The Cloakroom

What 'crack babies' can teach our lawmakers

By The Week Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:40:00 -0400

Politicians, scientists, and journalists repeatedly warned that the United States would be plagued by a generation of "crack babies" putting a massive drain on the social service infrastructures of our inner cities.

Retro Report — an independent news organization of which I'm the publisher — went back and looked at the story decades later and traced the concern to a single 1985 study which concluded that pregnant mothers who smoked crack cocaine were seriously harming their unborn children. The explosive findings were kept alive through a steady drumbeat of media coverage. Laws were...

The White House has a public relations mess on its hands

By The Week Staff — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:33:00 -0400

While there is still no evidence connecting the IRS's targeting of conservative groups directly to President Obama, senior White House officials, or to his re-election campaign, NBC's First Read smartly points out that this doesn't mean the White House doesn't have a serious public relations problem on its hands.

And this public relations problem is almost entirely self-inflicted.

In interviews and press briefings, the White House's explanation for when it learned about the problems at the IRS keeps changing.

As Politico reports, "Just a day after telling reporters that chief of staff Denis...

Are Republicans cracking on gun control?

By The Week Staff — Tue, 07 May 2013 13:14:00 -0400

After gun-control legislation was defeated last month, Senate Democrats now believe that they may have several new votes in favor of a bill that would expand background checks for gun buyers.

The Huffington Post notes "the bullish talk from Democrats — from leadership on down — is yet another indication that the party feels good about the fallout from the failed gun vote and is increasingly eager to try again."

One of these votes currently in play may be Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who sponsored a background check bill on the state level in Georgia, according to Greg Sargent.

Another...

Republicans struggle to find decent Senate candidates

By The Week Staff — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:12:00 -0400

Republicans need to win just six seats to gain control of the U.S. Senate in next year's election, but the AP reports that the GOP is struggling mightily to recruit candidates.

The 2014 elections represent a big chance for Republicans as Democrats will be defending 21 seats to Republicans' 14. In addition, retirement announcements by several senior Democrats — in Iowa, Michigan, and Montana — have given the GOP a chance to not face an incumbent.

But so far there's been a combination of lack of interest from prospective Republican candidates and a lack of consensus in the party on...

Was George W. Bush the worst president ever?

By The Week Staff — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:08:00 -0400

The dedication of the George W. Bush library gives loyalists of the former president a chance to highlight what they see as the positive legacy of his eight years in office.

But even among supporters there is a sense he'll never be given historical vindication.

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleisher told NBC News: "I'm increasingly doubtful, just because I think the lens of history is not changing. A lot of us used to say President Bush will look good and he'll be vindicated in the public eye. But realistically speaking, I don't see a lot of the people who write history all of a...

Fortunately, most terrorists do stupid things that lead to their capture

By The Week Staff — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:59:00 -0400

There are still many unanswered questions in the wake of the capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who, with his now-dead older brother Tamerlan, allegedly carried out the Boston Marathon bombings last week.

But none are so baffling in retrospect as how little the two brothers did to avoid being caught — from staying in Boston after the attacks to confessing to the hostage they took after a carjacking that they were responsible.

In fact, when the hostage escaped and left his phone behind, police were able to track the Tsarnaev's location via GPS. That led to a massive gun fight that ultimately...

5 reasons gun control is headed for defeat in Congress

By The Week Staff — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:25:00 -0400

Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), the two sponsors of the bipartisan gun background check legislation coming to a vote this afternoon, admit they don't have the votes for passage.

But why would a proposal with near 90 percent support of the American public fail?

Here are five reasons:

1. Senators knew the bill would likely be killed in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. Most senators are averse to making risky votes but no one will stick their neck out when they know the bill isn't going anywhere.

2. The proposal needed more than a majority to pass in the Senate....

Rep. Steve King is already exploiting the Boston tragedy

By The Week Staff — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:30:00 -0400

In case you were wondering how long it would take before a member of Congress used the Boston bombings to make a political point, the answer is less than 24 hours.

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a prominent House conservative and longtime opponent of immigration reform, told the National Review that the bombing in Boston should make lawmakers cautious about rushing an immigration bill.

Said King: "Some of the speculation that has come out is that yes, it was a foreign national and, speculating here, that it was potentially a person on a student visa. If that's the case, then we need to take...

Is 'entitlement' a dirty word?

By The Week Staff — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:20:00 -0400

Republicans have been working to convert the once-neutral "entitlement" label into a negative to make it easier for Congress to cut social programs.

While an entitlement used to be a positive — indicating a citizen's right to the benefits of a program they paid into — the term is now used to portray social spending that's out of control.

The shift was underscored during last year's presidential election, when Mitt Romney castigated the 47 percent of Americans who "believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."

Now Republicans in Congress are...

The last best hope for new gun controls faces big obstacles

By The Week Staff — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:47:00 -0400

This week's vote on the Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks — expected either Tuesday or Wednesday — will determine if substantive gun control legislation has a chance of becoming law.

Although the bill was mocked by Saturday Night Live over the weekend, it's still the last best hope gun control advocates have to pass new gun restrictions.

But the hurdles are enormous.

The Manchin-Toomey amendment will need at least 60 votes to pass, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will have to fight off numerous "poison pill" amendments since he promised an open process for modifying...

Marco Rubio launches his campaign

By The Week Staff — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:05:00 -0400

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) launched a campaign on Sunday to win over support for an immigration reform bill by appearing on a record-setting seven network news programs. But he may have also launched his campaign for president.

Although Rubio foolishly denied he's even thinking about how the proposal might impact his chances of running for president in 2016, it's becoming increasingly clear that's exactly what he's planning.

Rubio knows that Democrats hold a near-electoral lock on the White House. He knows that Republicans can't win the presidency without reversing their slide among Latino voters...

Did Obama force Democrats onto the third rail of American politics?

By The Week Staff — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:11:00 -0400

When President Obama introduced his long-awaited budget last week, most of the focus was on his proposal to reduce payments for future Social Security beneficiaries by using a "chained CPI" calculation. The adoption of the calculation would slow the rate of inflation over time and reduce cost-of-living increases for future beneficiaries.

Now the politics are starting to sink in, and it's scaring Democrats.

The Hill points out that a "growing number" of House Democrats are concerned that the president's proposal "will haunt the party at the polls in 2014."

The New York Times says "opponents on...

5 interesting nuggets buried in the latest round of campaign finance reports

By The Week Staff — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:30:00 -0400

Ever since the Watergate scandal broke in the 1970s, political reporters have taken the adage "follow the money" quite seriously. It's even more important since NPR reported that current campaign finance laws are not being enforced in an age of record political spending.

Now the guys behind Political Moneyline — a must-read new blog — are helping out by digging through campaign finance reports and coming up with dozens of interesting items.

There's nothing scandalous, but here are five nuggets that caught my attention:

1. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) reported his campaign fund...

Republicans move the budget goal posts again

By The Week Staff — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:40:00 -0400

President Obama's months-delayed budget was finally released today, and it's being sharply criticized from both sides.

Liberals suggest the president is a "sellout" for proposing cuts to Social Security and other entitlements by using a "Chained CPI" calculation, while Republicans are falling back on their familiar "tax-and-spend liberal" attacks.

John Avlon sees this political posturing as a good sign, noting that the budget "is not a positional bargaining document, designed simply to rally the base at the outset of negotiations."

While it's possible the White House is trying to triangulate...

The 10 best political movies ever

By The Week Staff — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:27:00 -0400

Legendary movie critic Roger Ebert, who died earlier this week, loved politics as much as the movies and regularly offered up his opinions through Twitter or his blog. Politico highlights some examples of his take on the nation's politics.

As a tribute, The Fix republished a reader-generated list of the best political movies ever. It's a good list, but I think it can be narrowed down to ten.

Here are my 10 favorite political movies:

1. All the King's Men - The rise and fall of a corrupt politician, who makes his friends richer and retains power through populist appeal.

2. The Candidate - A...

Maybe Congress really is a reflection of us?

By The Week Staff — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:07:00 -0400

While a wide majority of Americans look at Congress with disdain, sometimes it’s important to look at the context. Our lawmakers were elected by voters after all, who according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released this week, don’t always see the world very clearly.

A sampling of the more alarming results:

• 6% of voters believe Osama bin Laden is still alive.

• 21% of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 and the federal government covered it up.

• 28% of voters believe secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring...

Harry Reid threatens to use the 'nuclear option'

By The Week Staff — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:55:00 -0400

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Nevada Public Radio yesterday that unless judicial nominations start moving through the U.S. Senate he’ll consider dramatic rule changes.

Said Reid: "All within the sound of my voice, including my Democratic senators and the Republican senators who I serve with, should understand that we as a body have the power on any given day to change the rules with a simple majority, and I will do that if necessary."

This is a change of heart from Reid, who just last year suggested that rules could be changed with a simple majority — but only on...

10 political words we should use more often

By The Week Staff — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:50:00 -0400

The U.S. Senate held a vote-a-rama last weekend. The word describes how lawmakers dispatched with 101 amendments over 13 hours of consideration of the federal budget. But we haven't heard it very often because this is the first budget the Senate has passed in four years.

It's a great word unique to politics, and there are dozens more that should be used more often.

Here are 10 examples from my political dictionary:

snollygoster — A politician who will go to any lengths to win public office, regardless of party affiliation or platform.

dummymander — A gerrymandered district drawn by...

Is same-sex marriage inevitable?

By The Week Staff — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:45:00 -0400

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases this week related to gay marriage. And while most legal observers think it's unlikely that the court will make a broad constitutional ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across the country, even a narrow ruling could give the movement toward marriage equality a new boost.

In fact, the march toward legalizing same sex marriage in the United States sometimes seems unstoppable.

A new Washington Post poll shows that 58 percent of Americans now support gay marriage. Among those 18 to 29 years old, the number is a whopping 81 percent.

This is...

The Akin-ization of the Georgia Senate race begins

By The Week Staff — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:55:00 -0400

After losing a Senate race in Missouri that most analysts think they should have won last year, Republicans are trying everything to avoid a repeat in 2014. They're even attempting to get involved early in the primary process to make sure that ultra-conservative candidates like former Rep. Todd Akin (R) don't emerge as nominees.

But candidates in Georgia aren't making it easy.

Roll Call reports that two likely U.S. Senate candidates in Georgia — Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) — were among just 10 Republicans to vote against the House budget today.

Broun told the Atlanta...