The Plum Line

The Morning Plum: Government of, by, and for the Tea Party

Greg Sargent — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:12:39 GMT

A trio of far right Tea Party Senators — Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee — continues to block the Senate from entering into negotiations over the budget by insisting that negotiators be barred in advance from raising the … Continue reading →

Happy Hour Roundup

Jonathan Bernstein — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:27:00 GMT

1. The big news this afternoon was President Obama’s big national security speech. Heather Hurburt has an excellent quick summary of the main takeaways, and argues that “this speech must be the beginning, not the end, of an aggressive effort” … Continue reading →

Obama’s speech: An imperfect effort to reconcile national security with American values

Greg Sargent — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:46:11 GMT

In the national security speech Obama delivered this afternoon, the President himself defined the challenge we face as this: How do we balance the need to do all we can to protect our citizens with the need to adhere to … Continue reading →

Tea Party Senators jump the shark

Greg Sargent — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:46:23 GMT

In a key moment on the Senate floor this morning, John McCain came very close to stating outright that Tea Party Republican Senators are in the grip of what some of us have been describing as a kind of ”post policy nihilism” that … Continue reading →

Calling conservatives’ bluff on immigration reform

Jamelle Bouie — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:36:04 GMT

A few weeks ago, the conservative Heritage Foundation warned that immigration reform could cost the United States trillions of dollars in extra costs and lost revenue. Their price tag of $6.3 trillion was an astounding projection, and was immediately challenged … Continue reading →

The Morning Plum: Republicans struggle to connect IRS scandal to Obama

Greg Sargent — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:06:42 GMT

Republicans are working overtime to connect the IRS scandal to President Obama. Theoretically, this task should be made more difficult by the lack of evidence of any such connection. In practice, it’s not dissuading Republicans in the slightest from drawing that link. John Boehner claims it … Continue reading →

Happy Hour Roundup

Jonathan Bernstein — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:04:47 GMT

1. Belated disclosure: perhaps better than no disclosure at all? Attorney General Eric Holder officially discloses more about the drone wars, including the four Americans killed overseas by drone strike — one targeted, three not. 2. Earlier, Scott Lemieux detailed … Continue reading →

Harry Reid escalates `nuclear’ threat

Greg Sargent — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:02:06 GMT

Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell have been slugging it out on the Senate floor today over Reid’s threat to revisit filibuster reform, and the escalating tone suggests this is now very real. Pay close attention to the statement Reid released … Continue reading →

Dems may still challenge GOP on gay immigration rights

Greg Sargent — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:43:47 GMT

As you know, Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee last night yanked provisions out of the immigration reform bill that would extend immigration rights to gay married couples, angering the gay rights community. But this battle is not necessarily over. … Continue reading →

Lois Lerner has to go

Greg Sargent — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:46:04 GMT

The big piece of IRS news today is that Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division — the IRS unit at the center of the scandal involving the targeting of conservative groups — has pleaded the Fifth at today’s … Continue reading →

The Morning Plum: As conservatives celebrate scandal-mania, immigration reform marches forward

Greg Sargent — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:24:46 GMT

The celebratory tone among Republicans and conservatives caught up in Beltway scandal-mania continues this morning. But the real story is that behind all the hoopla, immigration reform continues to march forward, with conservatives suffering one defeat after another in their efforts to derail … Continue reading →

Happy Hour Roundup

Jonathan Bernstein — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:22:30 GMT

1. It’s about time: John Gramlich reports that Harry Reid “will either file cloture on Srinivasan or get a deal tonight; vote itself by end of week.” That’s Sri Srinivasan, who (if confirmed, as is likely) will be the first … Continue reading →

Immigration choice looms for House Republicans

Jonathan Bernstein — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:12:46 GMT

It’s increasingly looking like House Republicans will eventually face a clear choice on immigration: bring up and pass the Senate bill, mostly with Democratic votes, or take the blame for killing comprehensive immigration reform. That’s been the most likely outcome … Continue reading →

Democrats face terrible dilemma on gay rights and immigration

Greg Sargent — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:27:16 GMT

I’m not sure it’s fully understood just how difficult a dilemma Democrats face when it comes to the question of how hard to push for protections for gay couples as part of immigration reform. The situation is really a terrible one that … Continue reading →

Hatred of Obama could lead to GOP overreach

Greg Sargent — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:10:09 GMT

A few of us on the left have been arguing that the current scandal-mania gripping the GOP risks bringing about a rerun of 1998, when the frenzy amid the Monica Lewinsky revelations led the GOP to overreach, resulting in backlash. … Continue reading →

Can Tea Party conservatives kill immigration reform?

Jamelle Bouie — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:45:47 GMT

At the moment, a bipartisan group of senators is working through its fifth full day of “markup” on the immigration reform bill. As Yahoo News reports, they plan to address some of the more controversial elements of the bill, from … Continue reading →

The Morning Plum: The Oklahoma tornado is a horrible tragedy. Bring the politics.

Greg Sargent — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:25:05 GMT

According to the latest count, some 51 people died as the result of a tornado that has devastated a suburb of Oklahoma City, and as many as 40 more deaths may have taken place. As often happens in these cases, … Continue reading →

Happy Hour Roundup

Greg Sargent — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:42:33 GMT

* A new CNN poll finds that the percentage who regard the GOP unfavorably has jumped five points since March, to 59 percent. And 58 percent say Obama is a strong leader. CNN’s polling director claims the new leadership finding suggests … Continue reading →

Separating what matters from what doesn’t in scandal coverage

Jonathan Bernstein — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:09:06 GMT

One effect of scandal coverage, as opposed to normal news coverage, is that the press rapidly loses perspective. That works both ways: small, meaningless “revelations” get reported as major developments even if they really have no actual importance; meanwhile, real … Continue reading →

Dems betting heavily on GOP scandal overreach in 2014

Greg Sargent — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:36:25 GMT

Will the current “scandals” underway in Washington damage Democrats in the 2014 Congressional races? Some Democratic strategists appear to be worried that they will. But Democrats overseeing House races are banking heavily on GOP overreach — on the likelihood that … Continue reading →

Leak investigations are indeed having a chilling effect

Greg Sargent — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:15:07 GMT

Over the weekend the Post broke a remarkable story about an ongoing Justice Department investigation into a 2009 leak of classified information about North Korea. Investigators did more than just gather phone records, as happened in the probe of leaks to the … Continue reading →

GOP’s goal isn’t deficit reduction. It’s gutting the safety net.

Jamelle Bouie — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:25:13 GMT

This morning, Reuters noted that the odds of a “grand bargain” on taxes and spending between Democratic and Republican lawmakers are rapidly diminishing — because the deficit is falling. “A sudden improvement in the outlook for the government deficit over the … Continue reading →

The Morning Plum: Presidential scandals, only in the minds of Republicans

Greg Sargent — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:11:44 GMT

Over the weekend, CNN released the first extensive national polling on the “scandals” that have gripped Washington, and it got a bit of a bounce yesterday over two key findings. First, Obama’s approval rating is holding steady (53 percent) despite the scandal chatter. … Continue reading →

Sunday Open Thread

Greg Sargent — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:43:36 GMT

Enjoy.

Open Thread

Greg Sargent — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:52:13 GMT

All yours.