Fed head Ben Bernanke and the FOMC dropped a new policy bomb at their meeting this week. Now they say inflation is too low. That's the real problem. And the solution? Punch up the money supply and punch down the dollar -- or what I used to call King Dollar. No more.
The Republican nominee for governor of New York doesn't spend a lot of time talking about himself, which is both good and bad.
In Washington, I'm often asked how many seats Republicans will pick up in the House and whether they'll win a majority in the Senate. But I'm seldom asked anything about the 37 races for governor that will be decided next month (except for Georgia, which will have a runoff if no candidate tops 50 percent).
This week the Crystal Ball publishes a prediction that suggests the House majority may stay with the Democrats, written by Professor Alfred G. Cuzan of the University of West Florida. While Professor Cuzan makes a compelling case, the Crystal Ball’s unique dual method—examining all 435 House races individually and incorporating the result of statistical analysis based on past elections and developed over many years by Professor Alan Abramowitz, one of our Senior Columnists at the Crystal Ball—has pointed to a House gain of +47 seats for the GOP, which would deliver the majority into Republican hands. We urge our readers to consider Professor Cuzan’s analysis and arguments, and decide for themselves which outcome they believe is more likely. – Larry J. Sabato, Editor
There are few less-alike places in the continental United States than Ashley, N.D., and New York City.
The Democratic Party has become the entrenched self-preservation party. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is its Pied Piper.
Below we list some changes to our Senate and Governor ratings in a few key states, as well as a smattering of thoughts on a few other races of note. Next week the Crystal Ball will revisit some of our House ratings, with several significant changes in the works. Stay tuned.
Entitlement reform has become a leading issue in this year's Republican primaries.
Good news. The folks in charge of such things announced this week that the recession is over.
That was a pleasant stroll across the Ivy League campus of Brown University, in Providence, R.I.
I agreed to be on a panel at UC Berkeley's Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service Monday night, where we addressed the question "California's Next Governor: What Should the Agenda Be?"
My subject today is the civil war raging in one of our great political parties, as highlighted in recent primary elections.
"In almost every respect imaginable, Prohibition was a failure," former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent concluded at the close of his new book, "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." "It encouraged criminality and institutionalized hypocrisy. It deprived the government of revenue, stripped the gears of the political system, and proposed profound limitations on individual rights."
This past week, I gave a speech to a group of investors. The organizer of the event e-mailed me the night before, asking that I please try to be optimistic. Well, that's my usual habitat. But optimism has been hard for me this year. Our muddle-through economy and lackluster stock market, challenged by so many taxing, spending and regulating problems coming out of Washington, are the reasons why.
Schadenfreude means taking pleasure in the failure of others, which is the Hollywood vocation and, lately, that of Democrats, as well.
This is how news gets made. Conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza writes a piece for Forbes pimping his new book, "The Roots of Obama's Rage." During a National Review interview, former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich gushes over the piece and calls it "the most profound insight I have read in the last six years about Barack Obama" as it reveals the "Kenyan anti-colonial" thinking that motivates Obama.
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Democrat Al Gore became captive of the right-wing noise machine.
Just having issued our Labor Day predictions, we’re not quite ready to call any of the remaining toss-ups or change any ratings (with one prominent exception), but we thought we’d share our current inclinations on a few of them in “nutshell” form.
With their loud voices and antic style, the "tea party" activists may lead voters to expect something new and different if the Republican Party returns to power. But observing the man who would wield that power if his party wins a midterm majority should swiftly dispel that illusion.
When I was in seventh grade, I was the only girl on the junior high math team. I wasn't the best, and I wasn't the worst.
