Yahoo! Politics!

yahoonews: With veteran senators retiring, the 114th session of...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:15:59 -0400

With veteran senators retiring, the 114th session of the Senate will have the fewest combined years of experience in decades. When the 110th Congress convened on Jan. 3, 2007, the 100 senators had a combined 1,328 years of experience in the upper chamber. When the 113th Congress convened in January, that figure had fallen to 1,040.

Even if every other current senator stays put, in January 2015, the Senate will have fewer than 1,000 combined years of incumbency for the first time since 1985.

Want to learn more? You can play with the interactive chart seen above by clicking here.

"I turned Havana to Atlanta… Boy from the hood I got White House clearance… Obama said “chill, you..."

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:29:48 -0400

“I turned Havana to Atlanta…
Boy from the hood I got White House clearance…
Obama said “chill, you gonna get me impeached”
But you don’t need this [expletive] anyway
Chill with me on the beach”

- Those lines from Jay-Z’s “Open Letter” were read deadpan by a reporter today during the White House press briefing.

The Obama administration’s response to the reference to White House clearance?

“I guess nothing rhymes with Treasury,” press secretary Jay Carney said.

(via yahoonews)

Got 99 Problems but the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Ain’t One?

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:53:33 -0400

Got 99 Problems but the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Ain’t One?:

yahoonews:

Our Chief Washington Correspondent Olivier Knox reports on Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s trip to Cuba. And yes, that is the opening line of his story.

yahoonews: Can’t remember which senators (and other...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:55:00 -0400

yahoonews:

Can’t remember which senators (and other high-profile politicians) have endorsed same-sex marriage? We’ve organized all the info for you in a handy-dandy interactive that shows you who has and when they did.

And just like that, CPAC is cool again. The Conservative...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:00:21 -0400

And just like that, CPAC is cool again.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (or CPAC, pronounced SEE-PACK by the regulars), meeting this week in National Harbor, Md., is the largest annual confab of right-wing activists—and this year it’s boasting an impressive lineup of speakers.

(Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"When I imagined my journalism career, I never pictured myself standing shirtless in a unisex..."

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:01:42 -0500

“

When I imagined my journalism career, I never pictured myself standing shirtless in a unisex bathroom in the White House.

But that is precisely where I found myself in November, as a new mother of a nursing infant returning from maternity leave to cover the president.

Hiding in a bathroom is a common condition for many breastfeeding moms seeking a private place to pump milk in their workplace.

”

- White House reporter balances working and breastfeeding

Our own Rachel Rose Hartman writes about her struggle to find a clean, private place to pump breast milk after returning to work. Her workplace? The White House

(via yahoonews)

"That is a big win for not just women but for families and for the American people. It’s a law that’s..."

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:27:29 -0500

“That is a big win for not just women but for families and for the American people. It’s a law that’s going to save lives and help more Americans live free from fear”

- —President Barack Obama

Obama on Thursday is set to sign legislation expanding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to afford domestic violence protections to gay, lesbian, and transgender victims as well as Native Americans and undocumented immigrants.

Painful spending cuts may have led the White House to halt...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:57:14 -0500

Painful spending cuts may have led the White House to halt public tours, but President Barack Obama and Republican senators could need to loosen their belts, not tighten them, after their peacemaking dinner at a superswank Washington, D.C., restaurant on Wednesday. How swank? The eatery featuresa menu with a $1,776—per person—price tag, excluding tax and tip.

Amid spending cuts, Obama and GOP to dine in style

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

The District of Columbia bans 26,993 vanity license plate...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:43:22 -0500

The District of Columbia bans 26,993 vanity license plate combinations, most of which relate to either politics or profanity. Can you find one that slipped through the cracks? Find out with our new interactive.

“That’s way off into the future,” Jeb Bush, a Republican and former Florida...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:36:58 -0500

“That’s way off into the future,” Jeb Bush, a Republican and former Florida governor, responded on Monday’s “Today” show when asked about a possible presidential bid. “I won’t [rule it out], but I won’t declare today either.”

Jeb Bush won’t rule out 2016 run

We sat down with the First Lady to discuss the...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:15:36 -0500

We sat down with the First Lady to discuss the “Let’s Move” program. Our favorite revelation? The Obamas are a “brocoli household”:

It is the one vegetable that my children will eat without creating chaos and havoc. There’s never quite clear harmony at the dinner table over the vegetables, but broccoli is a unifier in our household.

The whole interview is worth your 7 minutes.

FLOTUS is launching a new exercise initiative in Chicago today.

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:26:09 -0500

FLOTUS is launching a new exercise initiative in Chicago today.

Justice Department poised to respond to states that have...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:48:56 -0500

Justice Department poised to respond to states that have legalized marijuana:

Amid the celebrations for President Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony in January, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper met with Attorney General Eric Holder during an inaugural reception in Washington, D.C., where the two men discussed an unorthodox topic, given their surroundings: marijuana.

"Roughly two out of three Americans say that automatic spending cuts set to trigger Friday will have..."

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:14:03 -0500

“Roughly two out of three Americans say that automatic spending cuts set to trigger Friday will have a major negative effect on the economy, according to a new public opinion poll. And more would blame congressional Republicans (45 percent) than President Barack Obama (32 percent), the non-partisan Pew Research Center found in its survey.”

- Two in three Americans say sequester will hurt economy |

Governors coming to terms with sequester, but demand more flexibility from Washington

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:24:34 -0500

WASHINGTON — Governors frustrated by the prospect of $85 billion in across-the-board federal spending cuts set to kick in next week have made the “F-word” their term of choice at the annual winter meeting of the National Governors Association.

That word, of course, is “Flexibility.”

“We believe in what we call flexible federalism,” said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat who chairs the NGA. “That’s a strong cooperative relationship between the states and the federal government that solves problems at all levels.”

He added, “We know that cuts are coming, but we also don’t want to suffer disproportionally. We want to have some input on what that looks like.”

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Just to get out ahead of the pack a little, I’m go ahead and...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:48:00 -0500

Just to get out ahead of the pack a little, I’m go ahead and call 2020election for the Democrats.

I’m less sure about 2016, though at the present this next election is not looking good for the GOP either. This forecast is based on extremely simple math: Take the current rates of turnout and party preference for the four major racial and ethnic groups and plug them in to the Census Bureau’s population projections for the 18-and-over population in the next half-century. Here, you can try it yourself

We’ve got a nifty interactive that lets you play with demographic trends and electoral outcome from now until 2060. Check it out!

Jackie Collins totally loved John McCain's memoir

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:21:21 -0500

hollybailey:

I would like the president to settle back and pick up a copy of John McCain’s “Faith of My Fathers.” Now here we have a true American hero, a man with a moral compass and a sense of stunning loyalty and integrity. I think anyone will benefit from reading this book, especially the president.

Jackie Collins is a John McCain fan! Who knew! (via The Ticket)

‘Washington is Hollywood for ugly people,’ so the...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:02:51 -0500

‘Washington is Hollywood for ugly people,’ so the saying goes. By that standard, the nation’s capital should look a bit prettier come Sunday’s Oscars. This is a bumper year for Washington, with a trio of movies that have the capital at their core: “Argo”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, and “Lincoln.” And of course it wouldn’t be Washington if there weren’t a bit of controversy around these films.

"Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has put the death toll at 4,700—the first time an American..."

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:14:59 -0500

“Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has put the death toll at 4,700—the first time an American official has publicly put a figure on the impact of strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles.”

- Drones have killed 4,700, U.S. senator says=

How to watch Obama’s State of the Union address

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:02:22 -0500

Jeff Greenfield on how to watch tonight’s big political event

If you’re in a civic-indeed mood and plan to watch tonight, is there any way to turn the speech into a more-or-less enjoyable experience? Here, a few helpful hints:

1. Count the standing ovations

2. Find a memorable phrase

Read the rest right over here …