Is the Welfare State a Ponzi Scheme? By Howard Rich
Ponzi schemes rely on people falling for promises that are literally too good to be true – but the outcomes are never really in doubt for the perpetrators of these scams, are they?
Political Commentary
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June 24, 2010
June 24, 2010
For House Democrats: More Favorable Terrain Than '94 By Rhodes Cook
When the Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives in 1994, one of their main problems was the political terrain on which they had to fight. While many political observers find the present electoral environment to be eerily similar with that of 1994, not nearly as many House Democrats are as exposed as they were then.
June 23, 2010
The Opportunity in Afghanistan by Susan Estrich
During the most difficult days of the Mondale-Ferraro campaign in 1984, someone printed up a button that said: "There are no problems. Only opportunities."
June 23, 2010
Obama the Isolationist? by Tony Blankley
Is it possible for an American president to carry out accidentally an isolationist foreign policy? That odd question crossed my mind last week as I talked with various foreign-policy experts about the Middle East, Russia and Afghanistan. There can be no doubt that by his words and his travels, President Obama intends to be anything but an isolationist president.
June 23, 2010
From New Jersey to Beijing and Back Again By Lawrence Kudlow
Here are some thoughts on a few recent and important money-politics headlines.
June 22, 2010
Electrify the Roads By Froma Harrop
My magic wand is on the fritz, otherwise we'd have a big, new federal program to free America from its dependence on oil. Like other environmentalists, I'm sad that the calamity in the Gulf of Mexico hasn't spurred Washington to more vigorously promote America's exit from this curse.
June 22, 2010
If You Can't Budget, You Can't Govern by Debra J. Saunders
"If you can't budget, you can't govern," Rep. John Spratt Jr., D-S.C., proclaimed in 2006 when the House GOP leadership chose to dispense with passing a budget resolution.
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 21, 2010
BP, the White House and Congress Are All Dirty By Lawrence Kudlow
Amidst all the political jockeying over the BP catastrophe, the main players are missing what is really uppermost on America's mind: It's the spill rate, stupid. It's jobs, stupid. It's the economy, stupid. And none of it is happening.
June 20, 2010
University of Anarchy and No Consequences By Debra J. Saunders
When activists (who are not necessarily students) were able to delay construction of a UC Berkeley sports center by living in trees for 21 months, there was no review of what went wrong.
June 19, 2010
The Politics of Disaster By Susan Estrich
When BP CEO Tony Hayward went to Capitol Hill this week, he got beat up on by all sides.
June 18, 2010
Barack Obama’s Bogus Budget Cuts By Howard Rich
In its latest attempt to mitigate public outrage over out-of-control government growth, the administration of President Barack Obama has instructed a handful of federal agencies to cut their budgets by five percent.
June 18, 2010
A Green New Deal Now by Joe Conason
If the right-wing chorus insists that the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico is "Obama's Katrina," then let us hope the president will make the most of that slogan. The comparison between the utter failure of the Bush administration and the missteps and errors of the Obama White House is fundamentally false. Yet there is nevertheless a crucial parallel to be drawn as the fifth anniversary of the hurricane approaches.
June 18, 2010
Obama's Inaction in the Name of Action By Debra J. Saunders
Note to President Obama: The catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill did not happen because Americans -- actually, the industrialized world -- have an "addiction to fossil fuels," as you suggested in Tuesday's Oval Office address.
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 17, 2010
Make Louisiana a U.S. Protectorate By Froma Harrop
A modest proposal: The federal government should take over Louisiana. Might as well, at this point.
June 17, 2010
Weak Speech from an Indecisive Obama By Lawrence Kudlow
One problem with President Obama’s Oval Office speech was his declaration that 90 percent of the oil spill would be captured in “coming days and weeks.” Ah, if only government were that strong and powerful. Trouble is, the spill rate late yesterday afternoon was again revised upward toward 60,000 barrels per day from the prior estimate of 25,000.
June 16, 2010
Afghan War Becoming a Bloody Farce By Tony Blankley
Since last summer, President Obama has publicly doubted whether Afghan President Hamid Karzai's corruption and incompetence make him a fit partner for our policy goals in Afghanistan.
June 16, 2010
The Second Time Around By Susan Estrich
"I'm definitely going to sail around the world again, or at least give it another try," teen sailor Abby Sunderland told the Australian press after her rescue last week.
June 15, 2010
Is Being Half There OK? By Froma Harrop
You've seen the zombie parents on the streets and at the mall. Off in some cell-phone cloud, they pay no attention to what's in the stroller.
It could be a sack of potatoes. It could be a cocker spaniel. More often than not, it's a baby staring blankly ahead or crying to no avail.
