Tamara Lytle

Biography: Tammy Lytle has covered the White House, Congress, politics and breaking news in the nation’s capital for 23 years. She is the former Washington bureau chief of the Orlando Sentinel and her work has appeared in newspapers magazines and websites.

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Tamara Lytle 'sPosts

Spending Cuts to Delay Launch of New Weather Satellites

Posted on 05/21/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsWeather satellites, which help warn the public of coming disasters like the tornado in Moore, Okla., will be delayed in launching because of budget cuts. Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca M. Blank told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year that the across-the-board budget cuts known as the sequester could have a significant impact on the satellites that track tornadoes and hurricanes. In a letter to Congress, Blank said that the next generation of what are called “geostationary weather …

What Do Hipsters and Supreme Court Justices Have in Common?

Posted on 05/15/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsOnly a third of all Americans have a favorable view of the Supreme Court. But at least the justices who sit on the nation’s highest court score better than hipsters. Hipsters — the sometimes grungy young adults with countercultural attitudes and an artistic bent — are looked at favorably by just 16 percent of the public, according a new survey from Public Policy Polling. (Not sure exactly what a hipster is? Here’s a full definition. And here’s a recent New York Times …

Walter Cronkite’s WWII Letters Home in New Book

Posted on 05/15/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Home & FamilyBefore he was the voice of his generation and “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite was a 20-something war correspondent writing letters home to his new wife. Now his namesake and grandson, Walter Cronkite IV, has complied the letters in a book, Cronkite’s War: His World War II Letters Home. The grandson, a recent college graduate, is working in Washington these days at, of course, CBS News. That’s where Cronkite, who died in 2009, anchored the evening news after …

Gun Murders Down, But You Might Not Know It

Posted on 05/13/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin TodayGun murders have plunged in the United States, and the rates are lowest for older Americans, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. In 2010, the rate of firearm homicides was 8 per million for people 65 and older (down from 14 per million in 1993) and 23 per million for people ages 41-64 (down from 42 per million in 1993). The firearm-homicide rate for all ages was 36 per million, still a lot better than the …

Meals on Wheels Caught in Budget Food Fight

Posted on 05/8/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | Caregiving | PoliticsMeals on Wheels programs across the nation are seeing the pain of federal budget cuts. The system that delivers hot meals to millions of home-bound or low-income seniors five days a week isn’t near collapse. But with across-the-board spending cuts, called sequestration, taking hold since March 1, local programs have begun to limit who they serve and intend to pull back in other ways. “It’s a slowly developing crisis,” Martha Roherty, executive director of the National Association of States United …

How Much Clout Does Your State Have in Washington?

Posted on 05/7/2013 by Tamara Lytle | Washington Watch | Comments

Bulletin Today | PoliticsPolitical power ends up in some interesting places. Roll Call measures just how much clout each state has in Washington and even figures out how much influence each state has per member of Congress. Why does clout matter? Billions in federal aid are at stake, and the ability to influence everything from how much citizens are taxed to legislation on Medicare, Social Security, guns, immigration and countless other matters. Roll Call’s clout index factors in leadership positions held by lawmakers …