Senate
June 22, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The bipartisan Senate group released the text of the “gun bill” or “gun safety bill” or whatever it is just before the Senate voted to proceed on the bill without amendment last night. Taking a look at the text, I see that the bill may be cited as the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.” The authors apparently don’t want us to know what it’s all about from the title of the
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June 4, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Taking a look back at what I have written about the Republican senatorial primary in Pennsylvania, I see I will have to retire my adaptation of the famous translation of one of the Roman poet Martial’s epigrams. When the outcome of the primary was still in doubt, I commented: I do not love thee, Dr. Oz. The reason why? Well, because… Reasons — plural. I draw straws. I do not
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May 20, 2022 — Scott Johnson
I infer that Dr. Oz is going to emerge as the winner of the Pennsylvania when the initial tally is completed. With 99 percent of the votes counted as of Thursday evening, he led David McCormick by 1,100 votes or 0.1 percent. His lead has narrowed from about 2,600 votes or 0.2 percent as of late Tuesday evening. The final tally will land in automatic recount territory, but the recount
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May 19, 2022 — Scott Johnson
According to RealClearPolitics, 98 percent of the votes have now been counted on the Republican side of the primary election for Pennsylvania’s open senatorial seat. That’s up from 95 percent of the vote counted yesterday morning. Woo hoo! With the additional votes counted, David McCormick has cut Dr. Oz’s lead from over 2600 votes to 1241 votes — with well over a million votes having been cast. Oz’s lead computes
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May 18, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Adapting a famous translation of one of the Roman poet Martial’s epigrams, I disclose in lieu of reporting the outcome of the Pennsylvania primary election for the Republican senatorial nomination: I do not love thee, Dr. Oz. The reason why? Well, because… Reasons — plural. I draw straws. I do not love thee, Dr. Oz. With this qualification. I would “love” Dr. Oz in preference to Democrat John Fetterman, if
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May 8, 2022 — Scott Johnson
President Biden went to United Performance Metals in Hamilton, Ohio to talk up the Bipartisan Innovation Act this past Friday. The act has passed into law, so I can’t say don’t let it be. It is. The White House has posted the text of Biden’s remarks here. Biden took the occasion to look back on his career and reminisce about the good old days in the United States Senate. The
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May 4, 2022 — Scott Johnson
With Ohio Republicans split five ways in their primary yesterday, Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance emerged victorious with 32.2 percent of the vote. Aside from being endorsed by Trump, Vance is supported by Peter Thiel, who reportedly contributed some $15 million to support his candidacy. He also wrote the best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Democrat Tim Ryan skated to victory in the Democratic primary. I didn’t and don’t care who the Republican candidate
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April 24, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Orrin Hatch, who represented Utah in the Senate from 1977 to 2019, died yesterday. His foundation reviews his career here. Orrin Hatch was, above all else, a patriot. He came from humble origins and was a senator for 42 years. I cannot add to the accolades Hatch has received, except to append a personal note. Some years ago I represented one of America’s biggest companies in a series of lawsuits
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April 17, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, a reliable barometer of certified liberal opinion inside the Beltway, has a column up about the matter of Dianne Feinstein, which even a careless reader can make out as another loud note in chorus of coordinated voices that has determined that Feinstein needs to be forced from office. The article breaks no new ground in terms of news value or reporting, as with one small
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April 15, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday Joe Biden gave a speech that ended like this. He is a frail, elderly man obviously suffering from dementia: After Biden finished his speech, he turned around and tried to shake hands with thin air and then wandered around looking confused pic.twitter.com/ZN00TLdUUo — Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 14, 2022 Joe Biden had been, for decades, a corrupt and incompetent pol. Today, he is either an extreme left-winger or
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March 23, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The Washington Free Beacon has compiled videos with “All The Must-See Moments from Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation Hearings.” The compilation misses a few moments of interest, but it is far less painful than taking in the whole thing (C-SPAN has posted yesterday’s hearing in its entirety here on YouTube). However, that isn’t saying much. Judge Jackson is easy to read. Her tone of voice in response to unfriendly questions is
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January 27, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that Democratic leaders are excited about the prospect of replacing Justice Breyer, and not just because of the opportunity to put a youngish left-liberal on the Supreme Court. According to the Post, Democrats see a political opportunity. They expect, as I do, that Biden will nominate a black female and that she will face considerable opposition from Republican Senators. Dem leaders apparently believe that in this
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January 23, 2022 — Scott Johnson
When it comes to the Senate filibuster, I think in clichés. The hypocrisy of the Democrats’ effort to limit it last week is rank. Hypocrisy, however, is the mother’s milk of democratic politics. Hypocrisy is not the tribute that vice pays to virtue in this case. It reflects the feeling that we want to get our way. Embedding the feeling in high principle is funny its own way. In my
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January 20, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Last night, Chuck Schumer forced a vote on a motion to close debate on the Democrats’ voting legislation. That motion had nowhere near the support needed — 60 votes — to pass. Schumer than forced a vote on a proposed rule change to allow the voting legislation to advance with only a simple majority of votes — in other words, bypass the filibuster. That effort failed by a vote of
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January 19, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Alabama’s great football coach Nick Saban, a native of West Virginia, has signed a public letter urging Joe Manchin to support the Senate bill that would force the views of liberal Democrats regarding voting on the states. Saban and Manchin are said to be friends. The letter was also signed by West Virginia-connected sports figures Jerry West, Paul Tagliabue, Oliver Luck, and Darryl Talley. Saban added an important footnote to
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January 13, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks yesterday on the Senate floor regarding President Biden’s speech in Atlanta the day before. In part, McConnell fact-checks Biden. In part, he criticizes the sense and sensibility of Biden’s remarks. I think McConnell’s speech is as good or better than any of the columns I have seen exposing the disgusting demagogy and outrageous falsehoods of Biden’s speech. McConnell’s staff emailed the
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January 12, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly has been urging Maryland governor Larry Hogan to run for the Senate. So far, according to this report, Hogan has pushed back against the urgings of McConnell and Sen. Rick Scott, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. But McConnell isn’t giving up. He even enlisted his wife, Elaine Chao, to talk to Hogan’s wife, Yumi Hogan, about the matter. Could Hogan defeat Van
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