By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
President Obama and leaders of Congress dedicated a statue of civil-rights hero Rosa Parks on Wednesday in a moving ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, marking the first time a black woman has been honored with a place in National Statuary Hall.
Republicans shot down Democratic charges that ongoing criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice is couched in racism or sexism, and pressed President Obama for more answers on the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, as partisan battle lines hardened Wednesday over the incident and its aftermath.
Leading Republicans reacted angrily to an admission Tuesday by President Obama's director of national intelligence that his office scrubbed references to al Qaeda's role in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, from the early talking points used by top administration officials, calling it the latest sign of the administration's bungling of the attack and its aftermath.
On Friday night, I threw a party at one of my favorite places in Washington, the Monocle, celebrating the career of a friend, Rep. Edolphus Towns, New York Democrat, and his wife of 50 years Gwen.
For decades, Southerners put a firm imprint on national politics from both sides of the aisle, holding the White House for 25 of the past 50 years and producing a legion of Capitol Hill giants during the 20th century. That kind of obvious power has waned as regional politicians navigate the consequences of shifts in demographics, migration and party identity.
The third anniversary of CNBC analyst Rick Santelli's famous on-camera rant that many grass-roots folk cite as an early catalyst of the tea party movement has passed - but Mr. Santelli's spell still lingers.
I guess I'm a little confused. Earlier this month, Republican White House contender Rick Santorum made a comment about wishing to improve the lives of black Americans. The mainstream media and liberal lawmakers ran with the sound bite as a way of smearing Mr. Santorum with the "racist" brush. Now Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, and others are once again playing the race card, insisting that an attack on food stamps is an attack on the black community ("West: Yes, Obama is 'the food-stamp president,' " Web, Monday).
Rep. Allen B. West took to the airwaves Monday to defend former House Speaker Newt Gingrich against charges from a top Democrat that Mr. Gingrich used racist "code words" to fuel his double-digit win over the weekend in the South Carolina Republican primary.
South Carolina press and public are puzzling over Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's decision to appear at a homeownership rally in Columbia on Thursday with Rep. James E. Clyburn, the Palmetto State's only Democratic congressman.
The defeat last week of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution showed a remarkable shift in congressional opinion in just 15 years on what had, at one point, appeared destined to become the 28th addition to the founding document.
The House on Friday rejected a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, falling well short of the two-thirds vote required and signaling a striking slide since the amendment's high point in the 1990s.
The House on Thursday passed a controversial GOP measure that calls for curtailing the National Labor Relations Board's enforcement power — a move that would undermine a federal complaint that the Boeing Co. illegally opened a plant in South Carolina.
Some rich Americans will not rest until Washington boosts their taxes.
The 12-member supercommittee tasked with straightening out the country's fiscal mess is long on lawmakers who have already whiffed in recent months on chances to strike deals and short on those who have shown a readiness to make the compromises that all sides say will be needed.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday appointed three Democrats to Congress' new debt-reduction supercommittee, completing the 12-member panel's roster.
"This is a good time and good place to honor the most honorable woman," Rep. James E. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, told the crowded hall.
