Cheney backs Limbaugh over Powell on GOP future

Cheney favors Limbaugh over Powel in terms of GOP future. In one way this add to partisianship that helps the republicans build a more distinct name brand. On the other hand Limbaugh's politics will no doubt alienate some moderate conservatives. Would the benifits of a more Limbaugh leaning ideollogy lead to a more disicnt republican name brand help or hurt the party? It seems like to me that alienating moderate conservatives is the last thing the GOP needs to do.

What should be the issue?

It should not be about politics when talking about the use of torture. Whether Speaker Pelosi knew of waterboarding techniques or not should not be of issue. What should be of issue is how reactionary some of the measures that almost all of our citizens were ready to stomach to respond to terrorism in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and take a look at ourselves at as a nation nearly eight years later and determine whether we are taking the most effective approaches in dealing with and preventing terrorism while continuing to not only follow basic American principles like not torturing people and whether we are following internationally recognized agreements like the Geneva Accords.

The Current Committee System

A good cool-down for the semester. A full list of rules for the process of committee assignments per party, referrals, jurisdictions, rules for waivers for exclusive committees, as hoc mechanisms, and procedures. Cool stuff for those who are political junkies and want to know more about how the assignment and referral system works. All of this is directly from the House website. Enjoy the summer!

In regards to subcommittees: "From a 1950 low of 125 subcommittees of House and Senate standing committees, the number increased to a high of 271 in 1975."