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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.

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February 20, 2011

Human Nature and D.C.-backed Loans By Debra J. Saunders

In 2009, when CNBC's David Faber asked former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan what lessons could be learned to prevent another great financial meltdown in the wake of the mortgage-financing collapse, Greenspan did not have a happy-face answer.

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February 19, 2011

Endangered Women By Susan Estrich

Yes, Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and badly beaten. Yes, that is a terrible thing. She is, however, reported to be in "remarkably good spirits." Indeed. She is alive, not beheaded, not held hostage, not any number of terrible things. Being raped is bad, but it isn't the worst thing. Not getting out alive is the worst thing.

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February 18, 2011

Entitlements: A Debate Deferred By Howard Rich

Washington politicians have worked themselves into a fine lather lately debating spending cuts. Yet as familiar rhetorical jabs are exchanged over proposed reductions to things like NPR and the National Archives, the real spending debate is being ignored.

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February 18, 2011

Profits Squeeze By Lawrence Kudlow

“Don’t fight the Fed” is an old stock market adage. Successful investors pay a lot of attention to it. It means that when the central bank is easy, it’s bullish for stocks. And when the bank turns tight, it’s bearish for stocks. Obviously, the Bernanke Fed has been ultra-easy for a couple of years now: The bullish stock market has just doubled its value from the early March 2009 bottom.

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February 18, 2011

Birthers, Truthers and Spreaders By Debra J. Saunders

My first reaction to stories about the Public Policy Polling survey that found that 51 percent of GOP primary voters believe President Obama was not born in the United States was disbelief.

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February 17, 2011

Don't Buy Simple Talk on Budget By Froma Harrop

In politics, simple phrases can hide complex agendas. The budget debate offers the perfect stage for mouthing "home truths" that are not quite true. Let's air a few examples.

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February 17, 2011

Why Do They Hate Social Security? By Joe Conason

Among the mysteries of modern politics in America is why so many of our leading pundits and politicians persistently seek to undermine Social Security, that enduring and successful emblem of active government. In the current atmosphere of budgetary panic, self-proclaimed "centrists" are joining with ideologues of the right in yet another campaign against the program -- and yet again they are misinforming the public about its purposes, costs and prospects.  

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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.

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February 16, 2011

It's the Deficits That Are Draconian, Not Their Cuts By Tony Blankley

After the riots in Athens, the Greek authorities decided to enact new laws to deal with their obvious problems. The new laws, which treat rich and poor alike for the first time, have been seen has harsh. The name of the legislator who wrote the laws is a man called Draco. The date is believed to be 621 B.C. And more than 2,600 years later, the adjectival form of his name -- draconian -- is still tossed around here in Washington anytime someone proposes real budget cuts. 

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February 16, 2011

Judicial Politics By Susan Estrich

There is a crisis in America's federal courts that has absolutely nothing to do with politics, although that is its cause.

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February 15, 2011

Thankfully, the Egyptians Did It Without Us By Froma Harrop

As a rationale for invading Iraq, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said: "The people of the Middle East share the desire for freedom. We have an opportunity -- and an obligation -- to help them turn this desire into reality."

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February 15, 2011

NPR, PBS Federal Subsidies Should Go By Debra J. Saunders

The liberal group Moveon.org has been sending out e-mails to warn that Republicans are back in control of the House and to ask recipients to sign a petition that states, "Congress must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling."

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February 13, 2011

Berkeley Does Guantanamo By Debra J. Saunders

On Feb. 15, on the recommendation of its Peace & Justice Commission, the Berkeley (Calif.) City Council is set to vote on a resolution to invite "one or two cleared" Guantanamo Bay detainees to resettle in Berkeley.

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February 12, 2011

Obama Equal Reagan? So Far, It Ain't Even Close By Lawrence Kudlow

A week after Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday celebration, comparisons between Presidents Obama and Reagan continue.

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February 11, 2011

How Clinton Balanced the Budget By Joe Conason

As America approaches the deadline for increasing the statutory national debt -- or risking a catastrophic default on our obligations to creditors and citizens -- there is no shortage of stupid ideas to restore fiscal order.

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February 11, 2011

The Shirtless Congressman By Susan Estrich

At one level, it's astoundingly funny: a congressman telling a woman with whom he is flirting that the only picture he has of himself is shirtless. If there is one thing every congressman has, it is pictures of himself in a shirt. Often, stuffed.

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February 10, 2011

Going Gingrich By Howard Rich

Have recent elections taught Republicans nothing?

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February 10, 2011

Lieberman, Harman and Vanishing Democratic Moderates By Michael Barone

Political pundits of a certain stripe have been lamenting the disappearance of Republican moderates for years. It's time now to lament the disappearance of moderate Democrats.

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February 10, 2011

AOL/HuffPo Meet Corporate Greed By Debra J. Saunders

In one of her many iterations, Arianna Huffington targeted "corporate greed" as a force undermining America. That was during one of her populist phases, which frequently are followed by Huffington morphing into what she once scorned.

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