Jennifer Harper

Inside the Beltway: Ready to rumble in the Granite State

Wearing a sincere grin and maybe a carefully ironed plaid shirt, Scott Brown will announce his intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat in New Hampshire at dusk on Thursday. He's already cultivating the image of a tough politician with a heart of gold, and plans a very public declaration at a seaside inn in historic Portsmouth.

April 9, 2014

Americans say lawmakers who abuse power worse than those who cheat on their spouses

Well, looks like the cheating cad is better than the dubious schemer, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll.

April 9, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Mr. Norquist and friends take on the IRS

Consider that April 15 will dawn in a mere 144 hours, punctuated by the sound of rustling tax records and the gnashing of teeth. Some are preparing for this. Americans for Tax Reform, in fact, has organized, well, a tax conference at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday featuring a half-dozen financially-minded Republican lawmakers and an agenda that includes IRS "abuse of conservative nonprofit groups," among many things.

April 8, 2014

The White House behaving badly: On the road to stinkburger

Is the nation now witnessing dignity of office, a sense of decorum and gravitas? No. America is now on "the road to stinkburger" says online news maven Lucianne Goldberg, who refers to the increasing tendency of the White House to lower the quality of the public discourse.

April 8, 2014

Times staff wins 16 honors at 2013 VPA awards

The Washington Times has won 16 awards in the 2013 Virginia Press Association competition for writing, photography and design, an annual contest among multiple news organizations in several regions. The recognition included four first-place designations.

April 7, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Viguerie’s vigorous conservative opus

Into the insta-world of contemporary politics comes the weighty "Takeover: The 100-Year War for the Soul of the GOP and How Conservatives Can Finally Win It" — a new book by veteran conservative activist Richard Viguerie, a man with much institutional knowledge. He's also been an eyewitness to all the machinations for more than four decades. But it goes beyond that.

April 7, 2014

STUDY: ‘Ranking RINOs: Who does the tea party hate most?’

Disagreements between grassroots tea partyers and establishment Republicans continues to draw an intense and curious audience. Now here comes the analysis. "Ranking the RINOs: Who does the tea party hate most?" asks new research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

April 7, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Selfies and stinkburgers test a casual White House

Is the nation now witnessing dignity of office, a sense of decorum and gravitas? No. America is now on "the road to stinkburger" says online news maven Lucianne Goldberg, who refers to the increasing tendency of the White House to lower the quality of the public discourse.

April 6, 2014

A governor’s journey: Rick Perry in the South Pacific seeking answers about World War II MIAs

It is a long flight, but one Texas governor has a singular calling. Rick Perry has departed for the Republic of Palua, where many thousands of U.S. forces saw fierce fighting during the Pacific campaign of World War II on the islands of Peleliu and Angaur.

April 5, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Obamacare — A Republican’s best friend

Strategists have pointed out that a Republican candidate's best friend this fall is Obamacare. Public disapproval of the health care law could be just the helping hand for GOP hopefuls in tight races.

April 3, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Shave the way to a balanced budget

The tea party realm is not exactly thrilled with Rep. Paul Ryan's 102-page federal budget proposal, a meticulously crafted document open to interpretation. The Republican National Committee frames it as evidence that the GOP is the "party of solutions."

April 2, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Division — the lingering symptom of Obamacare

Obamacare could be the ultimate gauge of partisan politics. Consider: Republicans are 22 times more likely than Democrats to believe that health care reform could foul up the America's future. So says a new Gallup analysis of a year's worth of health care polls, and the responses of close to 14,000 people.

April 1, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Allen West’s call to America

He is still a faithful and forthright man with a mission: that would be Allen West, who has a new book out Tuesday. "Guardian of the Republic" provides ample evidence that the former U.S. Army officer and Florida congressman has never given up on conservative values that he says have driven him for decades — family, faith, tradition, service, honor, fiscal responsibility, courage, freedom. He is unapologetic and enthusiastic about it all.

March 31, 2014

Prudent presidential ‘un-candidates’ bide their time until America actually pays attention

Even pundits often reluctantly agree that the presidential election is more than two years away, and that American voters are barely engaged with the 2014 midterms at this point. Some politicians realize this as well.

March 31, 2014

Inside the Beltway: The governors strut their strategy

There are 29 Republican governors out there. But only three of them had a mighty big say in the last 48 hours by appearing at the Republican Jewish Coalition's spring leadership meeting, a very swell affair staged in Las Vegas this weekend with all the trimmings.

March 30, 2014

Duck and cover? The majority of Americans say the U.S. is headed into another Cold War with Russia

Air raid sirens, dank fallout shelters, Operation Looking Glass and B-52s on high alert: those were the cultural hallmarks of the Cold War at one point in history. Is the United States embarking on another one as the Ukraine matter continues? That depends on who you talk to. The majority of Americans say yes, this is the case. President Obama, however, insists there is no Cold War.

March 28, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Hot air over a Cold War

There has been much clever talk among journalists about President Obama and his no-drama "Cool War" with Russia. Mr. Obama himself, meanwhile, insists there is no "Cold War" in the making, reasoning that contemporary Russia is no Soviet Union with hulking and aggressive ideology. But wait. The citizenry think otherwise.

March 27, 2014

Geezer Power: Voters over 65 have turned ‘reliably Republican’ says Gallup

After two decades, the older and wiser among us have tired of the Democratic Party and made a big switch. Those over age 65 are now Republicans, according to a major new Gallup study.

March 27, 2014

Inside the Beltway: Christie’s appetite for the White House

He is one of the headliners during a glittering GOP gathering that begins Thursday in Las Vegas. That would be a decidedly slimmer, more cheerful New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a featured speaker during the Republican Jewish Coalition's spring leadership meeting, staged at the swank Venetian Hotel and shepherded by billionaire and major party donor Sheldon Adelson.

March 26, 2014

‘Minimized, spun or ignored’: Broadcast news shushes up on Obamacare

Hush, hush, and more hush. That seems to be the case with Obamacare on the broadcast news: The "big three" networks are simply not giving the health care law much coverage: NBC, CBS and ABC gave the law just over 31 minutes of time from Jan. 1 to March 24, according to a Media Research Center analysis

March 26, 2014