Jennifer Harper

Inside the Beltway: Newest Obamacare Website fixer

"Management expertise, operations oversight, and critical advice on additional enrollment channels, field operations, marketing and communications," says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in describing the new job of one Kurt Delbene, who steps up Wednesday — mallet and stethoscope in hand — as the official Obamacare sign-up site repairman.

December 17, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Republicans for the little guy

The Grand Old Party is still sorting out a strategy as the 2014 midterm elections loom on a not-so-distant horizon; keep in mind that the new year dawns in a mere 14 days. That's about 336 hours away, folks.

December 16, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Obamacare could short-circuit Democrats

Well, so much for all that exquisitely calibrated White House timing. The American public will hold Democrats accountable for the follies of Obamacare during the 2014 midterm elections despite the administration's strategic marketing and endless, cheerful assurances that everything was well. Everything was not, and is not well. Voters are watching, with increasing alarm.

December 15, 2013

Inside the Beltway: A brief tale from Beverly Hills

Behold, a passing cultural moment: An interested party contacted Inside the Beltway to point out that former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Alejandro Mayorkas were classmates at Beverly Hills High School in — where-else? — California, members of the Class of 1977.

December 12, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Congress bottoms out in Gallup job approval poll

"Americans' job approval ratings for Congress in 2013 averaged 14 percent, the lowest annual average in Gallup's history. Congressional approval has averaged 33 percent since Gallup began measuring it in 1974, with the highest yearly average of 56 percent reached in 2001," reports Frank Newport, director of Gallup.

December 11, 2013

Inside the Beltway: The handshake heard ‘round the world at Mandela service

Journalists love nothing more than small events that yield big speculations and fancy headlines. Such was the case with President Obama's handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro on Tuesday during the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg. The moment spawned close to 3,400 news accounts within four hours, the headlines rife with question marks and wishful conclusions. A minuscule sampling:

December 10, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Tea party brews straw poll

It's never too early for a nice juicy straw poll, particularly if it's of the presidential variety. The Tea Party Patriots have already drawn 250,000 voters to a survey listing potential 2016 hopefuls of interest to liberty-minded folk. The grass-roots group intends to drawn a million votes by March. Who's leading this early, early match-up among undeclared candidates?

December 9, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Pricey health care doesn’t guarantee a long life

The lousy sign-up website cost a bundle, a fact that will not disappear no matter how much the White House pivots from one issue to the next to deflect public interest away from Obamacare.

December 8, 2013

Inside the Beltway: ‘Guns Save Lives Day’

Timed to coincide with Bill of Rights Day, and coming a day after the first anniversary of the Newtown shootings: it's "Guns Save Lives Day," organized by one Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. He has made some major national broadcast advertising buys — "hundreds of thousands of dollars" worth, he says — to promote this newly designated day, and its very specific aim.

December 5, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Conservatives ponder next ‘character assassin’

While Sarah Palin quietly continued her national tour to promote her new book "Good Tidings, Great Joy," MSNBC host Martin Bashir quietly resigned from the network Wednesday, three weeks after broadcasting blatant slurs against the former Alaska governor.

December 4, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Americans think U.S. global prestige is fading, Pew poll shows

It's complicated: The public is weary of the U.S. role as the world's policeman, but it also frets about the nation's declining prestige on the global stage and disapproves of both President Obama's foreign policy practices and any attempts at nation building overseas. Yet Americans approve of aggressive participation in the world economy and favor drones in the military arsenal.

December 3, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Stringent advice from a reporter to Obama on Term 2

"President Obama needs to fire himself. Not literally, of course, but practically: He needs to shake up his team so thoroughly that the new blood imposes change on how he manages the federal bureaucracy and leads," says Ron Fournier, a veteran national news correspondent and editorial director for National Journal.

December 2, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Obamacare team lauds ‘private sector velocity’ of website repairs

"While there is more work to be done, the team is operating with private sector velocity and effectiveness, and will continue their work to improve and enhance the website in the weeks and months ahead," states a HealthCare.gov progress report released Sunday with much fanfare following an 11-hour fix-it session conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Oh, the irony.

December 1, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Republican Black Friday special

Attention shoppers: The Grand Old Party has a message for you. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is intent on grabbing the attention of Black Friday bargain hunters in Louisiana, Michigan, Alaska, Iowa and Georgia — all home to Democrats who are now vulnerable for re-election in 2014 because of their fierce endorsement of Obamacare.

November 28, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Will Thanksgiving succumb to shopping?

"The first thing we can thank God for this Thanksgiving is that we Americans still have Thanksgiving. This holiday, so bound up with our history and our traditions, is in danger. Most department stores have long since put up their Christmas — correction, holiday — decorations and filled the air with 'Yuletide' carols," declares Bob Morrison, a senior fellow with the Family Research Council.

November 27, 2013

Stars and Stripes faces closure if it loses the Battle of Budget Cuts

Stars and Stripes — long may it wave? Maybe not. The venerable newspaper that has reported independent news about the American military since the Civil War finds itself on the budget-cutting front lines.

November 27, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Americans anticipate another government shutdown in 49 days

A disconcerting reminder: The federal government is only funded for the next 49 days. The money runs out exactly seven weeks from Wednesday, on Jan. 15 to be exact. But no one is thinking about this as holiday time bustles in — or are they?

November 26, 2013

Inside the Beltway: In Hollywood, Obama finds friendliest stage of all

The dream meeting between President Obama and the glittering kingpins of Hollywood on Tuesday has been billed as "the entertainment summit." It's more like the star-studded finale to a fundraising extravaganza, with the word "Obamacare" stricken from the script. It will mark the seventh moneymaking event in a mere 48 hours for the seemingly tireless president.

November 25, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Obama plan — raise money, then pardon the turkey

Ah, the glittering White House fundraising amid political discord: We're talking seven events in 48 hours to raise money for Democratic lawmakers gearing up for the 2014 midterms. President Obama departed the nation's capital Sunday, bound for a pair of fundraisers in Seattle. But, hey, a West Coast visit always includes California, and Mr. Obama jets South on Monday to headline the moneymakers.

November 24, 2013

Inside the Beltway: Congressional gold for clandestine heroes of OSS

They had legendary good spirit and the inner mettle to grapple with grim reality as well. That would be the Office of Strategic Services — the OSS — a clandestine agency created during World War II by Army Maj. Gen. William J. Donovan that was the predecessor of the CIA. The inventive determination of those 13,000 uncommon warriors who fought against Nazis and other American enemies seven decades ago has not been forgotten, however.

November 21, 2013