U.S. Congressional News

GOP.com 1.1: A Second Look

​ After our initial review of GOP.com, when we saw a six-to-one people-of-color to people-of-whiteness ratio in nav bar portraits, we decided to duplicate the experiment and came up with a discordant result: Now the GOP is the Party of Women! Their Heroes still don't, for the most part, appe ... More >>

Giuliani to Abandon Governor Run, Switch to Senate, Say Usual Unnamed Sources

Sometimes we'd swear the Republicans are just fucking with us. First they terrorized us all with the notion that Rudolph Giuliani would run for Governor, and to that end was bent on installing his own puppet state GOP chairman. Now it looks like the puppet's strings have been cut and Ed Cox will run ... More >>

Rightbloggers, Sarah Palin Celebrate Failure of Obama Hitler Health Care Speech

Congressman Joe Wilson's cry of "Lie!" at President Obama's health care speech had not stopped reverberating in the halls of Congress before rightbloggers declared it a failure. Scared Monkeys refutes Obama's claim that preventative care would save money. "Preventative medicine saves lives, it doe ... More >>

Sotomayor Approved by Judiciary Committee

Sonia Sotomayor's appointment to the Supreme Court has just been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee en banc. All the Democrats (Herb Kohl, Dianne Feinstein, Russell Feingold, Chuck Schumer, Benjamin Cardin, Dick Durbin, Al Franken, Sheldon Whitehouse, Amy Klobuchar, Ed Kaufman, Arlen Specter ... More >>

Barrett: Schumer Protects Gillibrand from a Primary Challenge Citing His Record On Such Matters -- So We Checked That Record

Image from Howie Klein's "Down With Tyranny" blog (downwithtyranny.blogspot.com)As my colleague Tom Robbins explained last month, Chuck Schumer has been flexing his  considerable muscle to make sure that no elected Democrat challenges Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the accidental incumbent, in a 2 ... More >>

Death of the Kool? Senate Passes Tobacco Control "Family" Bill

The U.S. Senate just passed a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power over tobacco products marketed in the U.S. Among the innovations expected when this bill is reconciled with the House version and signed by President Obama is larger warning labels on cigarette packs (of the ... More >>

Special Stuffed Peppers

Three people who bought peppers at a Queens store last night discovered they were stuffed with bags of cocaine. [NY Post]Whole Foods and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a settlement in the Wild Oats case.[Triangle Business Journal]Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Democratic House Spea ... More >>

Right Wing Porn Gag: "Barack Obama" Delivers "Package"

Those scamps at Right Wing Video offer a parody clip on the stimulus package. It's supposed to be a porno (stiffly acted but, sadly, without nudity) in which a badass dude called Barack Obama (pictured) encounters a chick named Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who submits to his "package." He trie ... More >>

Post Chimp Drama Persists, Rightbloggers Leap to Defense

People are still mad about Post cartoonist Sean Delonas' comparison of the recently slaughtered Travis the Chimp to someone connected to the stimulus bill who may or may not be Barack Obama. Al Sharpton has called for a boycott, picketers have appeared at the Post HQ, etc. Rightbloggers have struck ... More >>

Rightbloggers Celebrate Obama's Defeat on the Stimulus

The stimulus bill made it through both houses of Congress and awaits the President's signature. Its passage required nearly all available Democratic votes and a handful of Republican ones in the Senate. Considering how some of Bill Clinton's first encounters with Congress went, despite Clinton's m ... More >>

House, Senate Reach Agreement on Obama Stimulus Bill

It's been cut from to $900 billion to $838 billion to $789 billion, but a version of Barack Obama's stimulus plan appears to have been agreed upon by negotiators from both houses of Congress. Senator Harry Reid told reporters "The differences between the House and Senate versions, we've resolved" ... More >>

Wayne Barrett: How Shelly Silver Made His Pal Chief Judge

This week's Village Voice doesn't hit streets until tomorrow morning, but for our Runnin' Scared readers, we're offering tomorrow's cover story a day early. This one should rock Albany: our Wayne Barrett details state assembly speaker Sheldon Silver's step-by-step scheme to boost his old LES pal Jon ... More >>

Stimulus Passes Senate

Obama's stimulus bill, sheared to a mere $838 billion, has passed in the Senate, by a vote of 61 to 36 with one abstention, with Republicans Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins joining all the Senate Democrats. They are the only Republicans in the entire Congress to vote for the bill, fo ... More >>

Sitting target: Schumer blasts Madoff with elephant gun

MSNBC captured Schumer's spiel today about the Madoff scandal. Today's Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Bernie Madoff scandal was a perfect chance for pols to grab at the golden ring of video clips, and it looks as if the winner was...New York's own Chuck Schumer! If you missed the dog- ... More >>

Burris Turned Away, Franken Stays Away

Blagojevich Senate appointee Roland Burris went to the Capitol this morning for the opening of the 111th Congress and was sent away, as promised, by Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson. Burris left after a 20-minute conversation, details of which are regrettably unavailable. Burris says he is loo ... More >>

Al Franken Certified; Fraud at Polls!

After a long series of recounts, challenges, etc., the Minnesota Board of Canvassers has certified the election of comedian Al Franken to the U.S. Senate from Minnesota. Stuart Smalley is in! Anticipating this result, the Wall Street Journal tells its readers that it's all a fix: "Strange things kee ... More >>

Blagojevich Says Screw You, Names Senate Replacement

There is a significant difference of opinion between Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois state senate. The Governor believes it is his duty and privilege to name a Senator to replace President Elect Obama, and he has done so, choosing former Illinois attorney general and comptroller R ... More >>

Blagojevich names Foghorn Leghorn to Obama's Senate seat

Comparing the coverage by the Times and Wall Street Journal. Click above for a roundup of the best Blago jokes. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will name former Illinois AG Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat. Read the mid-afternoon versions of that breaking story in the New York ... More >>

Caroline Kennedy's One-Stop Shopping Trip

At Forum, Maloney "Absolutely" Wants Clinton Seat, Pelosi Defends Rangel, Palin

Times Joylessly Analyzes Lack of Obama Jokes

Winner will have to take office RIGHT NOW!

Big (Mostly GOP) Money in State Senate Races, Especially Maltese-Addabbo

Daily Flog: The Wall Street bear, the Capitol Hill bull; Kucinich irrelevant but his bailout plan isn't

Daily Flog: White House on its knees, the rest of us on our backs, Wall Street zipping up

When Congress Orders Take-Out

Fossella Cheered By 200 in Staten Island

The Harrowing Adventures of President Obama

Looking back on his first term

No Shit Dept.: Gitmo Trial Rules 'Still Unclear'

The Kucinich Impeachment Speech and the 35 Articles in Full

Kucinich Introduces Bush Impeachment Resolution

Who Will Replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate?

Gov. Paterson Undergoes Glaucoma Operation

Mariah Carey and Barbara Walters' Bizarre Love Revelations

Bloomy's Dubious 'Most Honest' Award

Whole Foods Nixes Plastic Bags For Good

How the Spitzer Sex Scandal Could Help Joe Bruno

Clemens vs. Waxman

All Kneel for Gay Candidate Jim Neal

Former Candidate Rudy: The Year in Stories

McCain Calls 'How Do We Beat the Bitch?' 'an Excellent Question

The Decline of the American Empire?

Morning Report 1/22/06
Paying Attention

Morning Report 11/29/05
S.O.B. Story Makes You Weep

The Squeeze Is On

Morning Report 11/28/05
A Country Under the Influence

Morning Report 9/28/05
Barney Fife on Capitol Hill

Morning Report 7/28/05
Brown People Love Their Children, Bush Contends

Gonzales Hearing 1:54 p.m.
His Timing Is Off, But His Boss's Execution Never Is

Your Corporate Congress at Work