The timing here isn’t coincidental, nor are the players.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who head the Senate Ethics Committee, introduced legislation Thursday to force lawmakers to disclose the “full and complete” details of their mortgage arrangements — including dates, rates, the range of the amount and More…
Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, just responded to the Senate Ethics Committee’s decision to clear Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) of any wrongdoing in relation to their preferential treatment from Countrywide Financial Corp.
Apparently, clearing the senators
It’s no news that the Obama administration has pushed hard for the creation of a public-plan option to accompany whatever health care reform overhaul the Democrats come up with this year. But Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, has just softened that stand. More…
As select members of the Senate Finance Committee race to finalize their health reform bill before August recess, it’s worth noting just how few Americans those lawmakers represent.
When the news broke that they’d received special deals on loans furnished by Countrywide Financial Corp., Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) both denied wrongdoing, saying they had no idea they’d gotten preferential treatment. Today, The Associated Press reports a different version of the tale, citing More…
As Congress delves into its much anticipated health care reform debate, the discussion thus far has been framed as a black vs. white clash between those (mostly Democrats) in support of a public plan to compete with private insurers, and those (mostly Republicans) for whom such an option More…
Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag kept up the pressure on Senate Republicans over the weekend by continuing to raise the possibility that the White House may use the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process to pass comprehensive health care reform if the Republicans don’t show more flexibility. More…
President Obama made headlines last month when he announced a budget wishlist eliminating a number of budget gimmicks used by Washington policymakers to, in effect, purposefully lie to the country about how much the government will collect and spend.
Breaking from previous administrations, Obama’s budget acknowledged that fighting the More…
John Harwood of The New York Times has sketched an emerging scenario in which the Obama administration seeks comprehensive health care and energy reform without significant Republican support. Democrats are increasingly talking about abandoning the pretense of bipartisanship and putting the historic legislation in a filibuster-proof budget More…
Give this to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.): He wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t a good fit in President Obama’s cabinet.
Gregg, of course, withdrew his nomination for commerce secretary in a storm of media attention last month. The senator, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, More…
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