Ballot vs. the Bench -- Why Sacramento Stumbles By Debra J. Saunders
Here is why it is nearly impossible to fix the state budget.
Commentary by Debra J. Saunders
Most Recent Releases
April 4, 2010
April 1, 2010
In the Bay Area, Karl Rove Was Arresting By Debra J. Saunders
Karl Rove knew how to fire up an already fired-up crowd at a Contra Costa County Republican Party lunch in Lafayette, Calif., on Tuesday. While a handful of protesters outside waved an "arrest Rove" banner, he hit ObamaCare, crowed about the "delicious opportunity" 2010 offers in defeating Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, and picked local tea party activist Sally Zelikovsky out of the crowd to extol her activism.
March 30, 2010
Clowns to the Left, Jokers on the Right By Debra J. Saunders
When activists break the law protesting Republican policies, it is because lefties care so much. But when conservatives act likewise, it's because they are loudmouths and louts.
March 28, 2010
The Power of Meg's Money By Debra J. Saunders
Former Congressman Tom Campbell swears that former eBay CEO and gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman did not squeeze him out of the GOP primary for governor and prompt him to switch to the race to unseat Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer. Whitman spokesperson Sarah Pompei also denied that Whitman Inc. was involved in Campbell's decision.
March 25, 2010
Springtime for Libya and Terrorism By Debra J. Saunders
If you want to know how Americans may look at Sept. 11 in another 10 years, look to Libya. In a luxury villa in Tripoli, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi -- the convicted bomber of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 that left 270 dead -- has been living in style since his "compassionate release" from a Scottish prison last August, precipitated by reports that al-Megrahi had less than three months to live. You may recall the scene at the Tripoli airport, where the Lockerbie bomber received a hero's welcome before a crowd waving Libyan flags and Scottish saltires.
March 23, 2010
ObamaCare Means: Don't Look Behind the Curtain By Debra J. Saunders
You've really got to hand it to President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Saddled with a majority of both houses and a hold on the White House, they somehow managed to pass the Senate health care bill in the House. It's practically a miracle.
March 21, 2010
Crack Versus Powder Cocaine Should Not Be Black and White By Debra J. Saunders
Last week by voice vote, the Senate unanimously approved a measure to reduce the infamous 100-1 disparity in federal mandatory minimum prison sentences for possession of crack versus powder cocaine. The new, improved disparity would be 18-1.
March 19, 2010
Conyers Is the Wrong Guy To Chair Judiciary Committee By Debra J. Saunders
Another funny thing happened in what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised would be "the most ethical Congress in history." Monica Conyers, the wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, pleaded guilty last year to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit bribery that prompted her to resign from the Detroit City Council last year. This month, she was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
March 16, 2010
Obama Evokes Fear, Calls for Courage By Debra J. Saunders
As a candidate for president, Sen. Barack Obama rejected "the politics of fear." Well, he won. So now he's playing the fear card to the hilt.
March 11, 2010
Meg Whitman Can Run a Company, but Can She Govern? By Debra J. Saunders
It took me five months to get my first interview with former eBay CEO and California GOP gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman, and when I did, it was after a press event where the news reporters were not allowed to ask questions. Swell.
March 9, 2010
March Forth Means: Pearls Before Swine By Debra J. Saunders
The biggest problem with last week's March 4 Day of Action to Defend Education, which was organized to protest cuts in California's education spending: The event showed how little educators and students value education.
March 5, 2010
Appointments Are the President's Prerogative By Debra J. Saunders
In November, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked Attorney General Eric Holder to provide him with a list of Department of Justice political appointees who had represented enemy-combatant "detainees, or worked for organizations advocating on terrorism or detainee policy." The DOJ has not sent him the names.
March 4, 2010
Stark, Raving, Maryland By Debra J. Saunders
Before she became House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi promised that if Democrats won control of the House, she would "drain the swamp" in Washington. How is she doing?
March 2, 2010
Why Americans Hate Washington - By Debra J. Saunders
In January, the Senate joined the House in passing "pay-as-you-go" rules to require Congress to pay for new discretionary spending. On Feb. 12, President Obama signed the bill.
February 28, 2010
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Fantasyland By Debra J. Saunders
The villain in "A Time to Run," Sen. Barbara Boxer's first novel, is a conservative writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. A salvo at moi? Hardly.
February 25, 2010
Jerry Brown Flies Below the Radar By Debra J. Saunders
With the other name Democrats out of the race, Attorney General Jerry Brown basically has a lock on his party's primary election. That's good for Brown, who won't have to blow millions of dollars on a primary. But it's only good if Brown can win in November.
February 23, 2010
Yoo Case About Politics, not Ethics By Debra J. Saunders
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced what amounts to the end of its investigation of former Bush administration lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo for writing the 2002 memos that authorized the CIA to use enhanced interrogation techniques. While assailing Bybee and Yoo's "poor judgment," Assistant Deputy Attorney General David Margolis rejected the "final report" written by the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility. It found that Bybee and Yoo had engaged in "professional misconduct."
February 18, 2010
The Winter of Global Warming By Debra J. Saunders
The last few months have been cruel and wintry for global-warming true believers. The long storm began in November, when a leak of e-mails from Britain's University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit revealed that key global-warming scientists tried to stifle dissent and politicize peer review, which led to revelations that the researchers had dumped much of the raw data used to bolster the alarmist argument.
February 14, 2010
A Sure-Fire Legal Recipe for Airport Insecurity By Debra J. Saunders
Last August, Nicholas George, 22, was getting ready to fly from Pennsylvania to Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., when TSA agents found Arabic-English flash cards in his pocket -- the 200 cards included such words as "bomb" and "explosive" -- two stereo speakers in his carry-on bag, a Jordanian student ID card and a passport that showed he had visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sudan.
February 9, 2010
Does Judge Walker Have a Conflict? By Debra J. Saunders
In the circle of lawyers and judges I know, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is a giant. He is a brilliant jurist, legal eagles will tell you, who has insightful, and often unexpected, opinions. He's funny and charming -- and he's gay.
