Tim Fernholz

The Los Angeles Times has a piece this morning on anti-war activists’ fears that the Obama cabinet will be stocked with hawks. True enough, many of his principal foreign policy advisers, including his Vice-President Joe Biden, voted for the war in 2003 but have become critics since then. The article points to the potential decision […]

And now we know: Representative Henry Waxman beats out Representative John Dingell, 137 to 122 in a vote among the Democratic House caucus, to chair the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Liberals FTW! I noted yesterday that Waxman’s chances seem to be improving, and clearly that worked out today. This is good news for […]

As of yet, no cabinet positions have been officially announced. But we’ve got a few “they’ve been picked and we’re vetting them but we won’t announce yet”-type leaks going forward, which I will assemble in the following chart for your perusal. An asterisk means it’s not even at the level of officially unofficial rumor, it’s […]

I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you to Eve Fairbank’s smart analysis of the House GOP leadership elections: In a political moment when Republicans are bitterly split between the vanishing moderates, who believe that embracing their centrism is the only way to save the party, and the ascendant conservatives, who are itching to repurify […]

More news from the transition … Senior Advisor to the President: David Axelrod. Que sorpresa! White House Counsel: Gregory Craig. Discussed here. Staff Secretary: Lisa Brown. A former counsel to the Vice President under Al Gore, Brown was most recently executive director of the American Constitution Society, essentially the liberal answer to the Federalist Society. […]

Via Jon Chait, Ross Douthat talks about how Obama may guard his right flank with foreign policy: Here’s a fearless prediction: On an awful lot of issues, the Obama foreign policy will end cutting to the right of Bill Clinton‘s foreign policy, which was already more center-left than left. Even with the GOP brand in […]

Brian Beutler reports that the House steering committee has voted 25-22 to recommend Rep. Henry Waxman replace Rep. John Dingell as chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. It was a close vote, but still a surprising victory for the insurgent Waxman. Short background: Dingell and Waxman have clashed on climate change issues, with […]

The Obama-Biden transition announces it’s policy team leaders today, list below and bios after the jump: Economic: Daniel K. Tarullo Education: Linda Darling-Hammond Energy and Environment: Carol M. Browner Health Care: Senator Tom Daschle Immigration: T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar National Security: James B. Steinberg, Dr. Susan E. Rice Technology, Innovation and Government Reform: […]

One thing about this whole economic stimulus postponement is that there are still people out there worried about footing the bill for the necessary investment programs needed to beat the current recession. Though a majority on the left have bought into the reasonable idea of short-term deficit spending to beat a recession followed by a […]