The Republicans in Congress have gotten very good at pulling President Obama and his fellow Democrats down their rabbit holes. “Compromise!” the Democrats protest, and refuse to go more than halfway down any given hole. But, somehow, they find themselves dragged down a hole of conservative making regardless. This was again the case Friday night when the president and Democrats found themselves agreeing to many GOP budget cuts at the last minute in order to avert a government shutdown....

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The level of severity of the nuclear crisis in Japan has now reached the highest level putting the disaster on par with Chernobyl: Officials from Japan’s nuclear agency reclassified the ongoing emergency from Level 5, an “accident with off-site risk,” to Level 7, a “major accident.”  The stark assessment reinforced the sense that this nuclear emergency ultimately will cause problems that exceed those first predicted by the government, which has downplayed long-term safety concerns and only Monday expanded its...

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Donald Trump has been busy stirring up the “birther” pot and apparently Salin Palin has decided to jump in with spoon in hand as well. The writing is on the wall… It’s going to be a long primary season, evidently filled with antics from ”The Donald” as he weighs jumping in as a “serious” candidate, followed by a very ugly general election season. From a theatrical point of view, a Trump and Plain ticket, were they to make it through the primaries...

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You’ll notice that the “CR” (continuing resolution) cliffhanger of last night’s episode of  ”Clueless Kabuki Theatre” only funds the government through April 15 (and takes troop pay off the table so that criticism can’t be thrown at this week’s Teatard grandstanding). What you may not know is that THIS year’s tax deadline is Monday, April 18. I have not noticed that anyone in the media or blogosphere has drawn the connection between a nice hissy fit “shutdown” fight on...

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Journalists have only their personal credibility to rely on. After all, once a reporter is known to fabricate their stories, why and how would you ever again believe what he or she says? The same holds true, or at least should hold true, for politicians and legislators. Although politicians may be granted some limited poetic license to make their case, at the end of the day, Americans expect their elected leaders to be straight with them, and to make...

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I no sooner posted my last post on word that the budget deal statemate might be coming to a close and now it appears it has. Via Twitter: @stevebruskCNN Boehner announces deal — CR tonight, final passage mid next week. Takes no questions @samsteinhp Obama is reportedly going to speak within ten minutes @Suntimes  Deal to avoid government shutdown cuts $39 billion http://suntm.es/eSovLp avoids controversial programs cuts. @HotlineReid RT @MajoratNJ: $39 billion in cuts from the 2010 budget —...

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Word has it that a deal is pending on the over battled budget. I certainly hope so because at this point I think the American people have had more than enough of this fight in Congress: Democrats have expressed their dismay over and over again at the unwillingness of the GOP to budge. And, it’s been clearly pointed out that the Democrats have met the Republicans more than halfway on the budget cuts. And now, some conservatives and tea party members...

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Senator John Kerry went to the floor of the Senate this afternoon to deliver an address on the  failure in Washington, D.C. to reach a budget agreement. “This isn’t about making cuts to reduce the deficit. And it isn’t a negotiation,” Kerry said. “Instead, we’re here at an extraordinary moment in American history where a small group of people, driven by rigid ideology, are threatening to shut down the federal government if they don’t get their way. And they are...

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