A Connecticut rabbi, Jeremy Wiederhorn of Westport, delivered the opening prayer in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday.  Wiederhorn came to the Capitol at the invitation of Rep. Jim Himes, Connecticut’s 4th District Democrat. Himes noted that it was a particularly “propitious” day to deliver the morning prayer. An hour after Wiederhorn opened the House […]

Rep. Jim Himes doesn’t exactly hold in a safe congressional seat. He barely wrested the 4th District from Republican Rep. Chris Shays in 2008 and had a tough contest in 2010. So perhaps Himes is perfect for his new role at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee helping targeted Democratic incumbents. Himes has been tapped to […]

It ain’t American Idol, but what these videos lack in sex and snaz, they make up for in substance. The Alliance for Health Reform, a nonpartisan think tank, has launched a series of videos to help illuminate key questions about health reform. One of the first snippets hits on a hotly debated question-whether health reform […]

Aetna’s CEO Mark Bertolini had to stop mid-speech at his company’s annual meeting on Friday when protestors disrupted the session. The health insurance giant, based in Hartford, was having its annual conference in Philadelphia, reports the Associated Press, when demonstrators got into the meeting and started chanting about federal health reform. The story doesn’t say […]

The Libyan conflict is two months old, and while lawmakers have had plenty to say about the U.S. military action, Congress hasn’t officially taken any votes. That could change this week. Sen. Joseph Lieberman joined with a half-dozen other senators on Monday to endorse the “limited use of military force” by the U.S. in Libya. […]

WASHINGTON–Between the bombshell comments by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich and the headlines from a dry but urgent 273-page financial status report, Medicare has taken center stage in the current political debate. Connecticut’s Democratic House members have collectively held more than a half-dozen town hall meetings on the issue in recent days, mostly to blast […]

WASHINGTON–At 74, Barbara Kennelly decided to give up her job as CEO of a major Washington lobbying organization. The reason? So she could jump into the trenches of a blistering political fight–the one now brewing in Washington over entitlement reform–as a lobbyist for Social Security Works, another D.C. advocacy group. “This way I can really […]

WASHINGTON–Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today urged a group of state and local environmental officials to push the envelope on energy efficiency and to make an inextricable connection between lower energy costs, increased economic competitiveness, and a cleaner environment. Speaking at a “clean energy summit,” organized by the U.S. Department of Energy and held in a […]

How was President Barack Obama’s speech today at U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s commencement in New London? “It was a blast.” That assessment came not from one of the cadets, but from Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. Courtney said that while press reports speculated that Obama might use the graduation ceremony to talk about foreign policy, […]

WASHINGTON–When it comes to health care policy, there isn’t much that brings the two parties together. But at the outset of the 112th Congress, it seemed like medical malpractice reform was one area ripe for bipartisan compromise. In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama signaled a willingness to work with Republicans on […]

Republican Linda McMahon has made it clear that she is mulling another bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012. So perhaps it’s no surprise that she’s been chatting up political operatives in Washington recently. “I’m being told that she’s interested in running,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said on […]

WASHINGTON–Connecticut’s Susan Carney cruised to confirmation Tuesday, with the full Senate approving her nomination to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 71-28. The Senate tally catapults Carney from her post as deputy general counsel at Yale University’s General Counsel’s office , where she has worked for more than 12 years, […]

President Barack Obama called his visit with the UConn men’s basketball team a “bittersweet day for me.” After all, he did bet on another team-predicting that Kansas’ Jayhawks would take the NCAA tournament. “On the one hand, I get to congratulate a great team and a great coach on winning the national championship,” Obama told […]