Post archive for ‘US Politics’
Posted by About.com US Politics on May 22nd, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Watchers of the federal budget got their latest view of Republican spending priorities for the next fiscal year (fiscal year 2012) on May 11 when the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee announced allocations to subcommittee chairmen.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 21st, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Public opinion polls in 2011 show that many voters don't want Congress and President Obama to increase the federal debt limit. Those voters believe the federal government already is spending too much money.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 20th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
If John Ensign of Nevada had not resigned from the Senate in early May, the Senate Ethics Committee would have asked the United States Senate to kick him out.
On May 9, the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Ethics Committee - Democrat Barbara Boxer of California and Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia - went to the floor and bluntly accused Ensign, a Republican, of a variety of misdeeds. They said they want the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission to investigate the possibility of criminal charges against the former Republican senator.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 15th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
On May 9, the Senate continued a filibuster on the nomination of James Cole to be the Deputy Attorney General. If you were watching C-SPAN, you wouldn't have noticed the filibuster.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 14th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
American voters are growing even more politically polarized and are less inclined to identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans. That's the conclusion of a fascinating new study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 11th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
People who work in Washington often have connections that go back a long way. Two people in the news this week of May 9, 2011, Newt Gingrich and James Cole, demonstrate this principle.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 8th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
On Jan. 5, Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) introduced legislation entitled the "Revoke Excessive Policies that Encroach on American Liberties Act."
Those sound like lofty and worthwhile goals. Americans believe in freedom and no one likes excessive policies. Based on its name, what would you guess this bill does?
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 7th, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
The term "exploratory committee" may sound like something that Queen Isabella formed before sending Christopher Columbus on his journey to discover America. But it's not.
Exploratory committees are something that Republican presidential candidates have begun to form as they consider whether to run for their party's presidential nomination in 2012. Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have formed them. Sarah Palin hasn't yet. She says it's too early.
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Posted by About.com US Politics on May 2nd, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Should it be a news flash that President Obama was born in the United States? If there was a shred of credible evidence that he wasn't born a United States citizen he would not now be sitting in the White House.
There were too many people with power that could have, and would have, stopped him. But he does meet the criteria and he won the election. So why do we keep hearing about his birth certificate?
It's an issue that won't die. When the issue first appeared, Obama's campaign showed journalists the standard birth certificate that all United States citizens are required to show to obtain a passport or government benefits.
That was enough for most people, and certainly for those who have to decide whether he meets the criteria for office. But it wasn't good enough for a very small group of people who want to believe that he is not the legitimate leader of the United States.
After ignoring these peo...
Posted by About.com US Politics on May 1st, 2011 | Categorized as US Politics
Inside the Washington Beltway the White House Correspondents Association Dinner is a big deal. It's called "the prom" by some, the "nerd prom" by others. Here's what it's all about.
Each year (2011's was on April 30), the White House Correspondents Association, (which is exactly what it sounds like, a group of reporters who cover the White House,) sponsors a dinner at the Washington Hilton. About 2,500 people attend.
The dinner raises money for scholarships and gives awards to journalists. It is attended by reporters, editors, publishers, news executives and often, but not always, the President of the United States. Since it is a fundraiser, news organizations purchase seats and invite guests. The dinner is telecast by C-SPAN.
The tradition started in the 1920s. It used to be that the news organizations would invite people they wanted to impress--advertisers, reporters' sources, etc. That started to change in the late 1980s, when...
