Traveling Back to the Future on Intercity Buses By Michael Barone
Not long ago, I wrote about how the private sector outraces and laps government. While governments dither and dispute, the private sector discovers.
Political Commentary
Most Recent Releases
August 25, 2011
August 23, 2011
'Enforcement' of Immigration Laws Already Here By Froma Harrop
Have you noticed that our immigration laws are finally being enforced? That illegal immigration is way down? That employers hiring undocumented workers are finally being punished? And that this is being done in the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama? If not, take note.
August 22, 2011
Same-Sex Marriage Moving Toward the Mainstream By Michael Barone
One of the few issues on which opinion has moved left over the last few years is same-sex marriage. In 1996, Gallup found that Americans opposed it by a 68 percent to 27 percent margin. Last May, Gallup found Americans in favor by 53 percent to 45 percent. That's a huge change in 15 years.
August 19, 2011
In Iowa, It's Up Close and Personal By Kyle Kondik
As the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames was wrapping up Saturday, a reporter rushed onto the floor of Iowa State University's Hilton Coliseum, where the press was filing their stories. She went up to her colleagues with what she said was a new, breaking quote from Michele Bachmann: Bachmann, the reporter said, had just vowed to make Barack Obama a "one-term president."
August 19, 2011
The Commentary Pages Are No Tea Party By Froma Harrop
Several columnists recently referred to the tea party "patriots" as terrorists. The terrorist label set off a stormy protest among the group's legion of message writers.
August 18, 2011
The Dirty Thirties By Larry J. Sabato
President Obama has found himself in the cellar for the first time since taking office: He fell to 39% in Gallup Poll tracking over the past weekend. Obama may or may not have a month or months when his average is below 40%. Still, it is a number that has already imprinted itself on the mind of the political community.
August 18, 2011
Harry S. Obama? By Michael Barone
Pundits lately have been comparing Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter, suggesting he is a likely loser in 2012. But my American Enterprise Institute colleague Norman Ornstein, writing in The New Republic, compares Obama to Harry S. Truman, suggesting he may outperform the polls and win.
August 17, 2011
Perry’s Red-Hot Bernanke Slam By Lawrence Kudlow
Gov. Rick Perry scorched the political pot on Tuesday with a red-hot rhetorical attack on Fed-head Ben Bernanke. When asked about the Fed reopening the monetary spigots, Perry said, “If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.”
August 17, 2011
The Authoritarian Temptation By Tony Blankley
In the weeks during and since the debt-ceiling debate, the media, pushed by the Democratic Party, has peddled the propaganda that our government is broken -- because the Republicans in the House of Representatives negotiated a better deal than the liberals wanted.
August 16, 2011
Putting England Back Together Again By Froma Harrop
Watching the riots in Britain's cities, I recalled visiting an English friend who ran a big company and had a country house grand enough to be called a "hall." (I will not disclose his identity.) Though hardly liberal, my friend was politically moderate. He was also a very decent person.
August 15, 2011
GOP Has Momentum, Needs Clear Direction By Michael Barone
This has been quite a week or 10 days for Republicans. As this is written, down in South Carolina Rick Perry has just announced he's running for president, while here in Ames most of the votes have been cast but none has yet been counted in the Iowa Republican straw poll.
August 12, 2011
Letting States Make Policy By Froma Harrop
Majorities in liberal states often back policies that most folks in conservative states abhor -- and vice versa. The difficulty of reaching accord among warring but heartfelt views partly explains Washington's paralysis.
August 12, 2011
Franken Calls for Oversight of Ratings Agencies By Joe Conason
With world markets suddenly sagging under the weight of the Standard & Poor's Aug. 5 downgrade of Treasury bonds, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is disturbed by the monopolistic power of the ratings agencies -- and still determined to curb their abuses, as he tried to do last year with an amendment to the Dodd-Frank banking reform bill.
August 11, 2011
Bachmann Shows Why She's the Straw Poll Favorite By Michael Barone
Things look different in the Midwest. Back in Washington, people are talking about President Barack Obama's poor showing this past week. (Did you see that Maureen Dowd has turned against him?) In Iowa, they're focused on the state Republicans' presidential straw poll in Ames next Saturday. And in Wisconsin, they just got through counting the votes in a recall election that has great national significance.
August 11, 2011
It's Debatable By Larry J. Sabato
Tonight marks the third televised debate of the 2012 campaign for the Republican contenders, and by far the most important one yet. It's not that the audience in Iowa or on TV will be enormous in the midst of August vacations and summer doldrums.
August 10, 2011
The End of the World Is not Nigh By Tony Blankley
Except according to the Lord's plans -- which are not known to man -- the "end of the world" is not nigh, although to listen to politicians and pundits, we should be packed and ready to go by next Thursday.
August 10, 2011
Bernanke to the Rescue By Lawrence Kudlow
Damn the torpedoes! Up periscope! Full speed ahead! Ben Bernanke and the Fed to the rescue!
August 9, 2011
No Time to Panic This Economy Can Hold Up By Lawrence Kudlow
During a period like this, with stocks plunging almost on a daily basis, it’s clear that fear and shock are ruling the roost. But fear can be overdone. As someone who has been around awhile and has seen many sell-offs, let me offer some advice: Do not panic. Market corrections come and go. They are not the end of the world. Most times they are actually healthy.
August 9, 2011
This Is What Happens When a City Goes Bankrupt By Froma Harrop
The stock market plunged over 500 points last Thursday, but no one seemed very perturbed about it in this tiny factory town. Three days before, Central Falls had filed for a Chapter 9 bankruptcy. These working-class folk see bottoms fall out on a regular basis.
August 8, 2011
Americans Want the Honor of 'Earned Success' By Michael Barone
Why aren't voters moving to the left, toward parties favoring bigger government, during what increasingly looks like an economic depression? That's a question I've asked, and one that was addressed with characteristic thoughtfulness by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg in The New York Times last week.
