Tag Archives: democrats

Republicans in the Wilderness: Is the Party Over?

These days, Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species. They lost Congress, then the White House; more recently, they lost a slam-dunk House election in a conservative New York district, then Senator Arlen Specter. Polls suggest that only one-fourth of the electorate considers itself Republican, that independents are trending Democratic and that as few as five states have solid Republican pluralities.

Share

Sessions Could Make Obama’s Supreme Court Fight Tougher

Political junkies who weren’t thrilled at the prospect of a relatively staid confirmation process for President Barack Obama’s as yet unnamed Supreme Court nominee can rest easy. This week Senate Republicans named perennial bomb thrower Jeff Sessions, 62, of Alabama to be the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, promising to bring at least a few sparks to a confirmation process that — if Minnesota’s Al Franken is seated — was bound to be relatively easy. While Sessions alone can’t change the basic legislative math that promises whomever Obama picks to replace retiring Justice David Souter a fairly easy path to confirmation, he can certainly liven up the proceedings

Share

Judging the Candidates to Replace Souter

Supreme Court Justice David Souter has long said that he wanted to leave the court and Washington. An intensely private native of small town New Hampshire, he has never warmed to the nation’s capital, socializing infrequently and focusing his energies on work and jogging after hours. While he has told many that he would stay on “for the duration,” most understood that to mean the tenure of Republican control in the White House.

Share

Can Congress Make Health-Care Reform Pay for Itself?

The budget that just passed both houses of Congress has given the prospects for health-care reform this year a big boost. With the inclusion of procedural language that would make it impossible for opponents to filibuster, it will now take a simple majority to pass the Senate, rather than 60 votes, simplifying the political arithmetic considerably. But that is only the beginning

Share

Analysis: What’s ahead for Obama in the next 100 days

After passing the 100 days benchmark, President Obama pushes on with a daunting task ahead of him: Tackling foreign and domestic issues while dealing with a Republican Party opposed to nearly all his major economic initiatives.

Share

Pelosi to Republican voters: ‘Take back your party’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi marked President Barack Obama’s 100th day in office with some unsolicited advice for Republican voters, telling them to "take back" their party. The California Democrat offered her own analysis of the political environment for her political opponents, asserting Republicans across the country are more willing to work with Democrats than their leaders on Capitol Hill.

Share

House approves $3.44 trillion budget resolution

The House of Representatives passed a $3.44 trillion budget resolution for fiscal year 2010 Wednesday, approving most of President Obama’s key spending priorities and setting the federal government in a new direction with major increases for energy, education and health care programs. The resolution, which was approved by a vote of 233 to 193, passed in a virtual party-line vote.

Share

GOP Senator Specter’s Party Switch Gives Obama a 100-Day Gift

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Arlen Specter turned the 111th session of Congress upside down on Tuesday by announcing that he will switch parties and become a Democrat. The move was the product of weeks of intensive negotiation between Specter and Democrats in the Senate and White House, and it favorably alters the balance of power for President Obama as he is facing tough votes in the months ahead on health care, energy and budget bills

Share