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 . '/' . substr('9781888451948',-6,3) . '/' . '9781888451948' . '.jpg'; ?>)
By Chris Abani
 . '/' . substr('9780805083385',-6,3) . '/' . '9780805083385' . '.jpg'; ?>)
By Michael Dirda
$22
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Wikimedia Commons / Library of Congress
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What are we to make of the news that President Barack Obama swanned into Hollywood for a Democratic fundraiser this week and was not met by so-called event co-hosts Barbra Streisand and Jeffrey Katzenberg, although they ... (continued)
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AP / Charles Dharapak
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By Bill Boyarsky — When the health care law is fully implemented in 2014, it will cure many of the ills that plague those needing medical care. That, however, may be too long a wait for a troubled country, especially one faced with intractable unemployment and a fruitless, unpopular Afghanistan war.
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Wikimedia Commons / Ansgar Walk
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Both hippies and people who enjoy clean air alike will be dismayed at the news from Senate Democrats that they will wait until September to pursue the broad climate change legislation that has been on the Democrats’ “to-do” list since the 2008 election.
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goodwingoodwin.com
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West Virginia’s Gov. Joe Manchin III has picked a successor to the late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, and the new recruit is a young whippersnapper at that. He’s 36-year-old Carte Goodwin, and he’s also a Democrat, but his party can’t get too excited ... (continued)
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AP / Orlin Wagner
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President Barack Obama didn’t exactly have the numbers on his side Thursday when he told voters in Kansas City, Mo., that, economically speaking, “we’re headed in the right direction.”
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Flickr / Civil Beat
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For the first time in 20 years, a Republican has been elected to Congress to represent the Honolulu district where President Barack Obama grew up. The GOP midterm win speaks more to the fact that two candidates split the vote on the Democratic side than any surge in Hawaiian Republican pride.
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obey.house.gov
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Can you blame Wisconsin Congressman David Obey for being “bone tired,” as he claims to be? Even if you can, this will not impact Rep. Obey’s newly announced decision not to run for re-election this November.
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Wikimedia Commons / U.S. Congress
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Sen. Charles Schumer is looking to put a check on corporate campaign financing, contesting the notion—promoted by the Supreme Court earlier this year—that big corporations have a constitutional right to spend unlimited amounts of cash on political campaigns.
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AP / Henny Ray Abrams
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Senate Republicans are hoping that, when it comes to their Democratic opponents, if they can’t beat ’em, they can at least make up their own financial reform bill to thwart ’em. One pesky problem with the GOP’s approach is ... (continued)
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Wikimedia Commons / Joi
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After 14 years of leading the Service Employees International Union through some major changes and growth spurts, and after months of courting unfriendly fire from right-wing ranks by paying frequent visits to the White House, SEIU President Andy Stern is preparing to step down from his powerful post.
Posted on Apr 13, 2010
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Wikimedia Commons / Thomas Good
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The health care reform debate has brought a fair share of nutty individuals out of the woodwork, and unfortunately, members of Congress who voted in favor of the recently instated bill might be seen by some who’ve taken leave of their reason as moving targets. Take New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, for example. Updated.
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whitehouse.gov
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Things were getting snippy on both sides of the aisle Thursday as Congress prepared for the next—and oh please, let it be the final—showdown over health care reform. Take, for example, the words of Republican Rep. Mike Pence, who told a tea-party-friendly crowd this week ... (continued)
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AP / Alex Brandon
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talked tough on Monday on the subject of health care reform, which is no surprise. What is more interesting is the plan she outlined for how she and her fightin’ Dems will “kick through this door” and pass the legislation in a fashion that many people will find somewhat confusing.
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Another Democrat is leaving the fold on Capitol Hill. Sen. Evan Bayh announced Monday that he won’t seek re-election this fall after 11 years in the Senate, pointing to recent partisan politicking in Congress as the main reason for his departure. “People’s business is not getting done,” Bayh said, making sure to point out that he’s not making this move because he thinks he wouldn’t win.
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twitter.com/AKGovSarahPalin
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Do Americans really get what the tea party movement is about? Did Sarah Palin’s performance at last weekend’s inaugural Tea Party Convention in Nashville help or hurt her standing among her fans and would-be supporters? These may not be questions that keep us all up at night, especially in these hard times—but hey, that’s what pollsters are for.
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Wikimedia Commons / Martin St.-Amant
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In case it wasn’t made perfectly clear in recent months how the American political system actually operates on its uppermost levels, here we have an object lesson to consider: Upset by the notion that the Obama administration might be working on regulating the financial industry next, some of Wall Street’s bigwigs are now focusing their funding efforts on the GOP.
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The White House / Pete Souza
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Still clearly hoping that health care reform legislation might clear Congress at some point during his tenure in office, President Obama has summoned Republican and Democratic lawmakers to “put their ideas on the table” later this month and discuss possible ways to push a workable bill through both the House and Senate.
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AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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Just a day after their motivational session with President Barack Obama, Senate Democrats got back to the task of regaining some lost political capital, making a bid to better their situation and that of out-of-work Americans by introducing a job-creation package—on the same day, the Los Angeles Times noted, that Massachusetts Sen.-elect Scott Brown was to be sworn in.
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AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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President Barack Obama gave Senate Democrats a pep talk Wednesday, rallying the battle-fatigued and dispirited among them by reminding of the need to “finish the job” concerning health care and financial reform and recommending that they refrain from taking their cues from cable TV news and the blogosphere. Instead, Obama said, they would do well to get out and talk to ordinary Americans.
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dodd.senate.gov
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Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election this November, making him the third high-profile Democrat to talk retirement in just one 24-hour news cycle. Despite Democrats’ worries about the 2010 elections, Dodd’s potential replacement from his party may have a fighting chance to score his Senate seat.
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griffith.house.gov
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Looks as if Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith may be traveling a little lighter than he planned as he makes the transition from the left to the right of the political aisle. On Monday, Griffith’s chief of staff, along with 10 other staff members, decamped from his office, wishing him well but declining to join him in his switch to the GOP.
Posted on Jan 4, 2010
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Flickr / J. Kernion
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A group of Democrats convened by Barack Obama has recommended that the Democratic Party eliminate the influence of “superdelegates,” who have had an unrestricted vote in the nomination process because they were not selected based on the primaries or caucuses.
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Flickr/Optical Illusion
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This just in from the Annals of Utterly Unsurprising Polling Results: Nearly 75 percent of Americans won’t be sorry to kiss 2009 goodbye, according to a year-end AP-GfK poll. But wait—there’s a silver lining to be found, in that about the same percentage of respondents are optimistic about 2010.
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griffith.house.gov
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Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman congressman who formerly figured among the famous “Blue Dog” Democrats in Congress, has reportedly decided to defect to the GOP after breaking with his party over health care reform. This shift in the Democratic ranks could spell trouble for the 2010 election, especially if Rep. Griffith’s switchover inspires others to follow suit.
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Wikimedia Commons / Prolineserver
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Here we have one of those columns that might have initially been missed (even by those of us who blog fastidiously about such things) that bears repeating, or re-posting, as the case may be: We submit, for your consideration, Paul Krugman’s latest column. That is all.
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Flickr / CarbonNYC
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New York wasn’t able to go as far as even Iowa, as the New York State Senate shot down a bill Wednesday that would have made same-sex marriage legal in the Empire State. Not one Republican in the Albany chamber supported the bill, which was beaten by a vote of 38 to 24.
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Flickr/laura padgett
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By Friday evening, it wasn’t clear whether Saturday’s scheduled vote on the famous health care reform bill would happen on time in the House of Representatives, but Democrats were busy wooing any remaining potential supporters among their congressional ranks.
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Thursday’s mass display of Democratic delight over the newly introduced health care reform mega-measure was countered by the sober declaration, courtesy of House Minority Leader John Boehner, that what we have here is “a bill that really is a government takeover of the health care system.” Sigh.
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AP / Alex Brandon
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After months of squabbling and tussling with each other as well as their Republican opposition, House Democrats finally produced the latest comprehensive result of their efforts in health care reform in the form of a whopping 1,990-page measure—and then proceeded to congratulate themselves in a public rally outside at the Capitol.
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AP / Al Behrman
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If it seems contradictory (read: hypocritical) that former Rep. Dick Gephardt, at one time a self-styled anti-lobbying, pro-labor crusader, would become a lobbyist for Visa and Goldman Sachs, well, that’s because it is. Oh, and you can strike “pro-environment” off of Gephardt’s list of political poses, too.
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Flickr / ProgressOhio
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For a long while it seemed as if health care reform was progressing, if at all, at the speed of molasses. Now here comes The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait with his startling pronouncement that “it’s just quietly turned into a fait accompli.” Wait, what?
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seeandavoid.com
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During a time when the term government spending (not to mention recession) gets quite a few hackles up, House Democratic bigwigs’ choice to scrap plans to purchase four posh planes to shuttle congressional leaders around is clearly wise, although the Senate vote may still pose a problem.
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AP / Ron Edmonds
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The U.S. Supreme Court just got a little wiser. On Thursday, the Senate voted 68-31—split largely along party lines—to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latina Supreme Court justice and only the third woman to serve on America’s top court.
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Flickr / David Paul Ohmer
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By Mike Elk —
When I heard Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., floating the idea of a tax on health benefits in order to raise revenue for health-care reform, I was baffled; how could this be?
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White House / Eric Draper
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Despite evidence, helpfully provided by the CIA, to the contrary, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still insists she wasn’t aware that waterboarding would be on the menu of the Bush administration’s interrogation techniques when she was briefed in secret in 2002.
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John Edwards 2008
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By Marie Cocco — I never understood John Edwards’ appeal. I therefore do not expect that Elizabeth Edwards’ new book, or the tiresome media blitz accompanying its publication, will bring a sudden change in my thinking.
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cafepress.com
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Both the Democratic and Republican parties are experiencing a unique form of financial comeuppance, as the economic recession they were in charge of preventing—that has now caused a 8.4 percent national unemployment rate—is causing a dramatic drop in the level of political party donations.
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a.abcnews.com
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Is Rush Limbaugh’s sudden elevation to the top tier of the Republican Party a naturally occurring phenomenon ... or a vast left-wing conspiracy? Some among the GOP’s ranks suspect that the latter is the answer.
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AP photo / Ron Edmonds
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The Bush administration may have exited the proverbial building, but that isn’t stopping certain House Democrats, such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, from taking Bush sidekick Karl Rove to task for his potential role in the Justice Department’s pink-slipping of several U.S. attorneys in 2006.
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United States Senate
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Barack Obama made sure that anyone who might oppose his plan for rolling out the next part of the $750 billion bailout package understands that he means business: In a meeting Tuesday on Capitol Hill, he threatened to veto a possible disapproval resolution, according to Democratic senators who met with him.
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AP photo / Paul Beaty
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Despite clear indications that not everyone on Capitol Hill is ready to acknowledge him as a U.S. senator, Roland W. Burris headed to Washington from Illinois on Monday, announcing that he was, in fact, the rightful new occupant of the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
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epws-shanghai.org
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Although the full extent of the damage from broker Bernard Madoff’s alleged super-swindle has yet to be determined, it’s clear by now that the collapse of his vast pyramid scheme may spell utter disaster for several of his top investors—some of whom might not know yet that they’re broke.
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By David Sirota — A month after Barack Obama’s triumphant victory, we are still celebrating America’s only authentic national religion, and it isn’t Christianity—it’s presidentialism.
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What a difference a couple of months makes! Any acrimony between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that bubbled up on the campaign trail last spring has apparently evaporated, judging by these clips from Monday morning’s news conference/love-in featuring both senators.
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Sen. Joe Lieberman is back in the Democratic fold—sort of. Sen. Harry Reid explained the outcome of his party’s huddle on Lieberman’s future role, and Lieberman expressed his relief, in a press briefing on Tuesday.
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newsweek.com
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After weeks of deliberation about former Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, congressional leaders from his former party came to some conclusions Tuesday about his political future.
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AP photo / Jose Luis Magana
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Sightings of Hillary Clinton in Chicago on Thursday, coupled with reports from inside Barack Obama’s camp, added weight to the rumors that the president-elect is considering his former rival as a Cabinet member—secretary of state.
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Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films is making the case that, as the title of its “Lieberman Must Go” video clip suggests, Sen. Joe Lieberman should be taken down a few big notches by the Democratic Party for his actions and assertions during the presidential campaign.
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Immigration: Time to Choose Sides
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