Obama's 'Flexibility' Leads to a Dangerous World By Michael Barone
"This is my last election," President Obama said in words caught on an open mic. "After my election, I have more flexibility."
Commentary by Michael Barone
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March 28, 2014
March 25, 2014
Hillary Clinton Won't Have an Easy Ride to Presidency By Michael Barone
Will Hillary Clinton be elected America's next president? The polls suggest she will.
March 21, 2014
Having a Venerable Name Can Be a Key to Upward Mobility by Michael Barone
America used to be a land with great upward social mobility, but isn't anymore. America never was a land with great upward social mobility
Which do you believe? Keep in mind that your answer will have significant implications for public policy.
Michael Barone, senior political analyst at the Washington Examiner, (www.washingtonexaminer.com), where this article first appeared, is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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March 18, 2014
Democratic Strategists in 2014 Are Like French Generals in 1940 By Michael Barone
It is reminiscent of the quandary faced by Gen. Maurice Gamelin on the evening of May 15, 1940. Suddenly he realized that German panzer troops had broken through the supposedly impassable Ardennes.
March 11, 2014
For Good Highways, Use Tolls and Ditch the Gasoline Tax By Michael Barone
Last month, Barack Obama traveled to snowy St. Paul, Minn., the same place where in the sunnier days of June 2008 he predicted that his clinching of the Democratic presidential nomination would be remembered as "the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and the earth began to heal."
This time in St. Paul he addressed a lesser problem, one within the ambit of a president's powers: transportation.
March 7, 2014
Obama's Mistaken Belief That Others See the World as He Sees It By Michael Barone
Solipsism. It's a fancy word that means that the self is the only existing reality and that the external world, including other people, are representations of one's own self and can have no independent existence. A person who follows this philosophy may believe that others see the world as he does and will behave as he would.
March 4, 2014
Don't Write Those Tea Party Obituaries Just Yet By Michael Barone
February marked the fifth anniversary of the reemergence of the label "Tea Party" in American politics. It was in February 2009 that Rick Santelli delivered his famous rant on CNBC, and a few days later, a group calling itself the Tea Party Patriots was organized.
February 28, 2014
Protesters in Ukraine and Venezuela Seek the Rule of Law By Michael Barone
What motivates people to demonstrate in central squares, day after day and week after week, against repressive regimes at the risk of life and limb? It's a question raised most recently by events in Ukraine and Venezuela.
February 25, 2014
In Hyperpartisan Era, Only Candidates Can Change Outcomes By Michael Barone
Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill famously said that all politics is local. And it mostly was, in his time: He was first elected to the Massachusetts legislature's lower house in 1936 and became its speaker in 1949, and was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1952 and became its speaker in 1977.
Those were years when there was constant churning and turmoil in partisan politics. Yankee Republicans yielded majority status to Catholic Democrats in O'Neill's Massachusetts.
February 21, 2014
UAW Loss in Chattanooga a Repudiation of 1930s Unionism By Michael Barone
It is 611 miles from the United Auto Workers headquarters in Detroit to Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. It's a long day's drive, about 10 hours almost entirely on Interstate 75, but it turned out to be too far for the UAW.
Or so one must judge from the results of the unionization election last week in Chattanooga. Volkswagen employees voted 712-626 against certifying the UAW as their bargaining agent.
February 18, 2014
The Failure of Obama's Aristocracy of Merit By Michael Barone
The roots of American liberalism are not compassion, but snobbery. That's the thesis of Fred Siegel's revealing new book, "The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class."
February 14, 2014
'Disparate Impact' Doctrine Often Hurts Those it's Intended to Help by Michael Barone
Disparate impact. That's a phrase you don't hear much in everyday conversation. But it's the shorthand description of a legal doctrine with important effects on everyday American life -- and more if Barack Obama and his political allies get their way.
Consider the Department of Justice and Department of Education policies on school discipline. In a "dear colleague" letter distributed last month, the departments noted that "students of certain racial or ethnic groups tend to be disciplined more than their peers."
Michael Barone, senior political analyst at the Washington Examiner, where this article first appeared (www.washingtonexaminer.com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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February 11, 2014
Is Obama Seeking an Opening to Iran the way Richard Nixon did With China? By Michael Barone
Is Barack Obama trying to shift alliances in the Middle East away from traditional allies and toward Iran? Robert Kaplan, author and geopolitical analyst for the Stratford consulting firm, thinks so.
February 7, 2014
Americans Learn to Succeed by Learning From Failure By Michael Barone
America succeeds because Americans fail and forgive. That's the intriguing message -- or part of it -- of Megan McArdle's new book "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success."
February 4, 2014
The Democratic Class of 1974 Passes From the Scene by Michael Barone
Henry Waxman and George Miller are retiring from the House and not running for re-election after 40 years as congressmen from southern and northern California.
Also retiring and not running for re-election is Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa. Sen. Max Baucus of Montana will resign if, as expected, he is confirmed as ambassador to China. Both were first elected to the House in 1974 and were later elected to the Senate.
These four are just about the last members serving in Congress of the 75 Democrats first elected to the House in the Watergate year of 1974.
Michael Barone, senior political analyst for The Washington Examiner (www.washingtonexaminer.com), is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News Channel contributor and a co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. To find out more about Michael Barone, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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January 31, 2014
A Chastened and Weary Obama Reports on State of the Union by Michael Barone
Not as bad as expected. That's my verdict on President Obama's fifth State of the Union address.
With his approval running well under 50 percent, Obama was not quite so confrontational as he has been in the past.
January 28, 2014
A Lackluster Year for Obama and His Would-Be Successors by Michael Barone
Just about everyone agrees that 2013 was not a good year for President Obama. His job approval plummeted as the Obamacare rollout cratered. His oft-promised pivot to Asia was as much of a dud as his oft-promised pivot to the economy.
But it must also be said that the Republican politicians who have been touted as possible successors to the 44th president didn't have sparkling years either. Each has encountered a setback to his prospects for either the Republican nomination or as a general election candidate.
January 24, 2014
Abortion Defines the Political Parties, 41 Years After Roe V. Wade By Michael Barone
It is 41 years since the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision, effectively legalizing abortion everywhere in the United States. Ever since, it has been a source of controversy -- and confusion.
January 22, 2014
Millennials Unhappy With Obama's War on the Young by Michael Barone
What do young Americans want? Something different from what they've been getting from the president they voted for by such large margins.
Evidence comes in from various polls. Voters under 30, the millennial generation, produced numbers for Barack Obama 13 percentage points above the national average in 2008 and 9 points above in 2012.
But in recent polls, Obama approval among those under 30 has been higher than the national average by only 1 percentage point (Quinnipiac), 2 points (ABC/Washington Post) and 3 points (YouGov/Economist).
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January 17, 2014
Population Declining in States With Relatively High Dependence on Government by Michael Barone
The Census Bureau's holiday treat is its release of annual state population estimates, to be digested slowly in the new year.
The headline from this year's release is that population growth from July 2012 to July 2013 was 0.72 percent, lower than in the two preceding years and the lowest since the Great Depression 1930s.
This reflects continuing low, below-replacement-rate birth rates and lower immigration than in 1982-2007. Net immigration from Mexico evidently continues to be zero.
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