2008-05-15T15:55:07Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/capitol-briefing/272 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-05-15T15:55:07Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-15:/capitol-briefing2008/05/pelosi_slams_bush_for_israel_s.html

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) lashed out at President Bush this morning and his speech to the Israeli Knesset, particularly for comments on "appeasement" that some have interpreted as a veiled swipe at Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "You know we have a protocol ... that we don't criticize the president when he's on foreign soil," Pelosi said when asked for reaction to Bush's speech, adding that she also believes Bush "should not criticize Americans when...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T23:59:00Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/capitol-briefing2008/05/what_does_it_mean_miss_special.html

Read Capitol Briefing's original post Read Capitol Briefing's second post Read both of The Fix's responses Dear Fix: The shadows grow longer this afternoon, as does the list of questions raised by yesterday's special election in Mississippi. You closed your last message with: "I'm interested in what you think the two or three core issues Republicans should use to united an obviously fractured party. Or do you think such agreement is impossible in this political...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T17:43:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/capitol-briefing2008/05/dear_fix_thanks_for_responding.html

Read Capitol Briefing's original post Read The Fix's response Dear Fix: Thanks for responding to my e-mail. I know you're a busy, busy man. Before we move on to the Obama and Tom Cole questions, let's stick with this "wave" topic for a moment. You wrote, "It's too early to predict a wave but something is going on in the water out there." I would agree, except we get paid to make highly speculative predictions,...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T18:06:05Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-14:/capitol-briefing2008/05/tom_cole_watch_day_1.html

UPDATE 2 PM EST: At the Republican Conference meeting this morning, NRCC Chairman Tom Cole reportedly accepted blame for the party's loss last night in the Mississippi special election. But in a conference call with reporters a short while ago, Cole seemed to indicate that the blame lay elsewhere. Asked whether he needed to make any staff changes at the committee, Cole said: "I don't think we've had a staff failure or a personnel failure...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T13:46:06Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/capitol-briefing2008/05/what_does_it_mean_mississippi.html

This is the first installment of a new occasional, collaborative feature between Capitol Briefing and The Fix. When interesting political news happens, we'll exchange a series of e-mails offering (we hope) trenchant analysis of "what it means" along with some informed, witty banter. Please let us know, via the comments sections of both blogs, what you think of the new feature. Dear Fix: Good morning. Hope you are well. Now stop dreaming about West Virginia...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T02:29:44Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/capitol-briefing2008/05/democrats_win_miss_special_ele.html

Democrats have completed a trifecta of special election victories in GOP-held House seats, narrowly winning a hard-fought contest in Mississippi's 1st district Tuesday and raising the specter of an expanded playing field in November. The Associated has called the contest for Democrats, and with 80 percent of the votes recorded, Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers (D) was leading Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R), 51 percent to 49 percent, in the race to replace Roger...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-14T01:26:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/capitol-briefing2008/05/hoyer_testifies_on_stolen_vote.html

In an apparently unprecedented session, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) testified this afternoon before the special committee that was set up to investigate whether Democrats "stole" a controversial House vote last August. The vote in question was on a Republican motion to bar illegal immigrants from receiving taxpayer-funded benefits. The tally was very close, and in the end Democrats announced that the measure had failed, even though it appeared several members on both sides...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-13T19:38:30Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/capitol-briefing2008/05/pelosi_and_her_san_francisco_v.html

Labels are the mother's milk of electoral politics, and while GOP congressional campaigns are already thinking of politically negative ways to refer to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), they can always fall back on the old standby in labeling Nancy Pelosi: "San Francisco liberal." The first-ever female Speaker has been a target of conservative campaign ads and mailings for quite a while now, and you can expect to hear both her name and that of her...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-13T16:17:48Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-13:/capitol-briefing2008/05/fossella_and_fays_european_vac.html

The latest New York Post report on the saga of embattled Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) caught Capitol Briefing's eye this morning. Fossella, of course, is on resignation/retirement watch after being charged with drunken driving and admitting that he has a three-year-old daughter with Laura Fay, a retired Air Force colonel who is not the lawmaker's wife. Fossella reportedly may now face an additional investigation (though it's not clear by whom; if he resigns the House...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-12T21:02:44Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/capitol-briefing2008/05/barr_has_been_spending_freely.html

Former GOP Rep. Bob Barr (Ga.) announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination today, saying that Americans deserved a choice beyond what the Democratic and Republican candidates can offer. But if Barr really is disillusioned with the two major parties, he hasn't shown it with his wallet. Barr, who helped manage President Clinton's impeachment in 1998 and then lost his House seat following redistricting in 2002, nominally quit the Republican party in December...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-12T19:04:58Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/capitol-briefing2008/05/gop_rep_hits_signing_statement.html

A House Republican lawmaker has fired a shot across President Bush's bow over his frequent use of "Presidential Signing Statements" to give his opinion on -- or to even express his intent to ignore -- laws passed by Congress. Though signing statements have long been used by past presidents, they have become a source of particular controversy during Bush's tenure. Various press reports -- most notably a Pulitzer-winning series by the Boston Globe -- have...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-12T16:48:59Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-12:/capitol-briefing2008/05/the_week_ahead_war_and_politic.html

Both parties have plenty to gain and lose this week, as congressional Democrats face a tall order on the legislative agenda -- particularly on Iraq -- while Republicans grapple with multiple crises on the political front. Tomorrow, voters in Mississippi's 1st district will go to the polls to elect a replacement for Roger Wicker (R), who has been appointed to the Senate. Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers (D) is narrowly favored in the contest...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-12T15:03:03Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-09:/capitol-briefing2008/05/player_of_the_week_vito_fossel.html

The scandal-plagued members of the 110th Congress have been something of a motley crew. They've come from north, south, east and west, the House and Senate, red states and blue. They've -- allegedly, of course -- inserted shady earmarks into bills, shaken down land developers, engaged in "very serious sin" with a call girl, hidden cash in a freezer (wait, that was the 109th Congress), bought Nicaraguan real estate and taken a "wide stance" in...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-09T16:42:10Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-09:/capitol-briefing2008/05/burning_cash_in_mississippi.html

Another high-profile special election looms next Tuesday in Mississippi's 1st congressional district, on the heels of last Saturday's contest in Louisiana. The Mississippi matchup, a runoff between Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers (D) and Southaven Mayor Greg Davis (R), has by a wide margin already drawn more cash from the two national party campaign committees than any other special election this year. The cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee (the NRCC may actually add the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing 2008-05-08T22:16:38Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-05-08:/capitol-briefing2008/05/iraq_money_faces_more_delays.html

"My patience is growing thin," Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) growled today, and he wasn't referring to the typically glacial pace of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Instead, Byrd was looking askance across the Capitol at House Democratic leaders, who have been dragging their feet on one of the most important bills Congress will deal with this year. House Democrats are struggling to move a supplemental spending bill that has grown to...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ben Pershing