Having succeeded in his smear campaign against UN Ambassador Susan Rice, John McCain has launched a second pre-emptive strike against another would-be Obama cabinet member, former Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel. But this time McCain's petty payback against a GOP colleague who supported Barack Obama for President in 2008 may run into tougher sledding. After […]

If you have lingering doubts that economic growth--and not deficit reduction--should be the highest priority during the debate over the so-called "fiscal cliff," the Congressional Budget Office should put them to rest. The CBO forecast that the triple witching hour of expiring Bush tax cuts, the ending payroll tax holiday and the falling axe of […]

As President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised in September, the State Department Accountability Review Board on Wednesday delivered its report on the Benghazi consulate assault which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The findings are sharply critical of the State Department, calling security at the Libyan outpost "grossly inadequate," a […]

Much to the delight of President Obama's conservative naysayers, Politico this morning reported that "the Treasury Department on Wednesday announced plans to sell, almost certainly at a loss, the government's remaining shares of Detroit-based automaker General Motors." Predictably, the right-wing Washington Free Beacon darkly warned "Treasury prepares to lose big on GM bailout" while gloating […]

Last week, UN Ambassador Susan Rice took herself out of the running to become the next Secretary of State, apparently clearing the way for Senator John Kerry. But whether or not Rice was the best choice--or even President Obama's first choice--for the position is largely beside the point. History will mark this episode as just […]

This week, former President Bill Clinton urged calm in the face of Washington's stand-off over the so-called fiscal cliff. "They are moving toward a deal," Clinton assured Americans, suggesting that the current posturing by both parties is "just a Kabuki dance." Unfortunately, Republicans have called President Obama's $4 trillion debt reduction plan something else: a […]

Reports this week that UN Ambassador Susan Rice and her Canadian husband Ian Cameron have investments in firms involved with the Keystone XL pipeline project and past energy deals in Iran are drawing scrutiny across the political spectrum. But conservatives eager to link Rice to Tehran might want to think twice. For starters, Rice's holdings […]

During a heated exchange on the Senate floor back in June 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney famously told Vermont Democrat Pat Leahy, "f**k yourself." Looking back on the episode six years later, Cheney told Fox News that he had no "qualms, second thoughts, or embarrassment" about his Leahy outburst, because "I thought he merited it […]

In Washington and on Wall Street, there is growing optimism in the wake of President Obama's White House meeting with Congressional leaders Friday that the U.S. will avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff." After their drubbing on Election Day, Republicans are walking back their scorched-earth opposition to new tax revenue to reduce the national debt. But […]

If there's one thing both parties in Washington can agree on, it is the necessity of getting to the bottom of the September 11th assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has already agreed to testify to Congress after the completion […]