Philip Klein, DC Examiner
President Obama’s national health care law will be back at the U.S. Supreme Court by next fall, according to a lawyer for Liberty University, which is challenging the constitutionality of the law on different grounds from the recent major health care suit.Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia to rehear a suit brought by Liberty University challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare.
Where Is the Urgency Over Economic Growth?
On November - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Carl Schramm, Forbes
How Palestinians Can Achieve Independence
On November - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Jeffrey Goldberg, Bloomberg
By Akiva HamiltonBy Christopher FordSign up for our daily newsletter and receive the latest news, analysis and videos in your inbox!By Daniel McGroartyBy Will Marshall
By Akiva HamiltonBy Christopher FordSign up for our daily newsletter and receive the latest news, analysis and videos in your inbox!By Daniel McGroartyBy Will Marshall
Learning from the Election
On November - 27 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Victor Davis Hanson, PJ Media
By Victor Davis HansonBio1. PopulismThe Republicans have only won the popular vote since Ronald Reagan's presidency on two occasions: 1988 and 2004. In both instances, even the patrician Bushes were able to paint their liberal opponents as out-of-touch Massachusetts magnificoes. Lee Atwater turned Michael Dukakis, the helmeted tank driver, into a bumbling Harvard Square naïf.  Karl Rove reminded the country that John Kerry, the wind surfer, was a spandex-wearing, wetsuit-outfitted yuppie who lived in several of his rich wife's mansions, as he jetted around in her plane and sailed...
By Victor Davis HansonBio1. PopulismThe Republicans have only won the popular vote since Ronald Reagan's presidency on two occasions: 1988 and 2004. In both instances, even the patrician Bushes were able to paint their liberal opponents as out-of-touch Massachusetts magnificoes. Lee Atwater turned Michael Dukakis, the helmeted tank driver, into a bumbling Harvard Square naïf.  Karl Rove reminded the country that John Kerry, the wind surfer, was a spandex-wearing, wetsuit-outfitted yuppie who lived in several of his rich wife's mansions, as he jetted around in her plane and sailed...
Jesse Jr. Flew Too Close to Sun
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times
The Greek hero Icarus, son of the master craftsman Daedalus, was imprisoned on the island of Crete. According to Greek mythology, Daedalus built a magnificent pair of wings of wood and wax, and gave them to Icarus, with a warning: Go forth and fly, my son, but stay away from the sun, or your wings will melt away.Icarus, full of ambition and hubris, flew high into the sky, ignoring his father’s counsel. He fell to his death.U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has crashed to earth. On Nov. 21, he resigned his seat in disgrace.
The Greek hero Icarus, son of the master craftsman Daedalus, was imprisoned on the island of Crete. According to Greek mythology, Daedalus built a magnificent pair of wings of wood and wax, and gave them to Icarus, with a warning: Go forth and fly, my son, but stay away from the sun, or your wings will melt away.Icarus, full of ambition and hubris, flew high into the sky, ignoring his father’s counsel. He fell to his death.U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has crashed to earth. On Nov. 21, he resigned his seat in disgrace.
How Often Has Real Spending Declined Since 1980?
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Nick Gillespie, Reason
All the signs are pointing toward some sort of late-minute, ill-conceived deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" at year's end.This fiscal cliff is that dreaded Witching Hour come midnight on Jan. 1, 2013 at which the Bush tax rates expire (meaning a reversion to higher rates in place under Bill Clinton), Obama's payroll tax "holiday" ends, the debt ceiling might need upping (again), and "sequestration" kicks in, thereby cutting $110 billion in 2013's estimated spending tab (currently assumed to be about $3.8 trillion). The fiscal cliff, we're told,...
All the signs are pointing toward some sort of late-minute, ill-conceived deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" at year's end.This fiscal cliff is that dreaded Witching Hour come midnight on Jan. 1, 2013 at which the Bush tax rates expire (meaning a reversion to higher rates in place under Bill Clinton), Obama's payroll tax "holiday" ends, the debt ceiling might need upping (again), and "sequestration" kicks in, thereby cutting $110 billion in 2013's estimated spending tab (currently assumed to be about $3.8 trillion). The fiscal cliff, we're told,...
Lincoln’s Master Class in Politics
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Al Hunt, Bloomberg
Before scheduling any budget negotiations at the White House, on Capitol Hill or at Camp David, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders should go see Steven Spielberg's classic new film, "Lincoln."It's the best movie about Washington politics I've seen. The centerpiece is the American icon, Abraham Lincoln; it brilliantly captures him doing what politicians are supposed to do, and today too often avoid: compromising, calculating, horse trading, dealing and preventing the perfect from becoming the enemy of a good objective.
Before scheduling any budget negotiations at the White House, on Capitol Hill or at Camp David, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders should go see Steven Spielberg's classic new film, "Lincoln."It's the best movie about Washington politics I've seen. The centerpiece is the American icon, Abraham Lincoln; it brilliantly captures him doing what politicians are supposed to do, and today too often avoid: compromising, calculating, horse trading, dealing and preventing the perfect from becoming the enemy of a good objective.
The Failure of ObamaCare Is Inevitable & Predictable
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Scott Atlas, Forbes
A Mandate to Raise Taxes on the Rich
On November - 26 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
John Nichols, The Nation
There’s No Mandate to Raise Taxes on the "Rich"
On November - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Susan Estrich, Creators
Within days of winning the election, President Obama announced that his victory gave him a mandate to raise taxes on the "rich."Come again? This was a two-and-a-half-point election. It reflected a painfully divided electorate. The only mandate I saw was to unite a divided country.I voted for Obama. I voted for him because I know how hard it is to buy health insurance for a single person with even a minor pre-existing condition. In the case of my nanny/housekeeper/dear friend, it was gastritis. Thank God for Kaiser, which sold me the insurance that some years later saved her life...
Within days of winning the election, President Obama announced that his victory gave him a mandate to raise taxes on the "rich."Come again? This was a two-and-a-half-point election. It reflected a painfully divided electorate. The only mandate I saw was to unite a divided country.I voted for Obama. I voted for him because I know how hard it is to buy health insurance for a single person with even a minor pre-existing condition. In the case of my nanny/housekeeper/dear friend, it was gastritis. Thank God for Kaiser, which sold me the insurance that some years later saved her life...
Lessons for Obama’s New Cabinet
On November - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Frank Rich, New York Magazine
For the good of the country, it’s time to fetch a butterfly net for McCain. At a moment when the Middle East is on fire, you have a United States Senator threatening to hold our State Department hostage for no coherent reasons other than to exercise his temper and to satisfy his insatiable desire for television coverage. It’s a measure of the fallen state of the GOP that this bitter, ever-more-incoherent hothead is now the party’s only elected official with a voice on foreign affairs — unless you count his boot-licking Sancho Panza, Lindsey Graham. (The...
For the good of the country, it’s time to fetch a butterfly net for McCain. At a moment when the Middle East is on fire, you have a United States Senator threatening to hold our State Department hostage for no coherent reasons other than to exercise his temper and to satisfy his insatiable desire for television coverage. It’s a measure of the fallen state of the GOP that this bitter, ever-more-incoherent hothead is now the party’s only elected official with a voice on foreign affairs — unless you count his boot-licking Sancho Panza, Lindsey Graham. (The...
God and Man and William F. Buckley
On November - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Jeremy Lott, Catholic Thing
After the walloping Republicans took in the 2012 elections, my first printable thought was, “Man, where is William F. Buckley when you need him?” The likely answer to that question is “in Heaven” or at least well on his way through Purgatory. If he were still with us, he would turn eighty-seven today. In life, Buckley’s political adversaries regularly slandered the man about as readily as they use his name now to bash conservatives. (Sample title, from just this week in the Politico newspaper: “Conservatives at a Crossroads: Harold...
After the walloping Republicans took in the 2012 elections, my first printable thought was, “Man, where is William F. Buckley when you need him?” The likely answer to that question is “in Heaven” or at least well on his way through Purgatory. If he were still with us, he would turn eighty-seven today. In life, Buckley’s political adversaries regularly slandered the man about as readily as they use his name now to bash conservatives. (Sample title, from just this week in the Politico newspaper: “Conservatives at a Crossroads: Harold...
Realists Fret Obama Is Drifting Away
On November - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Walter Russell Mead, Am. Interest
As the President and his staff gear up for a second term, American foreign policy seems to be making a shift. The Obama administration is moving from a realist, in some ways Jeffersonian approach to foreign policy—limiting commitments, looking for compromise solutions with opponents regardless of ideology—to something more Wilsonian: giving democracy promotion and human rights a higher profile in the national security portfolio.
As the President and his staff gear up for a second term, American foreign policy seems to be making a shift. The Obama administration is moving from a realist, in some ways Jeffersonian approach to foreign policy—limiting commitments, looking for compromise solutions with opponents regardless of ideology—to something more Wilsonian: giving democracy promotion and human rights a higher profile in the national security portfolio.
Unemployment Aid Is Prolonging the Recession
On November - 25 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Casey Mulligan, NY Post
John F. Kennedy’s Fateful Trip to Texas
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Carl M. Cannon, RealClearPolitics
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, November 21, 2012, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. Not much is scheduled in official Washington today, which is probably just as well. Even with the “fiscal cliff” looming in their immediate future, Americans have earned a holiday from politics.On this date in 1963, John F. Kennedy boarded the presidential helicopter on the South Lawn for a political trip to Texas. He was seeking to make peace between the feuding factions within the Lone Star State’s Democratic Party. Kennedy took Lyndon Johnson with him in the vain hope that...
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, November 21, 2012, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. Not much is scheduled in official Washington today, which is probably just as well. Even with the “fiscal cliff” looming in their immediate future, Americans have earned a holiday from politics.On this date in 1963, John F. Kennedy boarded the presidential helicopter on the South Lawn for a political trip to Texas. He was seeking to make peace between the feuding factions within the Lone Star State’s Democratic Party. Kennedy took Lyndon Johnson with him in the vain hope that...
Republicans Rattled by Reality
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Ana Marie Cox, The Guardian
Republicans' belief in the feel-good Fox News fantasies of what "real America" wanted and believed helped them lose the election. Would Romney have lost if his base didn't stubbornly insist that polls were rigged, that almost half the country was looking for a handout (and the other half was angry about it), and that government exists only to coddle or sabotage (not so much the "Nanny state" as Mommie Dearest)? The "conservative entertainment complex", as columnist David Frum put it, promulgated a view of the American electorate that wasn't just...
Republicans' belief in the feel-good Fox News fantasies of what "real America" wanted and believed helped them lose the election. Would Romney have lost if his base didn't stubbornly insist that polls were rigged, that almost half the country was looking for a handout (and the other half was angry about it), and that government exists only to coddle or sabotage (not so much the "Nanny state" as Mommie Dearest)? The "conservative entertainment complex", as columnist David Frum put it, promulgated a view of the American electorate that wasn't just...
Making the Same-Sex Case
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Ken Mehlman, Wall Street Journal
They say demography is destiny, and in American politics destiny has belonged to those who best aligned their core beliefs with the rapidly changing and ever-improving citizenry.Conservatives—and I count myself as one—succeed when we attract new supporters to timeless traditions. The Republican Party's loss in this month's presidential election resulted partly from a failure to embrace some of America's fastest-growing constituencies. One area of significant change is in attitudes toward legal equality for gay Americans.
They say demography is destiny, and in American politics destiny has belonged to those who best aligned their core beliefs with the rapidly changing and ever-improving citizenry.Conservatives—and I count myself as one—succeed when we attract new supporters to timeless traditions. The Republican Party's loss in this month's presidential election resulted partly from a failure to embrace some of America's fastest-growing constituencies. One area of significant change is in attitudes toward legal equality for gay Americans.
Faith and Science Aren’t Incompatible
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Erick Erickson, Red State
Marco Rubio is getting beaten up by the press for not decisively and convincingly saying he thinks the world is billions of years old. The press gave Barack Obama a pass for largely the same answer. This issue has become the new litmus test in the media for conservative politicians. Believing what was believed to be literally true for a few thousand years is now nutty. Christian homeschool kids, often taught that the world is not as old as some believe and who routinely kick the rear ends of the ivy prep kids in academics, are considered stupid.Truth be told, I think the world is billions of...
Marco Rubio is getting beaten up by the press for not decisively and convincingly saying he thinks the world is billions of years old. The press gave Barack Obama a pass for largely the same answer. This issue has become the new litmus test in the media for conservative politicians. Believing what was believed to be literally true for a few thousand years is now nutty. Christian homeschool kids, often taught that the world is not as old as some believe and who routinely kick the rear ends of the ivy prep kids in academics, are considered stupid.Truth be told, I think the world is billions of...
Marco Rubio Needs Evolution
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Specter, The New Yorker
If the need for a new approach to the American electorate wasn’t clear enough to Republicans on November 6th, it certainly has been since Mitt Romney delivered his graceless coup de grace a few days later—when he essentially accused President Obama of buying the election by offering students affordable loans and nearly everyone else acceptable health care. Party leaders couldn’t disown Romney and his misanthropic distaste for Americans fast enough. Suddenly, all we could hear about were the next generation of leaders. And nobody has been talked about with more...
If the need for a new approach to the American electorate wasn’t clear enough to Republicans on November 6th, it certainly has been since Mitt Romney delivered his graceless coup de grace a few days later—when he essentially accused President Obama of buying the election by offering students affordable loans and nearly everyone else acceptable health care. Party leaders couldn’t disown Romney and his misanthropic distaste for Americans fast enough. Suddenly, all we could hear about were the next generation of leaders. And nobody has been talked about with more...
Why ObamaCare Has to Go
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Rep. John Boehner, Cincinnati Enquirer
President Obama has won re-election, but his health care law is still driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. As was the case before the election, Obamacare has to go.The tactics of our repeal efforts will have to change. But the strategic imperative remains the same. If we’re serious about getting our economy moving again, solving our debt and restoring prosperity for American families, we need to repeal Obamacare and enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that start with lowering the cost of health care.
President Obama has won re-election, but his health care law is still driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. As was the case before the election, Obamacare has to go.The tactics of our repeal efforts will have to change. But the strategic imperative remains the same. If we’re serious about getting our economy moving again, solving our debt and restoring prosperity for American families, we need to repeal Obamacare and enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that start with lowering the cost of health care.
A Big Step Forward on ObamaCare Implementation
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Steve Benen, MSNBC
The Affordable Care Act was a massive piece of legislation, but it only went so far in defining the details of policy implementation. For example, the text of the bill mandates that Americans' preventive care be provided without a copay, but it doesn't specify what, exactly, counts as preventive care.And that's where the regulatory process kicks in. It's up to the Obama administration to make choices defining the limits and the benefits under the legal framework. With this in mind, "Obamacare" implementation took another important step forward yesterday.
The Affordable Care Act was a massive piece of legislation, but it only went so far in defining the details of policy implementation. For example, the text of the bill mandates that Americans' preventive care be provided without a copay, but it doesn't specify what, exactly, counts as preventive care.And that's where the regulatory process kicks in. It's up to the Obama administration to make choices defining the limits and the benefits under the legal framework. With this in mind, "Obamacare" implementation took another important step forward yesterday.
Oh What a Tangled Web
On November - 21 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Victor Davis Hanson, National Review
Supporters of President Obama have dubbed those who question administration statements about Libya as either partisans or conspiracy theorists, on the premise that the administration had no reason to dissimulate. But in fact, it had plenty of political reasons not to be candid, as the following questions make clear.Why was the administration hesitant to beef up security at the vulnerable Benghazi consulate ahead of time, or to send in military assistance during the seven-hour attack on the consulate and the CIA annex, or at least to be candid after the attack?
Supporters of President Obama have dubbed those who question administration statements about Libya as either partisans or conspiracy theorists, on the premise that the administration had no reason to dissimulate. But in fact, it had plenty of political reasons not to be candid, as the following questions make clear.Why was the administration hesitant to beef up security at the vulnerable Benghazi consulate ahead of time, or to send in military assistance during the seven-hour attack on the consulate and the CIA annex, or at least to be candid after the attack?
Global Entrepreneurship Week: Three Big Lessons
On November - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Carl Schramm, Forbes
It is hard to believe that it was only five years ago that the first Global Entrepreneurship Week was held. Last week gives evidence of the tremendous enthusiasm for the idea that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and I kicked off in 2007 with 38 countries participating. One hundred thirty nations sponsored an enormous array of events all aimed at helping young men and women around the world consider their future as potential creators of new businesses, and as contributors to the economic well being of their countrymen.The success of the week can be measured in many...
It is hard to believe that it was only five years ago that the first Global Entrepreneurship Week was held. Last week gives evidence of the tremendous enthusiasm for the idea that Prime Minister Gordon Brown and I kicked off in 2007 with 38 countries participating. One hundred thirty nations sponsored an enormous array of events all aimed at helping young men and women around the world consider their future as potential creators of new businesses, and as contributors to the economic well being of their countrymen.The success of the week can be measured in many...
Hillary for President? Drumbeat Begins
On November - 20 - 2012 ADD COMMENTS
Laura Washington, Chicago ST
“Hillary 2016!”He’s already ordered the campaign buttons.“We will be back in Iowa for Hillary in 2016!” my friend Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Personal PAC, emailed the other day.The wheels of the next presidential cycle are beginning to turn, and legions of Hillary Clinton acolytes are gearing up.Indeed, the former first lady and U.S. senator is uniquely positioned for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
“Hillary 2016!”He’s already ordered the campaign buttons.“We will be back in Iowa for Hillary in 2016!” my friend Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Personal PAC, emailed the other day.The wheels of the next presidential cycle are beginning to turn, and legions of Hillary Clinton acolytes are gearing up.Indeed, the former first lady and U.S. senator is uniquely positioned for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
