03.15.11 -- 11:28PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)

Still Pretty Weird

Wisconsin senate Republicans back off plan to strip Democrats of right to vote in committee proceedings.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 6:45PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (15)

Reince Steele?

I think that the RNC figured they were through with weird media goofs from the chairman when they canned Michael Steele. But here's Reince Priebus tweeting that President Obama's ignoring world crises to focus on NCAA March Madness.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 6:14PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (16)

That's Their Emergency?

House Republicans have called for an emergency meeting to discuss ... NPR.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 4:41PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (21)

Senator, You're No Jack Kennedy

Santorum attacks JFK as "radical" for saying he believed in the separation of church and state during the 1960 presidential campaign.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 3:47PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)

Upping The Ante

House Republicans now going after NPR funding harder than ever.

--David Kurtz

03.15.11 -- 3:43PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

The Lights Stay On ... For Now

A stopgap continuing resolution to fund the federal government for another three weeks just passed the House, 271-158.

--David Kurtz

03.15.11 -- 2:44PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

You Don't Want to Know

How well prepared are US states for a radiation emergency? Here's the answer.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 12:35PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Old School

Back in January, the FBI arrested more than 120 suspected mobsters in what was billed as the biggest mafia bust ever. Our crime and justice reporter Ryan Reilly has been wrangling with the Feds with FOIAs to get more info and the mugshots. And they just coughed up the first round of documents and pictures. Click here to see our Slideshow of mugshots from the bust.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 12:11PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (26)

Like a Rock

We've focused a lot on Gov. Walker (R-WI) in the last few weeks because his own battle with state senate Democrats has been more colorful and cartoonish than any of the others around the country. But former Rep. and now Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) has been in a similar battle with Democrats in his state over budget cuts and union organizing rights. And the polls at least now have a verdict. His popularity has dropped dramatically in recent polls and a new one shows that if he had to run again against Ted Strickland, the guy he narrowly beat last November, he'd lose by a whopping 15 points.

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 10:11AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (20)

Trouble

The world seems to be reeling from one crisis and confrontation with history to another. The unfolding disaster in Japan, understandably, has everyone's attention. And before the earthquake this weekend, the shambling and chaotic situation in Libya had everyone's focus. But something else just happened that while not momentous or dramatic in the moment -- or compared to everything else that's happening -- seems like a very big deal, and an event the implications of which may be vast.

One of the more protracted mass protests in the Arab world over the last two months has been in Bahrain, a small emirate on the coast of the Persian Gulf with close ties to the United States and a Sunni royal family presiding over a majority Shi'a population. The regime has rocked back and forth between violence and accommodation. But over the weekend the Bahraini royal family invited 1000 Saudi troops into the country to help control unrest. (Any number of these verbs might well belong in single quotes.)

Read more »

--Josh Marshall

03.15.11 -- 9:30AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (7)

Boehner's Battle

Will enough House conservatives defect from their party leadership to kill the next stopgap spending measure? Brian Beutler previews today's vote in the House.

--David Kurtz

03.15.11 -- 9:19AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)

A Meltdown Of A Different Kind

Susan Crabtree has the latest on the turmoil in the House Ethics Committee.

--David Kurtz

03.14.11 -- 10:25PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (19)

Worst Case Scenario Imminent

Important new developments in the Japan nuclear crisis which suggest that the situation at the most stricken plant has spiraled out of control, forcing the evacuation of workers who were trying to regain control of the reactors, according to the New York Times.

Live English language coverage from NHK World here.

--David Kurtz

03.14.11 -- 10:24PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (26)

Bound for Glory

Newt Gingrich's national favorability rating.

(Click the TPM logo to see full-sized graph.)

What stands out to me is that he seems to have been significantly less popular since he stepped up his public profile late last year in expectation of a presidential run.

--Josh Marshall

03.14.11 -- 10:08PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)

More of the Science

Running notes on the science and mechanics of what's going on inside these reactors in Japan from Union of Concerned Scientists' All Things Nuclear blog.

--Josh Marshall

03.14.11 -- 9:24PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (9)

Not Clear What's Happening

Following a third explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi complex, the reports this evening about the new blast are seemingly contradictory.

"Some early reports in the Japanese press suggested the latest explosion amounted to a different and more critical problem than the previous two," the New York Times reports. While the BBC says, "Some staff have been evacuated, but initial indications suggest it is not on the same scale as the previous blasts."

Likewise there are conflicting reports about whether the explosion compromised the reactor's containment vessel.

--David Kurtz

03.14.11 -- 6:49PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (20)

Great News for Boehner

Small government diehard Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has announced that he's going off the reservation and won't vote for the new continuing resolution (to keep the government running) endorsed by Speaker Boehner and the GOP leadership. This is not inconsistent with Flake's longtime position on these sorts of issues. But remember, he's also running for Senate now from Arizona. So these crosscutting currents are starting to cause trouble for the Speaker.

--Josh Marshall

03.14.11 -- 6:46PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (28)

Keep Digging

Wisconsin's Senate Majority Leader announces that the fourteen senate Dems who returned to the state over the weekend have lost their right to vote in senate committees.

--Josh Marshall

03.14.11 -- 6:37PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (15)

Movin' Fast

Wisconsin Dems say they've already collected 45% of the signatures needed to recall the eight state senate Republicans currently eligible for a recall vote.

--Josh Marshall