National Republicans
The Obamacare Subsidy
When a fellow goes on the Obamacare Exchange to sign up for health insurance he’s asked: Do you qualify for a subsidy? Click here. 515,000 lower-income North Carolinians clicked and qualified but any day now the Supreme Court may decide – in the King vs Burwell case – those subsidies are illegal. And, if it…
Read MoreA Mistake
Despite being heavily outnumbered by the Iraqi Army ISIS rolled right into Ramadi and after the Iraqis skedaddled the Secretary of Defense told CNN it sure looked like our allies had lost the “will to fight.” Then Baghdad announced it had stopped retreating and was counter-attacking – then Baghdad announced it had Ramadi surrounded –…
Read MoreLooking at Hillary Through Different Eyes
A powerful new Modern Science has crept into the world of political campaigns: The Mega-Database – where thirty-something whizzes and mathematicians collect data from the four corners of the digital universe to figure out what voters (and especially Independent voters) have on their minds. The other day sitting in a meeting, when one of the…
Read MoreBarney Frank Vs. Liberals
As a congressman, Barney Frank was a happy warrior and joyful scourge of Republicans and conservatives. In his excellent memoir, “Frank,” he applies the scourge to his fellow Democrats and liberals. Most tellingly, he dismisses the way Democrats dismiss white working-class males’ hostility as “a manifestation of excessive religiosity, a gun fetish, or homophobia.” Nor…
Read MoreAlvin York
I didn’t see much sense in making a lady in Indiana (or anywhere else) cater a gay wedding if she didn’t want to, so I said the Religious Freedom Act sounded like a fine idea – which turned out to be like lighting the fuse to a stick of dynamite. Before I knew it I’d…
Read MoreRecalculating…
A TAPster more knowledgeable than me offers a word of praise for one thing the legislature is doing: The legislature this week will continue its napalm assault on long-standing policies and practices in the civil war to create a conservative nirvana in North Carolina. And, while most Republican efforts have hurt the poor, the…
Read MoreCrazy
It happens just about every day: You open the newspaper, read about a politician, and shake your head thinking, That’s just plain crazy. Not long ago the Senate proposed that, prior to Congress approving an agreement with Iran, the President should certify Iran is not supporting “terrorist attacks against Americans.” Oddly that didn’t…
Read MoreA Little Hypocrisy
Supporters of gay marriage figure it’s time to change two things: First, to change the legal definition of marriage to allow a man to marry another man. The other change is even knottier: Discriminating against a man (or woman) because of race is illegal; gay rights supporters want to make it equally illegal to…
Read MoreStaking Out the Stakes
Paul Krugman’s column runs twice weekly on the far-right side of The New York Times’ op-ed page, which is ironic given how far left his opinions are. He’s more liberal than me! But he had a good one this week on the vast differences between any Democrat and any Republican in the Presidential race.…
Read MoreHillary’s Ready
Hillary Clinton’s announcement was so damn good it ought to end all the hand-wringing and bed-wetting in the Democratic Party. It won’t, of course, Democrats being Democrats. But she puts a stake down right on the ground where Democrats can win big in 2016 – from the White House all the way down the ballot…
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