Two days after the Illinois primaries for governor, Democratic challenger Dan Hynes has conceded to incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, but the too-close-to-call Republican primary result is still up in the air, with only a few hundred votes separating the top two vote-getters.
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) tries distancing himself from his budget chairman’s Social Security-privatizing, Medicare-eliminating budget that carries deficits forward for the next 50 years — but when asked by TPM which parts of the proposal he disagrees with, he can’t say.
TPMDC caught up with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and asked him about the shadow Republican budget drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) that the House GOP leadership is running away from:
“That’s their budget plan. He’s the ranking Republican member on the Budget Committee. That is their so-called roadmap. And it’s a roadmap right into the economic ditch that we got ourselves to begin with.”
More of Brian Beutler’s interview with Van Hollen here.
You may have heard that Larry Kudlow, the former Reagan economic adviser, diehard supply-sider, and CNBC host, is considering running against Chuck Schumer for U.S. Senate from New York.
How can Kudlow hope to match the fund-raising prowess of the incumbent Schumer? Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision on corporate contributions in the Citizens United case, we got it covered, a top Kudlow supporter and pal tells TPMDC.
“People who are worried about their taxes, particularly medium- and large-size businesses, would be more interested in helping Larry Kudlow than Chuck Schumer,” John Lakian says.
Earlier today we brought you the unfortunate news that the winner of the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor in Illinois, Scott Lee Cohen, was arrested in 2005 for a vicious assault on his then-girlfriend. According to police reports, Cohen slammed the victim’s head against a wall and left “mild abrasions from [a] knife wound” on her neck and “minor scars on her hand from her trying to defend herself against the arrestee swinging the knife at her.”
If that wasn’t enough, also problematic for his political future is that his girlfriend was a prostitute, though he says he did not know it and only understood that she worked at a massage parlor.
But now it’s all been cleared up. Read More
You’ve seen the reports that Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama has taken the perhaps unprecedented step of placing holds on ALL of President Obama’s nominees until he gets the money for a couple of big earmarked pork barrel projects he feels entitled to back in his home state.
It’s an eye-popper no doubt, with gallons more audacity than Obama ever could have hoped for. But I wonder if this story might not end up amounting to much more than the sum of its parts because it brings together three or four of the issues roiling American politics today in a bundle of smack-you-in-the-face arrogance that’s too much to ignore. Read More
In a meeting of Senate Democrats, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) reportedly called out David Axelrod personally over the White House’s lack of leadership on health care reform. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
While the negotiations are taking place for the ransom Sen. Shelby (R-AL) is demanding, I’m wondering: will there be interviews with the hostages (i.e., the nominees) he’s holding until he gets the money? And where is he holding them? Will he release grainy videos? Should we pay for a proof of life? Cue the music …
Late Update: More the merrier!