In the wake of the Democrats’ poor showing in the 2002 elections, just about everybody had ideas as to why Democratic candidates failed and suggestions as to what the party could do to prevent such a debacle from happening again. The one point that was emphasized by nearly everyone was that Democrats could no longer […]
When President Bush was inaugurated, the fiscal health of the country couldn’t have been much better. Economic growth was strong, unemployment was low, and budget deficits were a thing of the past as the nation enjoyed the highest surpluses in history. An enormous national debt of $3.4 trillion, built up through the 1980s, was on […]
There’s no kind way to say what is now painfully obvious: the Bush administration has no diplomatic skills to speak of. What’s worse, all indications are that White House officials are not unaware of this fact, they’re indifferent towards it. Paul Krugman, in yesterday’s New York Times, detailed the latest in a too-terribly-long line of […]
Sometimes, it’s a little too easy to criticize Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for being, how do I put this gently, a lunatic. Cataloging all of his bizarre theories, hateful rhetoric, and dangerous ideas could easily be a full-time job, so I usually just brush off his outbursts and hope that someone else is keeping track […]
The Washington Post seems irritated that Sen. John Kerry’s wife, who has gone by Teresa Heinz for years, is now going by Teresa Heinz Kerry. In an editorial today, the paper calls the change an “election conversion.” The editorial follows up on the Boston Globe’s disproportionate coverage a month ago when the senator’s wife made […]
Because last night’s White House press conference didn’t break any new ground, I was tempted not to comment much on it this morning. But a few things did jump out at me that I thought I’d rant about. First, I’m glad the president actually held the press conference and did so in prime time. Just […]
Just a couple of hours after I wrote about the ridiculous provisions House Republicans were adding to a bill intended to cut taxes for soldiers overseas, House GOP leaders pulled the bill. Apparently embarrassed by the negative press coverage, House leaders, who had hoped to pass the bill today, pulled the tax legislation from the […]
Charlie Cook, a terrific non-partisan election analyst for the National Journal, wrote a column this week that’s been getting lots of attention, and for good reason. (I can’t offer a link because it’s not online. Sorry.) Cook’s column was in depth look at “Electoral College math.” If this isn’t an issue that interests you, you […]
It would be naive to think that special interest concerns don’t way heavily on the minds of politicians in Washington, and it would be equally naive to underestimate the importance placed on “pork” that lawmakers squeeze into legislation all the time. But given the issue and the timing, I couldn’t help but find the GOP’s […]
I’m not an expert in health care policy, so it’s difficult for me to critique the specifics of Bush’s latest Medicare proposal and its impact on senior citizens. But from a political angle, it looks like another domestic policy mess for the White House. In January, the administration unveiled a vague outline of a proposal […]