Political Commentary

January 8, 2015

The New World Order By Larry J. Sabato

Well, that didn’t last long! By that, we mean our pre-Christmas ordering of the GOP presidential field. We shouldn’t be surprised. Politics never takes a long holiday break anymore.

First prize for early maneuvering goes to Jeb Bush. His unexpected, all-but-in announcement on Dec. 16 stunned his competitors and the political community. Bush didn’t just accelerate the entire process, including forthcoming announcements by rivals, but he also gained a leg up in conventional wisdom’s positioning.

January 7, 2015

Trust by John Stossel

Trust -- society depends on it.

January 6, 2015

Family Fragmentation: Can Anything Be Done? by Michael Barone

How big a problem is family fragmentation? "Immense," says Mitch Pearlstein, head of the Minnesota think tank Center of the American Experiment. "The biggest domestic problem facing this country."

January 6, 2015

The Rich and Their Anti-Vaccine Quacks by Froma Harrop

California parents are refusing to vaccinate their kindergartners at twice the rate of seven years ago. So the Los Angeles Times reports. The result has been the return of measles and other serious diseases that can lead to paralysis, birth defects and death. The state is now suffering a whooping cough epidemic -- it's amazing to say -- in the year 2015.

But the real shocker in the story is this: The rise in "personal belief exemptions" -- a loophole in the law requiring parents to have their children vaccinated -- is highest in rich coastal and mountain areas. For example, an astounding 23 percent of students at the Santa Cruz Montessori obtained belief exemptions and are not vaccinated.

January 2, 2015

David Koch Loves Manhattan by Froma Harrop

One may start the day at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. On the way in, you'll pass through the new David H. Koch Plaza -- the result of a $65 million gift from David H. Koch.

January 2, 2015

Voter Turnout Boomed Under Bush, Not Under Obama By Michael Barone

There is a widespread assumption that President Obama has expanded the electorate and inspired booming voter turnout. One could make a case for that based on the 2008 election. But since then, not so much.

Looking back over the past 15 years, the biggest surge in voter turnout came during George W. Bush's presidency. In the Obama years, turnout actually declined in both the 2012 presidential and the 2014 congressional elections.

January 1, 2015

GOP, Stop Making Excuses for Scalise by Joe Conason

The unsavory story of Rep. Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican and House majority whip, should serve as a clear warning to the leaders of the Republican Party. They need to ask why their message attracts some of the most despicable elements in American society -- and why they can't effectively reject those extremists.

Despite many fervent vows of "outreach" and "inclusion" by top Republicans, they keep making the wrong choices. Both House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy have expressed their confidence in Scalise despite his "mistake." And the excuses they now offer on behalf of the man chosen for the third-highest position in their congressional caucus are rapidly eroding.

December 31, 2014

Ignorance By John Stossel

No wonder Cuba wallows in poverty.

Last week, the New York Times reported that the Castro brothers opened a special business zone where foreign companies "would be given greater control over setting wages at factories. ... (P)roposals would be approved or rejected within 60 days."

What? If I want to give someone a raise, I have to wait up to two months for government approval! That's absurd.

December 30, 2014

Hollywood, Women and Angelina by Froma Harrop

Was Angelina Jolie unqualified to direct the big-budget World War II saga "Unbroken"? The movie tells the true story of Louis Zamperini, a champion runner and champion survivor -- of his bomber's crash, 47 days on an ocean raft and torture in a Japanese prison camp.

December 30, 2014

Comparing the two Most Republican Houses in 70 Years by Michael Barone

Before Christmas, Arizona finished its 2nd Congressional District recount, showing Republican Martha McSally beating incumbent Democrat Ron Barber by 167 votes. This means there will be 247 Republicans in the House in the 114th Congress -- one more than was elected to the House in the 80th Congress in 1946. It's the most Republican House since the one elected in 1928, a year when very few of today's voters were alive.

December 26, 2014

Behold, the Magic Kingdom of Dynamic Scoring By Froma Harrop

While most citizens were distracted by the holidays, the enlarged Republican majority in Congress was laying golden pavers for its magical kingdom -- a fabulous place where taxes are cut, military spending is not and budgets balance effortlessly. The coat of arms reads, "Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves."

And to think the rubble has hardly been cleared from the ruins of the most recent magical kingdom, that ruled by George W. Bush. Not only did the Bush tax cuts not pay for themselves but tax revenue as a share of the economy today isn't even close to what it was in 2000.

December 26, 2014

Washington Power Is Flowing Away By Michael Barone

Too much power being grabbed by Washington -- Obamacare, environmental regulations, education standards. That's a constant complaint of conservatives not only during Barack Obama's presidency but during George W. Bush's as well.

But power is also flowing out of Washington, largely unnoticed, and back to the states and localities. You can see that if you look at transportation policy, which is following the same path as the little remembered federal revenue sharing program enacted in the Nixon years and phased out during the Reagan presidency.

December 24, 2014

Up-Lyft-ing Xmas Tale By John Stossel

This Christmas Eve, if you see a fat man in a sleigh distributing presents, tell him he is in violation of several government regulations.

The Federal Aviation Administration is upset about his secret flight path, and his gift bag violates charity tax rules.

In real life, government barely lets people give each other rides in cars. But now the Internet has given birth to exciting businesses that challenge the rules.

December 23, 2014

The Rape on Campus Epidemic By Michael Barone

The total discrediting of Rolling Stone's story on rape at the University of Virginia has shined a light on one of the least palatable features of American life: the so-called epidemic of rape on campus.

December 23, 2014

Unzipping the Elizabeth Warren Package By Froma Harrop

They like her style. Many liberals adore Elizabeth Warren's populist passion for denouncing predatory conduct by Wall Street -- and her linking it to growing income inequality.

Though the senator from Massachusetts insists she's not running for president, her fan base has set up camp in Iowa, fueling the fires for a Warren candidacy. They want her to challenge Hillary Clinton, a likely contender viewed as more lenient toward the captains of finance.

December 19, 2014

Ending a Policy That's Failed for 50 Years by Joe Conason

Listen carefully to the Republican leaders and presidential hopefuls roaring with outrage over President Barack Obama's courageous decision to normalize relations with Cuba; listen very carefully, because no matter how long or how closely you listen to them, there is one thing you will surely never hear.

December 18, 2014

Pottersville Goes Online By Froma Harrop

What is it that makes the holiday movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life" feel so ancient? It's the relationships, but which ones?

December 17, 2014

Governing vs. Giving By John Stossel

It's the season for giving.

That doesn't mean it's the season for government.

Government creates loyalty in the minds of citizens by pretending to be Santa Claus, doling out gifts and favors. Politicians claim they help those unfortunates who aren't helped by coldhearted capitalism.

December 16, 2014

Charity Versus Panhandling by Froma Harrop

I'm paying up at this discount store, and the nice woman at the cash register asks me something like, "Do you want to support a program to help homeless teenagers get drug counseling?"