Political Wire


Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!


Johnson Says Health Care and Food Are ‘Privileges’

By Leave a Comment

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told a group of high school students “that they don’t have a right to health care, food and shelter,” WISN reports.

Said Johnson: “I think it’s probably more of a privilege.”

He added: “Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Past that point, we have the right to freedom. Past that point is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us to afford those things.”

Trump Undercuts Tillerson on North Korea

By Leave a Comment

“President Trump signaled Sunday that he does not believe that attempts at direct communications with North Korea are worth the effort despite escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang,” the Washington Post reports.

“A day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that the United States maintains ‘lines of communications’ with Kim Jong Un’s regime, Trump wrote on Twitter that Tillerson is ‘wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man’ — his nickname for Kim.”

Supreme Court Faces a Momentous Term

By Leave a Comment

“The Supreme Court, which was shorthanded and slumbering for more than a year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, is returning to the bench on Monday with a far-reaching docket that renews its central role in American life,” the New York Times reports.

“The new term is studded with major cases likely to provoke sharp conflicts. One of them, on political gerrymandering, has the potential to reshape American politics. Another may settle the question of whether businesses can turn away patrons like gay couples in the name of religious freedom.”


You're reading the free version of Political Wire

Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.




SNL Is Back

By Leave a Comment

“I actually love football… People say I remind them of a football player because I’m combative, I like to win, and I might have a degenerative brain disease.”

Trump Tax Cut Already In Trouble

By Leave a Comment

Stan Collender: “While they say they expect that some Democrats will support the tax cut, the decision to exclude them from the planning process — the Big Six consisted of four congressional Republicans and two members of the Trump administration — means that it is anything but bipartisan. Because of that, and given the lack of any economic imperative and the substantive problems with the proposed tax cut (especially that it would harm taxpayers in blue states), House and Senate Democrats are far less likely to support the plan in its current incarnation than Trump, Ryan and McConnell are hoping.”

“That will make every GOP vote critical to passing the Trump tax cut and, as of a last Friday, significantly large groups of Republicans in both houses of Congress had already made it clear that they could not vote for the plan as drafted. Without any Democrats supporting the bill, McConnell will only be able to lose two Republican senators and still pass the bill. As of last Friday, there were more than two who were expressing doubts about their support.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

By Leave a Comment

“The mayor’s living on a cot and I hope the President has a good day at golf.”

— Retired Gen. Russel Honoré, in an interview on CNN., responding to President Trump’s criticism of San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz.

Trump Claims Coverage of Puerto Rico Is ‘Fake News’

By Leave a Comment

President Trump took to Twitter to blast media coverage of his administration’s response to the humanitarian disaster in Puerto Rico.

A sampling:

Despite the Fake News Media in conjunction with the Democrats, an amazing job is being done in Puerto Rico. Great people!

To the people of Puerto Rico: Do not believe the #FakeNews! #PRStrong

Results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. Doing everything we can to help great people of PR!

NSA Warned White House About Personal Email

By Leave a Comment

“The National Security Agency warned senior White House officials in classified briefings that improper use of personal cellphones and email could make them vulnerable to espionage by Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries,” Politico reports.

“The briefings came soon after President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20, and before some top aides, including senior adviser Jared Kushner, used their personal email and phones to conduct official White House business.”

Tillerson Says U.S. Is Talking to North Korea

By Leave a Comment

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged in Beijing on Saturday that the Trump administration is in “direct contact” with North Korea over its recent escalation of missile and nuclear tests, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Tillerson: “We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout. We have a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang. We can talk to them, we do talk to them.”

“The acknowledgment suggests a potential deescalation after months of bellicose rhetoric on both sides, as well as repeated, provocative intercontinental ballistic missile tests and a nuclear test by North Korea.”

Garcetti’s Travel Raises Questions at Home

By Leave a Comment

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) “logged 112 days, or nearly one-third of his time, away from California over the last 12 months, according to his public calendar,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“Reelected in March with 81% of the vote, Garcetti has refused to commit to serving his entire second term. As he visits New Hampshire and Wisconsin, the mayor remains coy about whether he’ll run for president in 2020.”

“But as he flirts with the idea, Garcetti tests the public’s willingness to tolerate his absences.”

Kelly Struggles to Make Sense of Kushner’s Role

By Leave a Comment

Politico: “It’s not just Kelly who is uncertain of how to make the arrangement work. In recent months, according to multiple administration officials, the president has also been casually surveying people close to him about whether having his family members in the government is creating too much noise.”

“Since Kelly put his firm grip on the West Wing in July, however, the role of the Trump children has shifted. Aides claim the couple was eager for a more functional work environment, and have been happy to fall in line with Kelly’s rules.”

“But Kushner has also complained to friends and allies about his stunted status in the new regime. He can no longer simply float in and out of the Oval Office, or function in the freewheeling role he has grown used to since the campaign, he has told associates. That marks a change of status for the former real estate scion, who before working as a free-ranging agent for his father-in-law, served as the top dog at his family-owned real estate company in Manhattan.”

Trump’s Breaking Point with Tom Price

By Leave a Comment

Politico: “Tom Price’s downfall was his penchant for pricey jets. But his demise was months in the making, as the president continued to lose trust in the Health and Human Services secretary who rarely attended Oval Office strategy meetings, had little sway or influence on Capitol Hill, and was associated in the president’s mind with one of the administration’s biggest defeats — the failure to repeal Obamacare.”

“Of particular notoriety: A picture of Price in March drinking at Bullfeathers, a famed Capitol Hill bar, as his colleagues tried to wrangle votes for the president’s signature initiative.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

Praise for Political Wire

“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.