Skepticians

Skepticians

• New ad spotlights Dems’ unease with Obama on the stump
  The story of an irritated JetBlue flight attendant whose tantrum last week drew national attention is the subtext of a new web ad in which endangered Democrats frantically escape an airplane piloted by the president with a course set for their home states and districts. Parodies aside, the 50-second spot highlights a serious concern among Democrats: [...]
  
  
• Playing politics with ailing 9/11 rescue workers
  In today’s Politico, I have an editorial on the Democrats’ procedural gimmicks and faulty pay-for system that cost the passage of the James Zagroda 9/11 Health and Compensation Act: In spite of fierce public opposition, the Democrats’ sizable House majority secured passage of President Barack Obama’s controversial overhaul of the nation’s health care system. But this [...]
  
  
• Greene: ‘He knows how you feel, ’cause he’s unemployed, too’
  Political observers will attest that the majority of campaign ads are banal rehashings of tempered stump speeches. But we were greeted this week with a pleasant–and yet remotely disturbing–break from that pattern, with the video “Greene is on the scene,” a parody of South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene’s campaign missteps set to a [...]
  
  
• Rangel to be charged with new ethics violations
  A House ethics committee has launched an investigation into New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel for undisclosed ethics violations, the Associated Press reported Thursday. Rangel, who resigned from his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee in March following a formal admonishment for two corporately-underwritten Caribbean junkets, will appear next week before a subcommittee of [...]
  
  
• VP Biden to shopkeeper: Stop being a ’smartass’
  Vice President Joe Biden was caught on camera calling a Glendale, Wisconsin custard shop manager a “smartass” after the man asked the White House lower his taxes. Biden visited Kopps Frozen Custard, a popular Milwaukee-area restaurant the vice president mistook for an ice cream parlor, to chat with employees and patrons. Biden’s rebuke, which was captured [...]
  
  
• Dave Weigel and the Washington Post: A case of false pretenses?
  When the Washington Post hired bloggers Greg Sargent and Ezra Klein, it appeared the paper was inclined to invest heavily in its web presence — and prepared to shift its online editorial slant further leftward. To offset what many saw as a disproportionate coverage of Democratic politics, the paper announced months later it had hired [...]
  
  
• Unions Big Loser in Arkansas
  At Human Events, President Ronald Reagan’s favorite paper, I have an editorial today on the multi-million dollar gamble organized labor made on Bill Halter’s ill-fated primary challenge to Blue Dog Senator Blanche Lincoln: For Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Tuesday’s victory was bittersweet: She narrowly secured her party’s nomination, though head-to-head polls indicate she will lose six of [...]
  
  
• Romanoff, White House aide admit jobs talk
  A senior aide to President Barack Obama approached former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff with the possibility of three federal posts as an alternative to his primary challenge to Beltway-supported Senator Michael Bennet. Romanoff rebuffed the aide’s suggestions to join the administration. In a statement acknowledging the job talk, Romanoff appended an email from White House [...]
  
  
• Palin reaffirms support for Haley, blasts ‘lamestream media’ and ‘laughable’ blogger
  Sarah Palin lent her considerable Facebook megaphone in support of South Carolina gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Haley, with whom a prominent Palmetto State blogger reported today he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” years before. “When Nikki and I held her endorsement rally on the steps of the beautiful and historic South Carolina state house a few weeks [...]
  
  
• Issa Threatens July 4 Ethics Probe over Sestak Bribery Claim
  In the wake of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, a top House GOP legislator is renewing his call for an ethics probe into allegations the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak an administration post in exchange for foregoing his primary bid against Beltway-endorsed Sen. Arlen Specter. California Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican member of the [...]
  
  
• 31 of Kagan’s 32 Hires at Harvard Were White
  As the commentariat today grapples with President Barack Obama’s nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, questions about Kagan’s tenure at Harvard Law are bubbling to surface as a point of contention for both Republicans and Democrats. Kagan, whose leadership at Harvard Law marked an unprecedented expansion of the program’s [...]
  
  
• Four Reporters Ejected from Gitmo Hearing after Revealing Name of Protected Witness
  Four journalists were ejected from a military commission pre-trial hearing for alleged terrorist and Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr after reporting the name of a protected witness and one-time interrogator, the Pentagon acknowledged Thursday. “We threw some people out there today because they disclosed the identity of a protected witness,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell. [...]
  
  
• National Health Care Spending to Increase by $331 Billion, Says New Report
  Those vulnerable Democrats whose votes for health care reform were predicated on the conceit that it would not add to the nation’s bloated deficit have today found themselves in a precarious position, as a new report by federal regulators indicated the health care remake will add $331 billion to the national deficit over the next [...]
  
  
• DNC to Spend $50 Million on Midterms
  Hoping for the best but spending for the worst, national Democrats acknowledged Friday they intend to inject a considerable $50 million this Fall in contested House, Senate and gubernatorial campaigns across the nation. The assistance–which will consist primarily of money and services dolled out by the Democratic National Committee and the White House’s political operation, Organizing [...]
  
  
• Daniels Forgoes Primary Challenge to Vitter
  Adult film star Stormy Daniels–who for months has been considering a primary challenge to incumbent GOP Senator David Vitter of Lousiana–said today politics is just too sleazy and her expensive for her taste. “I am not running for the US Senate because I am an adult entertainment star,” Daniels said. “I am not running for the [...]
  
  

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