Who's to Blame for Union Woes? By Michael Barone
The labor union movement is in deep trouble. Only 6 percent of private-sector employees are union members.
Commentary by Michael Barone
Most Recent Releases
March 7, 2011
March 3, 2011
Government Shutdown No Longer a 'Train Wreck' By Michael Barone
Sometimes you get an idea of the way opinion is headed by the phrases you don't hear. Case in point: In all the discussion and debate these past weeks about a possible government shutdown if Congress and President Obama fail to agree on funding bills, I don't recall having heard the phrase "train wreck."
February 28, 2011
Voting for the National Interest, Not Self-Interest By Michael Barone
It's a question that puzzles most liberals and bothers some conservatives. Why are so many modest-income white voters rejecting the Obama Democrats' policies of economic redistribution and embracing the small-government policies of the tea party movement?
February 24, 2011
Public Unions Force Taxpayers to Fund Dems By Michael Barone
Everyone has priorities. During the past week, Barack Obama has found no time to condemn the attacks that Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi has launched on the Libyan people.
February 21, 2011
Daniels and Christie Light Fuse Under GOP Lawmakers By Michael Barone
As congressional Republicans mull whether to address the government's long-term fiscal problems -- House Republican leaders are being pushed by the 87 freshmen to do so, while some Senate Republicans are seeking some bipartisan accords with Democratic colleagues -- two Republican governors barreled into Washington with the message that the lawmakers better get moving. And that congressional Republicans might do just fine politically if they do.
February 17, 2011
Obama Budget Offers Inertia, Not Hope and Change By Michael Barone
One way to judge the merits of the budget Barack Obama unveiled this week is by the comments of his political allies. "It's not enough to focus primarily on the non-security discretionary part of the budget," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad.
February 10, 2011
Lieberman, Harman and Vanishing Democratic Moderates By Michael Barone
Political pundits of a certain stripe have been lamenting the disappearance of Republican moderates for years. It's time now to lament the disappearance of moderate Democrats.
February 7, 2011
As With Other Fallen Allies, Egypt Will Vex the U.S. By Michael Barone
Most campaign rhetoric and political punditry is underpinned by an assumption that perfect solutions are possible, if only people would have the good sense to adopt the candidate's or the pundit's course of action. Alas, that is not always so.
February 4, 2011
Obama's Antique Vision of Technological Progress By Michael Barone
Barack Obama, like all American politicians, likes to portray himself as future-oriented and open to technological progress. Yet the vision he set out in his State of the Union address is oddly antique and disturbingly static.
January 31, 2011
Politics by the Numbers: Good Omens for the GOP in 2012 By Michael Barone
Numbers can tell a story. Looking back on Barack Obama's second State of the Union message, and looking forward to the congressional session and the 2012 elections, they tell a story that should leave Democrats uneasy.
January 24, 2011
Shriver and Lieberman Take JFK Link With Them By Michael Barone
Last Thursday was the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech, and while the anniversary did not go unmentioned, it got less attention than I expected. I suspect that those of us who can remember that snowy day -- why do we schedule our great national outdoor ceremony for a day that is as likely as any to be the coldest of the year? -- are inclined to overestimate the hold that Kennedy has on Americans five decades after he took the oath of office.
January 20, 2011
High-speed Rail Is a Fast Way to Waste Taxpayer Money By Michael Barone
Where can the new Congress start cutting spending? Here's one obvious answer: high-speed rail. The Obama administration is sending billions of stimulus dollars around the country for rail projects that make no sense and that, if they are ever built, will be a drag on taxpayers indefinitely.
January 17, 2011
A Sigh of Relief When Mad and Evil People Are Foiled By Michael Barone
In his superb speech in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday evening, Barack Obama did great service to the nation. He put to rest the libel that political incivility is responsible for the Tucson shootings. He did so with three words that he added to the written text: "It did not."
January 13, 2011
Systematic Assassinations Not Part of Our Politics By Michael Barone
The steam seems to be going out of the move to "deftly pin this" -- the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others -- "on the tea partiers," as one unidentified senior Democratic operative put it to Politico.
January 10, 2011
Deal-maker Daley: Obama's Emissary to Boehner? By Michael Barone
"He possesses a deep understanding of how jobs are created and how to grow our economy." That's what Barack Obama said as he announced the appointment of his new chief of staff, William Daley, before a crowd of admiring White House staffers.
January 6, 2011
Wily Old Dems Take on Whippersnapper Republicans By Michael Barone
Curious fact, unearthed by Gerald Seib of The Wall Street Journal. The average age of Republican House members in the new Congress convening this week is 54.9, younger than the Republicans' average age in the previous Congress, 56.5. But the average age of House Democrats has risen, from 58 to 60.2.
January 3, 2011
Personal Well-being Overshadows Income Inequality By Michael Barone
Consider one conundrum in American politics. Income inequality has been increasing, according to standard statistics. Yet most Americans do not seem very perturbed by it.
December 27, 2010
Even After Shellacking, Obama Looks OK in 2012 By Michael Barone
On the day after Boxing Day, it's worth noting that Barack Obama is down but not out.
December 24, 2010
Census: Fast Growth in States With No Income Tax By Michael Barone
For those of us who are demographic buffs, Christmas came four days early when Census Bureau Director Robert Groves announced yesterday the first results of the 2010 Census and the reapportionment of House seats (and therefore electoral votes) among the states.
December 20, 2010
Reid and Pelosi Finally Get Mugged by Public Opinion By Michael Barone
Elections have consequences. The consequences of the November 2010 elections -- and one might add the November 2009 elections in New Jersey and Virginia and the January 2010 special Senate election in Massachusetts -- became clear as lights shined over the snow at both ends of the Capitol on Thursday night.
