Torture, the economic collapse, the controversial firing of eight U.S. federal prosecutors, Vice President Dick Cheney’s secret energy task force: there’s no shortage of reasons to be scrutinizing the Bush Administration these days, and Congress is on the case on most of them. But from the Obama Administration’s point of view, there are equally compelling reasons not to get distracted by public trials that do little to further the President’s ambitious agenda of health care reform, the re-regulation of Wall St.
Tag Archives: democrats
How the Banks Plan to Limit Credit Card Protections
A popular president taking on a reviled industry should get what he wants, in principle, especially when he’s working with a sympathetic Congress. But it’s not so clear Barack Obama will be able to deliver on his promises of clamping down on credit card abuses, thanks to the banking industry’s experienced Washington lobbyists and their plans to limit proposed restrictions on their business.
Leahy wants to probe ‘chain of command’ on torture
An independent commission is needed to determine who authorized the use of abusive interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists, a leading advocate of such a panel said Sunday. “I want to know who was it who made the decisions that we will violate our own laws; we’ll violate our own treaties; we will even violate our own Constitution,” Sen
Commentary: Obama waffled on torture — and looks weak
Like so many politicians I have known, the man we elected president wants to be loved. He wants to be loved passionately and daily by the 69 million who voted for him and even some of the 60 million who voted for John McCain.
Harman Says She’s the Victim in Wiretapping Controversy
Representative Jane Harman, under scrutiny for allegedly pledging in a 2005 phone call to try and help two former officials of an Israeli lobbying group accused of conspiring to pass classified information, told TIME on Tuesday that she is not worried about her fate. She frets far more, she claimed, about whether government agencies are listening to the conversations of private citizens. “My concern is not about me,” she said.
Civil Liberties Advocates Dismayed at Obama’s Recent Moves
After eight years in the political wilderness, civil libertarians didn’t have to wait long for President Barack Obama to make them feel at home again. Within just one full day in office, the new President issued a blistering array of orders reversing the policies of George W.
Signs of Spring: U.S.-Latin America Relations Thaw
When I started covering Latin America 20 years ago, a leftist source asked what books I’d read to help myself understand the region’s manera de pensar, or psyche. I fidgeted and mentioned Octavio Paz’s Labyrinth of Solitude. He shrugged.
EPA’s CO2 Finding: Putting a Gun to Congress’s Head
Back in 1973, National Lampoon magazine ran a satirical cover image of a very cute, very worried-looking puppy with a gun pointed at its head. The headline read: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog”: motivation by emotional blackmail, taken to its absurdist extreme
Palin applauded at anti-abortion event in Indiana
She came, she spoke and she rocked the house. Officials at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life banquet in Indiana didn’t think there was much chance Alaska Gov.
Analysis: Don’t expect deal with Mexico on assault weapons ban
President Obama visits Mexico with many issues on the table, but reinstating the ban on assault weapons in the U.S.