Dianne Feinstein clashes hotly with Ted Cruz: “I am not a sixth-grader”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a 20-year veteran Democrat, clashed fiercely with Tea Party-backed newcomer Ted Cruz of Texas, when the freshman began lecturing the Californian about the Constitution during a debate over Feinstein’s assault weapons ban. The ban passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party line vote. The clash was reminiscent of an exchange Feinstein  

Battle lines forming on carbon tax

For a political non-starter, a carbon tax is generating an awful lot of activity on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, the conservative Republican Study Committee is holding a press conference to slam the idea, headlined by Texas Reps. Joe Barton and Jeb Hensarling and Louisiana chair Steve Scalise, with star billing to anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.  

Bill Clinton says he signed unconstitutional DOMA

Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat who signed into law and implemented a wave of anti-gay rules and legislation, including the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban on gays in the military, now repealed, and DOMA, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, now before the Supreme Court, issued an op-ed today repudiating, sort of, his action.  

Rand Paul admits he considered using a catheter during filibuster

When nature calls, even a United States senator can’t talk his way out of it. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul concluded his filibuster to halt the nomination of  John Brennan as CIA director just under the 13 hour mark early Thursday morning to use the restroom. “There are some limits to filibustering and I’m going to have to go take  

Dianne Feinstein says U.S. cannot drop hellfire missile on Jane Fonda

Sen. Dianne Feinstein doesn’t think much of her colleague Rand Paul’s all-night filibuster of CIA nominee John Brennan, or at least some of Paul’s arguments. Lest we ascribe this to ideology, the California Democrat and the Kentucky libertarian Republican united last year in an unsuccessful battle to strip the indefinite detention provisions from the defense  

Running of the bulls: Nappier to seek re-election as Dow hits high

The subject of speculation that she might not run again, the longest-tenured statewide office holder in Connecticut tells Hearst Connecticut Newspapers she hopes to be on the ballot in 2014. On a day

Blumenthal proposes bill to fight ‘modern-day slavery’

By ALISON SULLIVAN Hearst Washington Bureau Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal is leading a bipartisan effort to fight what he calls “modern day slavery.” Blumenthal has joined co-sponsors Sen. John

The NRA, unvarnished

The National Rifle Association has more in common with the White House and Congress than you think. Its switchboard has been overwhelmed since the Dec. 14 massacre at Newtown’s Sandy Hook Elementary School. So much so that the organization’s lobbying arm recorded this very telling greeting for its callers: “Your call is very important to