)
This campaign season we hear all about bridging divides, reaching across the aisle and breaking gridlock — it's not about a Red America or a Blue America (and on and on and on). All the rhetoric sounds fine — but I'm not convinced.
Every lawmaker in Washington decries partisanship, and every newly elected leader pledges to "bridge partisan divides." How many times have we heard that refrain? While our leaders may believe in civility in the abstract, they certainly don't practice it. The past several years have witnessed a steady decline in the way that politicians treat each other. I can hardly pull together a tennis game with a Republican and a Democrat anymore. They bring up lurid details of each other's pasts, smear one another with the worst possible labels, and question each other's patriotism. Is it any wonder that our leaders can't seem to get on with the business of governing? > Read More
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