National Politics

Things We Read Today, 4

By Justin Katz | September 6, 2012 |

Today, I touch briefly (for me) on long-term vs. short-term recovery, who’s better off, RI’s long spiral (and potential for quick resurgence), and the significance of different ballot types in Cicilline-Loughlin.

Things We Read Today, 3

By Justin Katz | September 5, 2012 |

Today’s short takes address misleading labeling at the DNC, misleading fact-checking, fading national competitiveness, and the September 10 mentality.

Things We Read Today, 2

By Justin Katz | September 4, 2012 |

Today’s quick(ish) hits touch on: Partisanship as evidenced by Bill Maher, Rachel Maddow, and Nick Gillespie. The libertarian-conservative divide and this year’s election. Ed Fitzpatrick’s one-way love of fact checking. The dependency nation as an existential threat. Read all about it on the Ocean State Current…

When I Grow Up, I Wanna Be a Crony

By Marc Comtois | August 24, 2012 |

I can’t confirm if this was filmed in Rhode Island or not (h/t): “I’m gonna fight for MY piece of the taxpayer pie.” “What’s a crony?” “It’s like having a best friend who gives you other people’s stuff.” “We take care of our friends.” “We get to spend taxpayer money any way we want.” “Why…

Rasmussen Explains Gap Between Mainstream America and Official Washington

By Marc Comtois | August 21, 2012 |

Pollster Scott Rasmussen explains how common poll questions offered by Beltway “professionals” make no sense to average Americans: In Washington, it’s a given that more government spending is needed to help the economy. Most Americans hold the opposite view. So when you ask whether cutting spending or helping the economy is more important, the question…

10 News Conference – Justin and RIFuture’s Bob Plain

By Justin Katz | August 10, 2012 |

Jim Taricani invited me and RIFuture.org owner/editor Bob Plain to sit in for 10 News Conference, this morning. The topics leaned more toward politics than policy, but we bloggers did manage to pull the conversation toward political philosophy a bit. Specifically, we discussed economic development, the RI economy, the Congressional district 1 race, and the…

Recoveries: The Difference the Debt Makes (Not to Mention the Government’s Focus)

By Justin Katz | August 6, 2012 |

Earlier today, Glenn Reynolds linked to an American Enterprise Institute post by James Pethokoukis, drawing on charts from economist John Taylor showing that the United States economy hasn’t been returning toward where it would have been without the crash, and that this is unusual for prior downturns.   The reasons, I think, can be inferred…

Barone: Intellegentsia Got the Partisanship the Asked For

By Marc Comtois | August 4, 2012 |

Michael Barone: I ascribe much of the partisan tone of today’s politics to two changes urged by the political scientists I studied in college nearly half a century ago. One was the idea that we should have one clearly liberal and one clearly conservative party. This was a popular enough argument in the 1940s and…

National Poll Shenanigans

By Marc Comtois | August 3, 2012 |

Take a look at the Real Clear Politics’ 2012 Presidential poll averages and you’ll see, for the most part, Obama and Romney are within 2-4 pts of each other with Obama leading most of them. Then Pew released a poll showing Obama with a 10 point lead. How’d that happen? Well, several experienced and astute…

Like it or Not, Red Team/Blue Team is the American Way

By Marc Comtois | July 19, 2012 |

I’m tired of playing the same old Democrat versus Republican game. It’s like watching professional sports, only it will seriously impact your life. Our modern political culture has been shaped in such a way that we debate our politics like we root for our favorite football team. Doesn’t matter that the candidate may not share…