You can be sure that whenever a political figure is referring to how old a law is, they think it’s out of date. Such is the case of White House Spokesman Eric Schultz, who spoke to the NY Times yesterday (emph. mine):

It should come as no surprise that there would be some disagreements, even within an administration, regarding the application of a statute that is nearly 40 years old to a unique and evolving conflict. Those disagreements are ordinary and healthy.

Schultz was responding to reports that Obama sided against two administration lawyers, who thought that his military actions in Libya violate the WPA, in favor of lawyers who thought it did not.| MORE ›

It’s official, folks. Two years running Congress has refused, in one way or another, to take up a budget presented by President Barack Obama. As we all know, House Democrats just didn’t even bother to touch any budget last year, as is their constitutional duty. Their attitude toward budgeting this year remains the same, and it’s disgusting.| MORE ›

When Sarah Palin announced she would resign as governor of Alaska later this month, many ‘experts’ thought this meant she would retire from politics altogether. It took her a while, but one week after making the surprise announcement, Palin says ‘no way’:| MORE ›

Politico reports:

House Democrats unveiled a $94.2 billion wartime spending bill Monday that adds $9.3 billion to White House requests but also reflects serious doubts about the long-term viability of U.S. commitments to Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan.| MORE ›

Senator Arlen Specter is in trouble at home in Pennsylvania. A conservative, former Congressman Pat Toomey, has said he wants to challenge him for the nomination of his party, the GOP. Normally, sitting senators are only challenged by ambitious individuals from the other party. Not so with Specter.| MORE ›

A New Year approaches. Along with it comes a brand new Congress. There are many things Congress needs to do next year. However, I believe there are five that are of the utmost importance; things that the new Congress should make New Years Resolutions.

Resolve to Reform Healthcare…By Repealing Some of It

In 2010, we saw a lot of talk about reforming health care, and we got reform.| MORE ›

When key House chairman and moderate House Democrats on Tuesday agreed to a White House-backed proposal that would give an outside panel the power to make cuts to government-financed health care programs, Politico reports, White House budget director Peter Orszag declared the plan “probably the most important piece that can be added” to Obama’s health care reform plans.| MORE ›

This is good news:

For those writing Republican centrism’s obituary after Arlen Specter’s party switch, holster your quills.

In fact, if the next few weeks go well for the GOP, it might pave the way for a whole new chapter in the left flank of the right-leaning party.| MORE ›

When Senator Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party last week, he explained he did so because internal polling showed he would lose the GOP’s primary election to Congressman Pat Toomey, who challenged the fiscally liberal 79-year old for his seat.

The most recent polls among Republican voters had Specter trailing by 21%. Indeed, a significant gap.| MORE ›

Tedisco resigns. It this a sign of confidence or did he have no choice?

In what can be interpreted as a sign of great confidence, Jim Tedisco has announced his resignation as minority leader of the New York State Assembly. The announcement came shortly after Tedisco said he would stay in office until the election results were officially announced.| MORE ›