No More Refuge for Scoundrels By Joe Conason
While the leaders of the world's largest economies debate stimulus and regulation in London, let us hope they do not forget about crime and punishment.
Political Commentary
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April 2, 2009
April 1, 2009
Obama’s Chilling Effect on Capitalism By Howard Rich
The tombstone for General Motors really should have read 1908-2008.
April 1, 2009
Mr. Cool By Susan Estrich
He might be nervous and insecure. After all, he's got the biggest, hardest job in the world. It's not like he's been preparing for it all his life; nine years ago he was commuting between Chicago and Springfield, Ill. It's not like he inherited peace and prosperity; he inherited recession, misery and war. It's not like there are any easy victories; getting us out of the various messes we find ourselves in will, at best, be a long, painful and uneven journey.
April 1, 2009
'Liberty and Tyranny' Reviewed By Tony Blankley
Last Sunday's New York Times reported: "Mr. Obama will confront resentment over American-style capitalism and resistance to his economic prescriptions when he lands in London.
March 31, 2009
Obama: Just Say No By Debra J. Saunders
It seems pretty obvious that the last three presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- once smoked marijuana. OK, Clinton claimed he didn't inhale. Bush refused to say whether he ever used drugs; instead, he coyly alluded to mistakes in his youth. Obama didn't play games in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father" -- he wrote about using marijuana and cocaine as a kid.
March 31, 2009
Socialism for Any Occasion By Froma Harrop
Many conservatives think they've found a winner in tarring President Obama and his allies as "socialists." Earnest attempts to explain why "it isn't so" are futile, as is asking people what the heck they mean when they say raising taxes is "socialism."
March 28, 2009
Not Yet Ready for a Welfare State By Michael Barone
Roadblocks. That's what Barack Obama has been encountering on the audacious path toward a European-style welfare state he has set out in his budget and other proposals.
March 27, 2009
A Benefit for Rape By Susan Estrich
What's Bill O'Reilly doing at a benefit for rape victims and their families?
March 26, 2009
STATEHOUSE ROCK: 36 Governorships on the Chopping Block in 2010 By Larry Sabato
We've had two good weeks of gubernatorial fun in the Crystal Ball, reviewing the early match-ups for the 2010 midterm Governor battles here and here. Now it's time to examine the remaining sixteen statehouses, all currently controlled by Republicans.
March 26, 2009
The Con Game of Blame By Joe Conason
As Barack Obama's economic advisers confront choices that vary from bad to worse in their mission to revive the financial sector and the broader economy, it is worth remembering that those choices were in essence inherited by the president, who is still new to his office. Listening to his critics, especially on the right, it would be easy to believe that the president is personally responsible for ballooning deficits, gigantic bailouts, ridiculous bonuses, nationalized institutions and careening markets. It would be easy to believe but entirely false -- and merely the latest episode in an old political con game that is all too typical of Washington.
March 26, 2009
Springtime for New England Republicans? By Froma Harrop
There was a time when New England sent lots of Republicans to Washington. These were fiscally conservative but socially liberal "Rockefeller Republicans," also found in the Northwest, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. As the party turned socially conservative and fiscally reckless, many Yankees departed.
March 25, 2009
Watching The Trillions Pile Up By Howie Rich
With another $2 trillion in federal interventionism announced within the last week alone, the price tag for America's economic "recovery" continues to soar to stratospheric, scarcely-comprehensible heights.
March 25, 2009
The Most Dangerous City in the World By Tony Blankley
In a world growing more dangerous by the week in this dark spring of 2009, Washington may be the most dangerous city in the world.
March 25, 2009
Looking for the Line By Susan Estrich
Nothing gets people's attention faster than picketing them at home -- which is not necessarily a reason to do it.
March 24, 2009
Economy and Health Care Are Married By Froma Harrop
The Duke basketball coach and most other Americans believe that President Obama is unwisely diverting his attention from the sick economy.
March 22, 2009
Congress, Overtax Thyself By Debra J. Saunders
There is no group more dangerous than one with some power, no scruples and leaders who think that they are really smart and that everyone else is really, really stupid.
March 21, 2009
A Hidden Agenda Behind the 90 Percent Tax? By Lawrence Kudlow
Taking advantage of the populist revolt against Wall Street and AIG bailouts, the House Democrats have passed a vengeance tax on TARPed financial firms that amounts to a 90 percent marginal tax rate on bonuses.
March 21, 2009
Card Check: Good for Unions, Bad for America By Michael Barone
The Obama administration's budget is full of proposals that threaten to weaken our staggering economy.
March 20, 2009
The Republican Vacuum By Susan Estrich
Imagine how different things might be right now if there were a Republican Party. I mean a party like the one led by Ronald Reagan, George Bush or Newt Gingrich; a party with a program, a single set of talking points, and the technological and communications advantages to get their message across. That kind of Republican Party. The kind that doesn't exist right now.
March 20, 2009
Statehouse Rock: 36 Governorships on the Chopping Block in 2010 By Larry Sabato
Last week the Crystal Ball conducted a historical overview of gubernatorial midterm elections in the past sixty years. Now we'll continue our initial analysis of the statehouse battles to come by assessing the situation in each of the 36 states hosting a contest for Governor in 2010. Let's start with the 20 Democratic statehouses on the ballot.
