Brian Hughes

Published: Wed, May 8, 2013

Remember the economy? President Obama on Thursday will kick off a series of day trips devoted to job creation with a trek to Austin, Texas, where he will refocus on his proposals to increase the minimum wage and raise cigarette taxes to fund expanded preschool, among other economic initiatives...

Timothy P. Carney

Published: Wed, May 8, 2013

When do 21 Republican senators vote for higher taxes? Answer: When the biggest businesses and local politicians hire top K Street lobbyists to push for the tax-hike legislation. A bipartisan majority of senators on Monday passed the "Marketplace Fairness Act," which forces large and mid-sized...

Michal Conger

Updated: Wed, May 8, 2013

A  wheelchair-accessible van maker that received $50 million through the same Energy Department loan program that funded Fisker Automotive has shut its doors and laid off its employees. The DOE froze the Vehicle Production Group’s loan after the company’s finances fell below the...

Joel Gehrke

Published: Wed, May 8, 2013

Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Benghazi, told Congress today that a State Department official began criticizing his job performance, and he was ultimately demoted, after he asked why U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice attributed the Benghazi attack to an...

Philip Klein

Published: Wed, May 8, 2013

A major new study finding that expanding Medicaid does not improve the physical health of the program's beneficiaries is embarrassing for Republican governors who backed Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid. To recap, last year's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court gave states the option of not...

Byron York

Updated: Wed, May 8, 2013

Tuesday at 5 p.m. was the deadline for members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to propose amendments to the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill.  There were a lot of amendments.  Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking Republican on the committee, proposed 77.  Fellow...

Charlie Spiering

Updated: Wed, May 8, 2013

Comedian Stephen Colbert mocked Fox News on his show last night for its continuing coverage on the terrorist attacks of Benghazi. Colbert mocked the network for hyping the upcoming House and Oversight Committee hearings on the Obama administration’s response to the attacks, featuring the...

Michael Barone

Published: Wed, May 8, 2013

Republican Mark Sanford won yesterday’s South Carolina 1 special election by a 54%-45% margin over Democrat Elizabeth Colbert (the alleged comedian Stephen Colbert’s sister) Busch. The turnout of 143,357 was pretty high . This was less than the 62%-34% reelection victory of Republican Tim...

Brian Hughes

Published: Tue, May 7, 2013

President Obama on Tuesday vowed to curb sexual assaults in the U.S. military following the release of a Pentagon report that shows a spike in such attacks and just after the Air Force officer in charge of preventing such assaults was charged with groping a woman in Northern Virginia. At a...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Tue, May 7, 2013

Senators who support expanding criminal background checks for gun buyers said Tuesday that they intend to revive the legislation for a vote by this summer, though the measure won't be exactly the same as the one senators defeated a month ago. The Senate last month fell four votes shy of...