Pete Souza/The White House In the photo that has hung in the West Wing for three years, President Obama looks to be bowing to five-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have been hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture remains after three years, its staying power testifying to the thousand words it seems worth to those who see it. In the photo, President Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his ... Continue reading →

Romney has cast himself as an enabler of American dreams: His campaign says his work at Bain built businesses and created tens of thousands of jobs.But both campaigns, as well as others in Washington, still seem to be struggling with how to talk about an industry that exaggerates both the good things and the bad things about capitalism.On Tuesday alone, Democratic Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.) said Romney’s firm “did what they were supposed to do.” But Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.) — the third-ranking Democrat in the House — likened Romney’s work at Bain to rape. “There’s something about raping companies and leaving them in debt. . . . I have a real serious problem with that,” he said on MSNBC. The Obama campaign ... Continue reading →

Members of both parties photographed on the Senate floor last July. (Associated Press) Most congressional observers agree that the level of discourse on Capitol Hill is coarser and more partisan than ever before. A new study suggests it’s also dumber. Congress collectively speaks at almost a full grade-level lower than it did seven years ago, with Republican lawmakers ranking as the smartest and least-smart-sounding talkers, according to a new study by the Sunlight Foundation sure to earn the ire of at least some congressional offices. The study rightfully notes that what some might consider “the dumbing down” of congressional speeches could be interpreted as an attempt to more simply and effectively communicate with constituents. That effort could be in part because the study says that ... Continue reading →

Will she stay or will she go? And does she want to serve again as Speaker of the House? Ask House Democrats about the political future of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and they claim they don’t know whether she will stick around after the November elections or retire after 25 years in Congress. (Ask them whether they want her to stay, and they’re likely to dodge the question.) video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player On Sunday, Pelosi did little to quell speculation about her future, saying she’s more concerned about making sure Democrats win back the House majority than she is about serving again as Speaker. “I just want to come back with the Democrats in the majority, that’s really what is important,” she ... Continue reading →

But now its prospects, the ultimate Capitol Hill longshot — the “U.S. Department of Peace” — are looking even less likely than usual. It is losing its champion in the House.“Of course it could work,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) in an interview this week. “It’s very practical. You know, I’m a practical politician.”This week, Kucinich announced that he would leave Congress after eight terms. Earlier this year, he had lost a primary contest against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), whose district had been merged with Kucinich’s. Then Kucinich gave up on his backup plan: moving to Washington state and running for a new seat there.Kucinich’s departure will remove one of the most colorful characters from Congress’s daily melodrama: an antiwar vegan ventriloquist who once saw ... Continue reading →

Then: Allow states to escape parts of the health-care law (if it still exists). Rewrite the way all federal regulations are issued. Call out China for cheating on international trade.And somewhere in there find time for all the solemn rigmarole that actually makes a president a president. An oath. A speech. A parade. Some mandatory dancing.Mitt Romney isn’t president yet, of course. He’s not even his party’s nominee, though that appears to be a virtual certainty now that his main challenger, Rick Santorum, has suspended his campaign. But already, the candidate has laid out an ambitious 10-part to-do list for “day one” in the White House — a preview of the kind of president Romney wants to be. In it, he imagines himself as a ... Continue reading →

Duran reeled in the fish a couple of Sundays ago where the rocks meet the mud at the edge of the Occoquan, a Potomac River tributary. He never got around to measuring his catch, except to put it on a scale, where it weighed in at a fin under 18 pounds 4 ounces.“There had been rumors of a big one out there,” Duran said. “This was a real big one.”Yes. In the days after landing the real-life fishzilla, Duran discovered that the world record for northern snakehead — the infamous, torpedo-shaped, air-breathing Asian predator with canine teeth and a reputation as a freakish freshwater monster — was 17 pounds 4 ounces, set eight years ago in Japan.Duran beat the record by a pound.There was a ... Continue reading →

Puzzling break-ins over the last month at the offices of at least three House members and several committees have U.S. Capitol Police gumshoes working to find a pattern and the culprits, with missing items ranging from cash and expensive computer equipment to autographed baseballs and alcohol. In at least four of the cases, thieves broke into the offices at night when doors were locked, leading some staffers to believe they were victims of an inside job. (MAP: Where the House Office Break-Ins Happened) “The evidence points to someone with access to my office, and other offices in the Capitol complex, as the perpetrator,” freshman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., surmised in a letter to the House’s Office of the Chief Administrative Officer. Other offices hit—many of ... Continue reading →