All Blogs / Politics / US Politics / Liberal / Popular

D.C. Football

Is Obama So Feckless On Climate Change That He’s Influenced By Meaninglesss Dial Testing?

Juliet Eilperin drops this vial of nitroglycerin into her latest Washington Post piece: … according to several people familiar with his private remarks at the home of clean-tech entrepreneur Vinod Khosla, Obama expressed concerns about the political pain involved, saying that “dial testing” of his State of the Union speech showed that the favorability ratings [...]

Soros-Backed Super-PAC to New York Pols: Pass Reform or We're Taking You Down

The deadline draws closer by the hour. In New York, the band of good-government reformers, labor unions, enviros, community organizers, religious leaders, and more have until Thursday night, when the current legislative session ends,...Show More Summary

The Less Facts Favor the GOP, the More Scandal Narratives Do

In two previous pieces (here and here), I discussed the phenomena of scandal narratives in American politics, first stressing how such narratives reflect a right/left divide—emphasizing mythos (the construction of meaning) on the conservative...Show More Summary

No Help There

House Republicans appear to be coalescing around an attempt to kill immigration reform. But they're not getting any help from this CBO study, requested by arch-immigration reform for Sen. Jeff Sessions. It shows that rather than ballooning the deficit the...

TSA is now the Belly-Button Police

Government Defends Admissibility of Evidence That It Thinks Shows Manning Conspired with WikiLeaks

Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is on trial at Fort Meade for releasing United States government information to WikiLeaks, does not face any conspiracy charges. However, this morning there were arguments on a motion that related to defense...Show More Summary

Immigration Bill Would Lower Country’s Deficit By $197 Billion Over 10 Years

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday that passage of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration bill, known as S.744, would decrease federal budget deficits by $197 billion over a ten year period between 2014 to 2023. It also estimates that 10.4 million undocumented immigrants would be legalized. Between 2024 and 2033, the CBO estimates that [...]

Tuesday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits: Afghanistan: "U.S.-led troops handed complete control of security to Afghanistan authorities Tuesday -- an act of faith in country's fledgling police and army in the face of near-constant insurgent attacks."

McConnell promises to end filibuster if made majority leader

Mitch lets the cat out of the bag: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday starkly warned Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) not to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations, threatening to end the 60-voteShow More Summary

Issa's Latest Racket Unravels

House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) says he is "deeply disappointed" that Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) decided to release the full unedited interviews from the IRS investigation. These supplement the bits and pieces selectively leaked to the press...

One Million HIV-Free Babies Have Now Been Born To Mothers Who Have The Virus

In a milestone for the global fight against the AIDS epidemic, this month will mark the one millionth HIV-free baby born to a mother who suffers from the virus. On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry credited much of the progress toward preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission to the significant work that the U.S. President’s Plan [...]

The Day In 100 Seconds

Wondering if the NSA is monitoring America's phone calls? The agency's chief supplied an answer, over and over again. Full-size version....

The Boehner Ultimatum

Sometimes it's hard to tell which Republicans in Congress fear more: immigration reform passing, or immigration reform not passing. They need to help pass reform to show America's Latino voters that, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, the Republican party doesn't actually hate them. Show More Summary

Seattle Adopts Bold Climate Action Plan, Aims To Be Carbon Neutral By 2050

Kirsten Gibson is an intern for ThinkProgress. The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a far-reaching Climate Action Plan Monday, with the ultimate goal of reaching zero net emissions by 2050. The ambitious plan, crafted by city officials and community members, provides a long-term vision for reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions while building vibrant, prosperous [...]

Rush Limbaugh: Conservatives Don't Suppress The Black Vote, Restrict Women's Choice, Or Lie

Displaying a remarkable lack of self-awareness, Rush Limbaugh tried to convince a caller that "it's a pretty safe bet" that liberals always lie and conservatives never do -- an assertion he backed up with a series of his own lies onShow More Summary

Cummings gets tired of waiting for Issa

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, has seen the same interview transcripts as Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), documenting the interviews investigators conducted with IRS officials in Cincinnati. And with that in mind, C …

Russian Parliament Passes New Bill Outlawing Adoption By Gay Couples Abroad In Latest Homophobic Attack

Once an international superpower, Russia is quickly gaining a new reputation as the world’s leading exporter of homophobia. The country’s lower chamber of parliament today passed a bill that would prohibit gay couples who are legally married in their own country from adopting any children from Russia. The measure passed without a single dissenting vote. [...]

Wall Street Journal Columnist Calls Allegations Of Sexual Assault ‘A He-Said/She-Said Dispute’

Conservative commentator James Taranto, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Monday night, detailed a set of allegations of sexual assault in the military before concluding that they amounted to a “he-said/she-said dispute” that only revealed “a political campaign against sexual assault in the military that shows signs of becoming an effort to [...]

How Republicans Who Took Millions In Farm Subsidies Justify Cutting Food Stamps

The House plans to vote this week on a farm bill that cuts nearly $21 billion from food stamps, and several members who support the cuts have benefited significantly from the various forms of farm subsidies provided by the same legislation. The ten Republicans in question have collected about $6.7 million in federal farm money [...]