Think Progress

Fox News Military Analyst Endorses DADT Repeal, Criticizes McCain For Flip-Flopping - Sunday, February 7th, 2010

This morning, Fox & Friends Weekend hosted Col. David Hunt, a Fox News military analyst, to discuss whether to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
According to his bio on the Fox News website, Hunt is a retired colonel with “over 29 years of military experience including extensive operational experience in special operations, counter terrorism and [...]

Wall Street Republicans Form ‘Action Tank’ To Push Corporate Agenda - Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Just two weeks after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of opening the floodgates of corporate donations into electoral politics, a class of Wall Street Republicans have assembled around a new GOP group that aims to capitalize on corporate America’s empowerment. According to The New York Times, the group aims to “develop and market conservative [...]

Tancredo says Obama won because we lack a ‘literacy test before people can vote in this country.’ - Friday, February 5th, 2010

Yesterday was the start of the National Tea Party Convention, which is “aimed at bringing the Tea Party Movement leaders together from around the nation for the purpose of networking and supporting the movement’s multiple organizations’ principal goals.” One of the featured speakers during the convention’s kickoff was former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo. Tancredo [...]

McCain On DADT: ‘I Will Be Glad To Listen To The Views Of Military Leaders’ - Thursday, February 4th, 2010

In October 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that “the day that the leadership of the military comes to” and says the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy “ought to change,” he would “seriously” consider changing it. In an interview with the Washington Blade in 2008, he said he would “defer to our military commanders” [...]

Hannity Claims Bush Never Played Golf During Wartime: He Was ‘Far More In Touch’ Than Obama - Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Last night on Fox News, Sean Hannity criticized President Obama for inviting famous guest chefs to cook at the White House, claiming the President is “out of touch” with regular Americans. “He’s jetting around to Broadway on vacations on our dime!” Hannity complained. “He is so far out of touch with what is going on,” [...]

ThinkFast: February 4, 2010 - Thursday, February 4th, 2010

The Wall Street Journal reports that “Republicans are stepping up their campaign to win donations from Wall Street,” following the industry’s increasing turn against the Democratic Party. House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) reportedly met with J.P. Morgan chief and Democratic ally James Dimon last week to try to persuade him to support his [...]

Flashback: McCain cited Colin Powell as justification for opposing DADT repeal. - Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Following President Obama’s call in his State of the Union address to end the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy, Congress has taken up the issue and is debating legislation that would repeal it. Last June, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — a leading critic of ending DADT — cited Colin Powell as justification for his [...]

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen: ‘It is my personal belief’ that repealing DADT is ‘the right thing to do.’ - Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

Today, the Senate Armed Services Committee held hearing on the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the first such session in 17 years. During the hearing, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen made the powerful announcement that he personally it is time to allow gay men and women to serve openly:
MULLEN: Mr. Chairman, [...]

Former McCain adviser Mark Zandi: The ‘stimulus was key’ to the strong 4th quarter growth of U.S. economy. - Friday, January 29th, 2010

Today, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at 5.7 percent from October through December, a “better-than-expected gain.” The expansion was the fastest in six years. White House economic adviser Christina Romer said the report is “the most positive news to date” on the economy. Speaking on Bloomberg television today, Mark Zandi — [...]

Palin On Whether She Will Still Speak At ‘Scammy’ Tea Party Convention: ‘You Betcha!’ - Friday, January 29th, 2010

Tea Party activists and loyalists have recently criticized the National Tea Party Convention set to take place in Nashville, TN next month, balking at the expensive ticket prices and the fact that the “scammy” event is for-profit. “That’s not what the tea party is about,” said one local Tea Party leader. After reports spread about [...]

Senate Republicans Called For Commitment To PAYGO Before Voting Against It - Thursday, January 28th, 2010

n his State of the Union address last night, President Obama urged the Senate to adopt pay-as-you-go rules (PAYGO), which essentially stipulate that all spending increases will be offset by either cuts elsewhere or tax increases. “When the vote comes tomorrow, the Senate should restore the pay-as-you-go law that was a big reason for why [...]

Demoralizing His Supporters, Obama Calls Nukes, Coal, And Oil Drilling ‘Clean Energy Jobs’ - Thursday, January 28th, 2010

President Barack Obama’s discussion of energy policy in his first State of the Union address pandered to corporate interests while demoralizing his progressive supporters. Though Obama made a strong case that real investments in clean energy such as solar technology, advanced batteries, high-speed rail and efficiency are critical to job creation and international competitiveness, he [...]

McCain seen mouthing ‘blame it on Bush’ when Obama outlines the problems he inherited. - Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Tonight in his State of the Union address, President Obama outlined steps he plans to take “to pay for the $1 trillion that it took to rescue the economy last year.” However, he first addressed right-wing criticisms that he is overseeing out-of-control spending by noting the situation he faced when he took office:
By the [...]

AZ Sen. candidate Hayworth panders to birthers: ‘We all had to show our birth certificates’ to ‘play football.’ - Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

This past weekend, right-wing shock jock and former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth announced he is planning to run against Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for U.S. Senate. In an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball With Chris Matthews this afternoon, Hayworth joined the chorus of far right-wing “birthers” who continue insisting that President Obama may have been [...]

Right-Wing Fringe Rebels Against Palin Over Her Endorsement Of ‘RINO’ McCain - Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Since she was picked as Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) running mate, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been one of the right’s most beloved political figures. But when Palin announced last week that she would campaign for McCain in his reelection primary battle against ultra-conservative former congressman J.D. Hayworth, some of her most vocal supporters [...]

FLASHBACK: Obama Criticized Spending Freeze As ‘Using A Hatchet Where You Need A Scalpel’ - Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

The Obama administration has announced that in tomorrow’s State of the Union address, President Obama will call for a freeze on non-defense discretionary spending. The freeze — which will keep fiscal year 2012 and 2013 spending at the 2011 level — is designed to save $250 billion over ten years, and will “exempt security-related budgets [...]

Lieberman: ‘It’s Possible’ I Could Be ‘A Good Old-Fashioned New England Moderate Republican’ - Monday, January 25th, 2010

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) supported Republican John McCain and attacked then-candidate Obama while speaking at the Republican National Committee. Though he currently caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, Lieberman has repeatedly stated that he views running for re-election in 2012 as an option.
In an interview on Connecticut’s Face The State [...]

Bill’s Late Father Irving Kristol: ‘My Poor Son Has Got It Wrong Again’ - Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Despite all the failures of the neoconservative movement in foreign policy over the last eight years, Newsweek writes that we are witnessing “the return of the neocons.” However, the article provides little hard evidence that neoconservative foreign policy has actually gained renewed credibility. Neocons simply “agree…that they are not about to go away.” And despite [...]

Bayh Claims ‘There’s A Fighting Chance’ Obama Will Call For A Spending Freeze - Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

In an interview yesterday with Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) — who met with members of the administration’s economic team this week — said that he believes there’s a “fighting chance” that President Obama will call for a freeze on discretionary spending in his next budget:
We can do something right here, right now, [...]

Citizens United Decision: ‘A Rejection Of The Common Sense Of The American People’ - Thursday, January 21st, 2010

In what could prove to be the most consequential Supreme Court decision in decades, all five of the Court’s conservatives joined together today to invalidate a sixty-three year-old ban on corporate money in federal elections. In the process, the Court overruled a twenty year-old precedent permitting such bans on corporate electioneering; and it ignored [...]