Republicans choose Thune as majority leader, despite his record on veterans’ health care
Thune flip-flopped three times on providing care to veterans exposed to toxic substances.
By Jesse Valentine - December 30, 2024U.S. Senate
We are in the midst of a national crisis: The U.S. intelligence community has confirmed that Russia interfered in the election, in order to help Donald Trump get elected. They now have evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin was orchestrating the interference. This was not, as Trump has suggested, just some hacker sitting on his […]
By Melissa McEwan - December 15, 2016Previously, I have written about the underhanded strategy of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) coming out in favor of a Senate investigation of Russian election tampering while actually taking steps to ensure any investigation goes nowhere. He is not alone: His colleague, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), is adopting the same stance. A month ago, Corker appeared to […]
By Matthew Chapman - December 14, 2016In a bipartisan effort to increase access to mental health care across the United States, President Barack Obama signed important legislation that would expand states’ ability to integrate mental and physical care and identify gaps in coverage. The 21st Century Cures Act, which contains broad funding for cancer research and substance abuse treatment, also includes a mental […]
By Dianna E. Anderson - December 13, 2016In the wake of the explosive revelations that the “consensus view” of the intelligence community is “that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” Democrats have stepped up and demanded answers, along with a few notable Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), however, wants us […]
By Matthew Chapman - December 13, 2016A State of Denial Susan Glasser, an editor at Politico, recently wrote an article about the media, “Covering Politics in a Post-Truth America,” that was published by the Brookings Institute. Much of Glasser’s article discusses some of her own interesting history as a journalist and how the mainstream media in Washington, D.C., has evolved over […]
By T.R. Ramachandran - December 13, 2016House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has issued a statement echoing Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call for a bipartisan Congressional investigation into Russian interference in the election, urgently noting: “There must be no equivocation or ignoring the seriousness of the intelligence community’s conclusion about Russia’s actions.” Her statement is as blunt as it […]
By Melissa McEwan - December 12, 2016Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has called for the Government Accountability Office to review President-elect Donald Trump’s finances as they relate to his White House transition. In a letter cosigned by Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD), they ask the GAO to address: conflicts of interest related to business holdings of Mr. Trump and his family; potential violations of […]
By Dianna E. Anderson - December 12, 2016Congressional Democrats have been mounting an increasingly intense call for inquiries into Russian interference in the 2016 election. President Obama has ordered an intelligence report on Russian interference, to be delivered before January 20. Now, following disclosure of the CIA’s assessment confirming such interference, incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is demanding “a full, bipartisan […]
By Melissa McEwan - December 10, 2016Almost every day brings a new unqualified, bigoted, and/or otherwise radical cabinet pick from President-elect Donald Trump. Thankfully, there are leaders like Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the Senate who are willing to tell it like it is: “They’ve been rewarded for stealing a Supreme Court justice. We’re going to help them confirm their nominees, many of […]
By Katie Paris - December 05, 2016Elizabeth Warren is not happy about Donald Trump nominating former Goldman Sachs partner, hedge fund founder, and foreclosure magnate Steve Mnuchin for Secretary of the Treasury. In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, she did not hold back as she addressed the obscenity of this choice: “What Donald Trump is doing is he’s literally handing […]
By Melissa McEwan - November 30, 2016During the most intense period of the Democratic primaries, I wrote about Bernie Sanders’ laudable willingness to address sexism head on. Here is what he said early in the campaign: “I think for a variety of reasons, Hillary Clinton has been under all kinds of attack for many, many years. In fact, I can’t think of […]
By Peter Daou - November 02, 2016After Donald Trump leaned down to sneer into his microphone “Such a nasty woman” about Hillary Clinton during the third presidential debate, “nasty woman” has become a rallying cry among female Clinton supporters. While Clinton and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan sat to her side on the stage, Elizabeth Warren informed Trump precisely what he […]
By Melissa McEwan - October 24, 2016Here is our Senate projection with less than three weeks until Election Day: Significant Senate races to watch: ILLINOIS: Probability of Democratic win: 90% — U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (D), an Iraq war veteran, is leading against incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R), a former congressman, lawyer, and a retired member of the U.S. Naval Reserve. WISCONSIN: […]
By Erin Reed - October 21, 2016During an interview with WBEZ’s Jennifer White, Senator Mark Kirk, currently locked in a tight battle with his opponent, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, was asked why Trump’s talk about sexually assaulting women was a line in the sand for him: White: You know Senator Kirk, Donald Trump has been criticized for comments he’s made about other […]
By Melissa McEwan - October 11, 2016In 2010, “prescription drugs were involved in more than half of the 38,300 overdose deaths that year, and opioid pain relievers were involved in over 16,600 of these deaths. There were about 3,000 drug poisoning deaths related to heroin.” Indiana has been hit particularly hard. The Indianapolis Star’s Matthew Tully described the problem as “one […]
By Melissa McEwan - October 10, 2016It has now been over two hundred days since President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia. This is the longest vacancy in the history of the Court. Senate Republicans have refused to hold hearings for Garland despite the fact that many of […]
By Matthew Chapman - October 06, 2016Tim Kaine is not just an affable person, but a highly accomplished public servant with a comprehensive grasp of the issues. His debate performance against Mike Pence was exceptional. Here is a sample of the feedback: Tim Kaine wins CNN undecideds group — Neera Tanden🌻 (@neeratanden) October 5, 2016 Tim Kaine debated as the 2016 vice presidential […]
By Peter Daou - October 04, 2016When Hillary Clinton first chose Tim Kaine as her running mate, he was described as “vanilla nice” — “humble-but-sturdy” and “squeaky-clean.” A “steady hand” with unassailable ethics. He’s “personable but unassuming.” He charmingly burst out laughing on Meet the Press when asked about his reputation for being boring. “I am boring,” he said with a […]
By Melissa McEwan - October 04, 2016Here is Bernie Sanders speaking as directly as he ever has on the choice facing voters in November: .@BernieSanders: Voting for anyone but Clinton essentially "a vote for Trump." https://t.co/liTKZNYuTx #ThisWeek https://t.co/9e2gM17mAz — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 2, 2016 The evidence is overwhelming that the next president of the United States is going to […]
By Peter Daou - October 02, 2016Kelly Ayotte is a “vote for Trump but won’t endorse” Republican candidate. As Trump alienates more voters, her position becomes increasingly untenable. This became painfully clear during Monday’s debate with Democrat Maggie Hassan: PANELIST: The president of the United States is an aspirational figure, one who is our role model, and an individual who stands for ideals […]
By Susan Madrak - October 04, 2016During Tuesday’s Senate session, Sen. Cory Booker took to the floor to fight for the nominations of Judge Julien Neals to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and of Judge Edward L. Stanton III to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, both of whom were […]
By Tommy Christopher - September 20, 2016The people of Flint, Michigan made a fine political backdrop for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump when he needed to convince white voters that he’s not an uncaring bigot, but when it comes to actually helping the folks who have been suffering through a GOP-caused water crisis, the party’s lawmakers are prepared to let the […]
By Tommy Christopher - September 27, 2016The New York Times sounds the alarm about the upcoming presidential debates: There was not much of a contest in [NBC’s Commander-in-Chief] forum with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Mrs. Clinton answered the questions of the moderator, Matt Lauer, in coherent sentences, often with specific details. Mr. Trump alternated between rambling statements and grandiose boasts when he […]
By The Editors - September 24, 2016Republicans see Dr. Joe Heck, an Iraq War veteran and brigadier general in the National Guard, as their best bet to pick up Harry Reid’s open seat. However, former State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who could become the first Latina to serve in the Senate, is keeping the race close. Questions are now being […]
By Susan Madrak - September 14, 2016On Friday, Tim Kaine blasted Mike Pence for parroting Donald Trump’s offensive claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin has been a better leader than President Obama. https://youtu.be/q5uwcrbuEKs?t=6m30s Kaine: What about invading other countries is leadership? What about running your economy into the ground is leadership? What about persecuting LGBT Russians is leadership? What about setting […]
By Melissa McEwan - September 13, 2016John McCain has some Trump Trouble. Trump is not the sort of candidate a war hero like McCain wants to support, given Trump’s willingness to refer to the U.S. military as “the gang that couldn’t shoot straight” and attack a Gold Star family. Trump even attacked McCain himself, saying, in reference to McCain having been a […]
By Melissa McEwan - September 22, 2016The Pennsylvania Senate race is a close one, although Katie McGinty has been leading Pat Toomey by an average of 3.25 percent since August. In the final stretch, she’s focused on economic policy—a key concern of Pennsylvania voters, on which she and her opponent Pat Toomey have stark disagreements. https://twitter.com/KatieMcGintyPA/status/777897119155826688 https://twitter.com/KatieMcGintyPA/status/777924814451437569 On Friday, McGinty got […]
By The American Independent Staff - September 19, 2016When Hillary Clinton first selected Tim Kaine as her running mate, I noted that Kaine is actually a nice guy, while Mike Pence just pretends to be one: “I don’t personally know either of these men. All I have by which to assess them is their records. I hear that both of them are nice, […]
By Melissa McEwan - September 08, 2016Below, a graphic showing the various possible paths for Democrats to reclaim the Senate majority: [media-credit id=5 align=”aligncenter” width=”1024″][/media-credit] If Hillary Clinton wins, Democrats need a minimum of five seats to control the Senate, with Vice President Tim Kaine’s vote as the tiebreaker. This includes defending Harry Reid’s Nevada seat. If Trump wins, Democrats need a […]
By Erin Reed - September 08, 2016