Flaws Aside, Rosty and Stevens Put Public First By Michael Barone
The deaths this week of two political Old Bulls has inspired some harsh commentary.
Commentary by Michael Barone
Most Recent Releases
August 17, 2010
August 12, 2010
Obama's State Capitalism: A Failure of Modesty By Michael Barone
"The pace of economic recovery is likely to be more modest in the near term than had been anticipated." Those were the carefully chosen words of the Federal Reserve Board after its meeting Tuesday. Translation into English: We wuz wrong.
August 9, 2010
Republicans Ask 'What Do I Do Now?' By Michael Barone
Republicans are starting to think about how to answer the Robert Redford question.
August 5, 2010
November Congressional Elections Could Be Replay of 1966 Midterms By Michael Barone
Everybody, even White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, agrees that Republicans are going to pick up seats in the House and Senate elections this year. The disagreement is about how many.
August 3, 2010
Voters Want Super-sized Government to Crash Diet By Michael Barone
Let's put government on a diet. That's what voters seem to be saying in response to the Barack Obama Democrats' vast expansion of the size and scope of government.
July 29, 2010
House Democrats Head for a Thumping at the Polls By Michael Barone
Democratic spin doctors have set out how their side is going to hold onto a majority in the House. They'll capture four at-risk Republican seats, hold half of the next 30 or so Democratic at-risk seats, and avoid significant losses on target seats lower on the list.
July 26, 2010
Some Welcome Signs of Life From Private Sector By Michael Barone
Grass somehow manages to grow up through small cracks in the sidewalk. Similarly, the American private sector somehow seems to be exerting itself despite the vast expansion of government by the Barack Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
July 22, 2010
Rising Speculation About Bombing Iran's Nukes By Michael Barone
Many years ago, I was privileged to attend a dinner with James Rowe, one of the "passion for anonymity" young aides to Franklin Roosevelt, original author of the winning strategy for Harry Truman's 1948 campaign and close confidante of then-President Lyndon Johnson.
July 16, 2010
As Obama Kowtows, Unions Eye the Private Sector By Michael Barone
One of the interesting things about the Obama administration is the strange dominance of labor unions. Yes, Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders do owe the unions something: Unions gave $400 million to Democrats in the 2008 campaign cycle, and they expect to get something in return.
July 12, 2010
Obama Economy Sends Americans to Their Mattresses By Michael Barone
Home mortgage interest rates are the lowest in history, but house sales are plunging. Banks can make money easily because of the Federal Reserve's low interest rates, but they're not making many loans. Major corporations are sitting on something like $2 trillion in cash, but they're not investing.
July 8, 2010
Thomas' Principled Jurisprudence in Arms Case By Michael Barone
In 1978, Justice Lewis Powell wrote an opinion in the Bakke case asserting that the need for diversity could justify racial preferences in university admissions. No other justice joined this opinion, but because the other justices were split 4-4, Powell's opinion decided the case, and in time his argument has been embraced by a majority of the court. A regrettable result, in my view, but a consequential one.
July 1, 2010
Robert Byrd's Life -- Good, Bad and All American By Michael Barone
About 10,000 men and women have served in the United States Congress. Robert C. Byrd, who died Monday at age 92, served longer than all the rest - -more than 57 years, with six in the House and 51 in the Senate.
June 24, 2010
Whether He Likes It or Not, Obama Must Command By Michael Barone
We didn't need this. By "we," I mean the large majority of citizens who want America to succeed in Afghanistan. By "this," I mean the Rolling Stone article that quoted Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his aides saying uncomplimentary things about Barack Obama, Joe Biden and other civilian officials.
June 22, 2010
Obama's Thuggery Is Useless in Fighting Spill By Michael Barone
Thuggery is unattractive. Ineffective thuggery even more so. Which may be one reason so many Americans have been reacting negatively to the response of Barack Obama and his administration to BP's gulf oil spill.
June 17, 2010
Voters in Big States Prefer Skinflint Candidates By Michael Barone
"Government in New York is too big, ineffective and expensive," the candidate's website proclaims. "We must get our state's fiscal house in order by immediately imposing a cap on state spending and freezing salaries of state public employees as part of a one-year emergency financial plan, committing to no increase in personal or corporate income taxes of sales taxes and imposing a local property tax cap."
June 14, 2010
Big Labor Is Humbled by Blanche Lincoln's Win by Michael Barone
How bad a defeat did labor unions suffer when Sen. Blanche Lincoln defeated their candidate and won the Arkansas Democratic runoff last week?
June 7, 2010
Oil Slick, Joblessness May Stymie Dems' Rebound By Michael Barone
Republicans are encountering some speed bumps on what they hope is the road to victory in the November elections. Their candidates for Republican open Senate seats in Ohio and Missouri are running no better than even in recent polls. The independent candidacy of Gov. Charlie Crist is threatening Marco Rubio's bid to hold the Republican Senate seat in Florida.
June 3, 2010
Obama's 'Chicago Way' Plunders the Private Sector By Michael Barone
An interesting thing about Barack Obama is that he chose, on two occasions, to live in Chicago -- even though he didn't grow up there, had no family ties there, never went to school there.
May 31, 2010
Oil Spill Tars Dems' Reputation for Competence by Michael Barone
Obama Struggling to Show He's in Control," reads the headline on The Washington Post's story on Barack Obama's Thursday press conference, where most of the questions were about the Gulf oil spill. "Defensive, unauthoritative and equivocal," wrote Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford of Obama's performance. "He came across as a beleaguered bureaucrat in damage control."
May 27, 2010
Down in the Polls, Dems at War With Themselves by Michael Barone
Intraparty civil war. It's a story line journalists often employ, though usually about only one party, the Republicans.
