Grover Norquist

Zachary Roth | February 8, 2010, 4:04PM

Some of the business interests that had abandoned their traditional conservatism to flirt with the Obama agenda may now be shifting back towards the GOP -- another sign that the president's standing is badly weakened a year after taking office.

During 2008 and much of 2009, Obama enjoyed an unusual amount of support for a Democrat from the business community, much of which had grown disillusioned with President Bush and hoped for a return to the steady growth of the Clinton years. But after a string of political setbacks, high-lighted by Scott Brown's win last month in the Massachusetts Senate race, some key business groups and sectors appear to be shifting back to the GOP column.

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Topics: Barack Obama, Chamber of Commerce, Grover Norquist, Health Care, JP Morgan, Lobbyists, NFIB, Scott Brown, Wall Street

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Top Republicans Don't Dispute They Were Told Xmas Bomber Was Held By FBI

Justin Elliott | February 8, 2010, 4:02PM

National Security Adviser John Brennan with (clockwise from top left) Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

There's a key point in danger of being lost in all the he-said-he-said froth over what Congressional Republicans were told in the hours after the failed Christmas attack: none of the GOP leaders disputes that an Obama aide informed them that suspect Umar Abdulmutallab was being held in FBI custody.

The real dispute is over what flows from that fact. John Brennan, Obama's national security adviser, said on Meet The Press Sunday that he called four Republicans -- Sens. Mitch McConnell and Kit Bond and Reps. John Boehner and Pete Hoekstra -- the night of the attempted Christmas attack.

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Topics: John Boehner, John Brennan, Kit Bond, Miranda rights, Mitch McConnell, Northwest Flight 253, Obama Administration, Pete Hoekstra, Republicans, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Endangered Species Act

Alaska Legislature Plans $1.5 Million Astroturf Fight Against Endangered Species Act

Justin Elliott | February 8, 2010, 12:07PM

Seeking to protect the oil industry, the Alaska state legislature has appropriated $1.5 million to fund an astroturf campaign to weaken the Endangered Species Act and put on a conference questioning the listing of polar bears as a threatened species.

Over the objections of some members who warned of "PR damage" to the state, a group of lawmakers late last week decided to move ahead with reviewing bids from public relations firms for the polar bear contract, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

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Topics: Alaska, Astroturf, Bracewell Giuliani, Endangered Species Act, Interior Department, John Harris, Polar Bears, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Palin

Tea Parties

Return Of the Repressed? Birtherism, Homophobia, Racial Paranoia Rise To Surface At Tea Party Confab

Zachary Roth | February 8, 2010, 11:38AM

Tea party in Hartford, Connecticut in 2009

The National Tea Party Convention, which wrapped up Saturday night with a televised speech by Sarah Palin, offered an outlet for some of the fouler strands of modern conservatism that had long been bubbling beneath the surface of the Tea Party movement.

Tea Party leaders had worked hard to keep the public face of the movement focused tightly on a small government, anti-tax message, largely steering clear of social issues, and appeals based explicitly on race. But this weekend, from the podium at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Hotel, convention speakers espoused birtherism, anti-immigrant nativism, homophobia, Christian fundamentalism, and an apparent nostalgia for racially discriminatory barriers to voting.

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Topics: Birthers, Joseph Farah, Racism, Rick Scarborough, Right-wing extremism, Roy Moore, Sarah Palin, Tea Parties, Tea Party Patriots, Tom Tancredo

American Action Network

American Action Network: Who's Putting Up The Money?

Justin Elliott | February 8, 2010, 9:04AM

Norm Coleman and Douglas Holtz-Eakin

With some of the country's top Republicans at the fore of the effort to create a new conservative think tank in Washington, the American Action Network is almost sure to become a political force when it launches later this month.

The public roll-out is scheduled for Feb. 22, so it's a good time to look at a few of the people who are reportedly helping to fund the American Action Network.

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Topics: American Action Network, Doug Domenech, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Fred Malek, Home Depot, Kenneth Langone, Norm Coleman, Richard Nixon, Robert Steel

Barney Frank

Frank Doubles Down: Fund Is 'Congenital And Habitual Liar'

Zachary Roth | February 5, 2010, 5:41PM

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and John Fund

We told you earlier about the spat between Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, which was triggered by Fund's erroneous claim that Frank has been working on a "universal voter registration" bill.

As we reported, Fund is continuing to claim that Frank supports the concept of universal voter registration, which Fund says would overturn state laws and undermine safeguards designed to protect against vote fraud.

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Topics: Barney Frank, John Fund, Voting

Campaign Contributions

Defense Contractor Will Plead Guilty On False Statements Charge

Zachary Roth | February 5, 2010, 2:35PM

A politically connected British defense contractor has agreed to plead guilty to having misled the government about payments that may have been used to help win contracts Saudi Arabia, the Justice Department has announced.

In a joint agreement with the U.S. and U.K., BAE Systems will pay a $400 million fine.

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Topics: Campaign Contributions, Campaign Finance, Justice Department, Mitch McConnell

Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

Out On Bond, Phone-Tamper Defendant Surfaces As Journo At Tea Party Convention

Justin Elliott | February 5, 2010, 2:01PM

Joseph Basel

Landrieu phone-tampering defendant Joseph Basel isn't letting a little thing like felony charges hang over his head and prevent him from achieving professional goals.

With a week until he's due in federal court in New Orleans for a Feb. 12 hearing, Basel has been spotted at the national tea party convention in Nashville by the Washington Independent's Dave Weigel.

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Topics: Joseph Basel, Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal, Leadership Institute, Tea Parties, Tea Party Patriots, University of Minnesota-Morris

Barney Frank

Frank: John Fund Is 'A Liar And A Coward'

Zachary Roth | February 5, 2010, 1:24PM

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and John Fund

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), and Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund are engaged in a bitter war of words stemming from an inaccurate charge made by Fund against the congressman in a speech last fall.

In an interview with TPMmuckraker, Frank called Fund "a liar and a coward," and launched a broadside at "the right-wing echo chamber" that picked up on Fund's erroneous charge against the congressman. For his part, Fund called Frank's outrage "a little sad."

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Topics: Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer, John Fund, Media, Voting

Tom Tancredo

Tancredo: Obama Elected Because 'We Do Not Have A Civics, Literacy Test'

Zachary Roth | February 5, 2010, 10:44AM

Fmr. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)

Organizers of the National Tea Party Convention, who have been at pains to present their confab as a gathering of patriotic and mainstream Americans, may not have been pleased by the speech given by their opening-night speaker.

Former congressman Tom Tancredo declared that President Obama was elected because "we do not have a civics, literacy test before people can vote in this country."

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Topics: Barack Obama, Racism, Tea Parties, Tom Tancredo

Todd Palin

Internal Emails Show Robust Role For 'Shadow Governor' Todd Palin

Justin Elliott | February 5, 2010, 10:40AM

Todd Palin

A nice get from MSNBC.com: a huge batch of internal e-mails released in response to an Alaska open records request show that Todd Palin played a big role in his wife's administration, often corresponding directly with the governor's staff on matters ranging from appointments to contract negotiations.

Todd Palin was known as the "shadow governor" and was a key figure in the Troopergate scandal that dogged Sarah Palin during the 2008 campaign. In recent months, there's evidence that he is still his wife's most important protector: he personally drew up the now-famous "banned list" barring unfriendly media from a Palin book event in Wasilla.

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Topics: Alaska, Going Rogue, National Governors Association, Sarah Palin, Todd Palin, Trooper-Gate

Norm Coleman

American Action Network: Coleman Et Al. To Launch Right-Wing 'Action Tank'

Justin Elliott | February 5, 2010, 9:05AM

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

Several top Republicans are launching what they call a "think-and-do tank" that will focus on conservative economics and business issues and will openly advocate for political candidates, the New York Times is reporting.

At the forefront of the new American Action Network are former senator Norm Coleman and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who was a policy adviser for John McCain and a frequent face of the McCain presidential campaign on television.

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Topics: American Action Network, Center for American Progress, John McCain, Norm Coleman

Rod Blagojevich

Blagojevich Re-Indicted In Response To Review Of Honest Services Law

Justin Elliott | February 4, 2010, 2:46PM

Former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich

With prosecutors aiming to preempt problems that could arise from an expected Supreme Court decision, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was re-indicted today on corruption charges including that he tried to sell his appointment of Barack Obama's successor in the Senate, the AP reports.

The new 24-count indictment does not include new allegations of wrongdoing.

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Topics: Rod Blagojevich