SEARCH: Advanced Search

Today's Paper

PDF Version | Latest News

November 30, 2009

Obama Agenda Frustrates Left

Cracks are widening between President Barack Obama and his liberal base on Capitol Hill, adding to his headaches as he tries to overcome rising unemployment and carry out a controversial new strategy for Afghanistan.

The Rose Garden: Obama's Christmas Not Quite So Merry as Last Year

It was Christmas 2008 for Barack Obama, and there was not a Grinch in sight. The newly elected president spent much of the week sequestered with his family in gorgeous Kailua, Hawaii, soaking up the warmth of Oahu and wading in the blue Pacific. Or perhaps, given his popularity and the expectations for his presidency, Obama might have simply been walking on water instead.

Capital in the Capitol

Despite a recession that depleted bank accounts nationwide in 2008, House lawmakers can still claim a tidy nest egg: a combined minimum net worth of at least $1 billion.

Alexander Sheds His Mr. Nice Guy Image

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) often advocates bipartisanship and across-the-aisle relationship building. But lately, the soft-spoken Tennessean has been mixing that friendly rhetoric with a healthy dose of partisanship — aggressively leading his party’s efforts to attack President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats.

30-Somethings Aim for Aging Senate

Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (D) was 4 years old when Rep. Mike Castle (R) was elected lieutenant governor of Delaware. But come 2011 the two men could serve together in the Senate.

Heard on the Hill: Pay-to-Play Fundraising

He might be one of the younger Members of Congress, but Rep. Patrick McHenry isn’t downplaying his boyishness. He’s playing it up, throwing a Tuesday fundraiser in which donors are invited to take on the North Carolina Republican in a rousing video game tournament.

Capitol Christmas Tree Arrives From Arizona Today

The Capitol Christmas Tree arrives in the District today, signifying the beginning of the holiday season for folks in and around Capitol Hill.

Disbursement Records Now Online

House Members’ office expenditures go online today, making it easier to dissect Representatives’ travel expenses, staff salaries and even their office supply budgets.

Campus Notebook: D.C. in Pictures

Local voting rights group DC Vote will unveil an hourlong documentary Wednesday that features former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), Chris Matthews and a long list of local politicians.

Rothenberg's Dangerous Dozen House Seats for 2010

Regular readers of this column know that I’ve been rating the most vulnerable House seats — open and incumbent — for years. It’s that time again, and since there aren’t yet enough competitive open seats to rate by themselves, this list includes the dozen most vulnerable seats in the House.

Administration Promotes Lobbyist 'Brain Drain'

Within hours of taking office, the Obama administration indiscriminately banished lobbyists from executive branch service, and soon thereafter prohibited them from even speaking with officials on important matters. But the White House soon realized it had cut off its own nose to spite its face, when it had to exempt registered lobbyists appointed to key posts. Instead of dropping the knife, the administration has now also expelled lobbyists from federal advisory committees, thereby lopping off its own ears. At this rate, even the most comprehensive health care overhaul cannot heal these wounds.

World's Greatest Deliberative Wishbone

The latest cartoon from R.J. Matson.

New Leadership at NFIB Makes a Return to Roots

The National Federation of Independent Business of the 21st century looks a lot like your father’s small-business lobby.

Doctors Can't Agree on Prescription for Reform

When the American Medical Association threw its support behind the House health care overhaul, Democrats gleefully seized on the backing by the doctors lobby as akin to nabbing the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

Doctors Can't Agree on Prescription for Reform

When the American Medical Association threw its support behind the House health care overhaul, Democrats gleefully seized on the backing by the doctors lobby as akin to nabbing the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

K Street Files: Watchdogs Attack FEC

Ethics reform groups are hitting back against a recent ruling by the Federal Election Commission to relax candidate air travel restrictions. Democracy 21, the Campaign Legal Center and others are trying to devise a strategy to overturn a decision that would allow candidates for Senate, vice president and president to use corporate jets as private air service as long as the candidates say they are traveling for reasons other than their election.

Schmoozing Goes Global

In 1987, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) — at the time, the president of the Vermont state Senate — was given an offer that he couldn’t refuse. He was invited by the American Council of Young Political Leaders to travel behind the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union, where he would have a chance to meet with political leaders.

Fans Hunt for Hints of Teddy Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt was famous for certain stunts. One of them involved dragging reluctant participants on “point-to-point walks” — hikes through Rock Creek Park that involved walking in a straight line, regardless of the obstacles in the way. “Over or through, never around,” Roosevelt would say. A river in the way had to be forded, while a rock had to be climbed.

Hill Climbers: Republican Revolutionary

The Republican class of 1994 was a special breed. The GOP’s triumphant return to power is a familiar story to political junkies everywhere, but the moment also had a less notable yet equally powerful effect: the political baptism of a whole generation of Republicans.

Cutting Room Floor: Flag and Dissent

Mahala Ngan, a Sri Lankan who now lives in Canada, participates in a recent protest in Upper Senate Park, calling on the U.S. government to intervene in the mistreatment of the ethnic Tamil people in Sri Lanka.