Commentary by Michael Barone

Obama Economy Emphasis Is all Talk By Michael Barone

We have a president who loves to give campaign speeches to adoring crowds, but who doesn't seem to have much interest in governing.

A Woman in Full: Thatcher Gets Her Due in New Biography By Michael Barone

The first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher, covering her life up to Britain's victory in the Falklands, is out, just weeks after her death. It takes its place among the finest political biographies of all time.

A Better System for Picking Presidential Candidates By Michael Barone

You can get agreement from almost all points on the political spectrum that the worst aspect of our political system is the presidential nomination process. It is perhaps no coincidence that it is the one part of the system not treated in the Constitution.

That's because the Founding Fathers abhorred political parties and hoped that presidents would be selected by something like an elite consensus. But we have political parties, the oldest and third oldest in the world, and they are not going away.

Obama Finds Foreign Affairs Do Not Bend to His Whims By Michael Barone

Foreign policy is hard. That's a lesson Barack Obama has been learning throughout his presidency. The world is not responding as he expected.  

Obama Forfeits Trust by Not Enforcing Obamacare By Michael Barone

On Obamacare, as on immigration enforcement and welfare requirements, Barack Obama is following the course that cost King James II his throne. He is dispensing with the law.    

With Dems on Defensive, GOP Has Chance to Recapture Senate By Michael Barone

What's the outlook for the 2014 Senate elections? The Republicans once again have a chance to overturn the Democrats' majority, as they did in 2010 and 2012.    

With Its Roots in the Nuclear Family, the Nation Evolves Into America 3.0 By Michael Barone

The Fourth of July is always an occasion to think about what the United States of America has been, is and will be. A good way to reflect on that is to pick up a copy of "America 3.0" by James Bennett and Michael Lotus and ponder its lessons.

In U.K. but Not U.S., Young Voters Turn Against Big Government By Michael Barone

A trip to London provides an occasion to compare and contrast British politics and attitudes with those in America.   

Supreme Court Offers Mixed Verdict to Conservatives and Liberals By Michael Barone

This has been a big week for the Supreme Court. In four separate cases, it applied stricter scrutiny to racial quotas and preferences in higher education, overturned part of the Voting Rights Act, ruled unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act and dismissed an appeal of a case overturning California voters' ban on same-sex marriage.   

Dems Struggle With Scandals; GOP Can't Agree on Policy By Michael Barone

The two political parties are in disarray. The Democrats are disheartened. The Republicans are disunited.    

An Oregon Study Casts Doubt On Whether Health Insurance Improves Health By Michael Barone

Does having health insurance make people healthier? It's widely assumed that it does.

Obamacare advocates repeatedly said that its expansion of Medicaid would save thousands of lives a year. Obamacare critics seldom challenged the idea that increased insurance coverage would improve at least some people's health.

A Libertarian Turn on Marijuana Legalization, Same-Sex Marriage and Gun Rights By Michael Barone

Are Americans becoming more libertarian on cultural issues? I see evidence that they are, in poll findings and election results on three unrelated issues -- marijuana legalization, same-sex marriage and gun rights.

Start with pot. Last November voters in the states of Colorado and Washington voted to legalize marijuana, by a 55 to 45 percent margin in Colorado (more than Barack Obama's margin in the state) and by 56 to 44 percent in Washington.

NSA Surveillance, If Ungentlemanly, Is Not Illegal By Michael Barone

"Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." That's what Secretary of State Henry Stimson said to explain why he shut down the government's cryptanalysis operations in 1929.    

America Will Pay a Price for President Obama's Inaction in Syria By Michael Barone

Barack Obama's appointments of Susan Rice as national security adviser and Samantha Power as ambassador to the United Nations have naturally triggered speculation about changes in foreign policy.  

With Lautenberg Gone, WW II Vets Fade From Politics By Michael Barone

Over the last seven decades, 115 veterans of World War II have served in the United States Senate. This week, the last of them, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, died.    

Tragedy of Detroit Shows 'Big Unit America' Is out of Gas By Michael Barone

Detroit, once one of the nation's most vibrant cities, faces imminent bankruptcy. That's the headline from the report last month of emergency fiscal manager Kevyn Orr, issued 45 days after he was appointed this spring by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to take over the city's government.

Unintended Consequences Often Bedevil Reformers By Michael Barone

A thoughtful reformer targets the traditional rules of an aging institution that has retarded progress in the past. Time to modernize those rules, the reformer says, and prevent obstruction in the future.

Obama Uses 1917 Espionage Act to Go After Reporters By Michael Barone

There is one problem with the entirely justified if self-interested media squawking about the Justice Department snooping into the phone records of multiple Associated Press reporters and Fox News's James Rosen.   

Low-skilled Workers Get Raw Deal Under Obamacare By Michael Barone

Would you like to have a "skinny" health insurance policy? Probably not. But if you're employed by a large company, you may get one, thanks to Obamacare.

IRS and AP Scandals Cast a Big Chill on Free Speech By Michael Barone

Chilling effect. That's the term lawyers and judges use to describe the result of government actions that deter people from exercising their right of free speech.