Why are Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi teaming together to lobby for a tax bill that would provide about 80% of the benefits to Americans who make more than $100,000 a year?
"Jaw-jaw is better than war-war," is attributed, wrongly, say some historians, to Winston Churchill. Still, the words lately came to mind.
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Hopefully everyone’s dinner table discussions were polite. Bloomberg News gave turkey eaters advice on how to keep Thanksgiving dinner civil. That’s the same Bloomberg News promising it won’t investigate presidential candidate Bloomberg or other Democrats.
Sometimes the latest new thing is something antique. That's especially true in American politics, which has had seriously contested presidential elections every four years (with one exception) since 1800 and competitions between the same two durable parties since 1856. We're even on our (lucky?) 13th presidential race since the nominating rules were changed, back in the 1970s, to favor primaries rather than caucuses.
The "Our diversity is our strength!" Party is starting to look rather monochromatic in its upper echelons these days.
As one shaky frontrunner endures, we’re reminded of another from the recent past.
— Biden’s endurance at the top of the Democratic race is reminiscent of Mitt Romney’s endurance in the 2012 Republican race.
— Despite considerable liabilities, Romney benefited — and Biden benefits — from splintered opposition and being the best fit for a significant bloc of party regulars.
— The Democratic field is far from perfect, but other fields that seemed weak have produced winning candidates.
Should U.S. citizens have input into whether their neighborhoods are fundamentally and permanently transformed into United Nations refugee camps full of welfare dependents and tax burdens?
Hollywood is now obsessing about increasing ethnic and gender diversity. Good. There's been nasty racial and gender discrimination in the movie business.
At first glance, it would appear that five months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong had produced a stunning triumph.
Washington do-goodism almost always fails to help the people it is supposed to because politicians ignore the Law of Unintended Consequences. Nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to a congressional plan to put payday lenders and other short-term lending institutions, such as the burgeoning online lenders, out of business.
Are humor and satire taught in journalism school? Apparently not, as President Donald Trump continues to reveal how media magpies are completely devoid of humor. They are the epitome of “Bah Humbug” from Ebenezer Scrooge in the upcoming Christmas season.
There ought to be a law.
It's Thanksgiving week in a country whose warring political tribes are not much inclined to giving thanks. But any American with a reasonable historic perspective can easily find reasons to do so.
Thank you, Rob Schneider. Thank you.
The Federal Communications Commission has thrown a curveball into the global race for deployment of 5G -- the much-anticipated fifth generation of cellular and wireless technology. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced his support for a government-run auction of an underutilized 500-megahertz space on the electronic spectrum that cellphone carriers like AT&T and Verizon need to deliver 5G wireless services.
A week from now, the 29 member states of "the most successful alliance in history" will meet to celebrate its 70th anniversary. Yet all is not well within NATO.
"The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America" is the title of a 1960s book by historian and librarian of Congress Daniel Boorstin. Pseudo-events, he wrote, are staged solely to generate news media coverage. Real events involve independent actors and have unpredictable outcomes. Pseudo-events are shows.
Was there linkage between the withholding of U.S. military aid and the U.S. demand for a Ukrainian state investigation of the Bidens?
Openings won’t match the volume of 2018, but Democrats may once again benefit more than Republicans.
— Of 28 open House seats, Republicans are defending 20 while Democrats are defending only eight.
— Of eight the Crystal Ball rates as competitive, Republicans are defending all but one.
— Open seats, along with pending redistricting in North Carolina, give Democrats a small buffer as they defend their majority.
