Although Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said the release of audio of a private meeting in his office is reminiscent of Nixon-era dirty tricks, Mother Jones, which first published the recording, says “there’s no evidence that the audio was the result, as the McConnell campaign has insisted, of a Watergate-style bugging operation.”
Daily Archives
April 11, 2013
27 posts · Thursday
Cheney Issues Warning on North Korea
Wearing a cowboy hat, former Vice President Dick Cheney gave Republican leaders a dire warning on the ongoing crisis in North Korea, CNN reports.
Said Cheney: “We’re in deep doo doo.”
However, the former veep “didn’t give any specific policy recommendations or critiques of how the
Obama administration is handling the situation in North Korea.”
How Angry Democrats Help Obama
John Dickerson: “The Obama strategy relies on theater. There is nothing substantively new about Obama’s budget plan. He has offered versions of the same plan privately to Republican leaders, but now he’s trying to go around those leaders. One requirement for building trust with Republican senators is putting these offers on paper. This is meant to show individual senators that he is making good on the promises he has made in private conversations, but it also offers them the cover they need with their constituents. If senators are going to flirt with tax increases, they have to show their voters that they purchased something in return. Now they can point to the president’s public effort on entitlements. But wait, how do we know that Obama is really making a sacrifice? Just look at how upset his supporters are.”
Quote of the Day
“To me sex is primarily purposed to produce people. Sex that doesn’t produce people is deviate. That doesn’t mean it’s a problem, it just means it’s not doing its primary purpose.”
— Montana state Rep. Dave Hagstrom (R), quoted by KXLH-TV, saying he will vote no on decriminalizing gay sex in his state.
More See Personal Impact of Sequester
A new CNN poll finds 42% now say that the $85 billion in across-the-board cuts referred to as the sequester are impacting them personally. That’s up from 35% who said the same in March.
Gun Deal is Good Politics for Toomey
“When Democrats needed a partner to strike a deal with on a gun background check bill,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) “made a politically savvy move that could pay dividends both in future talks with Democrats and back home in Pennsylvania,” Roll Call reports.
Toomey “was swept into the Senate as part the tea party wave of 2010, tacking to the right on social issues to secure victory. But since arriving in the Senate, the Pennsylvania Republican — who sources say always has been more interested in fiscal issues — has emerged periodically to try to stake out bipartisan ground, first as the front man for targeted revenue increases as part of 2011’s supercommittee and again Wednesday, when he announced an agreement with three colleagues to close the gun show loophole and expand background checks to Internet gun sales.”
The Hill: “Toomey’s decision represented a dramatic step for gun control,
especially because he has an A rating from the NRA and formerly headed
the conservative Club for Growth. It also revived the issue, which had
lost considerable steam over the last month.”
Broad Support for Immigration Reform
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds most Americans support “creating a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are working in this country illegally — and one with a shorter timeline than that contemplated by Congress.”
Key findings: “Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they favor giving citizenship to those who came here illegally and now hold jobs. Support jumped to 76% for a plan that required immigrants to pay fines, back taxes and pass a security check, among other measures, to gain citizenship. Bipartisan legislation now being written in the Senate could open a pathway to citizenship with similar requirements.”
In addition, 51% say illegal immigrants with jobs should gain citizenship after five years with an additional 18% backed immediate citizenship. The plan being discussed in Congress has a 10 year time frame.
Is There a Thaw in Washington?
Washington Post: “For the first time in a while, members
of the two parties — at least some of them — appear to be talking about
getting things done, even without the deadline of a manufactured crisis
looming.”
Congressman Invests His Campaign Funds
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) reported his campaign fund earned $75,637 from interest and investments during the first quarter of 2013, Political Moneyline reports.
