Daily Archives
8 posts · Saturday
In honor of the legendary film critic Roger Ebert, who died earlier this week, The Fix reprints his reader-generated list of the best political movies of all time.
The two leading vote-getters were The Candidate, the 1972 film starring Robert Redford and 1992′s Bob Roberts with Tim Robbins in the lead role.
The Cloakroom: My top 10 favorite political movies.
The Cloakroom: The next time you scoff at something dumb said by a lawmaker on Capitol Hill, keep in mind how they got there.
David Hawkings says don’t expect a groundswell of solidarity from members of Congress with President Obama’s symbolic gesture of giving back five percent of his pay.
“A relative handful already turn back some of their salaries as a gesture of fiscal discipline. (The money goes to a special Treasury deficit-reduction fund.) And a few more will be doing so for political reasons in the coming months, and especially if their re-election prospects look dicey next year.”
“But beyond sticking by the salary freeze they imposed on themselves four years ago, don’t look for any legislative groundswell to reduce congressional paychecks across the board. So many members have such safe seats that they see no need to make such a move, plus many of them are having trouble managing their two-city lives on $174,000 a year.”
“It is not our job to see that anyone gets an education.”
— Oklahoma state Rep. Mike Reynolds (R), in an email exchange with state Rep. James Lockhart (D) who requested help from his
colleagues.
Washington Post: “The NRA’s recent successes on Capitol Hill — as well as a string of victories in state legislatures across the country — demonstrate the effectiveness of the group’s strategy to overcome a post-Newtown tilt toward gun control. The organization has drafted and circulated legislation, mobilized its members and continued to put pressure on politically vulnerable lawmakers. At the same time, groups attempting to promote stricter gun- control measures have faltered.”
“New restrictions that a couple of months ago seemed possible, even likely, such as bans on assault weapons and universal background checks on gun purchases, are now in doubt.”
Meanwhile, Politico reports Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) “threat to filibuster any new gun restrictions is
gathering steam, as a dozen of his Republican colleagues have now signed
onto his plan.”
The Week looks at the final four Senate Democrats who have not yet indicated their support for same-sex marriage: Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Mark Pryor (D-AR).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that “unless nominations start moving swiftly through the Senate, another round of dramatic rules changes may be in the offing,” Roll Call reports.
Said Reid: “All within the sound of my voice, including my Democratic senators and the Republican senators who I serve with, should understand that we as a body have the power on any given day to change the rules with a simple majority, and I will do that if necessary.”
When Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) “last appeared with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss their plans for a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, he looked optimistic, apple-cheeked — and slightly nervous,” the New York Times reports.
“Given the disdain some conservatives reserve for Republicans who consort publicly with Democrats, he had reason to be.”
“The next time Mr. Rubio is likely to appear with his colleagues in the eight-person bipartisan group could be an even bigger moment, when its members officially introduce joint immigration legislation this month. The probable tableau seems ready-made for problems in the 2016 Republican presidential primary fight in which many expect Mr. Rubio to partake: images of Mr. Rubio, smiling and celebrating alongside Democratic senators and maverick Republicans as he claims co-authorship of an overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws that many Republicans will reject.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.