Benghazi hearings in the Mirror Universe By John Hayward It's amazing to watch the media bury yesterday's explosive testimony on Benghazi. Just imagine for a moment that today is the day after a veteran career diplomat – the top man on the ground in Libya after the murder of the ambassador – testified that a Republican administration told him not to cooperate with Democrat congressional … [Read more...]

Gun-control overhaul is defeated in Senate By Ed O'Keefe and Philip Rucker President Obama's ambitious effort to overhaul the nation's gun laws in response to December's school massacre in Connecticut suffered a resounding defeat Wednesday, when every major proposal he championed fell apart on the Senate floor. Obama on Senate gun vote: 'A shameful day' By Gregory Korte and Catalina … [Read more...]

Another Disastrous Nomination By Gary L. Bauer Today Barack Obama announced that he is nominating Thomas Perez to be Secretary of Labor. Like Chuck Hagel, Perez' nomination is another "in your face" pick by Obama. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) called the selection "an unfortunate and needlessly divisive nomination." … [Read more...]

Obama’s hours of ‘outreach’ are no real deal-maker By Gary Bauer What is it with Senate Republicans and the number 12? Whenever a group of 12 senators gets together in an effort to produce some sort of grand bargain or last-minute deal, it inevitably means just one thing: Republican capitulation. … [Read more...]

Obama’s Machiavellian Sequestration Pain Game: Putting Politics Over Public Safety By LaborUnionReport I’m going to just state what is on a lot of people’s minds (and lips) these days regarding the Obama Administration’s handling of the sequestration cuts: If I didn’t know any better–I don’t, by the way–I would wager a bet that the current occupants of the West Wing and their … [Read more...]

Woodward at war By Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei Bob Woodward called a senior White House official last week to tell him that in a piece in that weekend's Washington Post, he was going to question President Barack Obama's account of how sequestration came about — and got a major-league brushback. The Obama aide “yelled at me for about a half-hour,” Woodward told us in an hourlong interview … [Read more...]

Is President Obama overplaying sequestration hand? By Carrie Budoff Brown and Jake Sherman President Barack Obama’s greatest adversary in the latest budget battle isn’t the Republican leadership in Congress - it’s his confidence in his own ability to force a win. Obama's Cowardly Mendacity Over Sequestration By Daniel Horowitz In August 2011, Obama hatched a deal to grant himself a … [Read more...]

State Of The Union By Gary L. Bauer If you didn't stay up for the State of the Union last night, I don't blame you. It offered little in the way of innovative policy proposals or bipartisan aisle-crossing and instead focused on a recitation of Obama's first term "accomplishments" and an unapologetic defense of Big Government. Only many of Obama's claims were dubious at best. It would take twenty … [Read more...]

Unlucky (Lame) Ducks? - Second terms aren't always a disaster. Many presidents have had significant wins By Michael Barone Is there a second-term curse on presidents? It's widely believed that the answer is yes. Look at Richard Nixon: re-elected with 61% of the vote in 1972, forced to resign under threat of impeachment. Ronald Reagan: re-elected in 1984, then hobbled by the Iran-Contra scandal … [Read more...]

Ted Cruz: Gun push will have 2014 political price By Mackenzie Weinger Sen. Ted Cruz said Thursday he believes President Barack Obama’s gun control efforts not only won’t work, but will backfire and kick off a conservative resurgence. Obama's America By Gary L. Bauer As I watched the evening news and thought more about Barack Obama's press conference yesterday, I began thinking about … [Read more...]