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Long before today's acid relations between Republicans and Democrats, President Trump and "the squad," friendships mattered over daily politics. In a classic example, a letter going up for auction next week highlights that mood, now some 30 years ago. Columnist Paul Bedard on the expanded Washington Examiner magazine Watch Full Screen to Skip Ads It is from famous letter-writer President George H.W. Bush to his long-time pal, then Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and during a heated fight over tax cuts. A few weeks before the vote to give Bush his tax...

By John Di Leo - Reflections on the fall campaign, for fellow conservatives… others may find this inside baseball boring, and are welcome to disregard… In 1994, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski had been in Congress for 36 years. First elected to his solidly Democrat Chicago district in 1958, he could not possibly lose, and rose to great power in the House of Representatives. By 1994, he had been chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee for over a dozen years. His power was unparalleled; his seat secure… until the House Post Office Scandal erupted, and he became the very...

One of the more interesting questions bound to come up during the 2012 elections is whether President Barack Obama can reclaim the liberal American Jewish donor base that helped him so much in 2008. ... Among noted Chicagoans who contribute to Obama's success is senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. Of the people managing President Obama's political affairs, Jarrett is perhaps the person Obama has known longest and relied upon the most. Political folklore has it that the president met wife Michelle when he went to Jarrett's office looking for a job. Before Valerie Jarrett came to work for Obama, she was...

Per records, powerful congressman offered to quit, then fought allegations ### Mayor Richard M. Daley, right, and U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski attend a news conference together in 1993. Daley praised the longtime congressman after his death last August. ************* The theft of just $7,000 by a stamp clerk in the U.S. House Post Office mushroomed into a federal investigation that brought down one of the most powerful congressmen in the country, the late Daniel Rostenkowski of Chicago, according to records released Thursday by the FBI. The documents reveal that the FBI in 1992 was told by a "reliable source" that...

Dan Rostenkowski (?-Ill), 1928-2010. Reporting the passing of Dan Rostenkowski, the ABC and NBC anchors on Wednesday night managed to gently note his ignominious departure from public life while also including a humanizing anecdote about his life (NBC: He “went back to live in the same house he grew up in in Chicago's north side,” ABC: “In 1985, he famously asked Americans fed up with the tax system to write him”), but neither identified him as a Democrat. Nor did any on-screen graphic mark his party. In contrast, filling in as anchor of the CBS Evening News, Erica Hill managed...

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UPI) -- Former U.S. Rep Dan Rostenkowski, who rose to be chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and went to prison in disgrace, died Wednesday. He was 82. Rostenkowski died at his summer home in Powers Lake, Wis., after a long battle with cancer, the Chicago Tribune reported. A onetime Washington political insider and power broker, Rostenkowski represented his Chicago 5th Congressional District in Congress for 36 years, rising to head the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means Committee that rewrote the 1986 U.S. tax code. The son of 32nd Ward Democratic Alderman Joseph Rostenkowski, Daniel was first elected...

(CNN) -- Former Illinois Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, who rose through the ranks of Chicago's rough-and-tumble political scene to become one of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill, has died, according to the office of Chicago Alderman Richard Mell. He was 82.

Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, the Chicago Democrat who became the leading architect of congressional tax policy in the Reagan era but later went to federal prison for corruption, died Wednesday, a family friend said. He was 82. Mr. Rostenkowski, who served 18 terms before losing in 1994, died surrounded by family at his home in Lake Benedict, Wis., friend Ellen Tully said. He had been treated for prostate cancer in the 1990s. As House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Mr. Rostenkowski was known as a consensus builder and a master of legislative tactics. He is credited with leading a 1983...

The Obama administration is considering it. The idea is to have the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) just start handing out green cards to illegals. USCIS, a part of the Obama administration, outlines the ideas in a draft memo that includes the possibility of issuing green cards to tens of thousands who entered the country illegally. "In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations," the memo advises.

It’s a wild political climate out there. In keeping with the blistering heat afflicting previously ultra-safe incumbents, a happily retired Queens businessman by the name of Bob Turner thinks he can unseat his Democratic congressman, six-term representative Anthony Weiner. It’s a long shot, but crazier things have happened. Just ask Sen. Scott Brown. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

WASHINGTON — Veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel said Thursday there's no deal yet to settle his ethics case and avoid an election-season trial on charges of violating House rules.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday called ethics charges against Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel "very troubling" and said he hopes the longtime lawmaker can end his career with dignity. Several House Democrats went further, flat-out urging the New York congressman to resign."He's somebody who's at the end of his career," Obama said in an interview that aired Friday on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." "I'm sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity. And my hope is that it happens."Obama, speaking on the issue for the first time, praised the 20-term...

Repeal: Some say trying to repeal ObamaCare is a futile dream once people get used to its benefits, such as covering kids with pre-existing conditions. Once before, government was slapped down. It can be done. Entitlements can be addictive, and it's certainly the purpose of this administration to make as many Americans as possible as dependent on government as possible. That's partly why a health care bill put student loans under the Department of Education. The government needed the revenues, but it also needed the power over yet another class of citizens. Unlike Medicare and Social Security, this nationalization of...

Leadership: Scores of congressmen and women are trying to hide from their constituents this August recess as the revolt over ObamaCare continues. If you haven't seen him or her lately, you might try your refrigerator.IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For FailureIt's amazing how frightened of the community the party of the great community organizer has become now that the community has organized itself against his attempt to impose socialized medicine on the country. They cheered when he told them to get in the faces of their opponents. Now they won't show their faces, period. Senate Majority Whip Dick...

Diana Walker/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Dan Rostenkowski, the son of a ward boss who became a legendary congressman, on why Gov. Blagojevich shouldn't tar a whole city.During my career as a public official, I always tried to steer away from the minority of my colleagues who viewed public service as a potential commercial enterprise. They’ve always been there and can be found in state capitols and in Washington. Springfield, Illinois, is no exception, though I’d also argue that it is hardly unique. When I was in the Illinois General Assembly during the 1950s, I rejected an offer that would...

Sweet catch by Tapper, showing why he got that promotion. Obama today…“I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening, ” Obama told reporters today in Chicago. “It’s a sad day for Illinois. Beyond that, I don’t think it’s appropriate to comment.” …versus Axelrod on November 23, as seen below. Be sure to read Tapper’s post, as he has plenty more on The One’s long history as a friend of — and advisor to — Blago. Axelrod himself begged off Blagojevich’s first gubernatorial campaign because “I was concerned about...

<p>A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney's office would not confirm the information, and a spokesman for the governor did not immediately return a phone call for comment.</p>

Next couple of days there will be a lot of gleeful liberals and Republicans claiming that this really does make it possible for Dems to take over the House and Senate in 2006. Here's how it will work. Comparisons, immediately, to the indictment of powerful Democrat Dan Rostenkowski in 1994 adding to the sense that Democrats were out of touch with ordinary Americans and helping bring about the GOP landslide in November 1994. Corrupt Dems in 1994 = corrupt Repubs in 2005. Add to the DeLay indictiment the talk about Bill Frist's stock sale and you have major-league talking points...

DAY 14 AFTER PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES SOCIAL SECURITY PROPOSAL; DEMOCRATS TO CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS: COME UP WITH A PLAN   "Two weeks after President Bush outlined a clear course to permanently strengthen Social Security for future generations, Democrats have yet to offer anything more than angry political attacks. It's disappointing Democrats still don't understand they are the minority party because of their failure to offer a positive agenda, and even former Democrat leaders agree that their party's obstructionism is not a substitute for real ideas.  If Democrats want to maintain any credibility, they need to stop saying 'no' and start coming to the negotiating...