Steve Benen

On Saturday, None other than House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) seemed relieved by the Senate’s bipartisan compromise on a payroll tax cut. He called it a “good deal” and a “victory,” and took it to his caucus hoping they’d follow his lead. As is often the case, they didn’t. Rank-and-file Republicans were outraged by the […]

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that won’t necessarily generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * In New Hampshire, Public Policy Polling shows Mitt Romney still well ahead of the Republican presidential field with 35% support. Ron Paul is second with 19%, Newt Gingrich is third with […]

Following up on an earlier item, I’ve seen some suggestions that PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” competition was skewed — House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) stuffed the ballot box. In some ways, I wish that were true, since it would make PolitiFact’s mistake easier to understand. It’s accurate to note that Ryan did […]

Can Ron Paul win the Republican presidential nomination? No. Can he win the Iowa caucuses? Sure. The larger question, then, isn’t what the party intends to do about Paul’s candidacy, which will wither as the nominating process unfolds, but rather, what the party intends to do about the Iowa caucuses. Conservatives and Republican elites in […]

It’s difficult to say exactly why Republicans oppose the bipartisan deal on extending the payroll tax break, in large part because GOP policymakers disagree among themselves. But listening to House Republican leaders yesterday explain why they’re prepared to raise middle-class taxes, the main talking point had to do with duration — the Senate agreement would […]

The fact-checking website PolitiFact has announced its “Lie of the Year” for 2011. It made a poor, credibility-killing choice. Republicans muscled a budget through the House of Representatives in April that they said would take an important step toward reducing the federal deficit. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan kept Medicare […]

U.S. military and intelligence officials agree that talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan are not only unavoidable, but also worthwhile. Such negotiations are critical to establishing some semblance of stability to the country, and while the right may resist this, among most leading officials, including David Petraeus, this is simply an obvious fact. With this […]

Passing a popular, middle-class tax cut really shouldn’t be this difficult. Conditions looked pretty good on Saturday. The Senate easily passed a bipartisan compromise for a two-month extension of the payroll tax break, 89 to 10. The White House liked it; House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) liked it; and there was ample room for optimism. […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * North Korea’s Kim Jong-il died Saturday of a heart attack. By most accounts, the loony/brutal communist dictator was 69 years old. * Meet his successor: “With the abrupt death of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, the fate of his isolated, nuclear-armed regime has dropped into the hands of […]

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