Politics

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Carol D. Leonnig A lengthy House investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been derailed by infighting within the politically charged ethics committee over errors in building a case against her, according to congressional sources with direct knowledge of the probe. The probe, opened in 2009, dissolved this fall and…

People want to put a lot of blame for the current conditions of the nation — from the bad economy to the heightened partisanship — on Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. There is certainly a level of truth to that, but perhaps not as much as one would think. In a few weeks,…

The Washington Post is reporting that President Obama signed into law the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade Friday. The law will extend Bush-era tax cuts for another two years in an effort to boost the tepid economic recovery. In remarks before signing the bill, Obama called it “a substantial victory for middle-class…

Despite the hue and cry by House Democrats about how much the wealthy benefit from the tax plan President Obama brokered with the GOP, the bill overcame Democratic opposition in the House late last night. It will be signed by the president as early as today. Congress approved the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade…

Update: The tax-cut bill passed the House late Thursday. Its next stop is the president’s desk. As President Barack Obama’s controversial tax-cut proposal was temporarily pulled from a vote in the House on Thursday, the White House trotted out Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, and Gene Sperling, counselor to the treasury…

Sometimes, moving is a happy event. Sometimes it’s not. Last week, when Annie Ricks and five of her children left the 11th-floor apartment in the dilapidated, 15-story high-rise complex where she has lived for the past 22 years, it was a media event. And Ricks, the last tenant in Chicago’s notorious Cabrini-Green public housing project,…

President Obama and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett will meet with members of the National Policy Alliance today. The alliance is made up of 10 member organizations, including Blacks in Government, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Conference of Black Mayors, the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association and the National Caucus of Black School…

There is the familiar theme: “We oppose the president on his latest legislative initiative.” There is the familiar rhetoric: “The president is spineless and needs to take a stand.” Then there is the face of the opposition: the Republicans on Capitol Hill. But not in this instance. Not with Democrats reversing roles with congressional Republicans…

It sometimes strains the mind to adapt to the “new normal” that constitutes our contemporary legal framework since the advent of the so-called war on terror. In just 10 years, terms like “indefinite detention” and “torture” no longer describe crimes per se — at least not to many former and some current government lawyers, sitting…

Signing into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (pdf) will naturally not go down in history for President Barack Obama the way the latest tax compromise has. It’s not that hot kind of news — although it will likely have more effect on children’s daily lives than modest tax cuts. This new bill requires food…