Partisan Hysteria Hypes (and Helps) al-Qaida By Joe Conason
The latest atrocity attempted by al-Qaida seems to be yet another example of history reprising a great tragedy as farce.
Political Commentary
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January 8, 2010
January 8, 2010
Schwarzenegger -- What Might've Been By Debra J. Saunders
Mention Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- you need only say his first name -- and many Californians respond with a long sigh, then with words like "squander" or "waste" or "missed opportunity." Those in the political class look at Schwarzenegger and see what might have been.
January 8, 2010
The Newest Federalism By Susan Estrich
In 1981, Ronald Reagan's ideologists pronounced his attack on the welfare state an expression of the "new federalism." It wasn't that they were against helping the poor and the needy, but that the federal government was the wrong branch of government to do it. Even the president talked about it. People, myself included, wrote papers.
January 7, 2010
Are Free Market Forces on the Comeback Trail? By Lawrence Kudlow
Here’s my latest Money Politics message: the midterm elections are going to be crucial in determining the outlook for pro-growth, free market policies includes lower taxes, lower spending, ending bailouts and diminishing federal control over our economic freedom.
January 7, 2010
Can Cocksure Obama Change Course -- and Keep His Nerve? By Michael Barone
A year ago, I was privileged to be one of several guests at a dinner with President-elect Barack Obama. One thing that struck me and others, aside from his courtesy and fluency, was his air of self-confidence.
January 7, 2010
Notes on the State of Politics in the New Year By Larry J. Sabato
What a difference a day makes. Two Democratic senators, both likely reelection losers, throw in the towel. The incumbent Democratic governor of key swing state Colorado shocks everyone by declining to run for a second term. And the all-but-certain Democratic nominee for governor of Michigan, Lt. Gov. John Cherry, drops out because he can't raise money.
January 7, 2010
An Unchained Dodd Rides Into Finance Reform By Froma Harrop
With polls showing that Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd would probably lose to most everyone running against him, the Democrat's decision not to seek re-election is a relief to all but his Republican opponents. A Senate seat from true-blue Connecticut isn't something Democrats should have to worry about. They've already got enough on their hands dealing with the state's other senator, independent Joe Lieberman.
January 6, 2010
The Lady and the Bracelet By Susan Estrich
We got to the airport two hours early. My daughter made fun of me. Maui is not a likely terrorist target. Then again, the president was about one minute away in Oahu, and so was Rush Limbaugh, so who’s to say for sure? The thing about terrorists is that they strike when and where you don’t expect them.
January 6, 2010
Winston Churchill Still Instructs By Tony Blankley
Over the Christmas holiday, I read a couple of books that, at least for me, may provide some guidance in the upcoming tumultuous and probably consequential year. The first book was "Munich, 1938" by David Faber (grandson of former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan), by far the most authoritative book on that world-changing event.
January 5, 2010
Another Entitlement That's Unsustainable By Debra J. Saunders
Inside the House and Senate health care bills lurks a ticking time bomb -- a new federal entitlement, under the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, which would allow Americans to buy into a voluntary federal long-term care insurance program.
January 5, 2010
Dems Should Stay Cool About Midterms By Froma Harrop
The midterm elections this November have spawned midyear panic, largely by Democrats. With their majorities in the Senate and House, Democrats have the most to lose. And historically, the president's party sheds congressional seats at this point in the electoral cycle.
January 1, 2010
Yes, Someone Has To Pay for Health Care By Debra J. Saunders
Most Americans already have health care insurance, but many middle-class Americans are afraid of losing what they have.
December 31, 2009
It's a Wonderful Life Working for the Government By Michael Barone
It looks like a happy new year for you -- if you're a public employee.
December 31, 2009
Let House Prices Do What They Must By Froma Harrop
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, the bubble's not over till the last drop splatters. That is certainly the case with the housing bubble. Home prices that seemed to be strengthening over the summer have again slipped, according to the S&P Case-Shiller index. Neither low interest rates nor a fat tax credit for homebuyers has changed this reality.
December 31, 2009
Market-Based Variables Point to a Mini Boom in 2010 By Lawrence Kudlow
Despite the historic expansion of the federal government’s involvement in, intervention in, and control of the economy — including Bailout Nation; takeovers of banks, car companies, insurance firms, Fannie, Freddie, AIG, GM, Chrysler, and GMAC; large-scale tax threats; overregulation; an attempted takeover of the health-care sector; ultra-easy money; a declining dollar; and unprecedented spending and debt creation — despite all the things that would be expected to destroy the economy — all this socialism lite and the degrading of incentives and rewards for success — despite all this, the U.S. economy has not been destroyed.
December 30, 2009
“Plato O Plomo” – Washington’s Gangster Way By Howard Rich
During the 1980’s, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar built a global cocaine cartel of unrivaled power and influence based on a simple philosophy, Plato O Plomo.
December 30, 2009
Fear of Flying By Susan Estrich
Now is the time for those of us on vacation to start talking ourselves back onto the planes we have to board to get home. Here I am in paradise -- actually, the Grand Wailea in Maui, which looks like paradise to me -- and around the pool and on the beaches, almost everyone is squinting into BlackBerries and iPhones trying to figure out exactly what is going wrong in the rest of the world.
December 30, 2009
Afghan War Policy Fractured By Tony Blankley
Franklin Roosevelt was famous for being able to give people on all sides of a policy dispute the impression that he supported each person's position. Such artfulness helped him manage domestic politics for 12 years in the presidency. Similarly, President Obama wrote in his book "The Audacity of Hope" that "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. As such, I am bound to disappoint some, if not all, of them."
December 29, 2009
We'd Be Happy to Do This 'Strip Tease' By Froma Harrop
U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz proudly championed a measure last spring that bans whole-body imaging as a primary screening technique at airports. "You don't have to look at my wife and 8-year-old daughter naked to secure an airplane," the Utah Republican said.
December 29, 2009
Warning, Satire Alert: Liberal Take on Terror! By Debra J. Saunders
Gosh darn, I feel great to live in a country that gives full constitutional rights to a foreign national who, on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, was tackled by passengers and crew as he reportedly was trying to blow up the plane.
