Medicare Disadvantage

Guest Post by Ron Chusid While there has been a lot of attention paid to the ways in which George Bush’s changes to Medicare have benefited insurance companies, such as by not allowing negotiations over price, the benefits to insurance companies from Medicare Advantage plans has received less attention. Besides the political implications of the […]

John Kerry Boosts Obama Campaign and Helps Debunk Clinton Attacks

Guest Post by Ron Chusid While individual endorsements probably have minimal impact on primary races, the cumulative effect of several high profile endorsements might help Obama overcome one of the disadvantages typically faced by insurgent candidates going up against an establishment candidate who has an advantage in party support. Recently Obama has received endorsements from […]

Controversy Over MLK Remarks Continues (UPDATED)

Guest Post by dnA Yesterday, Hillary Clinton put the responsibility on the Obama campaign for distorting remarks she made about the Civil Rights movement, which some say could cause a backlash among black voters in upcoming primary states. Clinton said in an interview in New Hampshire earlier this week that Martin Luther King’s role during […]

Lorrie Moore: Feminism Is So Thirty Years Ago (and Blacks Are So Zeitgeisty)

Guest post by Steve M. In the past few years, quite a bit of New York Times op-ed space has been given over to novelists and short-story writers — some of them writers I enjoy and admire.  I suppose it’s a search for fresh perspectives; unfortunately, the results are often ill-informed and half-baked. An example […]

I Wonder Who Jonah Goldberg’s Favorite Candidate Is?

Guest Post by dnA Within the first three paragraphs of Jonah Goldberg’s Sunday Outlook piece for the WaPo, which is inundated with clichés (example: “spiked like Dick Cheney’s EKG,” hyuk!) Goldberg makes this disclaimer: As National Review put it in its editorial endorsement of Romney (I am undecided, for the record): “Each of the men […]

Teaching of Evolution Remains Under Attack

Guest Post by Ron Chusid Despite the high profile victory for keeping creationism out of science classes in the Dover case, there are ongoing battles around the country to defend science. South Carolinians for Science Education reports on one victory as the State Board of Education reversed a December vote which would have led to […]

Bill Clinton’s Own Fairy Tales on Obama’s Views on Iraq

Guest Post by Ron Chusid Some of the posts on Saturday dealt with the inevitable attacks which the Democratic candidate will face and whether they will be prepared to respond. There was an example of a response to an attack from the Obama camp on Saturday night as Dick Durbin defended Obama against recent attacks […]

Who’s Talking About Obama’s “Blackness”?

Guest Post by dnA One of the biggest myths of the Presidential campaign is that the only people questioning Barack Obama’s “blackness” are also black, perpetuated in David Greenberg’s Outlook piece for the WaPo. This background may be what some people (mainly blacks) have meant when they asked the regrettable question of whether Obama is […]

Ron Paul As Conservative, Not Defender of Freedom

Guest Post by Ron Chusid Seeing Ron Paul debate his fellow Republicans on Iraq, and even criticize their lack of respect for civil liberties, brought Paul justifiably favorable attention. This has included the support of some liberals who have not looked carefully at Paul’s views beyond these issues. Paul has lost a considerable amount of […]

Fortunately, He’ll Remain Many, Many Heartbeats Away

Guest post by Steve M. Yes, gratifyingly, someone who should remain many heartbeats away from the presidency will do so, if Robert Novak is correct: Close advisers of Sen. John McCain say there is no possibility that Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman would be McCain’s vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket. … Lieberman […]