http://skepticians.com by James Richardson Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:39:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa may not be ready to leave Washington, hinting in an interview he may rescind his resignation, scheduled for 5 P.M. Monday. On his weekly radio show, Massa, one of thirty-nine Democrats who voted against last year's health care bill, said House leadership was orchestrating a ... http://skepticians.com/2010/03/massa-pelosi-hoyer-forcing-my-resignation-to-pass-health-care/ While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be reticent to drain the swamp and admonish Representative Charley Rangel for recent ethics violations, President Barack Obama has, in typical Obama fashion, thrown the scandal-plagued New York Democrat under the bus, reports the New York Daily News. In recent days, a growing choir ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/pelosi-obama-split-on-rangel/ An unusual fundraising email Wednesday greeted the inboxes of supporters of the National Republican Congressional Campaign. In an email "from" Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, "naive" Republicans were instructed to stop fretting over rising unemployment figures because "Democrats are in control now." "We are creating a dependence on the government and ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/from-pelosi-with-no-love/ Former Governor of Virginia Doug Wilder Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to remove Tim Kaine--a fellow member of the Virginia Governors club who once earned Wilder's endorsement--from his post atop the Democratic National Committee. "[A] spate of recent losses in races that Democrats should have won underscores what has been obvious ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/former-dem-guv-to-obama-fire-kaine-white-house-advisors/ President Barack Obama Friday tapped Democratic National Committee member Tim Purdon as North Dakota's next United States Attorney, landing the president in the same political minefield once occupied by Democratic Senator Max Baucus after he nominated his girlfriend for a similar federal post. A veteran Democratic bundler, Purdon found a unique ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/obama-installs-democratic-activist-in-u-s-attorney-post/ Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels today promised to remain neutral in his state's upcoming Republican Senate primary, but admitted to being "startled" by Coats' surprise candidacy. Former Senator Dan Coats is "just alarmed about the country, I can tell you that from talking to him," Daniels said of Coats, who contacted the ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/daniels-led-bayh-by-10-in-nrsc-poll-not-asked-to-run/ Court documents relating to the 2005 divorce of embattled Illinois Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen surfaced Wednesday, alleging the Chicago business man was prone to regular fits of rage--likely side-effects of his abuse of anabolic steroids--and forced himself sexually on his ex-wife. While still married, which the woman characterized ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/cohen-divorce-records-allege-abuse-steroid-addiction/ Governor Patrick Quinn (D-IL) Wednesday expressed concern over his running-mate's history of domestic violence, telling reporters that the Democrats' nominee for lieutenant governor "should step aside," barring a compelling explanation for his actions. Scott Lee Cohen, who allegedly threatened his prostitute girlfriend by brandishing a knife and throwing her against a ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/knife-wielding-cohen-should-step-aside-il-governor-says/ What Chicago election is complete without elements of domestic violence, prostitution and tax evasion? A Chicago pawnbroker who financed his campaign with nearly $2 million of his own wealth, Scott Lee Cohen Tuesday won the Democratic Party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor. But with new details of Cohen's sordid past emerging today, ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/democratic-illinois-lt-gov-nominee-arrested-for-domestic-battery/ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has squandered over $101,000 tax dollars on "in-flight services" on congressional delegations since 2008, according to new documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the government watchdog group Judicial Watch. Expenditures on Pelosi-led CODELs, the group's report shows, include thousands for liquor, beer and wine. ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/pelosi-spends-hundreds-of-thousands-on-travel-alcohol/ Aides to President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel apologized to leaders of the special needs community after a recent screed involving the mentally disabled. At a White House meeting, Emanuel reportedly scolded a group of liberal strategists for attacking wayward Democrats over health care, ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/obama-emanuel-compete-for-most-insensitive-remark/ Senator Arlen Specter and his brash temperament are back in the news. The incorrigible Republican-turned-Democrat attended a Pennsylvania Progressive forum Saturday, opposite his primary opponent Representative Joe Sestak, where he stormed the stage prematurely during Sestak's closing remarks. Explaining why he is best suited both professional and politically for the post, Sestak ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/on-the-art-of-channeling-kanye-west/ The latest senior aide to bolt from the Republican National Committee headquarters, national press secretary Gail Gitcho is leaving to oversee Senator-elect Scott Brown's communications operation, it was reported Sunday by CNN. Gitcho, who held communications posts in the campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney, is the third senior communications aide to ... http://skepticians.com/2010/02/rnc-press-shop-takes-a-hit/ A kinder, gentler year for Republicans, 2009 witnessed the flipping of two governorships--one in the newly-designated purple commonwealth of Virginia--and the Senate seat long-held by the late Ted Kennedy. The prospective 2012 Republican contenders, too, have capitalized on the base's renewed vigor, with early front-runners pulling in--and dolling out--millions for ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/early-2012-posturing-the-money-game/ James O'Keefe, the conservative activist filmmaker who rose to national prominence after he captured on film ACORN employees advising persons posing as a prostitute and pimp on best practices for trafficking in child prostitution, was arrested Tuesday for a failed caper at the office of Louisiana Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. O'Keefe ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/okeefe-arrest-does-not-exonerate-acorn/ At CBS News, I make the case that President Obama will be a greater albatross than aid for vulnerable Democratic incumbents locked in tough reelection battles. And, like Clinton before him, Obama will lead Democrats to the slaughter house this November. A sampling, though do read it in its entirety. Drowning in ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/a-1994-redux/ Pentagon officials acknowledged Friday their aerial refueling tanker program has stalled yet again, leaving uncertain the fate of the Air Force's outdated fleet of more than 500 tankers. Vying for the $35 billion contract for 179 tanker planes are the Washington-based Boeing and the Toulouse, France-based European Aeronautic Defense Space Company ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/defense-department-considering-outsourcing-american-aerospace-jobs-to-france/ A joint radio appearance with Representative Michele Bachman and Senator Arlen Specter turned ugly yesterday when the Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat became irate and demanded of Bachmann that she "act like a lady." The pair were invited by Philadelphia-based conservative talker Dom Giordano for a special program marking the one-year anniversary of President ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/specter-to-bachmann-act-like-a-lady/ Marking President Barack Obama's first year in office, the Republican National Committee Thursday released a new web video which makes no bones about the GOP's attempts to tap into the anti-tax and anti-big government sentiments among Tea Partiers. "His rhetoric promised 'Change we can believe in,'" the voice-over said, "but his ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/rnc-after-one-year-americans-want-change-from-obama/ While Senator Paul Kirk (D-MA), serving in the interregnum until Tuesday's special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, has largely been lost in the frenetic, disorganized effort by Democrats to maintain control of Camelot, a new analysis by Massachusetts election law experts has thrusted Kirk ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/kirk-ineligible-after-today/ Democratic lawmakers last week made long overdue diplomatic overtures to the gay and lesbian community by signaling their readiness to repeal the controversial ban on gays serving openly in the military known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But for all the Congressional jockeying, the repeal may ultimately be stymied by President ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/obama-democrats-finally-moving-on-dadt/ In the days following the Virginia Democratic primary, most people were left scratching their heads wondering how it was that Creigh Deeds had won so decisively. No one really saw it coming, as I remember. People knew Deeds was surging towards the end, but there was little empirical ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/google-trends-brown-trounces-coakley/ Senator Barbara Boxer Monday hit the campaign trail to tout jobs "created by the stimulus" in California by the Democrats' $800 billion economic recovery package, attracting ridicule from Republican Carly Fiorina's campaign who accused the junior Democratic senator of an "effort to deceive voters into thinking she's actually done something for ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/boxer-banking-on-faulty-stimulus-figures-for-reelection/ My first bylined article at Tucker Carlson's new online venture, The Daily Caller, spotlights the decline in morale among Steele aides as the beleaguered party chief incites one controversy after the next. A morsel, though do read it in its entirety: Defecting to the GOP Hill campaign committees after a series of ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/steele-eroding-morale-at-rnc/ In what constitutes a staggering blow to President Obama's goal of shuttering the Guantanamo Bay military detention facility, a new report by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) says one in five former detainees have returned to militant activity following their release. But as with each successive challenge to the Obama ... http://skepticians.com/2010/01/white-house-bush-at-fault-for-spike-in-terrorist-recidivism-figures/ Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has diverted nearly half a million in contributions from her political action committee to her son's political consulting firm from 2001 to 2009, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Boxer and Associates, owned by son Douglas Boxer, has in the last 8 years profited to the ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/barbara-boxer-subsidizing-relatives-with-campaign-contributions/ Elected on a pledge to deny Beltway lobbyists the undue influence they have previously been afforded, President Barack Obama's inaugural year in office is on pace to be the most lucrative yet for influential K Street lobbyists. According to figures collected by Politico, Washington's influence peddlers will likely shatter last year's ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/a-tale-of-hope-change-deep-pockets-and-open-hands/ Seen as a prelude to the White House honoring President Barack Obama's pledge to shutter the controversial detention facility by January 22, Administration officials last week quietly repatriated twelve Guantanamo Bay detainees. Among those released were six Yemenis, four Afghanis, and two Somalis, many of whom have been in American custody for ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/obama-administration-repatriating-gitmo-detainees-to-failed-states/ Senator Al Franken today caused a stir among his colleagues, breaking from the Senate's long-held standards of collegiality when the gavel-wielding Minnesota Democrat denied Senator Joe Lieberman an additional minute to finish his remarks. Lieberman--who has been vilified by progressives for rejecting the controversial public option, most recently by MoveOn today--was ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/frankens-axe/ Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) "categorically" pledged in September to oppose abortion coverage mandates in the health care legislation presently before Congress, but with the Hatch-Nelson amendment on the immediate horizon some now fear the Wisconsin Democrat may hedge on his promise. "We should not be using health care reform to provide ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/democrat-herb-kohl-to-oppose-abortion-coverage-in-health-care-bill/ Embattled Athens County, Ohio Democratic Chairwoman Susan Gwinn was indicted Monday on two counts of election-related bribery, special prosecutors announced today. Gwinn, who last month was charged with six felonies for campaign finance crimes and money-laundering, became the subject of a voter fraud investigation after an email from College Democrats Vice ... http://skepticians.com/2009/12/vote-fraud-oh-college-democrats-implicated-in-vote-bounty-scheme/ There is a troubling story unfolding in Queens, New York, in which school officials and local Democrats have charged College Republicans with stoking racism and xenophobia. Siraj Wahhaj, a radical Muslim cleric who authorities in 1995 identified an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trace Center bombing, was last week invited ... http://skepticians.com/2009/11/radical-islam-finds-voice-in-new-york-college/ On Wednesday, I appeared on MSNBC opposite Adam Serwer of The American Prospect to debate President Barack Obama's failure to make good on a campaign pledge central to his shallow promise of "change:" the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the 'necessary' dismantling of the Bush-era detention policies. Despite Serwer's protestations, there ... http://skepticians.com/2009/11/on-the-presidents-gitmo-problem/ President Barack Obama admitted Monday to a group of students in Shanghai, China that, while billed as the most tech-savvy President in history, he doesn't use Twitter. When asked by a student if he was aware of China's firewall blocking the popular micro-blogging service, Obama forewent his tech savvy reputation, saying, ... http://skepticians.com/2009/11/twitter-for-thee-not-me/ Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO-turned-McCain campaign advisor and surrogate, announced on Thursday the endorsements of eight Republican Senators, including conservative stalwart Senator Tom Coburn. "Our nation is facing serious economic challengers because we keep rehiring the same failed career politicians who have proven themselves incapable of making hard choices," read ... http://skepticians.com/2009/11/coburn-mccain-endorse-fiorina-senate-bid/ President Obama on Saturday traveled to Dover Air Force Base to greet America's fallen soldiers. But while there, Mr. Obama was photographed saluting a flag-covered casket of one returning soldier which prompted criticism from the President's most reliable critic--Rush Limbaugh, of course--who called the trip a poll-driven "photo-op." "It was a ... http://skepticians.com/2009/11/on-obamas-dover-afb-trip/ The Sunlight Foundation’s Luke Rosiak reported on Friday the Republican National Committee spent $1.4 million on the redesign of GOP.com, a figure which totals more than five times what the RNC’s Democratic counterpart spent to host and maintain Democrats.org. Sources familiar with the RNC’s digital makeover, however, contest Sunlight’s report, ... http://skepticians.com/2009/10/sunlight-foundation-in-the-dark/ Organizing for America, the increasingly combative political operation of the White House, today unveiled a new web video targeting Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, charging the Republican Party chief with “siding with Washington elites and insurance companies and playing political games to kill reform.” The latest installment in OfA’s ... http://skepticians.com/2009/10/ofa-dnc-call-out-steele-in-new-web-video/ The Republican National Committee will unveil a new website early Tuesday morning that promises to increase grassroots participation and offers improved navigability and smarter marketing and fundraising tools for the GOP, according to party officials. Upon reaching the new GOP.com, RNC Chairman Michael Steele takes a virtual step onto the computer ... http://skepticians.com/2009/10/rnc-unveils-new-website/ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised today the final health care bill will include a controversial public option insurance plan, contrary to recent indications by Democratic staffers that such provisions might be eliminated to make the reforms more palatable for moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. "We are going to have a ... http://skepticians.com/2009/10/reid-health-care-reform-not-complete-without-public-option/ Anxious to capitalize on a summer’s worth of anti-tax Tea Parties and the fierce public opposition to President Barack Obama’s health care reforms, over 1,000 California Republican delegates and activists ascended upon Indian Wells for the state Party’s semi-annual convention over the weekend – but one high-profile Republican was conspicuously ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/fiorina%e2%80%99s-absence-at-crp-convention-sparks-controversy-rumors/ Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, whose decision not to seek a third term as governor sparked immense speculation among Republicans about a 2012 campaign, announced today he will launch the “Freedom First” PAC in early November, granting him the opportunity to curry favor among the party faithful by raising and transferring sums of money ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/the-politics-of-pacs/ After Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) rejected Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ultimatum to offer a mea culpa on the floor of the House for his outburst during President Barack Obama’s address on Wednesday evening or face a formal admonishment, Democratic leaders are now moving to introduce a resolution to censure Wilson. But Republican ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/highlighting-democratic-controversies-republicans-reject-censure-of-wilson/ On Wednesday evening, President Barack Obama delivered an address to a joint-session of Congress in the hopes of strengthening public and legislative support for his health care reforms, but shrewd Republican Capitol Hill researchers note that the President’s carefully-crafted speech was missing one important element – namely, the troops. While the ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/obamas-forgotten-war/ In the wake of the public furor over President Barack Obama’s pending speech to school children next Tuesday, defensive Democratic surrogates and administration officials have maintained the President’s address will be a valuable education tool and aims to challenge students to “work hard in school” and “meet short-term goals like ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/flashback-democrats-on-presidential-school-speeches-then-and-now/ Orange County Republican and California State Assemblyman Chuck Devore has been spreading his message of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” across the Golden State for eleven months now, all with the aim of “bouncing Boxer” from the United States Senate in 2010. And he’s so anxious to see ... http://skepticians.com/2009/09/interview-chuck-devore/ As Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas navigates the political minefield of health care reform, the two-term Democrat may be hewing a more conservative course in the wake of a new poll by Public Policy Polling which found her in a dead heat with three potential Republican challengers despite scant ... http://skepticians.com/2009/08/lincoln-republican-challengers-tied-in-new-poll/ In his bid for U.S. Senate, Republican Chuck DeVore has gone to great lengths to portray his primary election opponent Carly Fiorina as too liberal, particularly on the issue of abortion, but some California political observers now say the cash-strapped DeVore campaign is playing fast and loose with the facts. Last week, ... http://skepticians.com/2009/08/devores-abortion-critique-of-fiorina-without-merit/ On a conference call with progressive religious leaders late Wednesday afternoon, President Barack Obama aggressively challenged his Republican critics’ “misinformation” blitz, arguing the claim by many social conservative groups that his health care proposal would subsidize and mandate reproductive care is a blatant fabrication, and insisted they were “bearing false ... http://skepticians.com/2009/08/conflicting-statements-on-subsidized-abortion-haunt-health-care-reform/ President Barack Obama, who campaigned on the promise of changing the rigidly-partisan climate in Washington, has resigned from the prospect of bipartisan comprehensive health care reform, according to top White House aides. Declaring war on Republicans critical of the president’s proposal, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel offers a far ... http://skepticians.com/2009/08/bipartisanship-is-dead-say-top-democrats/