Political Wire

What’s Wrong with Politics?

August 27, 2013 at 6:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stuart Rothenberg: “Yes, there is too much confrontation in this town and too little willingness to compromise on issues. And analysts/authors Norm Ornstein and Tom Mann may well be right in arguing in their book, It’s Even Worse Than it Looks, that the problem rests primarily with Republicans who are unwilling to meet Democrats even part of the way on crucial public policy issues.”

“But there is no reason to believe that members on both sides of the aisle whose voting records put them toward the ideological extremes of their parties… aren’t evaluating bills in terms of what they believe is best for their constituents or for the country.”

Perry Schedules Iowa Visit

August 27, 2013 at 5:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is headed to Iowa this fall, the Des Moines Register reports.

“Perry, the governor of Texas, announced earlier this summer that he won’t seek re-election in Texas. He’s still weighing whether to make a second run for the White House. He told Newsmax TV last week that a run in 2016 run is still ‘a very viable option.'”

New Bush Paintings Surface

August 27, 2013 at 4:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gawker: “Two new paintings by former president George W. Bush, published for the first time here on Gawker, give us a new window into the ongoing development of the tortured artist/torture advocate–and opens the possibility for a new phase in his oeuvre: cats.”

The Clearest Sign Yet That Hillary Clinton is Running

August 27, 2013 at 3:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Democratic National Committee summer meeting “was a sedate gathering where routine party business was conducted routinely,” the New York Times reports.

But when Harold Ickes walked into the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile raised her eyebrows: “He predated the Clinton era, but when I saw Harold reappointed to the D.N.C., he surely, in my judgment, symbolizes the return of the Clintons.”

Ickes was put back on the committee by chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and acknowledged that he “actively sought” the seat as the “most important committee at the D.N.C. because of its role in shaping the nomination process. The goal is to design rules to nominate the strongest candidate for the general election.”

Obama Won’t Negotiate Over Debt Limit

August 27, 2013 at 3:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that President Obama won’t bargain with GOP lawmakers over increasing the debt limit, USA Today reports.

The warning from Lew came one day after he formally notified House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in a letter that the federal government will hit the $16.7 trillion debt limit in mid-October.

Michaud Leads for Maine Governor

August 27, 2013 at 3:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Maine shows Mike Michaud (D) leads Gov. Paul LePage (R) in the race for governor, 39% to 35%, with another 18% for Eliot Cutler (I).

In a two way contest, Michaud would blow LePage out, 54% to 39%.

Obama May Soon Lose Top Adviser

August 27, 2013 at 1:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gene Sperling, the director of the National Economic Council, is telling people he may soon leave the post as one of President Obama’s top economic advisers, Fox Business reports.

The Diversionary Dog

August 27, 2013 at 12:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Smith: “There is little doubt that dogs are politically useful. A half-serious study in the political science journal PS suggests a ‘diversionary dog’ theory. The authors find that presidents display their dogs more during wartime and scandals, though less during economic crises, when the public does not want to see the president frolicking with a spoiled pet.”

Tweet of the Day

August 27, 2013 at 12:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

9 minutes past start time, here’s the crowd to hear Nikki Haley announce her re-election campaign. sctweets pic.twitter.com/cga7xW46P5

— Rudolph Bell (@DolphBell) August 26, 2013

EPA Chief Says Obama Wants Focus on Climate Change

August 27, 2013 at 11:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As she marveled at the site of a shrinking Alaska glacier, the newly installed leader of the Environmental Protection Agency said that the president told her that fighting climate change should be her primary focus,” the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy: “The president’s main priority for me was to recognize when I was coming in here that this is going to be a significant challenge and one in which the administration was going to begin to tackle.”

Palin Joins Effort to Defund Obamacare

August 27, 2013 at 11:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin is joining the conservative push to defund Obamacare, the Washington Post reports.

Said Palin: “This beast must be stopped — by not funding it. Today, Todd and I joined with many of our fellow citizens to urge those in the U.S. Senate to not fund Obamacare.”

Two Minds on Syria

August 27, 2013 at 11:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

If you think you know what President Obama should do or not do in response to the Syria crisis, read George Packer‘s excellent take.

Wonk Wire: This means war?

Quote of the Day

August 27, 2013 at 11:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I wish I could tell you it was going to be pretty and polite, and it would all be finished a month before we’d ever get to the debt ceiling. Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.”

— Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by the Idaho Statesman, vowing to Republican supporters that he would cut entitlement spending as part of this fall’s budget fights.

Obama Has Made Little Progress on Top Jobs for Women

August 27, 2013 at 9:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Reports that President Obama has settled on Larry Summers as the next Fed chairman will almost certainly bring up his record of appointing women to high positions.

New York Times:
“Behind the roiling conversation over whether President Obama might
make Janet L. Yellen the first female leader of the Federal Reserve is
an uncomfortable reality for the White House: the administration has
named no more women to high-level executive branch posts than the
Clinton administration did almost two decades ago.”

“Over
all, Mr. Obama has named 13 women to cabinet-level posts, matching the
historic high achieved by the Clinton administration. Mr. Obama has also
put a record number of women in judicial slots, including two on the
Supreme Court. Women make up about 42 percent of confirmed judges
appointed by Mr. Obama, compared with 22 percent appointed by George W.
Bush and 29 percent by Bill Clinton. Yet the ratio of men to women in
the administration is where it was two decades ago, if not a little more
heavily male. The Obama administration has a smaller proportion of
women in top positions than the Clinton administration did in its second
term, for instance. Women hold about 35 percent of cabinet-level posts,
compared with 41 percent for Mr. Clinton and 24 percent for Mr. Bush at
similar points in their presidencies.”

Paul Ramps Up Fundraising Push

August 27, 2013 at 9:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Louisville Courier Journal:
“Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky still isn’t disclosing his political plans
for 2016 — a run for the White House or a bid for a second term in the
Senate? But one thing is clear: His fundraising campaign operation is on
overdrive. The freshman Republican senator’s two main committees — Rand
Paul for U.S. Senate 2016, and Reinventing a New Direction political
action committee (RAND PAC) — raised $1.9 million during the first six
months of this year, Federal Election Commission records show.”

Bachmannistan

August 27, 2013 at 9:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: Bachmannistan: Behind The Lines by Peter Waldron and John Gilmore.

First Read: “Its authors — two insiders of Bachmann world — appear as skeptical of Iowa’s caucus system as they were disillusioned by their candidate, who won the August straw poll only to finish last among competitors in the caucuses less than six months later.”

Summers Likely Pick for Fed Chairman

August 27, 2013 at 9:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A source from Team Obama told CNBC that Larry Summers will likely be
named chairman of the Federal Reserve in a few weeks though he is ‘still
being vetted’ so it might take a little longer.”

Josh Green: “Summers, if he’s nominated, will get a huge
break from the Senate Democratic caucus, because, unlike the GOP caucus,
it contains no serious presidential contenders. Why does that matter?
Because presidential candidates are almost always captive to the
passions of their party’s base, and the liberal base of the Democratic
Party loathes Summers. That would produce tremendous pressure to oppose
him.”

When Mr. Booker Goes to Washington

August 27, 2013 at 8:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Washington Post envisions a Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ):

“Booker is no
stranger to Washington. His parents met here. He was born here. He spent
his Christmas breaks from Oxford here. Now a political sensation and
media darling with nearly 1.5 million Twitter followers, the 44-year-old
seems to have been engineered in a political lab to walk the halls of
Congress….He is prepping for the eventual move to the capital with a
nightly audio book appointment with ‘This Town,’ the bestseller by New
York Times reporter Mark Leibovich that paints an unflattering portrait
of official Washington.”

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