Political Commentary

October 11, 2013

Party of Pain: A Commentary by Froma Harrop

Fans of representative democracy know that there are ways to advocate one's beliefs short of threatening and delivering harm to the larger society. It used to be that one could blame the parade of manufactured crises not on the whole Republican Party but on its unruly tea party faction. That's becoming less and less so as what remains of the pragmatic leadership caves in to the extremists' demands.

The GOP's perspective on governing seems to have moved from enlightenment to medieval. It's become the party of pain.

October 10, 2013

Shutdown Theater By John Stossel

Government wants you to play a role in the "shutdown" of the federal government. Your role is to panic.

October 9, 2013

Tyler Cowen's Future Shock: No More Average People By Michael Barone

"This book is far from all good news." So writes Tyler Cowen at the beginning of his latest book, "Average is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of The Great Stagnation."
Cowen is an economist at George Mason University who is generally classified as libertarian and whose interests range far afield. His most recent books include "The Great Stagnation" and "An Economist Gets Lunch" (his advice: skip fancy downtown places, eat at restaurants attached to Pakistani-owned motels).

October 9, 2013

The Grumpy Genius of Marcella Hazan By Froma Harrop

In an era of finicky foodies and celebrity chefs, Marcella Hazan never troubled herself with the rough-and-tumble of branding. Not sexy like Nigella Lawson, not colorful like Emeril Lagasse, not adorable like Rachael Ray -- not even eccentric like Julia Child -- Hazan nailed Italian cooking in a uniquely grumpy way.

October 4, 2013

Drunk and Disorderly: How Republican Extremists Are Shredding Every Principle the GOP Claims to Uphold By Joe Conason

By Washington standards, the current government shutdown is an everyday disaster -- of a kind we are gradually learning to expect whenever the Republican Party controls Congress. The impending breach of the nation's credit, however, when those same Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit to cover the funds they have spent, threatens a singular catastrophe: unpredictable, global, yet entirely avoidable.

October 3, 2013

What America Needs: Abject Defeat of Budget Games By Froma Harrop

Note how tea party politicians routinely start their remarks with "The American people want." And what "the American people want" conveniently coincides with their ideological preferences.

October 2, 2013

If Only Obamacare Had Been Passed With Careful Deliberation By Michael Barone

Many Democrats are genuinely puzzled about Republicans' continuing opposition to Obamacare. It is the law of the land, these Democrats say. Critics should accept it, as critics accepted Medicare.

October 2, 2013

Escaping 'Government' Schools By John Stossel

People say public schools are "one of the best parts of America". I believed that. Then I started reporting on them.

Now I know that public school -- government school is a better name -- is one of the worst parts of America. It's a stultified government monopoly. It never improves.

Most services improve. They get faster, better, cheaper. But not government monopolies. Government schools are rigid, boring, expensive and more segregated than private schools.

October 1, 2013

The Sports Cable Rip-off By Froma Harrop

Not long ago, an important New England Patriots game failed to appear on my cable lineup. There was a way to pay extra for it, but the heck with that.

September 27, 2013

New Report Undercuts Global Warming Alarmists By Michael Barone

Events have failed to fulfill the prophecy. Preachers have suddenly been struck dumb by uncertainty. Believers are understandably nervous and some, under their breath, are abandoning the dogma.

September 27, 2013

In Media Coverage of Clintons, Anonymous Gossip and Fact-Free Cynicism Still Rule By Joe Conason

For the American media -- and especially for "the liberal media" -- even the possibility of a Hillary Clinton presidential nomination, however distant, seems to invite a reversion to bad old habits. During the presidency of Hillary's husband, all too many Washington journalists lived by "the Clinton rules," which meant applying the most cynical interpretation to everything Bill and Hillary Clinton (and anybody associated with them) did or had ever done.

September 26, 2013

What Makes Art Valuable, Really? By Froma Harrop

The amazing story of Pei-Shen Qian has given the art world pause. A struggling Chinese immigrant, Qian painted fake works attributed to the stars of abstract expressionism -- Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell.

September 25, 2013

Innovation or Stagnation By John Stossel

Invent something and the first thing that goes through some people's minds -- especially politicians' minds -- is what might go wrong.

3D printers now allow you to mold objects right in your living room, using patterns you find online. It's a revolutionary invention that will save time, reduce shipping costs and be kind to the earth.

But what critics see is: guns! People will print guns at home! Well, sure.

September 24, 2013

Game Soon Over on Obamacare By Froma Harrop

Voices from right field are explaining why they're justified in threatening the United States with default if Congress does not defund Obamacare. The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel said on Sunday chat TV, "There isn't one poll that shows that Americans approve, as a majority, of this health care law."

September 24, 2013

America's new Isolationism By Michael Barone

America has gone back to isolationism, many commentators are saying. Not just the dovish Democrats, but also Republicans who were so hawkish a decade ago are turning away from the world.

September 20, 2013

Democrats no Longer Following Obama's Agenda By Michael Barone

Presidents tend to set the agenda for their parties. Most of the party's members of Congress tend to go along.

September 19, 2013

Violence in Our Air By Froma Harrop

To the rising pile of shooting rampages, Americans can now add the rapid-fire murder of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. It is a sign of our remarkable times that this horrid deed seems to pale next to the massacre of 20 schoolchildren in suburban Connecticut last December.

September 19, 2013

Make Trade, Not War By John Stossel

What's up with so many Democrats wanting missile strikes on Syria, while Republicans balk? I'm told Republicans are the war party.

September 18, 2013

Saved From Larry Summers at Fed By Froma Harrop

The week opened nicely with news that Lawrence Summers had taken his name out of the running for the Federal Reserve chairman job. We won't be subjected to the notoriously unpleasant Summers denigrating those who would distinguish between Wall Street's interests and the country's. Still more gratifying is that Democrats, and not just the liberal ones, put the kibosh on President Obama's mystifying desire to put this Wall Street-Washington hybrid in charge of our central banking system.

September 17, 2013

Republicans Need Future-Looking Policies, not old Bromides By Michael Barone

Republicans have been getting a lot of advice on how they should change their party ever since Mitt Romney's defeat in November 2012. They need it.

They are in more than the usual disarray that afflicts parties out of the White House. Many members of their majority in the House of Representatives are out of step with the Republican leadership on issues ranging from Syria to defunding Obamacare.

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