The far-left nonprofit Media Matters for America (MMFA) has attempted to court at least one Democrat lawmaker as its “all[y]” in “gain[ing] favorable media coverage” in the ongoing Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline debate. Claiming an alliance with lawmakers appears to be the latest red flag for the organization critics allege has frequently overstepped its tax-exempt privileges. (more)
California Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday that House Republicans will kill 8,100 Americans with the latest version of their payroll tax cut bill. (more)
The same day Oklahoma Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), declared victory in his fight against the “global warming movement,” California Democratic EPW Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer reaffirmed her commitment to fighting global warming and the “climate change deniers.” (more)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has blasted Republicans for “focusing on ideological matters that have nothing to do with funding the government” and top Democrats have dismissed out-of-hand a series of policy riders in the House-passed spending bill to fund the government through the rest of 2011. (more)
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members sparred Wednesday over whether there existed a consensus in the 1970s that the earth was cooling. (more)
Sen. Barbara Boxer posited a new theory about what lies behind GOP cuts to the budget. The Republican Party hates Elmo, she suggested in a floor speech Tuesday. (more)
The unrest in the Middle East has shaken energy markets around the world. Consumers are bracing for a sharp rise in already sky-high gas prices. But they’d be wrong to worry too much. That’s because it’s not the supply of oil that determines the price of gasoline, but rather a simple mathematical formula unrelated to crude. All you have to do is take the length (in years) of the incumbent administration, and divide it by the number of “oil men” in power. Express your answer in terms of dollars per gallon. (more)
The meme that members of the House of Representatives are somehow receiving illicit benefits for sleeping in their offices has made its way up the food chain – from a left-wing storefront to the media and now finally to the halls of Congress. (more)
Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, upped the ante in case of a possible government shutdown Thursday by introducing a bill to ensure members of Congress and the president do not receive paychecks during a shutdown. (more)
Who would have thought something seemingly as juvenile as having a so-called prom date would give an aura of maturity? At Tuesday’s State of the Union address, according to California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, it did. (more)
It’s looking increasingly likely that California will get bailed out by the federal government. The Golden State is $70 billion in the hole. Analysts expect that figure to reach $150 billion within four years — and that’s not including the state’s $500 billion unfunded pension liability. Spending needs to be cut dramatically, but it won’t be; the state is too politically dysfunctional to do that. And the election of big-spender Jerry Brown will only make things worse. (Incidentally, Governor-elect Brown recently described his state’s budget problems this way: “It is much worse than I thought. I am shocked.”) (more)
Enron, joined by BP, invented the global warming industry. I know because I was in the room. This was during my storied three-week or so stint as Director of Federal Government Relations for Enron in the spring of 1997, back when Enron was everyone’s darling in Washington. It proved to be an eye-opening experience that didn’t last much beyond my expressing concern about this agenda of using the state to rob Peter, paying Paul, drawing Paul’s enthusiastic support. (more)
Falling short of passing a comprehensive climate bill during the two years Democrats held a majority in Congress, policymakers who have pushed for major action will be forced to adopt a fresh strategy when the new Congress begins in January. (more)
“We love politics and are passionate about what we do but are a strictly nonpartisan team.” (more)
LOS ANGELES — Republicans are relishing the coming of a new day on Capitol Hill. But across the country in California, the party of Nixon and Reagan is drifting toward obscurity. (more)
November 2 was a good day for those who support substance-abuse prevention, and a bad day for potheads and for those who support marijuana legalization. (more)
The California Democratic Party is behaving as though controversial Proposition 19, the California ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, does not exist. (more)
It’s a common reaction during election campaigns. If your candidate is ahead in the polls, the polls are accurate. If he or she is behind, they’re inaccurate. Most polls tell us Republicans will win big on November 2, gaining as many as 50 to 60 House seats, 7 or 8 Senate seats, and 7 governorships. Some Republican political operatives predict that their party will do even better, picking up 70-plus seats in the House and ten or more seats in the Senate. A few pollsters agree that’s within the realm of possibility, but most estimates are more conservative. We’ll soon know who got it right, but if the higher estimates prove correct, here’s the most likely reason why. (more)
The conventional wisdom is that the Republicans have little chance of picking up the 10 seats in the Senate that they need to take control of the chamber. (more)
