Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- President Obama is set to begin his second term at a moment when the question is not what great things our nation can achieve but whether our government, in Obama's words, can "stop lurching from crisis to crisis to crisis."The jury is out, but continued dysfunction seems the most likely scenario. Obama's news conference on Monday -- his last scheduled encounter with White House reporters before Inauguration Day -- was a tutorial in low expectations.Obama devoted his opening remarks to the latest unnecessary crisis: the threat by Republicans in Congress to...
The Neocons’ Fight Over Chuck Hagel
On January - 14 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Christopher Preble, Cato @ Liberty
By nominating Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense, after an excruciatingly long period of uncertainty and speculation, President Obama has demonstrated that he is disinclined to follow the advice of the neoconservatives who have been his harshest critics. Bill Kristol’s aggressive campaign to dissuade Obama from picking Hagel failed. Now the attention turns to a fight over his confirmation in the Senate. In the end, I believe he will be confirmed.After all, such fights are rare. Presidents are generally granted wide latitude in picking members of their cabinet, and it is...
By nominating Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense, after an excruciatingly long period of uncertainty and speculation, President Obama has demonstrated that he is disinclined to follow the advice of the neoconservatives who have been his harshest critics. Bill Kristol’s aggressive campaign to dissuade Obama from picking Hagel failed. Now the attention turns to a fight over his confirmation in the Senate. In the end, I believe he will be confirmed.After all, such fights are rare. Presidents are generally granted wide latitude in picking members of their cabinet, and it is...
How Would They Justify Vote for Hagel?
On January - 14 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post
There are a number of Democratic and Republican senators obviously still on the fence about Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s choice for defense secretary. Some understandably want to see him at the hearings. Others are trying to do the calculus, measuring the pros and cons of a vote for him. (As for Colin Powell, a favorite in the Obama White House, it is not surprising that he gave a broad-brush endorsement but did not discuss any particulars about Hagel’s record.) This is a case in which, aside from toeing the line for the president, it is hard to figure out the arguments...
There are a number of Democratic and Republican senators obviously still on the fence about Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s choice for defense secretary. Some understandably want to see him at the hearings. Others are trying to do the calculus, measuring the pros and cons of a vote for him. (As for Colin Powell, a favorite in the Obama White House, it is not surprising that he gave a broad-brush endorsement but did not discuss any particulars about Hagel’s record.) This is a case in which, aside from toeing the line for the president, it is hard to figure out the arguments...
We’re Not in Decline or Retreat
On January - 13 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- We are about to have a major foreign policy debate in the guise of a confirmation battle over Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense and the related argument over how long American troops should stay in Afghanistan. President Obama should use this opportunity to stand up for his broader vision of how American power can be sustained and used, even if that doesn't come naturally to a pragmatist who likes making decisions one at a time.Underlying this clash will be another over whether the United States is in long-term decline. We are not, and the decline...
WASHINGTON -- We are about to have a major foreign policy debate in the guise of a confirmation battle over Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense and the related argument over how long American troops should stay in Afghanistan. President Obama should use this opportunity to stand up for his broader vision of how American power can be sustained and used, even if that doesn't come naturally to a pragmatist who likes making decisions one at a time.Underlying this clash will be another over whether the United States is in long-term decline. We are not, and the decline...
Obama’s Phony Default Drama
On January - 12 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Caroline Baum, New York Post
The United States of America isn’t going to default on its debt, even if Congress doesn’t increase the statutory borrowing authority in the next couple of months. Everyone in Washington knows, or should know, this. Any assertions to the contrary are tantamount to (perish the thought!) playing politics with the debt ceiling.This is the second time in less than two years that the nation finds itself at this juncture, with Republicans in Congress threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage. Some lawmakers are willing to shut down the government in order to pressure President...
The United States of America isn’t going to default on its debt, even if Congress doesn’t increase the statutory borrowing authority in the next couple of months. Everyone in Washington knows, or should know, this. Any assertions to the contrary are tantamount to (perish the thought!) playing politics with the debt ceiling.This is the second time in less than two years that the nation finds itself at this juncture, with Republicans in Congress threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage. Some lawmakers are willing to shut down the government in order to pressure President...
Obama’s Second Term Agenda Could Backfire
On January - 11 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Josh Kraushaar, Natl Jrnl
The White House's ambitious agenda on gun control, immigration reform, and, perhaps, even climate change is a sign that President Obama believes he locked up precious political capital with his reelection and intends to spend it quickly. But that isn't welcome news to many of the Democrats who need him the most in the short term--the seven Democratic senators in conservative states facing tough reelection bids.Just one week into the new year, Obama has already hit some unpleasant stumbling blocks with his own party. On gun control, the White House is now calculating that it will be...
The White House's ambitious agenda on gun control, immigration reform, and, perhaps, even climate change is a sign that President Obama believes he locked up precious political capital with his reelection and intends to spend it quickly. But that isn't welcome news to many of the Democrats who need him the most in the short term--the seven Democratic senators in conservative states facing tough reelection bids.Just one week into the new year, Obama has already hit some unpleasant stumbling blocks with his own party. On gun control, the White House is now calculating that it will be...
WATCH: Lawrence O’Donnell’s Problem With Obama’s Inauguration
On January - 11 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Lawrence O'Donnell has a recommendation for President Obama on Inauguration Day: get rid of the Bible.
On Thursday, the MSNBC host reacted to news that Louie Giglio — the pastor selected to deliver the benediction at Obama's inauguration — had withdrawn from the ceremony over an anti-gay sermon he gave in the 1990s. O'Donnell said that Giglio had been "quoting the Bible," and that "homosexuality is a sin in the Bible."
He guffawed at the White House statement about its search for Giglio's replacement. "In other words, we will ensure that whoever delivers the benediction rejects the same parts of the Bible that President Obama rejects and most Democrats reject, even though every word of the Bible is the word of God,” O’Donnell said.
“As I've pointed out... no one accepts all of the teachings of the Bible," he continued. "Still, the president, following one of our most absurdest traditions in the government that invented the separation of church and state, will put his hand on this book filled with things he does not believe — filled with things that no one in the United States of America believes — and with his hand on this book he will recite the oath of office."
He suggested an alternative to Obama: swearing in on one of his daughters. "Now, wouldn't it be better if the president's hand was on the shoulder of one of his daughters, suggesting that he was honoring the oath of office as much as he honors Sasha and Malia?" O'Donnell asked.
A Fiscal Fumble
On January - 10 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Ronald Brownstein, National Journal
Question? Call us at 800-207-8001 | Sign In | Learn About Membership By Ronald Brownstein Missing an opportunity: Political leaders. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The eleventh-hour agreement on taxes that President Obama struck with congressional Republicans may have been the best deal the two sides could have reached without actually tumbling over the fiscal cliff. But no one should underestimate how much of a missed opportunity it represents.The deal stands as the rare event that could simultaneously set back the goals of the left, right, and...
Question? Call us at 800-207-8001 | Sign In | Learn About Membership By Ronald Brownstein Missing an opportunity: Political leaders. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The eleventh-hour agreement on taxes that President Obama struck with congressional Republicans may have been the best deal the two sides could have reached without actually tumbling over the fiscal cliff. But no one should underestimate how much of a missed opportunity it represents.The deal stands as the rare event that could simultaneously set back the goals of the left, right, and...
Obama’s Outrageous Corporate Pork
On January - 9 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Dennis Byrne, Chicago Tribune
Here's the essence of the deal that the White House and Congress reached to pull America back from the fiscal cliff:Say your family has horrendous financial problems "” you're deep in debt, just paying the interest is killing you, but you keep borrowing more because you spend more than you make. At some point, the credit card companies will shut you down for nonpayment.So, you go to a financial counselor and one of the first things he says is:"Take a pay cut."
Here's the essence of the deal that the White House and Congress reached to pull America back from the fiscal cliff:Say your family has horrendous financial problems "” you're deep in debt, just paying the interest is killing you, but you keep borrowing more because you spend more than you make. At some point, the credit card companies will shut you down for nonpayment.So, you go to a financial counselor and one of the first things he says is:"Take a pay cut."
Complainign about the tax increased they voted for?
On January - 9 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Now, now. Calm down. Yes, I know you voted for Obama, but didn’t you ever stop to think that he’d tax you, too? You didn’t? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Disillusioned Obama voters are waking up to face the reality that Obama didn’t exempt them in his quest to steal money from all Americans to pay for his expanding government. It turns out that those making $30,000 a year will pay more taxes than those making $500,000 because of the deal Obama pushed for after the fiscal cliff debacle. Obama voters, the joke’s on you. Oh, one other little tidbit. The Democrats want to find $1 trillion more in taxes in 2013. The message is sinking in. Here are some tweets from Obama voters: @CZebari22 Damn the taxes killed me. I should have voted Romney @crushonchrissy I’m starting to regret voting for Obama. @gekka_88 I have a friend who voted for Obama publicly complaining about the new #SS tax raise. I would just like to say: You did this to yourself. @VAisforlovas But really how am I ever supposed to pay off my student loans if my already small paycheck keeps getting smaller? Help a sister out, Obama One comment on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com. whined:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/01/08/Obama-Voters-Furious-About-Tax-Hikes
Hobby Lobby Fights the Good Fight vs. ObamaCare
On January - 9 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Bill Flax, Forbes
Welcome to Obamaland where our inalienable rights are being gradually degraded. Now that President Obama needs never to curry electoral favor again will government's grasping overreach soon strangle a successful arts-and-crafts company?"We're just going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it," says attorney Kyle Duncan of the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. Mr. Duncan represents Hobby Lobby, a family-owned retail chain risking severe penalties for putting principles before profits. Limited self-government descends into tyranny.
Welcome to Obamaland where our inalienable rights are being gradually degraded. Now that President Obama needs never to curry electoral favor again will government's grasping overreach soon strangle a successful arts-and-crafts company?"We're just going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it," says attorney Kyle Duncan of the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty. Mr. Duncan represents Hobby Lobby, a family-owned retail chain risking severe penalties for putting principles before profits. Limited self-government descends into tyranny.
How The CIA Produced An Oscar Contender
On January - 8 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
During President Obama’s 100 or so campaign trail speeches this past year, he usually received the biggest applause for mentioning the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The lines were real crowd pleasers. Zero Dark Thirty picks up where the cheers from the Obama rallies died off. Rather than casting Obama and the White House as heroes, though, the film lets the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency play the protagonists with the true claim to Bin Laden’s scalp.
Ryan Trying To Find ‘Sweet Spot’
On January - 7 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
WASHINGTON — After Senator John McCain’s failed presidential bid in 2008, he repaired to the Senate to become a thorn in President Obama’s side.
The Dismal Obama Recovery Continues
On January - 6 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
John Steele Gordon, Commentary
It’s another dreary jobs report out this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, detailing yet another month of the apparently endless “Obama Recovery,” the worst since the Great Depression lingered on and on in the 1930s.Employment rose by 155,000 and the unemployment rate stayed the same at 7.8 percent (the November unemployment rate, originally reported at 7.7 percent, was revised upwards a notch in this report). It’s not surprising that it stayed the same, as the civilian workforce rose by 192,000 last month. In other words, job growth is...
It’s another dreary jobs report out this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, detailing yet another month of the apparently endless “Obama Recovery,” the worst since the Great Depression lingered on and on in the 1930s.Employment rose by 155,000 and the unemployment rate stayed the same at 7.8 percent (the November unemployment rate, originally reported at 7.7 percent, was revised upwards a notch in this report). It’s not surprising that it stayed the same, as the civilian workforce rose by 192,000 last month. In other words, job growth is...
Obama’s Big Opportunity on Gun Control
On January - 6 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
David Shribman, Pittsburgh PG
Barack Obama's determination to enact a gun control measure in the wake of the Connecticut shootings could transform his place in history.Success, which is anything but assured, given the lobbies arrayed against him and the many failures of such measures, could upend more than two centuries of American tradition. It also could boost the president into the pantheon of liberal presidents, placing him beside Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson as the principal progressives in modern American history.This may seem discordant with the prevailing view of Obama as a reluctant warrior, a...
Barack Obama's determination to enact a gun control measure in the wake of the Connecticut shootings could transform his place in history.Success, which is anything but assured, given the lobbies arrayed against him and the many failures of such measures, could upend more than two centuries of American tradition. It also could boost the president into the pantheon of liberal presidents, placing him beside Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson as the principal progressives in modern American history.This may seem discordant with the prevailing view of Obama as a reluctant warrior, a...
Tax Code May Be Most Progressive Since 1979
On January - 5 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Annie Lowery, NY Times
WASHINGTON — With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the richest Americans, the country’s top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.House Speaker John A. Boehner and President Obama worked together to avert a fiscal crisis at the start of the year.
WASHINGTON — With 2013 bringing tax increases on the incomes of a small sliver of the richest Americans, the country’s top earners now face a heavier tax burden than at any time since Jimmy Carter was president.House Speaker John A. Boehner and President Obama worked together to avert a fiscal crisis at the start of the year.
Liberals Nip Obama As He Battles GOP
On January - 5 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Jonathan Alter, Bloomberg
You can already hear the rumbling in the distance -- a train of noisy liberal Democrats barreling straight for the White House. They should arrive just in time for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.The president already has his hands full dealing with angry and unrealistic Republicans. Now he's getting reacquainted with their counterparts on the left -- a less ideologically inflexible bunch but not necessarily any more susceptible to reason.
You can already hear the rumbling in the distance -- a train of noisy liberal Democrats barreling straight for the White House. They should arrive just in time for President Barack Obama's second inauguration.The president already has his hands full dealing with angry and unrealistic Republicans. Now he's getting reacquainted with their counterparts on the left -- a less ideologically inflexible bunch but not necessarily any more susceptible to reason.
Cronyism Lives On in Cliff Bill
On January - 4 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Veronique de Rugy, National Review Online
There have been a few very good opinion pieces about the large amount of special-interest goodies in the fiscal-cliff bill. This morning the Wall Street Journal, for instance, had a piece in its Review and Outlook section titled “Crony Capitalist Blowout,” which gave a good summary of all the crony tax credits in the already infamous deal:In praising Congress’s huge new tax increase, President Obama said Tuesday that “millionaires and billionaires” will finally “pay their fair share.” That is,...
There have been a few very good opinion pieces about the large amount of special-interest goodies in the fiscal-cliff bill. This morning the Wall Street Journal, for instance, had a piece in its Review and Outlook section titled “Crony Capitalist Blowout,” which gave a good summary of all the crony tax credits in the already infamous deal:In praising Congress’s huge new tax increase, President Obama said Tuesday that “millionaires and billionaires” will finally “pay their fair share.” That is,...
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking
On January - 4 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Alec MacGillis, TNR
President Obama's decision to agree to a "fiscal cliff" deal that doesn't address the debt ceiling was premised on the thinking that congressional Republicans will not be as successful at holding the economy hostage in the coming months as they were in the summer of 2011. For one thing, the administration believes the business community, and elite opinion more broadly, will be much more vocal than they were last time around in cautioning Republicans against debt-ceiling hijinx.Is this a fair assumption to make? Well, there are already signs that business leaders...
President Obama's decision to agree to a "fiscal cliff" deal that doesn't address the debt ceiling was premised on the thinking that congressional Republicans will not be as successful at holding the economy hostage in the coming months as they were in the summer of 2011. For one thing, the administration believes the business community, and elite opinion more broadly, will be much more vocal than they were last time around in cautioning Republicans against debt-ceiling hijinx.Is this a fair assumption to make? Well, there are already signs that business leaders...
A Uniquely Polarizing President
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
We're all talking about Republicans on the Hill and their manifold failures. So here are some things President Obama didn't do during the fiscal cliff impasse and some conjecture as to why.He won but he did not triumph. His victory didn't resolve or ease anything and heralds nothing but more congressional war to come.
We're all talking about Republicans on the Hill and their manifold failures. So here are some things President Obama didn't do during the fiscal cliff impasse and some conjecture as to why.He won but he did not triumph. His victory didn't resolve or ease anything and heralds nothing but more congressional war to come.
Our Clown-Around Congress
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Eugene Robinson, Indianapolis Star
WASHINGTON -- To say that Congress looked like a clown show this week is an insult to self-respecting clowns.Painful though it may be, let's review what just happened. Our august legislators -- aided and abetted by President Obama -- manufactured a fake crisis. They then proceeded to handle it so incompetently that they turned it into a real one.The bogus "fiscal cliff" -- and please, let's never, ever use those words again -- was designed as a doomsday mechanism to force Congress and the president to make tough decisions. But resistance to the very concept of...
WASHINGTON -- To say that Congress looked like a clown show this week is an insult to self-respecting clowns.Painful though it may be, let's review what just happened. Our august legislators -- aided and abetted by President Obama -- manufactured a fake crisis. They then proceeded to handle it so incompetently that they turned it into a real one.The bogus "fiscal cliff" -- and please, let's never, ever use those words again -- was designed as a doomsday mechanism to force Congress and the president to make tough decisions. But resistance to the very concept of...
Tactical Win for Obama in Ongoing Budget War
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Krugman, NY Times
The centrist fantasy of a Grand Bargain on the budget never had a chance. Even if some kind of bargain had supposedly been reached, key players would soon have reneged on the deal — probably the next time a Republican occupied the White House. Paul Krugman For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT. For the reality is that our two major political parties are engaged in a fierce struggle over the future shape of American society. Democrats want to preserve the legacy of the New Deal...
The centrist fantasy of a Grand Bargain on the budget never had a chance. Even if some kind of bargain had supposedly been reached, key players would soon have reneged on the deal — probably the next time a Republican occupied the White House. Paul Krugman For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT. For the reality is that our two major political parties are engaged in a fierce struggle over the future shape of American society. Democrats want to preserve the legacy of the New Deal...
Return of the Real Obama
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Real Test for Obama
On January - 3 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Steve Kornacki, Salon
The 113th Congress will convene for the first time at noon today, and barring an unforeseen morning development, it will in one of its first act elect John Boehner as speaker.Boehner has been an unusually weak speaker, one who has little power to bend his own party's rank-and-file to his will and little space to cut deals with the other party. That's not about to change, as his handling of the fiscal cliff showdown demonstrated, which is why I wondered a few weeks ago why he'd want to sign up for two more years. But he evidently is willing to pay the price, and we saw on...
The 113th Congress will convene for the first time at noon today, and barring an unforeseen morning development, it will in one of its first act elect John Boehner as speaker.Boehner has been an unusually weak speaker, one who has little power to bend his own party's rank-and-file to his will and little space to cut deals with the other party. That's not about to change, as his handling of the fiscal cliff showdown demonstrated, which is why I wondered a few weeks ago why he'd want to sign up for two more years. But he evidently is willing to pay the price, and we saw on...
