In Praising Speaker Pelosi, Dick Morris cites an example of the kinds of controversies she will encounter:Pelosi now faces the challenge of whether to let West Virginia Democratic Congressman Alan Mollohan head the Appropriations subcommittee, which oversees the FBI, an organization which plans to spend part of the money Mollohan lets them have investigating Mollohan! Formerly … [Read more...] about Another example of possible Congressional Corruption

Time For Bi-partisan Consensus on Tax ReformTwo former communications directors at OMB, one for Bush II and one for Clinton, argued for bi-partisan tax code reform this week in the Baltimore Sun. Noam Neusner and Lawrence J. Haas said the time is ripe for a consensus that would lower federal income tax rates and broaden the tax base. Politically, tax reform would broaden the … [Read more...] about Opening For Bi-partisan Consensus on Tax Reform

I can count on one hand the number of times I have agreed with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, but he seems to have hit the right note in crafting a majority opinion stating that a federal appeals court had no basis for overturning a state court ruling allowing the family members of a murder victim to wear buttons with his picture during a trial. Note that Thomas's main … [Read more...] about Score One For Clarence Thomas?

What does Ciro Rodriguez's victory in the Texas 23rd District run-off tell us about the aftermath of the 2006 election? … [Read more...] about The Last Stab

If one of my co-bloggers at TMV already saw and posted this round-up of the Top Ten Funniest Political Quotes Of 2006, I apologize for the duplication, but this is just too good and too sad to miss. (Speaking of sad, did you read the one about the hot new gift for this holiday season of love, peace, and joy?) … [Read more...] about We’re Not Laughing AT You, We’re Laughing WITH You

Is anyone buying the explanation that Prince Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S., has abruptly resigned after only 15 months on the job "to spend more time with his family"? Nah. First of all, things change very sloowwwly in the Saudi kingdom. Turki's predecessor, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was ambassador for 22 years. Secondly, the departure comes only … [Read more...] about Iraq & Saudi Arabia’s Turki Trot

When one opens up an American newspaper (well, online for me that is), one can read about all kinds of debates about 'moral values' and in how far the government should be allowed to intervene in one's personal life. The hot issues are, obviously, abortion and gay marriage. A while ago I wrote an article about abortion, today I would like to spend some attention to the issue … [Read more...] about A Plea For Euthanasia

The 'conference' about the holocaust ended yesterday. FOX has a few quotes up from some of the 'participents', or as Ahmadinejad calls them, 'researchers'. David Duke:"The Zionists have used the Holocaust as a weapon to deny the rights of the Palestinians and cover up the crimes of Israel," "This conference has an incredible impact on Holocaust studies all over the world."Ali … [Read more...] about Nice Conference Part 2

To prove that I'm not solely interested in self-promotion on this blog, here's a link to a great post by PG at De Novo, one of my very favorite bloggers. It's on the place of religion in the public square (a favorite topic of mine). Er...then go cast a vote for The Debate Link. But do read PG's post as well. She blogs regularly at De Novo, but she also pops up in a variety of … [Read more...] about Two Steps Forward…

The Moderate Voice encourages and applauds weblogs that use this new infotechnology to go beyond offering what are in effect long op-ed pages to its readers offer original reporting content as well. And once again we MUST point to The Talking Dog which proves to be thinking man's best friend with yet another delicious original Q&A involving the war on terror. This time his … [Read more...] about Original Blog Reporting: The Talking Dog Interviews Trevor Paglen

Foreign Policy Watch writes:Yesterday's decision by several Arab countries to pursue a collective nuclear program has some alarming implications. While it was specified that this program would be used solely for peaceful energy purposes, there is little reason to believe such statements. With Iran's rising influence in the Middle East and its (alleged) attempt to acquire a … [Read more...] about Oil-rich Arab States Consider Shared Nuclear Program

THIS JUST IN from investigative reporter Andy Borowitz:Bush Refuses to Set Timetable for Reading Study Group Report Finishing Report Would Send ‘Wrong Message’ to Enemies, President Says In a press conference at the White House today, President George W. Bush flatly refused to set a timetable for reading the Iraq Study Group’s report, telling reporters that doing so … [Read more...] about This Just In!!!!!

From moderate cartoonist Tom Briscoe: … [Read more...] about iPod Envy

Congressman Barney Frank is taking some flak from Progressive writer David Sirota about his thoughts on a grand bargain between Business and Labor. What I understand Rep Frank to have said is that he wanted to explore some collaboration to improve workers conditions and benefits in exchange for lightening regulations on business. Sirota, a passionate writer and devoted … [Read more...] about Rep. Frank’s Grand Bargain

The United Nations might be the only international partner capable of offering the Bush administration a face-saving device to exit from Iraq without seeming to be defeated. On January 1, 2007, Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General many American conservatives loathe, will hand over to Ban Ki-Moon of Korea. During the election process, Ban, whose country is a close US ally, … [Read more...] about The United Nations can help the US to exit from Iraq

Political Insider reports:435 More Blogs ...The Committee on House Administration announced that it is making software available to allow congressmen to create their own blogs on the official House of Representatives servers.I am looking forward to putting the blogs of the Leadership and Committee Chairman into my blog aggregator. I like getting my information closer to the … [Read more...] about Congressional Blogs

As all of you know, I read a lot. I thought that it would be nice to start a new, daily routine: the literary quote of the day. For those who already read a lot, perhaps you recognize the quote and want to leave a comment about it / the author... or perhaps it makes you realize that you did not read the specific essay, article, book, story, poem, etc. it was taken from and … [Read more...] about Literary Quote of the Day: Henry David Thoreau

I’m several years late, but I’m finally reading John Avlon’s Independent Nation. I skipped to the last chapter and read it first, and was terribly confused in the process, as Mr. Avlon paints a picture of a consensus-seeking, cross-aisle-working, bridge-building George W., when he was Governor of Texas. Subsequently, I had a chance to chat in person with another TMV … [Read more...] about Which GWB Will Show Up?

And are there rumors that Senator John McCain could even eventually replace a certain Vice President? That's the view OVER HERE. … [Read more...] about Can You Argue That There Has Been A “Bloodless Coup” In Washington?

Some extra attention to a few Centrist blogs. Suggested reading material for today: Balloon Juice: Minority Report. Tim F. deals on the U.S. Federal "government's massive data mining projects." Booker Rising: THOMAS SOWELL OP-ED: Supreme Farce. Shay on "government-instituted school desegregation". Dean Esmay: Pinochet Vs. Castro. Dean explains that - in his opinion - both … [Read more...] about Center of Attention