WASHINGTON-An emotionally- and politically-charged showdown is set to unfold in the Senate today over whether gays should be able to serve openly in the military. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, will be defending his proposed repeal of the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which bars gays from serving openly in the military. […]

WASHINGTON–In a highly-charged vote, Senate Republicans blocked consideration of a major defense bill Tuesday in part because it included a provision to repeal the Pentagon’s ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. Proponents of the measure, including Sen. Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, failed to win any Republican support and even […]

WASHINGTON-If Democratic leaders are irked with Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s most recent policy positions or political remarks, they’re putting on a good game face. His chairmanship post is safe, they insist, and no one is worried he’ll defect to the GOP. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, recently announced that he had no intentions of […]

You wouldn’t necessarily know that Sen. Joseph Lieberman is in the middle of the fray over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. After all, he hasn’t gotten any tweets from Lady Gaga, the pop singer who is creating political waves with her push for repeal of the Pentagon’s ban on gays serving openly in the military. Last week, she tweeted her […]

ore jobs and less spending. That’s the political message Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, is trying to sell in his first political ad of the season. Murphy’s contest against state Sam Caligiuri of Waterbury hasn’t gotten as much attention as other state contests. But he’s not running in a perfectly safe district either. So it’s no wonder this ad  highlights […]

Sen. Christopher Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro don’t usually part ways on political questions. But the president’s appointment of Elizabeth Warren to help set up the new consumer protection agency had DeLauro cheering, while Dodd wasn’t quite so pleased. Warren would protect consumers from “the greed and excess that was the downfall of our economy,” DeLauro said in a statement […]

It was upsetting enough when Nancy Renshaw found her 89-year-old father-in-law, Charles Renshaw, on the floor of his apartment, confused, cold, and in pain from an apparent fall. Then came this shocker: After more than 3 days at Norwich’s Backus Hospital, as Renshaw was about to be discharged, a nurse told his family that he […]

The showdown between Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Dick Blumenthal has just gotten a  nudge into a high-profile class of U.S. Senate contest: the Toss-up. The closely-watched Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan publication that tracks House and Senate races across the country, today moved the Connecticut race from its “lean Democratic” category to its “toss-up” rankings, a […]

WASHINGTON-When it comes to creating jobs, Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Richard Blumenthal agree on at least one thing: It’s about small businesses, stupid. Both U.S. Senate candidates say that helping small American companies is the key to jump-starting the nation’s economic engine. But they differ sharply on what kind of assistance small businesses need. […]

Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s husband, pollster Stan Greenberg, was the featured speaker (i.e. pep rally director) at Tuesday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting. His task? Trying to keep any more Democrats from jumping ship on the looming question of whether to let the high-end Bush tax cuts expire at the end of this year. Greenberg’s poll conclude that his […]

Members of Congress hadn’t even come back to Washington yet before they started talking about leaving again-and sooner than scheduled. Already, there’s not much time for Congress to rack up any big accomplishments, with just about four weeks between today’s official re-start date and the Oct. 8 target for adjournment. But with many incumbents increasingly […]

WASHINGTON–Sen. Christopher Dodd said the White House risks undermining the powerful new consumer protection agency created to oversee Wall Street if the President tries to install Elizabeth Warren as its first director without a Senate confirmation vote. Dodd’s comments put him at odds with other Senate Democrats and will likely generate fresh skepticism about his […]

WASHINGTON–Congress’s legislative to-do list for the next few weeks is long and loaded with possible controversy. From allowing gays to serve in the military to the looming expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, the opportunities for big, defining ideological brawls are rife. But lawmakers may also sidestep much of that agenda, scale back to a […]

Normally, getting an “upgrade” means a bigger rental car or more leg room on a long airplane flight. But in Washington, it’s also political term, and today, Republican Dan Debicella saw his contest against Democrat Rep. Jim Himes upgraded one notch on a closely-watched list of competitive House races around the country. The Cook Political Report’s House […]

WASHINGTON-When House Democrats take up legislation to strengthen “Buy American” rules in the coming weeks, no one will be watching more closely than Waterbury businessman John Barto. Barto is president of Ansonia Copper & Brass Inc., the last existing U.S. manufacturer of a specially-sized copper nickel tubing used to build American submarines. Ansonia is a major defense […]