August 23, 2012
Just when you thought members of Congress couldn’t get any more ridiculous or despised, a rash of stories makes it clear that they can.Please click here to read the full article.
Category: Article
Israel skinny-dipping could cost GOP seats
August 21, 2012
If there is one thing voters don’t forgive – especially in the mood they are in this year and with Congress at a 10 percent approval rating – it is being embarrassed by their representatives in Washington. Americans already think Congress is essentially a joke.Please click here to read the full article.
The Ryan I Know: A Mild-Mannered Wonk and Ideological True Believer
August 11, 2012
I first met Paul Ryan in 1995 when he was working for freshman Rep. Sam Brownback, a member of the House class of 1994. Like most of that class and their staffs, Ryan was a true believer — a reference not to his faith but to the class’s single minded conviction that reducing federal spending and cutting the deficit was their mission. It’s a view Ryan still holds.Please click here to read the full article.
Supreme Court ruling not a big deal for some
June 28, 2012
Republicans are characterizing the Supreme Court health care ruling as one of the worst decisions in the court’s history. Democrats, who asserted the fate of the republic — or at least of Barack Obama’s presidency — hinged on the outcome, are celebrating. Both sides are already preparing to use it as fodder for fundraising and television ads. Less than an hour after the decision was announced, the House scheduled an essentially meaningless repeal vote for July 11 — which will play to their conservative supporters. Chances are though, despite all the ballyhoo from the left and the right, it won’t have a major effect on the outcome of the presidential race. That’s because the independent voters who most likely will decide the election are undoubtedly shrugging their shoulders.
Stuck in the middle
June 17, 2012
A recent Pew Research Center survey confirmed what most Americans already know — Republicans and Democrats are more polarized than they have been in more than a quarter of a century. Party affiliation is actually a bigger divide than age, race, sex or socioeconomic status. As they become more extreme, the two parties have also shrunk, as centrist voters become disenchanted and leave to become independents. More people now consider themselves independents — 38% — than either Democrats (32%) or Republicans (24%). That’s the largest percentage of independents in 75 years, which is how long Gallup has been keeping track.Please click here to read the full article. (PDF Version)
Exit Dick Lugar, and GOP nonpartisanship
May 9, 2012
Another domino topples. With Sen. Richard Lugar’s defeat in the Indiana Republican primary, it is now possible to count on one hand the number of centrist GOP senators with a track record of working with Democrats on legislation.Please click here to read the full article.
This Year’s Fight Over Taxing the Middle Class — and the Rich
April 17, 2012
Inscribed in stone on the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington are the words “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society”, a quotation taken from a 1927 Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Please click here to read the full article.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics: How Ruy Teixeira Got it Wrong on ‘Swing Vote’
March 13, 2012
When one gets a laughably bad review of a book that one has spent two years working on, the immediate reaction is—he’s a jerk, he didn’t like my book; so what—a lot of other people did. But in the case of Ruy Teixeira’s New Republic review of my book, The Swing Vote, a closer examination makes clear he has an agenda, and it has nothing to do with reviewing a book. In the purported review he lists a string of falsehoods, and claims swing voters are a myth on par with the unicorn, which begged for a rebuttal.Please click here to read the full article.
Why Congress May Be Done for the Year
March 7, 2012
The American people think Congress is broken and judging by its track record that assessment is accurate. The average House and Senate member now sides with their party about 90 percent of the time, according to a recent Congressional Quarterly study, a level of lockstep agreement that reflects the most profound partisan polarization in Congress in 100 years. Now, with Democrats trying to hold onto their majority in the Senate and Republicans trying to win it as the election draws closer, the chance that legislative comity might improve is close to vanishing.Please click here to read the full article.
Rick Santorum’s Last Stand?
March 6, 2012
It was a slightly tired-looking and sounding Rick Santorum who greeted supporters at an American Legion post in Westerville, on Columbus’ north side Monday afternoon. His voice a bit hoarse, Santorum began by setting the stakes for Ohio’s role on Super Tuesday, “It’s always make or break here.” Polling has shown Mitt Romney has pulled ahead of Santorum in Ohio among GOP primary voters and a loss here could mean the end of the road for Santorum, whose long-short presidential bid has gone further than he may have dared to dream, but is now foundering from a lack of resources. Romney has spent $12 million on negative TV ads in Ohio, compared to Santorum’s less than $1 million, the candidate said.Please click here to read the full article.