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.
Political Commentary
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March 7, 2011
March 7, 2011
What You Can Learn About Wisconsin Dispute from Differences in Poll Questions By Scott Rasmussen
In recent national polling about the situation in Wisconsin, Rasmussen Reports and Quinnipiac found a slight plurality in favor of Governor Scott Walker and his efforts, the Pew Center found a plurality opposed, and Gallup and the New York Times reported strong opposition.
March 6, 2011
First the Public Service, Then Endless Litigation By Debra J. Saunders
Last month, the website Politico reported that the Department of Justice dropped its representation of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his former deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and other defendants in a lawsuit filed by convicted al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla and his mother. The Department of Justice continues to represent Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but no longer the Bushies.
March 5, 2011
Stocks Diss Oil, for Now By Lawrence Kudlow
Big economic-growth stats are trumping oil prices and the Mideast tinderbox. In optimistic trading on Thursday, stocks soared nearly 200 Dow points. Oil barely fell to just under $102 a barrel. Know what? The market may be shouting out that the recent oil spike is not going to derail economic recovery.
March 5, 2011
How Law Works By Susan Estrich
My guess is that there was not a single member of the United States Supreme Court who was not personally appalled that the Westboro Baptist Church would target the funeral of a soldier who died in battle so they could get publicity for their anti-gay views.
March 4, 2011
Don't Believe the (Union-Busting) Hype By Joe Conason
If you are a normal, trusting consumer of American journalism, you might well have gotten the impression by now that the current attempt to break public-sector unions -- with its epicenter in Wisconsin -- is overwhelmingly supported by the nation's voters.
March 4, 2011
Who Wants To Be Charlie Sheen? By Debra J. Saunders
This week, Charlie Sheen owns network news. No wonder Americans hate the media.
March 4, 2011
Grabbing Those Coattails By Larry J. Sabato
It is already obvious that control of the Senate will be up for grabs in 2012, with Republicans needing just 3 or 4 seats to take control (depending on whether the GOP wins the presidency and, along with it, the vice president’s tie-breaking vote).
March 3, 2011
“Collectively” Bad By Howard Rich
A decade ago, when our national debt stood at a “mere” $5.6 trillion, the federal government was already dramatically overpaying its employees to perform all sorts of non-core functions.
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."
March 3, 2011
Public Workers Join the New Reality By Froma Harrop
Too bad the showdown with public employee unions has come to this, however long in the making. One can be pro-union and still feel a growing resentment at these workers' ability to set their own dream retirement benefits as the private sector's were being amputated. Not that they are to blame. They got what they could -- it's the American way -- though they overplayed their hand by resisting honest efforts to reform government, schools above all.
March 2, 2011
'Tiresome Squabbles of Discontented Affluence' By Tony Blankley
In the same weeks that are seeing the Middle East (with all its oil and geopolitical significance) begin to transform itself into we know not what, important economists are predicting that, if current trends continue, not only China, but India also will within a generation have larger economies than ours. And, of course, with strong economies almost inevitably come equivalently strong military capacities.
March 1, 2011
The Left Wing Needs an Update By Froma Harrop
Though I deem myself a sort-of liberal, I don't closely read the left-wing magazine The Nation. Its views don't budge for decades at a time, so one can get by just checking in now and then.
March 1, 2011
Tax or Spend? The Final Chapter By Debra J. Saunders
I am reluctant to join the chorus of scolds who chide Republicans for opposing Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to put a tax-increase extension on a special election ballot in June.
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 27, 2011
The Cheesehead Rubicon By Debra J. Saunders
In 2008, 56 percent of Wisconsin voters supported Barack Obama for president. In 2009, Wisconsin's Democratic governor and Democratic Legislature passed legislation that raised taxes and fees by about $1.2 billion over three years. State lawmakers approved the bill on the very day it was introduced, with no public hearing. Remember that.
February 25, 2011
Laying Blame By Susan Estrich
The public school teachers in Wisconsin are not responsible for the credit collapse, the national unemployment rate, the fall of the industrial sector or the fiscal crisis.
February 25, 2011
Sutter Brown -- Unleashed By Debra J. Saunders
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Call me Sutter. Sutter Brown. California's first dog, the shortest, cuddliest member of Gov. Jerry Brown's and Anne Brown's nuclear family.
February 24, 2011
Yes, America Still Needs Unions By Joe Conason
"There was once a need for unions, but they've outlived their purpose," said a nice lady interviewed on the radio in Tennessee just the other day. Annoyed by the spectacle of tens of thousands of teachers, firefighters, cops and other public employees rallying to protect their rights in Wisconsin, she was saying what more than a few Americans think about the labor movement.
