Any policy discussion about reforming Medicare usually revolves around competing ideas to spend less money, promote more competition, and/or offer fewer benefits. But the Republicans’ 2003 Medicare expansion bill did something a little different — and it’s a terrific case study for how the GOP approaches policy Kevin Drum summarized the background nicely: “As part […]
Over the weekend, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney delivered the commencement address at Regent University, the fourth-tier college created by TV preacher Pat Robertson. There are a couple of angles to the story — what Romney said and to whom he said it. First, there’s what Romney told Regent’s graduating class. “There is no work […]
Over the weekend, Ayman al Zawahri, al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, released the latest in a series of bizarre videos, this time discussing his barely coherent “insights” on the war in Iraq. The video was quickly seized upon by partisans on both sides on the U.S. political divide, but one side seems wrong. I should […]
For all the talk about Dems needing to compromise with the Bush White House — Leon Panetta, we’re looking in your direction — the message from the electorate appears to be unambiguous. It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American […]
At a forum in DC earlier this week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he believes a third-party candidate could excel in the 2008 presidential race. “I think the public is fed up,” he said. “If the two major parties don’t hear this going into ’08, there is a real chance of an independent third-party candidacy […]
The WaPo had a front-page item today on congressional Dems finding their legislative agenda stalled. The House has passed a variety of key pieces of legislation, but a combination of Republican obstructionism, presidential vetoes, and attention to the war in Iraq has slowed down progress. A variety of Dems quoted in the piece agree that […]
I’m really not sure what to make of this assessment, gleaned by Christopher Hitchens from Karl Rove, as part of Hitchens’ new book, “God is not great.” I know something which is known to few but is not a secret. Karl Rove is not a believer, and he doesn’t shout it from the rooftops, but […]
In what has turned out to be the most memorable moment of Thursday’s Republican presidential debate — “Is there anybody on the stage that does not believe in evolution?” — an interesting discussion has emerged about the right, science, and modernity. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, one of three Republican candidates who rejects modern biology, […]
I take no pleasure in returning, once again, to pointing out still more errors of fact and judgment from the WaPo’s David Broder. For reasons that continue to puzzle me, the “dean” of the DC media establishment continues to slip further and further away from coherent analysis, leading to yesterday’s revealing online chat with Washington […]
First up from The God Machine this week is a recognition of an annual “holiday,” established about a half-century ago, called the National Day of Prayer. It’s basically an official, symbolic slap in the face to church-state separation — every year, the president issues a proclamation promoting the value of prayer and encouraging Americans to […]