Death of the Center Two more prominent Congressional moderates headed for defeat. by Josh Kraushaar In the next month, we’re poised to see the latest death blow to centrism in both parties, with Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of…
By Nathan L. Gonzales Republican strategists certainly weren’t pleased with Illinois Rep. Timothy Johnson’s post-primary retirement decision, but why was a Democratic Member of Congress from almost 1,000 miles away so upset? “Shedding a tear for my Center Aisle Caucus…
By Jeff Zients and John Engler
So much has changed over the past 30 years. The Cold War has given way to a globalized, interdependent world. Landlines turned into smartphones. The Internet is no longer a research tool for a few. In response, companies have re-engineered themselves for this new digital information era, and governors have redesigned and modernized their states’ governments.
By Ronald Brownstein
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear historic oral arguments on President Obama’s health care reform law this week, a survey of legal insiders released Monday morning found a widespread expectation that the Court would uphold the central pillars of the law.
By Jake Sherman
It’s no secret that D.C. these days is bereft of centrists. The House Republican Conference has shifted sharply rightward. House Democrats have lost most of their moderates. And the Blue Dog Coalition — once the bastion of centrist Democrats — is ever-thinning inside the Capitol. Now the downtown contingency of Blue Dogs is getting a new look, as well.
I will focus my remarks around Osama bin Laden’s removal. First, on the man himself; Next, on the organization he founded – al-Qaeda; Then, on the threat from al-Qaeda today; Then, on why we were able to achieve what…
By Rep. Dennis A. Cardoza (D-Calif.)
Favorability ratings don’t lie. In politics, when your approval rating is below 50 percent, you’re on shaky ground. When you’re between 4 and 13 percent — as this Congress consistently is — you’re in revolution territory! Congress is officially broken due to extreme partisanship on both sides. The real question, however, is who is left to step up and fix it?
By Juan Williams
The Founding Fathers designed Congress to represent the will of the majority of Americans. Yet, even as more Americans identify themselves as independents — not Democrats or Republicans — there is a painfully sharp decline in moderate and independent voices in both houses of Congress.
While both parties are resorting to partisan trench warfare, they still share a common set of goals that should be driving the debate. In particular, we see three goals that can provide a pragmatic, non-ideological framework for a sensible debate on taxes.
By Froma Harrop
To many New Englanders, Olympia Snowe had come to resemble Marilyn of “The Munsters” TV family. The senator from Maine seemed a normal Northeast Republican surrounded by party leaders sprouting fangs and cooing at bats — but who regarded her as the odd one.
By Nathan Sermonis
With this week’s announcement by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, prospects of a more united Congress grew a shade darker. Snowe’s plan to retire at the end of this year brings the casualty count this Congress for Senators widely seen as moderates to three – Snowe, Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. And the situation looks just as, if not more, worrisome in the House.