I still think the slow pace of economic recovery and the dismal job situation are a political booby trap waiting to snare President Obama at any moment, but Gallup’s editor in chief says no President in the history of their polling has polled as well as Obama when the public is as unhappy with the economy.
You might have missed this but the “Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011” has already passed the GOP-controlled House and is pending in the Senate, where it will likely die. Still, I don’t think it’s overstating things to say that this bill if enacted would gut the landmark Clean Water Act by subordinating federal regulations to the regulations — or lack thereof — imposed by the individual states.
Tim Pawlenty’s flashes of machismo usually last about 24 hours before he retreats. It’s happened again, this time with the whole Michele Bachmann migraine business. Except this time it didn’t even take 24 hours.
Whatever the mix of business imperatives, political alliances, and corporate culture that led News Corp. into the News Of The World phone-hacking scandal, it’s been hard to believe that NOTW was the only British tab in that fiercely competitive space to engage in such subterfuge. The other shoe may soon drop.
Eric Kleefeld takes a close look at the looming recall effort against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).
The Dan Savage-Rick Santorum saga continues. Fair warning.
TPMMuckraker has obtained a copy of the FBI file of Rep. Donald “Buz” Lukens (R-OH), the disgraced Ohio congressman whose sexual and criminal misdeeds in the ’80s and ’90s opened the door, oddly enough, for the political career of Speaker John Boehner. Lukens died last year, and we’ve been sifting through the bureau’s 1,627-page file on him. It’s quite a blast from muckraking past.
TPM Reader CL:
I am a neurologist at an academic medical center quite familiar with migraines. I think in general, most people would accept that a propensity to migraine should not disqualify one from being President. Readers of your site will all appreciate Rep. Bachmann has far more legitimate reasons to disqualify her.
TPM Reader SG:
I despise Michelle Bachmann’s politics and have no doubt this early infatuation some GOP voters have with her will fade.
That being said, from the beginning of this migraine business, I’ve thought it was sexist, sexist, and sexist. Men get migraines, yes. But women are known to get them more. And because migraines often produce no external symptoms, you have to take the person’s word that one is happening. I get them, and from personal experience, people who have never had one think I’m faking it to try to get out of something, or that I’m a weenie who can’t handle a little headache.
TPM Reader SR:
I’m not a doctor, but I am a lawyer and I know contradictory statements when I see them. Bachmann’s doctor says “no biggie.” Bachmann’s former aides say “major biggie.” …
The record from the doctor appears to mostly be a doctor regurgitating what a patient told him, which is what a lot of medical records seem to be (and if you’re a litigator, you’ve probably read your share of them. I know I have).
What she told him appears to be inconsistent with what a (unsworn anonymous) witness said and that means someone got some ‘splainin’ to do.
But the whole episode has just highlighted for me how utterly surreal and, ultimately, frightening her candidacy is.