Blog: TAPPED

Let’s say you’re a reporter doing a story on a politically important group that propagates ideas that are, shall we say, troubling. How do you describe these ideas? As much as we might criticize reporters for mindless “he said/she said” coverage, finding the best alternative isn’t always clear cut. Today, The New York Times has […]

Politico tells us that some GOP elites are not too excited about Rick Perry‘s potential presidential candidacy. Here are a few excerpts: “What we don’t know about Gov. Perry is how he’ll perform on the national stage. We know he’s got a great record in Texas,” [GOP strategist Charlie] Black said. “How well does he […]

At the moment, the most popular item on The Washington Post website is this blog post from Charles Lane, taking Democrats to task for referring to Tea Partiers as “terrorists.” Apparently, Lane is unfamiliar with the concept of “metaphor” and believes it is inaccurate to call Tea Partiers terrorists, since they have not literally sent […]

Yes, America may be mired in an economic swamp that both parties just decided to make worse. But if you’re looking for something to feel at least a little bit good about, consider that no one takes this buffoon seriously anymore: That’s Sarah Palin and Sean Hannity complaining that people are being mean to the […]

As I’ve been saying for some time, when it comes to violating previously unquestioned norms of behavior, the Republicans are the party of “Yes we can!” and the Democrats are the party of “Maybe we shouldn’t.” As Think Progress tells us, Mitch McConnell is quite clear that since hostage-taking worked so well for Republicans this […]

Our ongoing debt battle will soon move to its next phase, where the 12-member “super Congress” will attempt to negotiate $1.8 trillion in further budget cuts; if they can’t come to an agreement, or if they do come to an agreement and their plan isn’t adopted by the full non-super Congress, a package of cuts, […]

Jeffrey Rosen has an interesting piece on how the Supreme Court would treat the Obama administration circumventing a default by invoking the 14th Amendment. Since the House hasn’t passed the relevant legislation yet, the question is worth considering. Rosen argues that the Court would be very unlikely to rule such an action unconstitutional for two […]

If you want a sense of how far right the Republican base is right now, even with the GOP’s huge victory on the debt ceiling, look no further than the Republican presidential candidates and their statements on the agreement reached last night. For erstwhile moderate Mitt Romney, the deal is a non-starter: As president, my […]

Today, the Department of Health and Human services announced that contraception will be included in a list of preventative services that women’s insurance plans will provide free of charge. That means they’ll be provided without co-insurance charges or co-pays. The services include: well-woman visits screening for gestational diabetes human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women […]

Happy Mitch, sad Barack. As you’ve heard by now, the debt-ceiling deal includes an immediate round of cuts and then a second round of cuts recommended by a bipartisan commission. Unless the debt-slashing recommendations of the commission are approved through Congress, a series of across-the-board cuts go into effect, drawn equally from defense and non-defense […]