BuzzFeed Politics

President Obama is heading to Baltimore Friday for what the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:27:08 -0400

President Obama is heading to Baltimore Friday for what the White House is billing as “his second Middle Class Jobs and Opportunity Tour.” The brief trip out of DC may also prove to be a detour into the politics of Keystone, which have caused deep divisions in the Democratic base.

Obama is scheduled to make a stop at Ellicott Dredges Friday, just a day after Ellicott president Peter Bowe testified before a Congressional subcommittee and called on Washington to approve the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Bowe testified on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers Thursday before a subcommittee of the House Committee On Small Business at a hearing about Keystone. He called on the federal government to build the pipeline, telling the subcommittee that the pipeline is a job creator. He said the project would create longterm employment for workers in the dredging sector.

“For us, it’s all about jobs, not construction jobs for the pipeline itself, but ongoing jobs every year for decades to come, all related to the production of oil from the Alberta oil sands deposits,” Bowe said in his prepared remarks.

Keystone Pipeline Politics Follow Obama On Baltimore Jobs Tour

Newark Mayor Cory Booker made a total of $1.3 million from 89...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:33:55 -0400

Newark Mayor Cory Booker made a total of $1.3 million from 89 paid speeches from 2008 to April 2013, according to financial disclosure forms filed by his office ahead of a campaign for U.S. Senate next year.

Booker paid roughly $467,000 in taxes on the speeches during the five-year period. The filings, provided to BuzzFeed by Booker’s office, show he gave nearly $620,000 — or just under 75% of the earnings after taxes — to charities and nonprofits. That leaves an income of about $232,000 from the speeches over the last five years.

Booker has come under fire for traveling outside the city of Newark to deliver speeches and make public appearances. But earlier this year, he toldThe New York Times he gives nearly all of his speaking fees to charity.

“Even though I am entitled to keep it,” he said, “after Uncle Sam takes his share and after I’ve given away hundreds and hundreds of thousands, I’ve kept very little of it, if any.”

Cory Booker Raked In $1.3 Million From Speeches Since 2008

Remember Michele Bachmann? Tea party star, momentarily...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:47:14 -0400

Remember Michele Bachmann?

Tea party star, momentarily plausible presidential candidate, and the face of the conservative reaction of 2010, she seemed to diminish with the tea party movement. She struggled for reelection in 2012, found herself investigated for alleged misuse of campaign funds, and she was panned for making claims at the Conservative Political Action Conference that President Obama was living a lavish tax payer–funded lifestyle.

But Bachmann’s political obituary was premature. She turned out dozens of activists and — perhaps more important — key Republican Party figures for a Thursday morning press conference. Standing beside her were Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee, and even Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. To top it off, House leadership had scheduled a vote on her bill to repeal Obamacare for the same day.

“This is a momentous day,” she glowingly proclaimed at the top of the event.

Bachmann was there as one of her party’s leading spokeswomen on revelations that the Internal Revenue Service had improperly targeted conservative and tea party groups.

Michele Bachmann Is Back

The IRS hearing on C-SPAN is getting pretty intense right now.

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:53:51 -0400

The IRS hearing on C-SPAN is getting pretty intense right now.

The top advisor to last year’s Republican nominee predicted...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:20:49 -0400

The top advisor to last year’s Republican nominee predicted Wednesday that if Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, she will lose in a Democratic primary.

Clinton is widely thought to be the strongest 2016 presidential contender in either party, with high approval ratings and early poll numbers that show her beating top Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio in their home states.

But Stu Stevens, the senior advisor to Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid, told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by National Review that Clinton wouldn’t survive a Democratic primary.

“I would predict that if Hillary Clinton runs, she’ll lose the primary,” he said.

Top Romney Strategist: Hillary Clinton Will Lose A Democratic Primary

This six-year-old photobombed Ronald Reagan epically.

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:27:14 -0400

This six-year-old photobombed Ronald Reagan epically.

Is Charles Koch really just an elaborate Stephen Colbert? Or is...

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:33:48 -0400

Is Charles Koch really just an elaborate Stephen Colbert? Or is Colbert his long lost song? Theories abound.

Uncle Joe weighs in.

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:40:38 -0400

Uncle Joe weighs in.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee marks up the bipartisan “Gang...

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:20:47 -0400

As the Senate Judiciary Committee marks up the bipartisan “Gang of Eight’s” attempt to rewrite American immigration law, another gang across the Capitol — striking as much for its small numbers as for the intensity of its views — organized its own effort to stop the Senate bill.

“You all know how badly I despise Obamacare. I have spent years of my life fighting against Obamacare,” the group’s leader, Iowa conservative Steve King, said. “It’s terrible, it diminishes the destiny of America. But if I have to choose, if it came down to this: if there was an offer that you are going to get one or the other and you have to choose one, I would take Obamacare and try to live with that than ever accept this amnesty plan. Because the amnesty plan is far, far worse than Obamacare because we can’t put it back in a bottle.”

King and five other House conservatives argued that Republicans have been swindled into thinking that immigration reform must pass this year for the survival of the party. They anticipated that the opposition to the plan would grow as the bill moves through the Senate. King said he is deeply concerned that the House would pass several small bills and then go to conference with the Senate, a procedural maneuver he warned could mean an eventual up or down vote in the House without amendments, passing by virtue of strong support from Democrats.

Small Turnout For Anti-“Amnesty” Leaders In Congress

Same-sex couples could soon be able to marry throughout Brazil,...

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:27:23 -0400

Same-sex couples could soon be able to marry throughout Brazil, following a national judicial panel’s decision that government offices could not deny same-sex couples’ marriage licenses.

“The [National Council of Justice], the body that oversees the operation of the institutions of justice, ruled Tuesday that the notaries in Brazil must register marriages between persons of the same sex,” according to a translation of anAssociated Press article on the decision. “With [this] determination, notaries can not deny homosexual couples orders for marriages … according to the Council in a statement.”

An Agence France-Pressereport notes that the decision, made by the National Council of Justice, which oversees the Brazilian judicial system and is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, could be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Brazilian Judicial Panel Clears Way For Same-Sex Marriages

A Missouri reporter is wondering if the IRS came after him...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:33:51 -0400

A Missouri reporter is wondering if the IRS came after him after he asked President Obama tough questions in a White House interview last year.

From the Facebook page of KMOV’s Larry Conners:

Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS.

I don’t accept “conspiracy theories”, but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.

At the time, I dismissed the “co-incidence”, but now, I have concerns … after revelations about the IRS targeting various groups and their members.

Originally, the IRS apologized for red-flagging conservative groups and their members if they had “Tea Party” or “patriot” in their name.
Today, there are allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run … any involved in limiting/expanding government, educating on the constitution and bill of rights, or social economic reform/movement.

Reporter: IRS Pressured Me After I Asked Obama Tough Questions

An American diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has been...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:41:42 -0400

An American diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has been arrested in Russia and accused of being a CIA agent, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

Ryan Fogle, the third secretary in the political section of the embassy, was detained by Russia’s counterintelligence service, who have said that they caught him trying to recruit a Russian agent.

Russia Today, the Kremlin-sponsored outlet, has multiple photos of Fogle being arrested and also the tools with which he was allegedly conducting his tradecraft: wigs, a flashlight, sunglasses, stacks of cash, and a map and compass. RT also has a copy of the letter that Fogle allegedly gave to the agent he tried to recruit, which includes instructions on how to initiate contact and offers him $100,000 for his cooperation.

American Diplomat Accused Of Spying In Russia

Angry Obama was back at the mics Monday. Just weeks after a...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:21:05 -0400

Angry Obama was back at the mics Monday. Just weeks after a frustrated President Obama stepped to a lectern and insisted he still has “the juice” to get legislation through Congress, a forceful President Obama met the press to try and shut down two stories that threaten to derail his second term agenda. Obama is known for not showing a lot of emotion publicly, but lately he’s been much more expressive as he tries to corral a polarized Congress into acting the way he wants. On Monday, he was forceful in his condemnation of reported IRS targeting of conservative groups with extra scrutiny and angry over Republican attacks on his administration’s handling of Benghazi. Congress is currently obsessed with both stories, and political operatives are already lining up to talk about how they’ll influence the 2014 midterm election and Obama’s political power.

Obama Gets Mad, Again

The old Air Force One is on sale for the low, low price of...

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:27:05 -0400

The old Air Force One is on sale for the low, low price of 50,000 dollars.

Newt Gingrich is “really puzzled” about what to call...

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:33:51 -0400

Newt Gingrich is “really puzzled” about what to call a smart phone.

Just five days after Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney for a second...

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:40:35 -0400

Just five days after Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney for a second term, a group called “Ready for Hillary” made its quiet entrance on Twitter. “Ready to go! Are you?” read a first tweet, dropped into the radio silence of a barely followed feed.

Half a year later, the political action committee is FEC-registered, with a hefty social media presence, a list of 200,000 email addresses, and a handsome cadre of established Clinton supporters who have, to varying degrees, given Ready for Hillary the thumbs-up, and helped make it the predominant vessel for voters hoping, early as it may be, that the former secretary of state will run for president in 2016. Now when the PAC posts a tweet or a picture on Facebook, the responses come in the thousands.

But as more people learn the Ready for Hillary name, many of the allies and former aides in Clinton’s orbit are watching the organization warily, suspicious of the PAC as it gains outsize attention in the absence of any official moves from Hillaryland.

Clinton Loyalists Watch Ready For Hillary PAC Warily

An illustration of the best of twitter’s #StarInfoWars.

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:21:00 -0400

An illustration of the best of twitter’s #StarInfoWars.

After two years of being front and center in the GOP’s fight...

Fri, 10 May 2013 13:50:40 -0400

After two years of being front and center in the GOP’s fight with President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner seems to be missing in action from messaging and legislative battles, worried Republicans told BuzzFeed this week.

True, Boehner still does one or more on-air press events a week, and aides said he’s actively preparing for the fiscal fights looming on the horizon. But with no presidential nominee to be the party’s public face and set its agenda, that role has fallen to the Ohio Republican. And his members worry he’s not doing enough.

“He is actively hitting his marks nationally; he’s fundraising and he’s doing everything a speaker is required to do,” said a Republican congressman, who asked not to be named so he could speak freely. But “much has fallen to [Majority Leader] Eric Cantor and [Whip Kevin] McCarthy for the legislative load here, near as anyone can tell. That is markedly different than the last Congress. He’s disengaged, and that’s not helpful. This place has to be actively managed if we are going to achieve results.”

Another member remarked that Boehner seemed to be “a bit checked out” when it comes to the day-to-day duties of running the House, leaving the agenda — and the blame when things go wrong — to Cantor.

Republicans Ask: Where Is John Boehner?

ellievhall: Prince William, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess...

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:38:54 -0400

ellievhall:

Prince William, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge honor fallen soldiers.

Vice President Joe Biden told a South Carolina environmental...

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:27:12 -0400

Vice President Joe Biden told a South Carolina environmental activist Friday that he opposes a controversial oil pipeline from Canada, but said he is “in the minority” inside the Obama administration, according to the activist’s account of the conversation.

Biden made the remark at Rep. Jim Clyburn’s annual “World Famous Fish Fry” Friday evening, where he met Elaine Cooper, a Columbia resident and group chair of the South Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club, while working the ropeline amongst hundreds of supporters in attendance. An email obtained by BuzzFeed from the organization’s national program assistant, Jessica Eckdish, provides Cooper’s record of the encounter, in which she “was able to ask Vice President Biden if he supporting [sic] rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline,” Eckdish writes.

The email continues: “Here’s his response from Elaine: He grabbed my Sierra Club hat on my head and said, ‘yes, I do — I share your views — but I am in the minority’ and smiled.”

Joe Biden Tells Supporter He Opposes Keystone Pipeline, But Is “In The Minority,” She Says