By Robert Romano “If success depends on convincing senators in the Republican cloakroom, it will not work because far too many are afraid of the electoral consequences.” That was Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Tex.) take on a Senate Republican push to defund the health care law before it […]

By Robert Romano “As we know all too well, national security is a real and present danger, and it is something that we have to take quite seriously.” Maybe it was a Freudian slip. But to be fair to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who on July 24 was speaking against a proposed amendment to the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act offered by Rep. Justin […]

By Robert Romano “I love all these esoteric debates that people are getting in… I want them [including Senator Rand Paul] to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation.” That was New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie’s challenge to anyone daring to question the 9/11 national security consensus among politicians in favor of the National Security […]

By Robert Romano Since the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act because there was no longer evidence of voter suppression of minorities in affected states based on U.S. Census data, the political left in the U.S. has been rumbling for another way […]

By Robert Romano The National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) domestic surveillance program suffered a near-death experience on the floor of the House of Representatives July 24. Although an amendment to the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was narrowly defeated 205 to 217 in a truly bipartisan vote , the fact it even came up for a vote was a victory. The amendment […]

By Robert Romano The National Security Agency’s (NSA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) domestic surveillance program will face its first up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives today. An amendment offered by Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash to the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act would defund any surveillance to collect communications data “if such things do not pertain to a person who is the subject of an investigation.” Under current law in Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the FBI and NSA […]

By Robert Romano The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting of tea party and other 501(c)(4) organizations has now reached the post of the agency’s top lawyer, chief counsel William Wilkins, a political appointee. The bombshell was revealed in recent congressional testimony as reported by the House Oversight Committee . How far we have come. […]

By Robert Romano As the summer heat wave rolls on, electric utilities in localities across the country are asking customers to curb usage to avert brownouts . With a growing population in the 21st Century, increased demand for electricity is a certainty, particularly in the summer months. That means more power plants will be needed […]

By Robert Romano You could almost see it coming. Predictably, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced on June 18 a potential 2014 sunset to the central bank’s quantitative easing program if and when unemployment hits 7 percent , 10-year treasuries jumped from 2.2 percent to about 2.56 percent. So it is with the Fed-addicted market. Because of the inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices, the central bank — being a major purchaser […]

By Robert Romano Republican Sen. John McCain on July 11 joined forces with freshman Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren to propose reinstating Depression-era separation between commercial and investment banking , known as Glass-Steagall, and a 1956 limitation on bank involvement in insurance business. For McCain, this is certainly nothing new. He had worked with Democrat Sen. […]