George W. Bush, one of the nation’s retired presidents, has become of late one of its most avid painters. The 43rd president of the United States has become a prolific practitioner of brush on canvas. And like every other pastime...
Read more »
FOX News
Former President George W. Bush has taken up painting.
George Bush Wants to Paint Your Dog
Photograph by Paramount/Everett Collection
Star Trek
IRS Star Trek Video: Beam It Up
In the voyages of the Starship IRS, this was a malfunction. The Internal Revenue Service said late today that a “Star Trek” parody video sought by congressional investigators “did not reflect the best stewardship of resources.” Rep. Charles Boustany, a Louisiana...
Read more »
Photograph by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Jordan's King Abdullah II and President Barack Obama hold a press conference at Al-Hummar Palace in Amman on March 22, 2013. Obama arrived in Jordan to face scrutiny over his Syria strategy, on the last leg of a Middle East tour after challenging Israelis to embrace peace with Palestinians.
King’s Pay Grade: Palace Included
Who makes more money than a king? Today in Jordan, standing with the $400,000-a-year president of the United States, King Abdullah II said that the question of potential asylum for the besieged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is beyond his pay...
Read more »
Photograph by Craig Lassig/Bloomberg
Medtronic Inc. headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Medical Device Tax Repeal on Hold
Bipartisan support for repealing the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices doesn’t mean the tax will get repealed any time soon. The Senate’s 79-20 vote yesterday in favor of repeal was a non-binding amendment to the budget. Thirty-four members of...
Read more »
Photograph by Scott Eells/Bloomberg
Mia Love, mayor of Saratoga Springs, speaks at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa.
Utah Republican Mia Love Files Papers for Matheson Rematch
Mia Love, a Republican Utah mayor who almost unseated Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson last November, has filed paperwork that paves the way for her to seek a rematch in 2014. Love filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization with the Federal...
Read more »
Photograph by Getty Images
Priebus: ‘Traveling Circus’ Out — ‘Biologically Stupid’ Talk Forbidden
It was Bobby Jindal who warned his party to “stop being the stupid party.” And Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said today that his party needs to stop running around saying “biologically stupid things” — and avoid...
Read more »
Photograph by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Members of the Montgomery County Council, as well as local activists and members the the Montgomery County Board of Education, took part in a shopping venture to see if they could live on $5.00 a day worth of food on Feb. 4, 2013. They had a $25.00 limit (5-day supply) as part of the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the new name for food stamps).
McCain Reverts to Maverick Status in Budget Debate
Sen. John McCain is reverting to maverick status in an attempt to reach a grand bargain to avoid the ongoing sequestration. While most of his fellow Republicans have opposed closing special-interest tax loopholes, preferring to cut food stamps instead, McCain, an Arizona Republican,...
Read more »
Photograph by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Senator Robert Menendez at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) annual meeting at the Washington Convention Center on March 5, 2013 in Washington.
Menendez Has Helped Donors Other than Melgen
Dr. Salomon Melgren, the West Palm Beach ophthamologist at the center of an investigation involving Sen. Robert Menendez, is not the only campaign contributor who has been helped by the New Jersey Democrat. Menendez backed Spanish Broadcasting System Inc.’s unsuccessful effort...
Read more »
Photograph by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senate Budget Committee members Sen. Pat Toomey, center, and Sen. Ron Johnson, right, make brief statements to the news media before the second day of markup hearings in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 14, 2013 in Washington The Republican senators were unified in their criticism of the federal budget proposed by the majority Democrats on the committee.
Washington Daybook: All-Nighter
Look for the Senate to toil late into the evening and possibly into the early morning hours to finish work on its fiscal 2014 budget blueprint. When back-to-back roll calls on amendments end, the chamber will finally be ready for...
Read more »
Photograph by Jin Lee/Bloomberg
Job seekers wait to see recruiters at a job fair organized by United Career Fairs in New York.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 339,750
That’s the four-week moving average of first-time claims for unemployment insurance, the lowest in five years. The monthly average, which is less volatile than the week-to-week measure, fell from 347,250 to the lowest level since February 2008. Applications for jobless...
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. -
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.
