Essential Reads
Essential Reads is your one-stop source for the top stories of the day as reported by your favorite Washington Week panelists. It's a simple way to save time and stay informed about the news you need to know. Check it out every day!
Feb 07, 2013
-
Obama's Pick For CIA Chief To Face Senate Scrutiny
By Tom Gjelten, NPRJohn Brennan, President Obama's choice to lead the CIA, can look forward to a grilling Thursday on Capitol Hill. As Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, he has been associated with some controversial policies, including the use of armed drones. Brennan's nomination comes before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and members from both parties have their questions ready.
Read more -
Sen. Marco Rubio to Give GOP Response Tuesday
With John Harwood, CNBC Read more -
New Rove Effort Has G.O.P. Aflame
By Jeff Zeleny, The New York TimesTheir battle with Democrats will have to wait. For now, Republicans have their hands full fighting one another.
The strategist Karl Rove and his allies are under withering criticism for creating the Conservative Victory Project, their effort to help rebuild the Republican Party and win control of the Senate. Their pledge to take sides in primary races in an effort to pick candidates they see as more electable has set off a fierce backlash from conservative activists.
Read more -
Hacker Group, Anonymous, Hits Federal Reserve
With Pierre Thomas, ABC News Watch more -
Cuts What the Most Prominent Latina in the U.S. Thinks About Immigration Reform
By Beth Reinhard, National JournalNew Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is one of the Republican Party’s most prized ambassadors. She is female and Hispanic at a time when recruiting candidates like her is at the top of the Republican agenda.
Read more
Feb 06, 2013
-
Drone Strikes’ Dangers to Get Rare Moment in Public Eye
By Mark Mazzetti, Robert F. Worth and Scott Shane, The New York Times
Late last August, a 40-year-old cleric named Salem Ahmed bin Ali Jaber stood up to deliver a speech denouncing Al Qaeda in a village mosque in far eastern Yemen.
It was a brave gesture by a father of seven who commanded great respect in the community, and it did not go unnoticed. Two days later, three members of Al Qaeda came to the mosque in the tiny village of Khashamir after 9 p.m., saying they merely wanted to talk. Mr. Jaber agreed to meet them, bringing his cousin Waleed Abdullah, a police officer, for protection.
Read more -
Obama Urges Short-Term Delay of Sequester Cuts
By Alexis Simendinger, Real Clear PoliticsFaced with another Washington-created budget deadline, President Obama asked Congress Tuesday to commit to a new, short-term delay of spending cuts set to hit federal programs on March 1.
Read more -
Obama Urges Congress to Act to Stave Off Cuts
By Jackie Calmes and Michael D. Shear, The New York TimesPresident Obama on Tuesday called on Congress to quickly pass a new package of limited spending cuts and tax increases to head off substantial across-the-board reductions to domestic and military spending set to begin on March 1, but his appeal for more revenue was dismissed by Republicans.
Read more -
As Obama Calls For Short-Term Fix to Avert Sequester, CBO Reports Falling Deficits
By Lori Montgomery and Zachary A. Goldfarb, The Washington PostPresident Obama on Tuesday urged Congress to head off deep automatic spending cuts set to hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies on March 1 and replace them, at least for a few months, with a new debt-reduction package that includes fresh tax revenue.
Read more -
Tax reform that hits home
By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles TimesWould you support a tax reform measure that could help reduce the federal deficit, remove a needless distortion in the economy and make the system fairer?
Read more -
Republicans Try a Softer Focus — On Life Issues
By Karen Tumulty, The Washington PostAfter years in which the Republicans’ answer to almost every question was to reduce spending and lower taxes, some of the party’s most influential voices are beginning to suggest that it is time to take a broader — and softer — focus.
Read more
Feb 05, 2013
-
The Debt Ceiling Explained: Why You Should Care
With David Wessel, Wall Street Journal
Watch more
-
President Obama Misses Budget Deadline for Third Straight Year
By Lori Montgomery, The Washington PostFor the third year in a row, President Obama on Monday blew the deadline for submitting his budget request to Congress, prompting Republicans to grouse once again about presidential fecklessness on fiscal matters.
Read more -
Boehner Blasts Obama on Budget
With Eamon Javers, CNBC
Watch more
-
Goldman’s Blankfein to Join Obama Immigration Meeting
By Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg NewsPresident Barack Obama will meet today with a dozen chief executive officers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blankfein and Yahoo! Inc.’s Marissa Mayer as part of his campaign to pressure lawmakers to rewrite the nation’s immigration laws, the White House said.
Read More -
How Republicans Learned to Love the Mainstream Media
By Beth Reinhard, National JournalIf you’re going to declare war on the tea party, The New York Times is a good place to start.
By laying out plans to protect Senate Republicans and other seasoned candidates from tea-party insurgents on the front page of the Sunday paper, the American Crossroads super PAC effectively alerted the donor class to its new venture, called the Conservative Victory Project.
Read more -
Gen. Carter Ham: Members of Al Qaida Group Among Benghazi Attackers
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy NewspapersThe attackers who killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans last September in Benghazi, Libya, represented a variety of Islamist groups and were motivated by a myriad of factors, the top Libyan official investigating the case has told McClatchy.
Read more -
The CIA And The Hazards Of Middle East Forecasting
By Tom Gjelten, NPRGovernment agencies do not often acknowledge their own errors, but the CIA has done just that with the declassification of intelligence memoranda on the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
Read more
Feb 04, 2013
-
Why Immigration Reform in 1986 Fell Short
By Karen Tumulty, The Washington Post
When Ronald Reagan signed a comprehensive immigration overhaul in 1986, he confidently predicted: “Future generations of Americans will be thankful for our efforts to humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people — American citizenship.”
Read more -
EU Wish List for U.S. Policy
By Naftali Bendavid, Wall Street JournalAs President Barack Obama’s new foreign policy team takes shape in Washington, European leaders’ hopes for his second term are topped by a U.S.-Europe free trade deal and a new push for Mideast peace.
Read more
