Issues
Polls
The other night Gary and I were invited to dinner with a dozen learned scholars who for some unfathomable reason were curious to hear us trace the roots of the demise of modern politics. And, of course, it was only a matter of time before I said the word ‘poll’ and as soon as…
Read MoreThe Great Divide
How often does some well-meaning soul say, “Democrats and Republicans should put aside their differences and just do what’s right for the country.” That sounds perfectly reasonable. But it’s perfectly unrealistic. The differences are over what’s right for the country. And the differences are fundamental and unbridgeable. How, for example, would the two…
Read MoreScary Numbers
This poll might make Democrats wonder if Obamacare’s problems go way beyond the botched rollout, broken promise and bug-filled website. The Gallup Poll says that, by 56-42, Americans believer it is NOT the federal government’s responsibility “to make sure all Americans have healthcare coverage.” Now, take this with a caveat. Gallup’s polls famously…
Read MoreWhither Obamacare?
Judging from Obamacare, Democrats can’t make government work. Judging from the October shutdown, Republicans don’t want it to work. What’s a democracy to do? Obamacare is essentially an old Republican idea, hatched by the Heritage Foundation as an alternative to single-payer health insurance. It’s essentially Romney care. The idea is to put everybody in…
Read MoreOld Fogey Ways
Last week the newspapers were full of high-sounding stories about the Senate’s gay rights bill. They reported the Senate’s: – Completing the civil rights crusade started fifty years ago. – Letting the bells of freedom ring. – Advancing tolerance. – Barring discrimination. One Illinois Democrat intoned how happy he was the Senate’s ‘fulfilling Abraham…
Read MoreTime to Panic?
Is Senator Kay Hagan overreacting on Obamacare, or should Democrats rush to the lifeboats and abandon ship? If you go by the N&O website’s headline – “Hagan calls for probe of healthcare website as political support drops” – you’d panic. After all, she had a conference call with reporters to call for investigations of…
Read MoreThe Key
Polymorphous America enjoyed a boom week last week. The Senate passed a bill to show any fellow who doesn’t cotton to hiring transgenders, bisexuals or gay people the error of his ways. And, overjoyed, the President announced a more tolerant America goes hand in hand with a more prosperous America – as if…
Read MorePools
In a way the Obamacare rollout is proof markets – and naked self-interest – work. In the past, a lot of older, sicker people have been unable to get health insurance. Or afford it if they could. Or have had to pay through the nose for it. Now, according to the Wall Street…
Read MoreIt’s the Character, Stupid
If Democrats want to come back in North Carolina, they need to avoid their usual mistake of thinking it’s all about the issues. It’s in Democrats’ DNA to do that. We’re issues people. We care a lot about things like Medicaid expansion, Common Core curriculum, growth strategies and infrastructure. It’s not that voters…
Read MoreTrouble Ahead
What’s the over/under on how many bad headlines and headaches will come from Governor McCrory’s plan to shift job recruitment from the N.C. Department of Commerce to a new “public-private nonprofit corporation”? The N&O’s Rob Christensen reported that similar partnerships across the country have been criticized for “misuse of taxpayer money, conflicts of interest,…
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