Written by Chris Burritt More lawmakers finally admitted over the weekend that they’re less confident they can act before the end of the year to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts. For holiday shoppers, though, pessimism about...
Read more »
Photograph by Sam Hodgson/Bloomberg
Customers at a Target store in Escondido, California.
Wary Shoppers Eye Fiscal Cliff
Photograph by Raimund Koch
Community and chain drug stores may have lost their fight in refilling maintenance medication under Medicare.
Retail druggists get lump of coal from Congress
Congress gave retail pharmacies a lump of coal for Christmas and may have tossed a few sugar plums to McKesson Corp. and Express Scripts Inc. Community and chain drug stores have spent much of 2012 fighting a push for more...
Read more »
Photograph by Harry Hamburg/AP Photo
Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho on Capitol Hill in Washington, 2011.
Crapo’s Driving Under Influence Case May Be Muted Washington Scandal
With assistance from Derek Wallbank in Washington. What are the ingredients for a classic Washington scandal? Perhaps one part crime, one part hypocrisy and two parts intrigue. For U.S. Senator Mike Crapo, an Idaho Republican and Mormon who was arrested yesterday...
Read more »
Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) nominated Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of state, at the White House on Dec. 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C.
Kerry Can’t Do It All: Picking Someone to Preside
President Barack Obama joked about a procedural quirk that lies ahead when he chose Senator John Kerry as his nominee for secretary of state. “I guess you won’t be able to actually appear and preside at the same time,” Obama...
Read more »
Photograph by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy urged Congress to pass the McCarthy-DeGette bill banning high capacity assault weapon magazines.
McCarthy: NRA Is `Out of Touch’
New York Democratic Representative Carolyn McCarthy said the National Rifle Association’s opposition any new gun regulations shows that the group “is out of touch” with the American people. McCarthy, whose husband was killed in a 1993 mass shooting on the...
Read more »
Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Bernanke Unhappy Mortgage Rates Aren’t Even Lower
By Caroline Salas Gage, Jody Shenn and Heather Perlberg Record-low mortgage rates aren’t cheap enough for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Bloomberg reports that the Fed is buying $45 billion of Treasuries and $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities each...
Read more »
Photograph by Cory Lum-Pool/Getty Images
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama stand with Senator Inouye's wife Irene Hirano during funeral services for the late Senator Daniel Inouye on Dec. 23, 2012 in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Obama Home for the Holiday: Really
Daniel Inouye already had been the congressman from Hawaii for almost two years when Barack Obama was born there. Inouye, who died last week at 88, the second-longest serving U.S. senator after the late Robert Byrd, was the first congressman...
Read more »
Photograph by Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly via Getty Images
The Federal Election Commission chairwoman, Democrat Ellen Weintraub (L), and the vice chairman, Republican Donald McGahn (R), shown here in 2008 in different roles.
FEC `On the Roof:’ Balking Blocs
The Federal Election Commission chairwoman for 2013 will be Democrat Ellen Weintraub, and the vice chairman will be Donald McGahn, a Republican. These are the two leaders of the two FEC blocs that have prevented the commission from taking any...
Read more »
Photograph by Whitney Curtis/Getty Images
A display during the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits on April 14, 2012 at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: $719,596
That’s how much the National Rifle Association’s political action committee and individuals employed by the association gave to federal candidates during the 2012 elections. Republicans received $634,146, or 88 percent, and Democrats got $85,450, or 12 percent, according to the...
Read more »
Contributors
-
Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Stephanie Green
is a writer and photographer for Bloomberg Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. She has also written for The Washington Post, The Huffington Post and The Washington Times. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
