The Hollywood Liberal

Norquist says Haley Barbour ?is not completely fluent in English.?
Politico reported today that Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) “is weighing the prospect of a 2012 White House bid” and recently discussed the possibility with his closest advisers. When asked about the discussions, Barbour himself didn’t downplay the possibility of running for president. “After the November election, we’ll sit down and see if there is anything […]

Politico reported today that Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) “is weighing the prospect of a 2012 White House bid” and recently discussed the possibility with his closest advisers. When asked about the discussions, Barbour himself didn’t downplay the possibility of running for president. “After the November election, we’ll sit down and see if there is anything to consider,” he said. Today on ABC’s Top Line, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist may have put a small blemish on Barbour’s prospects for consideration. Norquist ridiculed RNC chair Michael Steele because of his gaffe-prone TV appearances. “Sometimes it hurts,” he said, adding that Steele should take example from former RNC chair Barbour:

NORQUIST: Haley Barbour — because he’s not completely fluent in English — was not quite the spokesman that you might have thought, although he’s a brilliant guy, wonderful strategist. I don’t think you saw him going into ‘94 as the spokesman so much as an organizer and a fund-raiser. And he brought the Republicans and the House and Senate together and banged their heads together when necessary

Third-party groups join chorus clamoring for 2011 federal budget
For congressional Democrats hoping to avoid the political hits involved in writing a budget this year, not writing a budget is proving to be nearly as painful. All week, Republicans have been accusing Democratic leaders of shirking their duty to face up to the nation’s budget woes. On Friday, out…

Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist goes from shoo-in to political freefall
THE VILLAGES, FLA. — Republican Florida governor Charlie Crist, once regarded as a shoo-in to become Florida’s next senator, waded into a milling crowd. If his campaign had been going according to plan, his audience here on this night would have been perfect: an elderly, largely conservative Rep…

First-quarter fundraising winners and losers
First quarter fundraising winners and losers Yesterday was the official deadline for federal candidates to file their first quarter fundraising reports — detailing their donations and expenditures for the first three months of 2010. With so many reports flooding in and what’s contained in them l…

Massa gave $40,000 to aide before resigning as congressman
The day after Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) announced he was resigning amid a sexual harassment scandal, the congressman wrote a $40,000 check from a campaign account to his chief of staff, federal campaign records show.

CBS spreads Supreme Court rumor
The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.

Dodd Bill Institutionalizes Too Big to Fail
Peter Wallison, The American
One thing can be said about the current debate over the administration’s financial regulation plan, or at least Senator Chris Dodd’s version: the debate has sharpened the issues so that Dodd, the Democrats, and the administration can no longer hide behind slogans. If the administration thought that the bill could be passed simply because the American people resent Wall Street and the big banks, they may have guessed wrong. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has called them on this, and pointed out that the Dodd bill has some troubling provisions. This required…

Europe Tax Model Delivers More Benefits
Steven Hill, Sacramento Bee
Most Americans seem to regard April 15 – the day income tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service – as a recurring tragedy akin to a biblical plague. Particularly this year, with U.S. government deficits soaring, everyone from the tea baggers to Fox News and Senate Republicans are sounding the alarm about a return to “big government.”Ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani even stated recently that President Barack Obama was moving us toward – gasp – European socialism. 

Obama’s Dangerous Moral Equivalence
Mark Davis, Dallas Morning News
Is it good or bad for the United States and Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenals?Either answer is wrong. But it was a trick question, based on a false equivalency.A reduction in the Russian arsenal is a self-evident good. While no longer operating under the old Soviet model of world domination, Russia is a lumbering third-world nation run by paranoid leaders still nostalgic about the days when Moscow made other capitals snap to attention with a nuclear threat.