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Free Market Florida Executive Director Ryan Houck, in a screenshot from the group’s video (Pic via freemarketflorida.org) Free Market Florida, the group that has long decried a set of federally mandated water pollution standards, has unveiled its latest video, this one aimed at two environmental groups: the Sierra Club and Earthjustice. As we’ve previously reported, Free Market Florida describes itself as “a project of Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy, Inc., a 501(c)(4) organization,” a group with the same name as the one that ran the successful campaign against Florida’s “Hometown Democracy” Amendment 4 last year. The group’s address, 610 South Blvd., Tampa, has become notorious for housing dozens of political action committees

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has distributed a press release stating, if circuitously, that Republicans will agree to start formal debate on

As shrimpers got back to work in Louisiana yesterday, The Washington Post reports on fears that government testing of shrimp may not pass muster. According

The bailout’s demise in the House sent stocks plunging.

Once again, Michele Bachmann has been called out for exaggerating the facts. Making the case as to why she should be considered for the 2012 Republican

All three incumbent members of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board were re-elected on Tuesday night amid controversy surrounding the school district’s controversial policy limiting discussions of LGBT issues in the district’s school. Marci Anderson and Tom Heidemann, both of whom support the “neutrality policy” won, as did Scott Wenzel, who opposes the policy.

If there one way to win the coveted presidential straw poll at CPAC, it’s to offer everyone in attendance a free drink.

Yesterday’s announcement that the Obama administration will try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 suspects in federal court has been hailed as

There was supposed to be one this week in the Senate Armed Services Committee, but -- as I told our editorial meeting with some embarrassment -- it wasn’t

As promised last week, J Street -- the liberal pro-Israel, pro-Palestine Jewish PAC -- announced its first round of endorsements in a conference call with

The British Conservative Party has just wrapped its 2009 conference, its last before what is universally expected to be a 2010 victory over the ruling Labour

Sarah Palin told Fox News listeners last night following the debate that the debate, co-hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express, validated the movement and that she no longer considers the end of September her deadline for making a decision on a presidential run. “I was very pleased with this debate and very excited about the validation of the tea party movement,” Palin told Fox’s Greta VanSusten. “The winner in this really, I believe, was the tea party movement and that validation of what it is that we’ve been talking about for two years now.” Palin had high praise for former U.S.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), in an interview with Politico, today: expressed frustration with Pelosi’s suggestion last week that the vitriol injected into the

The goal of picking up nine additional Senate seats on Nov. 4 was a rallying cry for Democratic supporters eager to end what they saw as two years of GOP obstructionism. Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ reelection means that won’t happen. But Democrats shouldn’t despair because there are enough persuadable GOP moderates to muzzle a filibuster.

As the number of displaced people rises due to the fighting in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations

Pic by sebrenner, via Flickr The National Education Association , which represents 3 million teachers and education support professionals across the U.S., announced new initiatives on Thursday “to increase the quality of teacher candidates, make sure that teachers remain at the top of their game throughout their careers, and to improve student learning by helping educators become leaders in their schools.” Education reform in K through 12 public schools includes efforts to increase graduation rates, college readiness and accountability, and to conduct efficient testing and student evaluation and review teacher effectiveness. The NEA report (.pdf) highlights three areas where the union believes “steps can and should be taken to transform the teaching profession”: raising the bar to entry, ensuring “that those who are in the classroom maintain a high standard of practice” and providing “union leadership to transform the profession.” Education Week reported Thursday that NEA President Dennis Van Roekel said the “NEA will support national standards for teacher preparation and licensing. All teacher candidates should have one full year of teaching residency, and pass a performance-based assessment before entering the classroom.” “The NEA has supported teacher residency programs in the past, but has not specifically called for all teacher education programs to embrace them,” Education Week added.

Anyone surprised by the White House announcement to lift the ban on some offshore oil drilling might be interested in this story, from August 2008: Sen. Barack

The Los Conchas Wildfire has forced the Los Alamos National Laboratory to close. Lab officials stress that radioactive material has been secured. “All hazardous and radioactive materials remain accounted for and are appropriately protected, as are key Lab facilities such as its proton accelerator and supercomputing centers,” says LANL’s website

A couple of months ago, as part of my counterinsurgency series, I pointed out that an impressive number of women were in positions of leadership in the emergent

Twenty-one Democrats joined all but one Republican in a vote to repeal the sweeping health care law’s individual mandate Tuesday evening. The motion failed