New Haven firefighters Frank Ricci and Ben Vargas spoke at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing Thursday. But why? Commentators across the board remarked that Ricci’s and Vargas’s statements were moving and emotional. Surely everyone could empathize with their situation — denied promotions they deserved and initially denied redress in the courts. But I thought we […]
I don’t want to scare anyone, but if you really believe President Obama’s government-run health care option is just a benign attempt to inject some competition into the health care system (I’m lookin’ at you, Paul and Robert Reich), take a look at what Congressman George Miller is proposing for the student loan industry. In […]
Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing began today and the end of the process is about as foregone a conclusion as you’re likely to find in politics. Which is probably good. Judge Sotomayor has three crucial qualities going for her: (1) The president wants her to be the newest justice of the Supreme Court (and he […]
I don’t want to get into name-calling, but some people in Washington have become VERY sensitive about how they’re addressed. Yesterday Politico tattled on Elizabeth “For the love of God, don’t call me Liz” Becton, a Congressional scheduler who teed off on a K Street executive assistant for mistakenly using the L-word in an email. In a […]
One of the incontrovertible rules of government PR is that if you want to say something unpopular, say it on a Friday. Latest example: today’s EPA announcement of a proposed finding “that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare.” This isn’t a shock to anyone who’s ever listened to a […]
April 10, 2009 – 12:38 am
Ben Affleck, often considered the moon to Matt Damon’s sun, is out with a new movie, State of Play, in which he portrays a congressman. In this interview with the Wall Street Journal, he demonstrates a more sober analysis of the banking mess confronting Wall Street and Washington than 93.7 percent of Congress: WSJ: Do […]
Apparently Republicans spoke too soon — on purpose. Politico‘s Glenn Thrush reports on GOP infighting over today’s press conference to release a budget blueprint that … seems incomplete. Thrush tells us that Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor have had a more thorough alternative budget in the works for weeks but were strong-armed into today’s announcement […]
March 26, 2009 – 11:22 am
Turns out all those people who suggested that Republicans lack a coherent plan to counter President Obama’s proposals are wrong. As Politico reports: House Republicans have begun unveiling detailed alternatives to President Barack Obama’s policies — a concerted effort to push back against Democratic efforts to label them “the Party of No.” On Wednesday, it […]
Team Obama hit a much-needed home run today with its plan for Public-Private Investment Partnerships to buy up troubled bank loans and inject liquidity into the securitization market. As of this moment, the Dow is up about 5.5%, and most of the talking heads on TV seem to be (a) breathing more comfortably and (b) […]
You know things are getting dicey in Obamaland when the highly regarded Politico runs a full page Friday story titled, “Lesson: Communications Is More Than Eloquence — Obama’s campaign messaging skills not translating to office.” Politico says the problem has many sources. Messages go from gloomy talk to happy talk and back to gloomy in […]
March 11, 2009 – 12:02 pm
Apparently Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has been listening to some Dave Matthews. Today, McConnell delivered strong remarks from his grandfather’s porch on the Senate floor opposing the president’s budget. Two things jumped out at me. First, a pretty startling statistic that is sure to get a lot of play on the right. According to McConnell, […]
Wall Street Journal reports today that the Administration is signaling flexibility about the tax increases proposed in its budget. This could be a reflection of the fact that, on tax battles, Republicans usually have a home turf advantage and moderate Dems don’t want to play there. I was thinking about President Clinton’s 1995 declaration to […]
Republicans seem to be keying in on the Obama Administration’s cap-and-trade carbon control proposal as a way to take back some ground on the budget. Recognizing that most Americans love the environment until it costs them something, Republicans peppered Tim Geithner yesterday with questions about how the plan would financially impact individuals and businesses. And […]
Proving that soul can make anything sexy, new Late Night host Jimmy Fallon and his house band, The Roots, Slow Jam news about the stimulus.
