The Death of the 'Defined Benefit' By Michael Barone
The defined benefit is dying. Barack Obama is struggling to keep it alive, but it's apparent that it's something that even as bounteously rich a society as ours can't afford.
Commentary by Michael Barone
Most Recent Releases
April 25, 2011
April 21, 2011
Mr. Obama: Taxing the Rich Won't Increase Revenues By Michael Barone
Did Barack Obama take Tax 1 in law school? I did, and I remember the first day of classes, when mild mannered Professor Boris Bittker asked a simple question, "What is income?"
April 18, 2011
President Whatever Finds Things Not Going His Way By Michael Barone
Barack Obama is a politician who likes to follow through on long-term strategies and avoid making course corrections. That's how he believes he won in 2008, and since then he's shown that he's not much into details.
April 14, 2011
When Politicians 'Bicker,' They're Really Negotiating By Michael Barone
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank attracted some attention when he promised not to mention Sarah Palin for a month. He kept his promise. The republic and the Post survived.
April 11, 2011
Spending Cuts Are Hot in the Political Marketplace By Michael Barone
One of the things that fascinate me about American politics is how the voices of the voters as registered in elections and polls are transformed into changes in public policy. It's a rough-and-ready process, with plenty of trial and error. But for all its imperfections, the political market seems to work.
April 7, 2011
Ryan Steals March on Obama as Fiscal Crisis Looms By Michael Barone
"My worst experience was the financial crisis of September 2008," responded House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan yesterday to a reporter's question about Democrats' attacks on the budget he unveiled earlier in the day.
April 4, 2011
GOP Shouldn't Panic If Whites Become a Minority By Michael Barone
Are whites on the verge of becoming a minority of the American population? That's what some analysts of the 2010 Census results claim. Many go on, sometimes with relish, to say that this spells electoral doom for the Republican Party.
March 31, 2011
Is the Tea Party Pooped? It Must Keep Making Its Case By Michael Barone
Has the wind gone out of the sails of the smaller government movement? Is the tea party movement going through a hangover?
March 28, 2011
The Eyes of Texas Are Sparkling in the 2010 Census By Michael Barone
The Census Bureau last week released county and city populations for the last of the 50 states from the 2010 Census last week, ahead of schedule. Behind the columns of numbers are many vivid stories of how our nation has been changing -- and some lessons for public policy, as well.
March 24, 2011
The Damning Contradictions of Obama's Attack on Libya By Michael Barone
Let's imagine that all goes well in Libya. The rebels, protected by air strikes, recapture lost territory and sweep into Tripoli. Moammar Gadhafi and his sons one way or the other disappear.
March 21, 2011
US Is the Unilateral Power in a Multilateral World By Michael Barone
One thing on which there seems to have been agreement during the monthlong debate about how the United States should respond to the uprisings in the Middle East -- in particular to the anti-Moammar Gadhafi rebels in Libya -- is that we must not act unilaterally.
March 17, 2011
The Framers Never Imagined a New Hampshire Primary By Michael Barone
The weakest part of our political system is the presidential nomination process. And it's not coincidental that it's the part of the federal system that finds least guidance in the Constitution.
March 14, 2011
On Libya and Budget, President Obama Votes 'Present' By Michael Barone
In the Illinois legislature, state Sen. Barack Obama voted "present" 129 times. Today, he seems to be voting present on two major issues, Libya and the budget.
March 10, 2011
Why NPR Should Urge Congress to End Its Subsidy By Michael Barone
What do they put in the water cooler over at NPR? First, they fire Juan Williams in October for comments he made on Fox News Channel -- and Vivian Schiller, the CEO of public radio, smilingly suggests he needs to have his head examined.
March 7, 2011
Who's to Blame for Union Woes? By Michael Barone
The labor union movement is in deep trouble. Only 6 percent of private-sector employees are union members.
March 3, 2011
Government Shutdown No Longer a 'Train Wreck' By Michael Barone
Sometimes you get an idea of the way opinion is headed by the phrases you don't hear. Case in point: In all the discussion and debate these past weeks about a possible government shutdown if Congress and President Obama fail to agree on funding bills, I don't recall having heard the phrase "train wreck."
February 28, 2011
Voting for the National Interest, Not Self-Interest By Michael Barone
It's a question that puzzles most liberals and bothers some conservatives. Why are so many modest-income white voters rejecting the Obama Democrats' policies of economic redistribution and embracing the small-government policies of the tea party movement?
February 24, 2011
Public Unions Force Taxpayers to Fund Dems By Michael Barone
Everyone has priorities. During the past week, Barack Obama has found no time to condemn the attacks that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has launched on the Libyan people.
February 21, 2011
Daniels and Christie Light Fuse Under GOP Lawmakers By Michael Barone
As congressional Republicans mull whether to address the government's long-term fiscal problems -- House Republican leaders are being pushed by the 87 freshmen to do so, while some Senate Republicans are seeking some bipartisan accords with Democratic colleagues -- two Republican governors barreled into Washington with the message that the lawmakers better get moving. And that congressional Republicans might do just fine politically if they do.
February 17, 2011
Obama Budget Offers Inertia, Not Hope and Change By Michael Barone
One way to judge the merits of the budget Barack Obama unveiled this week is by the comments of his political allies. "It's not enough to focus primarily on the non-security discretionary part of the budget," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad.
