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Political Commentary

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January 30, 2009

Stop Those Checks By Susan Estrich

This is the Republicans' big contribution to our economic recovery: They want to make sure that undocumented immigrants who pay taxes using tax identification numbers don't get a cent of their tax money back in the refunds enacted by Congress. Oh, yes, and they want rich people to get tax refunds.

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January 30, 2009

The Georgia Senate Runoff: The First Shot of 2010? By Rhodes Cook

The 2008 election these days may seem long ago and far away. But it is worth remembering that while the Republicans had a bad time at the polls in November, they fared well in the array of contests that concluded the election cycle in December.

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January 30, 2009

Obama Is Essential To Passing the Economic Recovery Plan Analysis by Scott Rasmussen

Public support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress is modest, but the proposal is likely to pass for a very simple reason: Voters want to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt.

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January 29, 2009

Stimulus Criticism Mounts By Lawrence Kudlow

Last night’s House vote on the Democratic stimulus package, where not a single Republican voted in favor, was another shot across the bow for this incredibly unmanageable $900 billion behemoth of a program that truly will not stimulate the economy.

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January 29, 2009

Sports Man Therapy for Tough Times By Froma Harrop

I envy Sports Man. He can rise above his own problems by focusing on the triumphs or setbacks of The Team.

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January 29, 2009

The 2008 Election in Perspective By James E. Campbell

Some political analysts have interpreted the 2008 presidential election as an ordinary retrospective election. With a very unpopular Republican incumbent presiding over unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a weak economy, 2008 appeared to be a Democratic year.

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January 29, 2009

Obama's Wounded Treasury Man By Lawrence Kudlow

Over a third of the Senate voted against Tim Geithner's confirmation as treasury secretary, though he did pass the test by 60 to 34 early Monday evening.

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January 29, 2009

Obama Should Act on Medical Marijuana By Debra J. Saunders

During the campaign, President Obama said he would stop federal raids of medical marijuana clubs in states (like California) that had passed medical marijuana laws.

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January 28, 2009

History Lessons By Susan Estrich

On Jan. 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers entered the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Poland and liberated the 7,000 prisoners who were still there, most of them sick and dying.

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January 28, 2009

Obama's Collectivist Nationalism By Tony Blankley

President Barack Obama is a beguiling but confounding figure. As he said of himself in "The Audacity of Hope," "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views."

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January 27, 2009

Out of the Closet on Proposition 8 By Debra J. Saunders

I voted against Proposition 22, the same-sex marriage ban, in 2000. I figured that if same-sex couples want to marry, why not let them? I believe in marriage. I don't want gay people to feel marginalized. But 61 percent of California voters thought otherwise.

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January 27, 2009

Getting Off the Dog Track By Froma Harrop

I know a lot of greyhounds. A greyhound track operates near my house, and many of its retirees end up in the neighborhood. Something you notice about these dogs: Greyhounds are built for speed, but once they move into a comfy home, they're in no hurry to go anywhere.

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January 24, 2009

The Obama-Kennedy Connection By Michael Barone

Last Tuesday, for the 22nd time in 220 years, Americans saw the peaceful post-election transfer of power from one political party to another. In our great outdoor national ceremony, scheduled for some reason on a day that is as likely as any other to be the coldest of the year, Barack Obama took the oath as our 44thth president and spoke to the nation for 19 minutes in a speech that was far more somber than the mood of the crowd of 2 million on the Mall.

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January 23, 2009

Caroline's Exit By Susan Estrich

I do not know what ultimately persuaded Caroline Kennedy to withdraw her name from consideration for the U.S. Senate. Maybe it was something about taxes or a housekeeper, the two rumors that seem to have the most "juice" as I write this. To be honest, I don't care.

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January 22, 2009

What Bipartisan Means Now By Joe Conason

On the eve of Barack Obama's ascension to power, at candlelit dinners across Washington sponsored by the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the designated theme was bipartisanship. From the speeches delivered to the choice of honorees, which included Sen. John McCain, the former secretary of state Colin Powell, and the incoming vice president, Joe Biden, the new administration expressed its fond wish for a return to the respect and civility of a bygone era.

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January 22, 2009

Gilded Age for Institutions Also Over By Froma Harrop

Mark Twain was thinking big in 1874 when he moved into his new 19-room mansion in Hartford, Conn. The Missouri-born writer was not one to economize. Following the success of "Tom Sawyer" in 1881, he hired none other than Louis Comfort Tiffany to "do" the interior.

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January 22, 2009

The New Era of Responsibility By Debra J. Saunders

I keep waiting for that moment when Barack Obama -- President Obama -- tells the American people that there is a price to be paid for the many proposals he has offered. That moment has yet to come.

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January 22, 2009

The Honeymoon Begins By Larry J. Sabato

Almost every American recognizes January 20, 2009 as a red-letter date in U.S. history. No one who witnessed the swearing-in of President Barack Obama will ever forget it, and rarely has so much emotion been wrapped up in an inauguration.

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January 21, 2009

Teddy By Susan Estrich

I have been holding my breath for a while, sending out little messages, waiting for the updates on Sen. Kennedy.

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January 21, 2009

The Final Bush Pardons By Debra J. Saunders

On his way out of office, President Bush used his power of the pardon to commute the sentences of former U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who had been sentenced to 11 years and 12 years respectively for shooting and wounding a fleeing drug smuggler in 2005 and then covering up the incident. It was the right move.