National Republicans
Commence Firing
It’s predictable that some Democrats will implicate Sarah Palin and the Tea Party in the Arizona shootings. It’s predictable that Republicans will accuse those Democrats of seeking to exploit a tragedy perpetrated by a nut. The unfortunate truth is that in the history of our politics, as Rap Brown once said, violence is…
Read MoreBurr for Veep?
Maybe there was more than I realized behind Senator Richard Burr’s vote to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Last week, I gave him credit for doing the right thing. But an astute Burr-watcher – not a partisan either way – noted that Burr took a different tack on what was arguably the key vote:…
Read MoreThe Wait Is Almost Over
We’ve waited nearly 30 years, but it’s finally here. Thirty years ago this month, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated. He said government was the problem, not the solution. He promised that – finally – someone would really, really cut government spending. We’ve waited. And waited. And waited. Reagan didn’t cut anything big. Nor…
Read MoreBarbour’s Blindness
Of course Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour doesn’t remember race relations “being that bad” in the 1960s; he’s a white guy! I grew up in the 60s in North Carolina, and I don’t remember race relations being bad at all for us whites. We could go anywhere we wanted and do anything we wanted. …
Read MoreThe Right Enemies
Things are looking up for President Obama. First, he’s going to get a win. Congress will pass the tax cut/stimulus bill he worked out with Republicans. Even better for him, congressional Democrats – who had become a political anchor around the President’s neck – are mad about the bill. And how can…
Read MoreThis is Adult?
Erskine Bowles said his deficit-commission’s recommendations would help start an adult conversation in Washington. So the first thing the Senate does is extend tax cuts, which we can’t afford, and unemployment benefits, which we also can’t afford. Both make wonderful sense. But voting for popular things without paying for them is what got…
Read MoreThe Pit Bull
Some folks are wondering if North Korea’s ship sinking and cannon firing (into South Korea) is their idea of extortion – that this is the latest episode of North Korea growling and snapping like a pit bull, which will be followed by the Chinese brokering a deal and extracting another pound of flesh out of…
Read MoreFiscal Hari-Kari
Last week in Washington Republicans voted to ban ‘earmarks.’ Then a few days later the press asked Minnesota Congressman Michelle Bachman (a heroine of the Tea party) about the new transportation bill – a traditional source of earmarks for Congressmen – and Representative Bachman said she could see allowing some local transportation projects to ‘get…
Read MoreSend in the Clowns
Back in 2009 a newly elected, bristling Michael Steele told CNN he (as Republican Party Chairman) and not Rush Limbaugh was the leader of the GOP and added, ‘Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh’s whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly.’ Limbaugh didn’t take that lying down –…
Read MoreOutgrowing the Deficit
Let me keep pounding the drum I beat yesterday. A front-page article in The New York Times today reinforces the need for politicians to talk about economic growth, not just budget cuts. David Leonardt writes: “We look back on the late 1990s as a rare time when the federal government ran budget…
Read More