Ah, the wonders of modern technology. CQPolitics has released a really neat 2006 Election Forecast Map, which takes a look at House, Senate and gubernatorial races for the fall and offers stats, news, and projections for each. If they can keep this updated in a reasonably timely fashion, it will be a very handy tool in a couple months. Check it out.

British journalist Steven Poole coins the term in his new book, which I’ve just posted a review of here.

It is not often that I find myself wanting to write in praise of something the House of Representatives has done, but I do enjoy those rare moments when they occur. Last week, the House voted 416-6 to sponsor an “H-Prize,” program to encourage research into the use of hydrogen as an alternative automobile fuel. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bob Inglis and co-sponsored by 26 additional members from both parties, “would award four prizes of up to $1 million every other year for technological...

A quick update to yesterday morning’s post on the DoJ ending its ethics investigation of itself in regard to the NSA warrantless eavesdrop program. The NYTimes reports this morning (in its story about the new hubbub over phone call collecting, which is covered well below) that Senator Specter yesterday called the denial of security clearances to the DoJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility “incomprehensible.” He added that he will join other senators in requesting that...

The papers report this morning that the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has ended its investigation into the role of DoJ lawyers in the development of the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program (NYTimes, WaPo). Why, you ask? OPR director H. Marshall Jarrett wrote yesterday to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, who had requested the investigation, to notify him that it was over. Said Jarrett, “we have been unable to make meaningful progress in our investigation because...

Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor recently released a new book, The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution. I have posted a review of it here at Charging RINO.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg has a report in today’s NY Times which seems to suggest that we’re going to be hearing a whole lot more about the Gang of 14 in the coming weeks. The debate over federal judges is resuming in DC, and conservatives are pushing for a fight that could once again lead to a debate over the so-called “nuclear option.” Part of the compromise reached last year by the Gang of 14 was that the group made no determination on the ultimate fate of two judicial nominees:...

Someone needs to cut up the Senate’s credit cards. Yesterday, that body added several additional spending projects to the “emergency” appropriations bill, sending the overall cost soaring to near $109 billion, making it now $17 billion over the $92.2-billion threshold (plus another $2 billion for avian-flu preparedness) Bush says he’ll veto at. Bush reiterated his veto threat yesterday, saying “some here in Washington with trying to load up that bill with unnecessary...

Speaking at a “surprise” appearance at a Biloxi, MS gas station yesterday, President Bush said that part of his long-term plan to bring down high gas prices would be to raise fuel efficiency standards in cars. Some of us have been saying that for years, but alright, fine, welcome to the show – better late than never, Mr. President. Here’s the problem. Bush reverted to what seems to be this administration’s default position when something needs to be done: give me the...

The National Archives’ Internal Security Oversight Office (ISOO) has completed its audit of the (formerly-secret) reclassification program conducted over the past several years, and released its report yesterday. The audit uncovered evidence that 25,315 records were reclassified under the program – of a sample of those, 24% were found to fall under the category “clearly inappropriate for continued classification,” and another 12% were “questionable.” “In...

Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports in the New York Times that Democratic candidates across the country are preparing campaign strategies which highlight their support for embryonic stem-cell research. The issue has “cropped up in Senate races in Maryland and Missouri, and in House races in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin, especially in suburban swing districts,” writes Stolberg. The article highlights Missouri, where a constitutional amendment...

The New York Times’ Elisabeth Bumiller and Jim Rutenberg suggest today that new White House Chief of State Josh Bolten may be planning to replace current WH Counsel and failed Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. Citing an unnamed “influential Republican with close ties to Mr. Bolten,” the dynamic Times duo report “Mr. Bolten had floated the idea among confidants, but that it was unclear whether he would follow through or if the move would be acceptable to Mr. Bush, who has...

The New York Times and Washington Post both have good coverage of new WH CoS Josh Bolten’s surprisingly candid (at least for this Administration) announcement to senior staff yesterday that big changes in staffing and structure may be (stress may be) coming to the West Wing in the near future. Without asking for specific resignations yesterday, Bolten said that it was his goal to “refresh and re-energize” the White House staff, and told anyone who’s thinking of departing prior...

Putting my seminar readings to productive blog-use, I have posted a review of David Hackett Fischer’s Washington’s Crossing here at Charging RINO. [Apologies for the pointer post, but it's rather long and I didn't want to clutter up TMV with it in case people aren't interested.]

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, AG Alberto Gonzales suggested (for the first time publicly) that the Administration believes there may be legal justification to eavesdrop on communications occurring solely within the United States (the program already revealed covers only calls in which one party is outside the US). As the NYT and WaPo report this morning, Gonzales was asked by Rep. Adam Schiff if such domestic eavesdropping could occur; the AG replied “I’m...

In an interesting exercise of judicial restraint, the Supreme Court announced this morning that an appeal from Jose Padilla – the American citizen held for more than three years in a Navy brig as an ‘enemy combatant’ before being charged last fall – was now moot considering his current legal status. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Scalia made no comment on the ruling, while Justice Kennedy took the rather uncommon step of writing an opinion [PDF] explaining his vote. Kennedy’s...

Yesterday the Senate passed – by an unsurprisingly huge margin – a bill called the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006. The vote was 90-8, which the opposition coming for the most part from senators who felt the legislation did not go far enough (McCain, Obama, Kerry, Feingold, Graham, Coburn). Senators DeMint and Inhofe also voted against final passage. What’s in this bill? The following are drawn from coverage today in the NYT, WaPo, LATimes, and The Hill,...

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony Tuesday from five former judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court; the judges urged Congress to impose oversight on the president’s secret and controversial warrantless wiretap program. The New York Times has the only report I’ve found so far on this (it is a big news day, after all), but it’s a decent one. Four of the judges were on Capitol Hill testifying in support of Senator Specter’s plan to grant the...