Mona Charen, Washington Examiner
The battle over health care reform is not over. Yes, the 2012 election ensured that the law would not be repealed and replaced in 2013. But when the American people are unhappy with a policy, they find a way to alter it. Republicans can tie themselves in knots and consider abandoning their principles on abortion, taxes, immigration or marriage (and perhaps some of those positions require rethinking), but the health care issue is pitched right over home plate.
Liberals Turn Tables On GOP Issues
On March - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
You’ve often heard Republicans talk about organizing campaigns around the vaunted “guns, God, and gays” formulation long beloved by GOP strategists. Now progressives and Democrats are increasingly organizing around a cultural and economic issue triumvirate of their own: Guns, gays, and the minimum wage.
Republicans’ Phony Silver Lining
On March - 19 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Steve Kornacki, Salon
The Republican National Committee's "autopsy" of the 2012 election acknowledges some of the failures that resulted in the party losing the national popular vote for the fifth time in the last six races. It also ignores a major reason why the GOP's base is shrinking. But one particular aspect of the report rings particularly false "“ an effort to find a silver lining in the party's image problem:At the federal level, much of what Republicans are doing is not working beyond the core constituencies that make up the...
The Republican National Committee's "autopsy" of the 2012 election acknowledges some of the failures that resulted in the party losing the national popular vote for the fifth time in the last six races. It also ignores a major reason why the GOP's base is shrinking. But one particular aspect of the report rings particularly false "“ an effort to find a silver lining in the party's image problem:At the federal level, much of what Republicans are doing is not working beyond the core constituencies that make up the...
The Early Line on the 2014 Midterms
On March - 18 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Sabato & Kondik, Wall Street Journal
President Obama's greatest setback to date has been the 2010 midterm elections. Gains that Republicans scored in the House and Senate still circumscribe his agenda. It is no surprise, then, that the Obama White House wants to achieve something no other president has ever done: Retake full control of Congress in a midterm.
President Obama's greatest setback to date has been the 2010 midterm elections. Gains that Republicans scored in the House and Senate still circumscribe his agenda. It is no surprise, then, that the Obama White House wants to achieve something no other president has ever done: Retake full control of Congress in a midterm.
Conservatives Look For Love And Other Things On Craigslist (NSFW)
On March - 16 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
The 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference has brought Republicans around the United States to the National Harbor near Washington D.C. A few of the attendees are also looking for love.
We've compiled some of our favorite, relatively SFW, Craigslist personals of CPAC attendees searching for companionship. We did not include photos.
Tea-Fueled Republican Resistance Compels Obama
On March - 16 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
As President Obama is discovering, election, or more particularly reelection, can be a waning mandate. Yes, he won his top rate tax increases in January—but less because Republicans accepted the verdict of last November than that they feared the blame in November 2014 if they conspicuously shattered the credit-worthiness and economic stability of the United States. And now we are at a point where Obama himself suggests that the differences are just "too wide" to achieve a "grand bargain" on America's fiscal future. The president says he won't yield if the GOP position is "we can only do revenue if we gut Medicare ... Social Security ... or education."
Republicans Spin Their Wheels on Health Care
On March - 15 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Steve Benen, MSNBC
t was just two months ago when it seemed the fight in Washington over health care was largely over. After all, what more was there to fight about? The election was over; the Supreme Court fight was resolved; Republican governors were beginning to grudgingly implement the law; and even House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the Affordable Care Act "the law of the land." GOP candidates spent a year running on a repeal platform, and they lost.
t was just two months ago when it seemed the fight in Washington over health care was largely over. After all, what more was there to fight about? The election was over; the Supreme Court fight was resolved; Republican governors were beginning to grudgingly implement the law; and even House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called the Affordable Care Act "the law of the land." GOP candidates spent a year running on a repeal platform, and they lost.
Time to Be Deal-Maker in Chief
On March - 14 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post
When it comes to Republicans, President Obama sees himself as a kind of reverse Sally Field: They don't like him. They really, really, don't like him.
When it comes to Republicans, President Obama sees himself as a kind of reverse Sally Field: They don't like him. They really, really, don't like him.
Republicans Out of Sync With Voters
On March - 12 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Andrew Rosenthal, New York Times
The Republicans have hit a sour spot in politics "” they are 180 degrees opposed to what most Americans want on just about any issue you care to name. Remember, for instance, how the American people rejected the Romney/Ryan ticket, and in particular Paul Ryan's budget? Today Mr. Ryan released a remarkably similar budget. It even has the same Orwellian title: "The Path to Prosperity."
The Republicans have hit a sour spot in politics "” they are 180 degrees opposed to what most Americans want on just about any issue you care to name. Remember, for instance, how the American people rejected the Romney/Ryan ticket, and in particular Paul Ryan's budget? Today Mr. Ryan released a remarkably similar budget. It even has the same Orwellian title: "The Path to Prosperity."
Republicans Release Video Promoting Capitol Tours
On March - 12 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
BY JIM ABRAMS, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Republicans have put out a video to remind visitors that while they may be locked out of the Obama White House because of budget cuts, the doors to the Capitol are still open for tours.
The un-narrated 90-second video posted on YouTube is the latest effort by Republicans to needle the White House for stopping all public tours of that building because of the government-wide automatic spending cuts that went into effect at the beginning of the month.
The new video, headlined "Welcome to the United States Capitol," shows the Rotunda, Statuary Hall and other sites along the tour route through the Capitol, and ends with the line "this is your House. Tour it."
Obama Flails as GOP Stands Firm on Cuts
On March - 10 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Michael Barone, DC Examiner
They're flailing. That's the impression I get from watching Barack Obama and his White House over the past week.Things haven't gone as they expected. The House Republicans were supposed to cave in on the sequester, as they did on the fiscal cliff at the beginning of the year.They would be so desperate to avoid the sequester's mandatory defense cuts, the theory went, that they would agree to higher taxes (through closing loopholes) on high earners.But the Republicans didn't deal. They decided to take the sequester cuts and make them the basis for a continuing...
They're flailing. That's the impression I get from watching Barack Obama and his White House over the past week.Things haven't gone as they expected. The House Republicans were supposed to cave in on the sequester, as they did on the fiscal cliff at the beginning of the year.They would be so desperate to avoid the sequester's mandatory defense cuts, the theory went, that they would agree to higher taxes (through closing loopholes) on high earners.But the Republicans didn't deal. They decided to take the sequester cuts and make them the basis for a continuing...
Obama’s Still Not Serious About Entitlement Reform
On March - 10 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Yuval Levin, NR
The idea that Republicans in Washington just don't know how far the president is leaning in their direction in the ongoing fiscal debates has been a prominent theme of liberal political commentary in the past few weeks, and it has focused especially on the view among Republicans that President Obama hasn't offered meaningful entitlement-reform ideas. The president's defenders insist that in fact he has offered such ideas, and that they should be much more appealing to Republicans than the sequester that they (along with tax increases, of course) are intended to replace. But...
The idea that Republicans in Washington just don't know how far the president is leaning in their direction in the ongoing fiscal debates has been a prominent theme of liberal political commentary in the past few weeks, and it has focused especially on the view among Republicans that President Obama hasn't offered meaningful entitlement-reform ideas. The president's defenders insist that in fact he has offered such ideas, and that they should be much more appealing to Republicans than the sequester that they (along with tax increases, of course) are intended to replace. But...
President Obama’s New Charm Offensive
On March - 8 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
John Dickerson, Slate
President Obama is reaching out to Republicans. He had dinner with GOP senators Wednesday night and he had lunch with his former rival House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan Thursday afternoon. For the moment, Friday breakfast is open, but perhaps Dick Cheney is free. Next week he will visit Republicans in the House and Senate.How a president works with Congress and persuades lawmakers to do his will is key to the office. With President Obama it is a particularly fascinating topic because he came to office promising a special magic in forging new arrangements with his opponents and he set high...
President Obama is reaching out to Republicans. He had dinner with GOP senators Wednesday night and he had lunch with his former rival House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan Thursday afternoon. For the moment, Friday breakfast is open, but perhaps Dick Cheney is free. Next week he will visit Republicans in the House and Senate.How a president works with Congress and persuades lawmakers to do his will is key to the office. With President Obama it is a particularly fascinating topic because he came to office promising a special magic in forging new arrangements with his opponents and he set high...
Evangelicals Make Unusual Pitch To Republicans
On March - 6 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Last week, as Senator Marco Rubio’s office was fielding phone calls from opponents of an immigration law rewrite, an appeal went out to evangelical Christians to counter the onslaught.
Paul Ryan Floating Change To Medicare Age
On March - 4 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Paul Ryan’s budget will show how Republicans can balance a budget that’s trillions of dollars out of whack. But the most significant unresolved issue comes down to a minuscule number: one year.
Barack Obama: Says a majority of Americans — and Republicans — support his approach for deficit reduction.
On March - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
The Truth-o-Meter says: Mostly True | Barack Obama says "the majority of the American people agree with me" on spending cuts and tax increases to fix the budget
The sequester lives, and it’s the Republicans’ fault, President Barack Obama told Americans on Friday. As blunt, broad spending cuts started their slow crawl across the federal government on March 1, 2013, the president said he just needed Republicans in Congress to "catch up to their own party and the country." That means an approach to deficit reduction that "asks something from everybody," he said, including raising tax revenue. Saying he believes Congress "can and must" replace the sequester’s cuts with "a more balanced approach," he added:
House Republicans Find Footing in Sequester Battle
On March - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Ashley Parker, NYT
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, the man who spent significant portions of the last Congress shuttling to and from the White House for fiscal talks with President Obama that ultimately failed twice to produce a grand bargain, has come around to the idea that the best negotiations are no negotiations. As the president and Congressional Democrats have tried to force Mr. Boehner back to the table for talks to head off the automatic budget cuts set to take effect on Friday, Mr. Boehner has instead dug in deeper, refusing to even discuss an increase in revenue and insisting...
WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, the man who spent significant portions of the last Congress shuttling to and from the White House for fiscal talks with President Obama that ultimately failed twice to produce a grand bargain, has come around to the idea that the best negotiations are no negotiations. As the president and Congressional Democrats have tried to force Mr. Boehner back to the table for talks to head off the automatic budget cuts set to take effect on Friday, Mr. Boehner has instead dug in deeper, refusing to even discuss an increase in revenue and insisting...
The Obama White House Is Full of Itself
On March - 1 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Peggy Noonan, Wall St. Journal
Everyone has been wondering how the public will react when the sequester kicks in. The American people are in the position of hostages who'll have to decide who the hostage-taker is. People will get mad at either the president or the Republicans in Congress. That anger will force one side to rethink or back down. Or maybe the public will get mad at both.
Everyone has been wondering how the public will react when the sequester kicks in. The American people are in the position of hostages who'll have to decide who the hostage-taker is. People will get mad at either the president or the Republicans in Congress. That anger will force one side to rethink or back down. Or maybe the public will get mad at both.
Top Republican Doubts Damage to Pentagon From Cuts
On February - 27 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Dana Bash, CNN
Anticipating possible political backlash if forced federal spending cuts kick in as expected later this week, the Senate's No. 2 Republican said Monday that he is preparing a message he plans to hit hard: The cuts are not going to have as negative an impact as the Pentagon and others in the Obama administration are saying. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he plans to make the case to other Republicans and the public that despite warnings from the Pentagon that the mandated cuts will be devastating, the overall amount of defense spending will actually still rise.
Anticipating possible political backlash if forced federal spending cuts kick in as expected later this week, the Senate's No. 2 Republican said Monday that he is preparing a message he plans to hit hard: The cuts are not going to have as negative an impact as the Pentagon and others in the Obama administration are saying. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he plans to make the case to other Republicans and the public that despite warnings from the Pentagon that the mandated cuts will be devastating, the overall amount of defense spending will actually still rise.
Republicans Must Bridge the Income Gap
On February - 27 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Sheila Bair, New York Times
LAST month Emmanuel Saez, a celebrated economist at the University of California, Berkeley, issued another depressing report on income inequality. Among other things, Mr. Saez examined how real family incomes changed in the United States from 2009 to 2011, the first two years of the recovery. The richest 1 percent of Americans, he found, saw their incomes grow, on average, by more than 11 percent. As for the other 99 percent? You guessed it: incomes shrank by nearly half a percent.The phenomenon is hardly new. The yawning gap between rich and poor has been growing since the 1970s and reached...
LAST month Emmanuel Saez, a celebrated economist at the University of California, Berkeley, issued another depressing report on income inequality. Among other things, Mr. Saez examined how real family incomes changed in the United States from 2009 to 2011, the first two years of the recovery. The richest 1 percent of Americans, he found, saw their incomes grow, on average, by more than 11 percent. As for the other 99 percent? You guessed it: incomes shrank by nearly half a percent.The phenomenon is hardly new. The yawning gap between rich and poor has been growing since the 1970s and reached...
The House GOP’s Political DUI
On February - 26 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
David Ignatius, Washington Post
WASHINGTON -- Some of us can recall the helpless feeling of being in a vehicle driven by someone who is intoxicated. If you're like me, you don't want to cause a scene unless the driving is really erratic. But there comes a moment when you need to say: Stop the car. You're going to hurt someone. Hand over the keys.We have a political system that is the equivalent of a drunk driver. The primary culprits are the House Republicans. They are so intoxicated with their own ideology that they are ready to drive the nation's car off the road. I don't know if the sequestration...
WASHINGTON -- Some of us can recall the helpless feeling of being in a vehicle driven by someone who is intoxicated. If you're like me, you don't want to cause a scene unless the driving is really erratic. But there comes a moment when you need to say: Stop the car. You're going to hurt someone. Hand over the keys.We have a political system that is the equivalent of a drunk driver. The primary culprits are the House Republicans. They are so intoxicated with their own ideology that they are ready to drive the nation's car off the road. I don't know if the sequestration...
The Debt Isn’t the Problem. Republicans Are
On February - 26 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Mark Thoma, Fiscal Times
As we head into yet another self-inflicted crisis over the national debt, does the potential harm from the debt justify the risky political tactics and potentially harmful brinksmanship that Republicans have used in negotiations over the debt ceiling, the fiscal cliff, the sequester, and whatever might come next? Is it possible that the artificial crises that Republicans have created during these negotiations pose a much greatest risk to our future economic growth than the debt itself?It’s not only possible, it’s highly likely. Let’s begin with the economics....
As we head into yet another self-inflicted crisis over the national debt, does the potential harm from the debt justify the risky political tactics and potentially harmful brinksmanship that Republicans have used in negotiations over the debt ceiling, the fiscal cliff, the sequester, and whatever might come next? Is it possible that the artificial crises that Republicans have created during these negotiations pose a much greatest risk to our future economic growth than the debt itself?It’s not only possible, it’s highly likely. Let’s begin with the economics....
“Devastating” Sequester? Politicians Should Shut Up
On February - 23 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
Bill Wilson, Forbes
In a city known for its perpetual evasion of responsibility and chronic shifting of blame, Washington D.C.’s sequester debate is more of the same – albeit with an interesting twist.Ordinarily spending debates in our nation’s capital can be scripted long before they unfold: Democrats accused Republicans of “divisive,” harsh” and “burdensome” cuts, while Republicans stride hurriedly past television cameras with not-so-bright looks on their faces.
In a city known for its perpetual evasion of responsibility and chronic shifting of blame, Washington D.C.’s sequester debate is more of the same – albeit with an interesting twist.Ordinarily spending debates in our nation’s capital can be scripted long before they unfold: Democrats accused Republicans of “divisive,” harsh” and “burdensome” cuts, while Republicans stride hurriedly past television cameras with not-so-bright looks on their faces.
Thank You for the Sequester, Mr. Obama
On February - 21 - 2013 ADD COMMENTS
David Harsanyi, Human Events
America is fed up with GOP obstructionism. So undoubtedly, everyone is hopeful that Republicans will allow President Barack Obama's sequestration plans to proceed unhindered. It's only right.The GOP, in fact, should quit while it's ahead. Rather than penning editorials and appearing on Sunday morning talk shows to try to pin the blame on others, leadership would be far better off simply saying: "Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for dreaming up a plan that implements some minimal spending cuts. Thanks for signing it into law. It's not much, but we sure appreciate...
America is fed up with GOP obstructionism. So undoubtedly, everyone is hopeful that Republicans will allow President Barack Obama's sequestration plans to proceed unhindered. It's only right.The GOP, in fact, should quit while it's ahead. Rather than penning editorials and appearing on Sunday morning talk shows to try to pin the blame on others, leadership would be far better off simply saying: "Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for dreaming up a plan that implements some minimal spending cuts. Thanks for signing it into law. It's not much, but we sure appreciate...
