Forums: Alexander Boldizar

Citing her treatment of military recruiters as dean of Harvard Law School, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said this morning that he will vote against Solicitor General Elena Kagan for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court. He joins another senator from the Mid-South, Roger F. Wicker, R-Miss., in expressing opposition to President Barack Obama’s nominee. “I voted against the president’s nomination of Elena Kagan to be Solicitor General and I will vote against her confirmation to the Supreme Court for the same reason: I remain deeply troubled by her aggressive opposition to allowing military recruiters the same access to Harvard...

The Washington Post ombudsman on Sunday chided his newspaper for ignoring the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party, saying The Post remained "virtually silent" as the story developed in recent weeks. The newspaper carried a full-length news article about the case on Thursday. But ombudsman Andrew Alexander wrote that readers have been contacting him "for months" wondering what was taking so long for The Post to show interest in the controversy. "The Post didn't cover it. Indeed, until Thursday's story, The Post had written no news stories about the controversy this year," Alexander wrote. "That's prompted many...

The rise of the Tea Party movement, the defeat of Bob Bennett, the victory of Rand Paul -- all these have all been driven by a popular backlash against runaway spending in Washington. The Republican Party's hopes of retaking Congress rest on its ability to convince conservative and independent voters that the GOP will restore fiscal discipline if trusted with power this fall. Yet take a close look at the people sitting around the table at the Senate Republican leadership meetings. There are nine senators at that table -- and all but three are members of the powerful and exclusive...

Two senior Republicans on Thursday said they will use a grueling parliamentary process to chip away at healthcare reform legislation if Democrats decide to use reconciliation. Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and ranking Republican Budget Committee member Judd Gregg (N.H.) said they will force votes on virtually every sentence of the healthcare reform bill to overcome Democrats' parliamentary maneuver.Reconciliation, created by a 1974 budget act, allows bills to be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes — or 50, assuming Vice President Joe Biden breaks a tie — instead of the supermajority threshold of 60. Democrats...