The Political Bite


Illinois Senator Won’t Run in ’10, Officials Say
July 9, 2009, 8:21 pm
Filed under: State Politics | Tags: , , ,

WASHINGTON — Senator Roland W. Burris, the Illinois Democrat appointed by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich before his ouster to fill the seat of President Obama, is expected to announce Friday that he will not seek election in 2010 to a full Senate term, party officials said.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger: Tea Bagging California
July 9, 2009, 11:39 am
Filed under: State Politics | Tags: , ,
As the California budget crisis continues to be a showdown between a recalcitrant Executive and a weak-kneed Legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, discussing the merciless budget cuts he has proposed, insisted to Mark Leibovich of the New York Times Magazine (July 5, 2009): “I see the faces behind those dollars. I see the children whose teachers will be laid off. I see the Alzheimer’s patients losing some of their in-home support services.” But Schwarzenegger’s attempt to exploit the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression to “eliminate” health and human services programs that have, in some cases, existed for decades, belies the notion that he has any sense of empathy for those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves on the receiving end of his budgetary axe. He’s acting.

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Coleman Will Have Some Rebuilding To Do
July 9, 2009, 11:31 am
Filed under: State Politics | Tags: , ,

By the end of it, people were tired of the protracted recount process and court battle that left Minnesota with only one U.S. senator until last week, and it’s taken a toll on former Sen. Norm Coleman’s opinion ratings. He is viewed unfavorably by 52 percent of Minnesotans and favorably by 38 percent, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling. (Caveat: PPP conducts automated polling via telephone, with respondents pressing buttons to indicate their opinions. This is viewed as less reliable by some pollsters and journalists, but, in horse-race polling, Pollster.com’s Mark Blumenthal has deemed it as accurate as using live interviewers. Today’s poll includes results from 1,419 Minnesotans July 7-8, margin of errod +/- 2.5 percent.)

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Senate Democrats Still Seeking GOP Support
July 9, 2009, 9:21 am
Filed under: Politics | Tags: , ,

Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support for their key initiatives in order to choke off potential filibusters.

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Dear President Obama #171: Uh … Are you coming home soon?
July 9, 2009, 9:14 am
Filed under: Politics | Tags: , , ,

Dear Mr. President,

Did you know that for a great many decades American presidents did not travel outside of the United States at all? Theodore Roosevelt was the first one to ever do it when he went down to Panama. Something about a ditch, if I remember right. Apparently Franklin Roosevelt (I’m not all hung up on throwing in that Delano like some people; What? We’re going to confuse him with all the other President Franklin Roosevelts?) was the first president to go on an official trip overseas by airplane. And unless I am mistaken, George H.W. Bush was the first president to ever throw up on a Japanese Prime Minister. Ah…I’ll always remember just where I was when I heard about that. But I digress.

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Should Incumbent Senators Be Worried about 2010?
July 9, 2009, 9:09 am
Filed under: Politics | Tags: , , ,

Via Matthew Yglesias, we have this report from the IMF with a very simple story: This recession is slowing, but recovery will be sluggish — especially in the world’s advanced economies, where the hurt has been deepest. Yglesias concludes: “If I were an incumbent U.S. Senator running for re-election in 2010 I would be terrified by these projections.” Is that right?

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G-8 Leaders Focus on Need for Stimulus
July 9, 2009, 9:03 am
Filed under: foreign affairs | Tags: , , ,

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Police raid boosts California Democrat Francine Busby
July 9, 2009, 8:55 am
Filed under: State Politics | Tags: , , ,

Before police raided her congressional campaign fundraiser last month, Democrat Francine Busby was yesterday’s news. 

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Stimulus to Aid State Budget Gaps
July 9, 2009, 8:45 am
Filed under: economy | Tags: ,

WASHINGTON — States plan to use about half of some $8.8 billion in unencumbered stimulus money they will receive to plug budget deficits, underscoring the financial difficulties many are facing.

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Study: Sotomayor was a tough judge
July 9, 2009, 8:42 am
Filed under: Politics | Tags: , ,

A Syracuse University analysis of the sentences imposed by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her six years as a federal trial judge indicates she was more likely than her colleagues to send a person to prison, particularly those convicted as white collar criminals.

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