With Senate Republicans threatening a filibuster over the President economic stimulus package, the Washington Post on Monday offered its assessment that "as Obama talks of bipartisanship, definitions vary." For the likes of Rush Limbaugh, that definition is George W. Bush. As Bush showed in 2001, bipartisanship on the economy meant jamming his catastrophic $1.4 trillion […]

Last year, the Roadblock Republicans of the 110th Congress set the all-time filibuster record. Forcing 104 cloture votes by October 2008, the Senate's GOP minority easily eclipsed the old mark of 61 filibusters. And now, fresh on the heels of "elated" and "celebrating" House Republicans' refusal to provide a single vote in support of President […]

Among the most predictable frauds in the Republican war against the Obama stimulus plan is the bogus claim that it offers to tax credits to Americans "not paying taxes." But while voters on Election Day rejected the cries of "socialism" from John McCain and Sarah Palin, GOP leaders from Rudy Giuliani and John Kyl to […]

For those keeping score, Wednesday's final was Immovable Object 1, Irresistible Force 0. For all of his unprecedented outreach to Republican leaders on his economic stimulus package passed by the House yesterday - the poetry of post-partisanship, larding the bill with business tax provisions he opposed, meeting three times with GOP leaders, a rare presidential […]

In November, the American people elected Barack Obama not so much to change the tone in Washington as to change the direction of the country. One week into his tenure as President, it's clear that the Republican minority in Congress will help with him neither. After all of his outreach to the GOP - incorporaing […]

Back in May, President Bush, John McCain and the conservative echo chamber slandered Barack Obama's proposed diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East as "appeasement." Of course, President Obama is no appeaser of America's enemies abroad. But as his latest capitulation to Congressional Republicans over contraceptive funding in the stimulus bill suggests, Obama's willingness to appease […]

When it comes to blocking President Obama's economic stimulus plan, what is old is new for the conservative movement. Fearing a permanent Democratic majority if Bill Clinton succeeded in passing his health care reform package, Bill Kristol in 1993 famously rallied Republicans with a memo urging his party to halt it at all costs. With […]

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican John McCain famously acknowledged "I'm an illiterate" when asked about his use of personal computers and the Internet. Then as now, McCain's ignorance is reflected in his public policy. After laughably extolling online auction giant eBay as the cure for what ails the American economy, John McCain now opposes […]

Staying true to his commitment of bipartisanship, President Obama today hosted Congressional Republican leaders to discuss his proposed $825 billion economic recovery package. But while Obama listened to the GOP team air both its grievances and its alternative proposals, the President also gently reminded his Republican guests, "I won." And as Congress considers the Obama […]

When it comes to Americans' reproductive rights, it's amazing what a difference one week - and one new president - makes. On Sunday, President Bush offered a final parting gift to anti-abortion extremists in the form of "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." But by Thursday, President Barack Obama marked the 36th anniversary of the […]