With all of the baggage Gingrich has, the one piece that has been the most difficult for him to set aside has been the question over his participation in the Washington influence industry. We, quite unusually, find ourselves in the middle of an election in which the most burning concern has been the cozy relationship between special interests and the government. “Crony capitalism” has been the rallying point for would-be reformers of all stripes who are determined to play a role in the election — from the Tea Party to the Occupy movement — and the issue is being kept alive in the news by stories of corruption. Not too long ago, the Securities and Exchanges commission made headlines by bringing fraud charges against former executives of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The public mood was summed up by a new Rasmussen poll which shows that only 17 percent of the country believe our government has the consent of the governed, a result that| MORE ›

If there is anything that most represents what Restoring Honor is tomorrow, it is the two acts listed in the title: speech and prayer.| MORE ›

A majority of Americans say they disapprove of the way Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi handled the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques debate. Rasmussen reports:

Last week, Pelosi attempted to respond to allegations that she learned of the use of waterboarding in September 2002 during a CIA briefing of congressional leaders.| MORE ›

You’d almost feel sorry for her:

Nancy Pelosi didn’t cry foul when the Bush administration briefed her on “enhanced interrogation” of terror suspects in 2002, but her team was locked and loaded to counter hypocrisy charges when the “torture” memos were released last week.| MORE ›

Heh:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was notified that intelligence agents had eavesdropped on Rep. Jane Harman’s conversations three years ago.

This means the Speaker knew about the wiretap when she decided to stop Harman from becoming chairwoman of the House Intelligence Committee.

It also blunts Harman’s (D-Calif.) allegation that her eavesdroppers acted improperly.| MORE ›

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has had enough of all the questions related to her accusation that the CIA lied to her, and to Congress in general about waterboarding:

In her first public comments since her accusation last week, Pelosi attempted to tamp down a story that she fueled and now Republicans say she either has to prove or apologize for.| MORE ›

Politico reports that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and President Obama have declared war on each other. The subject? Bipartisanship.

I know, it is so ironic you’d think I’m joking. I’m not:

But headed for a meeting with the president at the White House Thursday, Cantor and other House Republican leaders couldn’t resist picking at the scab.| MORE ›

The White House will try to go around reasonably moderate Democrat Ben Nelson and others like him.

It might not be the most glamorous hill, but it’s the one that Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) has vowed to die on. President Obama, however, isn’t going to give him that chance.| MORE ›