Congress
June 20, 2017 — Scott Johnson
CBS News anchor Scott Pelley — make that former CBS News anchor Scott Pelley — is the face of sanctimonious liberalism. The attempted assassination of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and his GOP colleagues on the baseball field in Alexandria last week somehow prompted Pelley’s comment on the day after: “It’s time to ask whether the attack on the United States Congress, yesterday, was foreseeable, predictable and, to some degree,
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June 17, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday Dr. Jack Sava, director of Trauma at Washington MedStar Hospital Center, held a 15-minute press conference to update the public on Scalise’s condition. Dr. Sava’s update is prefaced with a brief statement from Mrs. Scalise by chief of staff Brett Horton. Horton reiterated the family’s gratitude to the Capitol Police officers and first responders. I am posting the entirety of the C-SPAN video below. We weren’t wrong to fear
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June 15, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Early reports following the attempted massacre of congressional Republicans on the baseball field in Arlington yesterday sounded an optimistic note on the condition of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise. At last word, however, he remained in critical condition. Last night the MedStar Washington Hospital Center released a statement that Scalise’s office tweeted out: Update on the condition of Majority Whip Steve Scalise, courtesy of @MedStarWHC: pic.twitter.com/i5WlzcUVpM — Rep. Steve Scalise
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June 14, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was wounded in a shooting spree targeting Republican House members who were practicing for a congressional baseball game. According to reports, he was shot in the hip. Though the injury is serious, President Trump has tweeted that Scalise is expected to recover fully. Sen. Jeff Flake, who was with Scalise in the hospital, reported that his colleague was awake and coherent throughout. However, it is
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June 14, 2017 — Scott Johnson
A man with a rifle went on a shooting spree targeting Republicans practicing in Alexandria for the upcoming Congressional Baseball Game. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was wounded in the attack. He is at last report in surgery. Members of Rep. Scalise’s security detail were apparently also shot, as well as others including a staffer. Both Politico and CNN have reports with quotes from congressmen on the scene. Below is
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June 9, 2017 — Scott Johnson
American Enterprise Institute fellow Charles Murray must rank among our most prominent living social scientists. At a May 17 hearing of the Joint Economic Committee convened by Senator and JEC vice chairman Mike Lee, Murray was included on a panel of social scientists testifying on the state of social capital in America — the subject of a new report released by the committee. Testifying along with Murray on the panel
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June 6, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Atlanta attorney Craig Bertschi writes from Georgia’s Sixth District with a report on the pending special election to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in the House. The great Harvey Klehr — historian extraordinaire of American Communism and now emeritus of Emory University — makes a cameo appearance in Craig’s report. After that, the highlights are few and far between. Consider Craig’s report a plea to Republicans in the district to
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May 27, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
When I wrote about Fightin’ Greg Gianforte’s assault (as it seems to me) on a reporter, I believed that Al Franken had a history of physical aggression against folks who annoyed him. However, the only incident I recalled (and only vaguely) involved a much lower level of violence than Gianforte’s — pushing someone, perhaps someone in conservative media, out of his way in a Capitol corridor. Thus, I passed on
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May 27, 2017 — Scott Johnson
American Enterprise Institute fellow Charles Murray must rank among our most prominent living social scientists. At a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee convened by Senator and JEC vice chairman Mike Lee last week, Murray was included on a panel of social scientists testifying on the state of social capital in America — the subject of a new report released by the committee. Testifying along with Murray on the panel
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April 27, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
From a conservative perspective, I think it’s clear that the new House Obamacare legislation — the MacArthur Amendment — is an improvement over the original bill concocted by Speaker Ryan. But how much of one? Yuval Levin makes the case that the core concept of the new legislation — state waivers from Obamacare insurance regulations — represents a significant improvement, in terms of both substance and political pragmatism. He writes:
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April 19, 2017 — Scott Johnson
The jejune Jon Ossoff fell just short of winning the special election in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District yesterday. He will face Republican Karen Handel in the runoff election in June. The contest therefore shapes up as a conventional Democrat versus Republican matchup rather than the cage match of yesterday’s special election with a field of 18 candidates. America Rising has posted a clip of Ossoff fielding questions from CNN’s Alisyn
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April 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is just below 50 percent in his quest to wrest Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District from Republican control. The last tally I saw (a little before midnight on Tuesday) had him at 48.6 percent. If Ossoff doesn’t hit the 50 percent (plus one vote) mark, he will face a runoff. At 48.6 percent, I think you’d have to like his chances. However, Ossoff’s number has been declining
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April 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Scott writes below about today’s special election to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District. He observes, “If [Jon] Ossoff were to win today, Democrats and their media adjunct won’t let us stop hearing about it.” He is correct. If Ossoff doesn’t win today, and doesn’t come close enough to 50 percent to suggest he will win a runoff, we won’t hear much about it. Yet, it
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April 18, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Jon Ossoff is the great left hope in the special election to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District. It’s a suburban district that has long sent Republicans to Congress. A plethora of Republicans is vying in today’s special election. Democrats have one Jon Ossoff — a 30-year-old former congressional aide and filmmaker still searching for his mission in life — and are excited about his prospects.
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March 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
My take on the political implications of the House’s failure to pass the GOP’s repeal-and-replace bill differs a little bit from John’s. In my view, the Democrats have good reason to be pleased by that failure, as things stand now. The Democrats’ argument is straightforward. As Scott says, Republicans have been running against Obamacare for years — promising to repeal and replace it. Yet, with a big majority in House
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March 15, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
I have written about how congressional Republicans are subscribing to the view that key parts of Obamacare cannot be repealed through “reconciliation” — i.e., without 60 votes. This view — reflected in the House “replacement” legislation — holds that the GOP cannot repeal the price-hiking, competition-destroying regulations that form the core of Obamacare because the parliamentarian, pursuant to the Byrd Rule, won’t allow such repeal through the budget reconciliation process.
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March 5, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Two months into 2017, groups backed by the Koch brothers reportedly have run out of patience with congressional Republicans over their failure to repeal Obamacare. According to the New York Times, the “Koch network,” along with conservative groups like the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks, are demanding repeal and are applying pressure on GOP lawmakers to keep their promise and get it done now. But what’s the rush? When Republicans
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