If you didn’t see his press conference midday, John Boehner let it rip against outside conservative/tea party groups — even more so than he had earlier in the week. Watch. (Also, epic Boehner face.)
The case of a Capitol Hill aide arrested on child porn charges has a Toronto connection.
The latest twist in the birther conspiracy theory involves the tragic death of a Hawaiian official who once verified President Obama’s birth certificate. You guessed it: the birthers suspect she was killed because she knew too much. Oh, and because she was involved in Obamacare. Or something.
Last day of Diane Ravitch: “Basic skills are necessary, but they are not enough to prepare the citizen.”
Be sure to join us her for a live chat at noon ET (TPM Prime sub. req.).
The Republican Study Committee saw its mission as pushing the GOP even further to the right, but this week Executive Director Paul Teller was fired. Read more about him and how his firing represents the fight for the soul of the Republican party.
One observer said: “Maybe that’s the concern from the leadership; that he’s too effective.”
Advocates for health care reform are convinced GOP-controlled states that decided not to expand Medicaid under Obamacare will eventually come around. Too much money is being left on the table for it not to happen … eventually. But they’re not waiting around. Advocates are beginning to organize those who have been caught in the GOP’s Medicaid gap as Exhibit A for why states should expand the program. As Dylan Scott reports, that campaign is farthest along in Texas.
Many of us have been wondering for literally years whether the Harry Reid would ever pull the trigger and rein in or end the filibuster. He finally did. In our second TPMPrime Longform (sub req), TPM’s Sahil Kapur gives a detailed history of the filibuster’s demise and what finally brought Reid, who’d hedged so many times, over to the side of the reformers.
You know there are only days left to get in your nominations for this year’s 7th Annual Golden Duke awards. Here are the instructions for submitting your nominees for the crookedest, ridiculousest, slimiest of 2013 in each of seven categories we’ve chosen for this year. But in the spirit of the Dukes, TPM’s Hunter Walker tracked down the “Duke Stir”, that’s the yacht at the center of the Cunningham scandal. Hunter managed to get himself a tour of this monument to political corruption and even pictures of the remaining Duke Cunningham memorabilia onboard. While you’re putting together your Duke’s nomination, join us on this trip down this watery memory lane.
Very interesting piece by TPM’s Sahil Kapur trying to tease out just what happened this week between Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party. For the first time in his Speakership, Boehner smacked the Tea Party down hard and won. And this after years of kowtowing to them and essentially ceding control of the House to these outside groups.
I see Megyn Kelly as a modern day Albert Schweitzer in a quest for the historical Santa.