After a hastily called meeting at the White House this morning, President Obama and congressional leaders departed after just an hour with no deal to avoid the automatic spending cuts scheduled to hit later today.
While most of the discussion has been on how the spending cuts will hurt Americans, a larger consideration is what Americans will lose with no compromise between the two parties.
By refusing to consider more revenues by closing tax loopholes for wealthy Americans, Republicans have lost out on a chance to control entitlement spending. Had the GOP pushed a plan to dramatically cut entitlement spending in combination with new revenues, it would have been very hard for President Obama to refuse.
As Ron Brownstein correctly points out, Republicans "are underestimating the value of a Democratic president willing to provide a heat shield for ... More»
Members of Congress snuck out of Washington just as automatic across-the-board spending cuts took effect, and no one is quite sure what happens next. But when lawmakers return they'll find at least five pressing matters that require their immediate attention.
1. Gun control: The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to take up several proposals pushed by President Obama including enhanced background checks, an assault weapons ban, and a gun trafficking measure. There appears to be some agreement on background checks, but Democrats are less optimistic on the other measures.... More»
When President Obama announced he would not force a government shutdown over the automatic spending cuts that took place on Friday, he lost significant leverage in his dealings with Congressional Republicans. The sequester will now almost certainly remain in place for months, if not even longer.
White House officials had predicted for months that Republicans would cave by agreeing to new revenue from closing tax loopholes. But they never did.
The president's strategy is now down to this: He'll crisscross the country highlighting how Americans are hurt by the spending cuts forced by the sequester and hope resulting pressure will force Republicans back to the negotiating table.
But as John Avlon notes, it's a dangerous game.... More»
Conventional wisdom suggests that Republicans would hold five additional U.S. Senate seats if their candidates hadn't said really dumb things during the last two election cycles.
So last month, I decided to keep track of the most controversial comments — some inflammatory, some just plain crazy — made by Republican politicians.
Here's the round-up for February:
1. "When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That's a big thing. That's a big surgery. You don't have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that.... More»
When Chris Wallace asked Mitt Romney on Fox News Sunday why he lost the presidential race, one of the reasons Romney highlighted was, "ObamaCare was very attractive, particularly for those without health insurance, and they came out in large numbers to vote, so that was part of a successful campaign."
He added: "Well, I think the ObamaCare attractiveness and feature was something we underestimated in a — particularly among lower incomes. And we just didn't do as — as good a job at connecting with that audience as we should have."
It's an extraordinary admission because Republicans spent years trying to scare voters into believing that the law would wreck the country. It was portrayed as a step towards socialism, or worse, as its "death panel" provisions would soon condemn your grandparents.... More»
Vanity Fair runs a fascinating excerpt of Zev Chafets' biography of Roger Ailes, Roger Ailes: Off Camera, featuring amazingly frank comments from the Fox News chief on key political players and how God will judge him and his career.
On President Obama: "Obama's the one who never worked a day in his life. He never earned a penny that wasn't public money. How many fund-raisers does he attend every week? How often does he play basketball and golf? I wish I had that kind of time. He's lazy, but the media won't report that... I didn't come up with that. Obama said that, to Barbara Walters."
On Joe Biden: "I have a soft spot for Joe Biden... I like him. But he's dumb as an ashtray."
On Newt Gingrich: "Newt's a prick... He's a sore loser and if he had won he would have been a sore winner.... More»
Sen. Rob Portman's (R-Ohio) announcement that he now supports same-sex marriage since learning that his own son is gay is certainly newsworthy.
Portman is the first Republican senator to back gay marriage, he was on Mitt Romney's short list of potential running mates, and is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate himself in 2016. The change of heart could even tip the balance in the gay marriage debate.
But what makes the news most interesting is that Portman's policy reversal came not from debates in the Senate but from a personal connection to the issue.... More»
The give and tug of politics is often messy and ugly to watch. But political theory tells us that politicians working in their own self interest usually produce an optimal policy outcome for the country.
But what if politicians don't act rationally?
After two election cycles in which Republicans lost at least five Senate seats most thought they should have won, it would be natural to assume the party would make adjustments. And after Mitt Romney lost a presidential election in a race dominated by a terrible economy, most would think the GOP would modify its positions to attract more voters.
But leading Republicans are instead taking the opposite approach.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said this week, "So just because the election didn't go our way, that means we're supposed to change our principles?... More»
The Republican National Committee will release a massive, unprecedented “autopsy” of what when wrong for the GOP during the 2012 elections.
The report isn’t out until Monday, but RNC Chairman Reince Priebus hinted at some of the findings and recommendations on CBS’ Face the Nation:
1. Move up the Republican National Convention
Priebus: "I'm calling for a convention in June or July. We're going to set up a commission that's going to make that decision. I'm going to be a part of that. I'm going to chair that commission, but no more August conventions."
2. Dramatically limit the number of Republican primary debates
Priebus: "I would do one a month, this is me talking now. I would do one a month. I would have more say over the moderators, more say over the debate partners.... More»
The GOP's resistance to comprehensive immigration reform — including a path to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people now in the country illegally — may be weakening.
There have been three significant developments in the last day:
1. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) backs a path to citizenship.
In a major speech this morning, the Kentucky senator and possible 2016 presidential candidate declared, "If you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you." While Paul is not necessarily a leader of Senate Republicans, his position may give cover to other Republicans who are currently on the fence about the issue.
2. The RNC urged the party to embrace immigration reform.
While the GOP's extensive autopsy of what went wrong during the 2012 elections focused almost entirely on strategy and tactics, the 100-page document also... More»
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 Journal Constitution that the proposal was "insufficiently conservative" — even though he voted for a similar budget proposal two years ago.
The real impact of these votes were for Broun and Gingrey to position themselves to the right of their ... More»
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.... More»
Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won — Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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