Frank James

Black Caucus Leader: We Disagree With Presidents, Even Obama

Frank James — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000

During his time as the first black president in the White House, President Obama has occasionally been criticized by a group he once belonged to as a U.S. senator — the Congressional Black Caucus — for not doing more to ameliorate the difficult lives of many African-Americans.

But Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat who was elected in November to head the CBC, doesn't see why criticism should be surprising.

Former IRS Head to Senate: It Wasn't My Fault

Frank James — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:05:00 +0000

It was the Senate's turn Tuesday to grill the Internal Revenue Service, or more accurately, former agency officials, about its handling of the scandal involving the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Unlike last week, when House lawmakers got to beat up only on Steve Miller — until recently the IRS' acting director whose "resignation" President Obama reported at a hastily called appearance before news cameras last week — this time Miller was joined by Douglas Shulman, the former commissioner who left that post in November. They were joined by J.

Why the IRS Scandal Is Built To Last

Frank James — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:31:00 +0000

Of all the controversies swirling around the Obama White House, the Internal Revenue Service scandal seems likeliest to have the longest shelf life.

While the Benghazi affair has long been in the news, it's never really taken off as an issue beyond the Republican base.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration's position that national security considerations justified the Justice Department's gathering of journalists' phone records in a leak investigation may be enough to remove fuel from the outrage.

A New Front In The War On Obamacare: Twitter

Frank James — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:48:00 +0000

A simple idea: attack Obamacare tersely.

On the same day House Republicans scheduled their latest symbolic vote to repeal Obamacare, as part of their full-court press against the law they also took to Twitter to say, in three words, why they oppose the legislation.

Speaker John Boehner led the GOP tweet slaps that used the trending hashtag #ObamaCareInThreeWords: "Repeal for jobs" and "Scares small businesses" showed up on his timeline.

Hou

Ten Things We Learned From the IRS-Inspector General Report

Frank James — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:19:00 +0000

Scintillating isn't how you'd describe the report issued by the Treasury inspector general's report on the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.

It was written, after all, by government bureaucrats for government bureaucrats.

Controversies Risk Starving Obama's Agenda Of Air

Frank James — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:53:00 +0000

This was the critical moment, the brief time between his inaugural and when the nation's collective focus turns to whom his successor will be, when President Obama had to make real progress on his second-term agenda and thus forge his legacy.

Instead, the president finds his administration, the public, Congress and the news media distracted by controversies over Benghazi, the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups and a leak investigation in which the Justice Department secretly obtained months of phone records of Associated Press journalists.

The result?

Clinton White House Crisis Manager Dings Obama's Message Team

Frank James — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:55:00 +0000

Lanny J. Davis, a former special counsel for President Clinton, is a man who knows something about managing a White House crisis. And he isn't exactly impressed by how President Obama's aides have handled the fallout from numerous crises, from Solyndra to Benghazi and now with the Internal Revenue Service controversy.

"Honestly, I voted for Obama.

IRS's Tea Party Scrutiny Adds To Conservatives' Case Against Obama

Frank James — Fri, 10 May 2013 23:09:00 +0000

Benghazi move over, make room for IRS-gate.

As if the Obama administration's conservative critics didn't have enough fodder with last year's attacks on a U.S.

Both Sides In Sanford, Colbert Busch Race Hopeful In Last Hours

Frank James — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:30:00 +0000

Updated at 9:29 pm ET --- Former South Carolina Republican governor Mark Sanford easily beat Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch to regain the House seat he once held.

For Sanford, the victory in the strongly Republican 1st Congressional District was sure to be widely viewed as a personal redemption.

DeMint's Departure: One-Time Ally Spurns Rubio

Frank James — Mon, 06 May 2013 22:51:00 +0000

There was a time when Jim DeMint was committed to helping Sen. Marco Rubio achieve his goals.

Not anymore.

At least not when it comes to remaking the nation's immigration laws.

DeMint is president of the conservative-leaning Heritage Foundation, which on Monday released a report contending that an immigration overhaul would cost U.S.

Ayotte Becoming Gun Control Lightning Rod

Frank James — Thu, 02 May 2013 21:41:00 +0000

Of the senators who have become lightning rods for voting against expanded criminal background checks for gun buyers, New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte is drawing the most bolts.

Video of Ayotte being questioned by the daughter of the principal killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., has gone viral.

And Ayotte has become an early target of an election-season-style media campaign by a gun control superPAC created by former Arizona Rep.

Giffords Group's Radio Ads Hit McConnell, Ayotte On Gun Vote

Frank James — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:33:00 +0000

After the Senate failed to pass bipartisan legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases, the superPAC created by shooting victim and former Rep.

Plenty Of Finger-Pointing As Budget Cuts Delay First Flights

Frank James — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:45:00 +0000

Blame shifting was in high gear Tuesday on Capitol Hill and at the White House as the first air traffic delays tied to the furloughs of Federal Aviation Administration controllers began to get attention.

The Republicans' message: Delays at some airports this week — a result of automatic spending cuts known as the sequester that took effect in March, but whose resulting furloughs are just kicking in — was a "manufactured crisis," and that the administration wants voters angry enough to force Congress to give President Obama the higher taxes he seeks.

Senate Republicans pointed to congressio

Immigration Overhaul Seems On Track Despite Boston Tragedy

Frank James — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:38:00 +0000

No sooner did the first reports emerge that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were Chechen immigrants than did that fact intrude into Washington's debate on immigration.

Opponents of immigration reform seized on the fact to raise doubts about efforts to change immigration laws to, in part, bring the estimated 12 million people now in the U.S.

Stubbornly, Manchin Maintains Optimism On Background Checks

Frank James — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:49:00 +0000

Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who lent his name to bipartisan legislation that would have extended background checks for gun purchasers to gun shows and online sales, isn't letting go.

At least not yet.

To Manchin, the bipartisan compromise he co-sponsored with Sen.

Obama Uses And Loses Political Capital On Gun Control

Frank James — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 22:31:00 +0000

The Senate's rejection of more robust gun purchase background checks was a stinging blow to President Obama that raised questions about his second-term agenda.

Expanding background checks had become a key part of Obama's post-Newtown push for tougher federal gun control laws.

Obama's 'Terrorism' Description Follows Cautious First Words

Frank James — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:50:00 +0000

On Monday, CNN's Wolf Blitzer and some others made a point of highlighting President Obama's failure to use the words "terror" or "terrorism" in his first remarks following the Boston Marathon bombings.

On Tuesday, the president changed the dynamics somewhat: "This was a heinous and cowardly act," Obama said in a brief statement he delivered in the White House press briefing room.

Background Checks Bill Gains Backers On And Off Capitol Hill

Frank James — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:44:00 +0000

The Senate was due on Tuesday to take up legislation embodying the bipartisan compromise reached by two senators, West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin and Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey.

The effort to extend background checks to weapons purchases at gun shows and online received a boost over the weekend when an important gun rights group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, announced its support for the measure.

Robert Spitzer, one of the nation's top experts on the politics of gun control and a political scienc

Tiny Group Allegedly Behind McConnell Recording Causes Big Stir

Frank James — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:11:00 +0000

So who exactly comprises Progress Kentucky, the superPAC linked to the surreptitious recording of a meeting at Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign headquarters?

Blacks' Election-Day Waits Nearly Double Those Of Whites, But Why?

Frank James — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:44:00 +0000

On Election Day 2012, black voters waited on average nearly twice as long to vote as did white voters, while the wait time for Hispanic voters fell in between those two groups.

So say the available data, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology political scientist Charles Stewart III.