National Politics

Noonan Now and Then

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2009 |

To a post on Peggy Noonan’s latest column, Glenn Reynolds appends a reader’s observation that Ms. Noonan should take some responsibility for helping her man, Mr. Obama, gain office. Indeed, a contrast of Noonan a year ago and now is instructive. October 30, 2008: The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes: He has within…

Who’s Keener on Current Events?

By Marc Comtois | October 30, 2009 |

The pro-Republican results of the Pew Research Poll, “What Does the Public Know?,” (h/t) has led to some “rah rah” chatter on the right side of the blogosphere, partly inspired because the MSM isn’t covering the results the same as they did previous polls showing opposite results. True enough, self-identified Republicans performed better than Democrats.…

Societies We Can Imagine

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2009 |

Thomas Sowell pauses for a moment of disbelief at the conversation in America: Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many “czars” appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private…

The Sweet Irony of Bumper Stickers

By Justin Katz | October 19, 2009 |

Driving into Providence for a photo shoot in the rain, yesterday, I parked next to the statehouse. Through the streaks in my windshield, when I climbed back into the van, I spotted this antiquated bumper sticker: The anti-Bush and anti-Republican stickers that also scarred the vehicle confirmed which regime the driver intended, but for a…

Just like a banana republic

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 16, 2009 |

Power Line: Today the Obama administration’s “pay czar” demanded that Ken Lewis, Chairman of the Board of Bank of America, work for free. The “czar,” Kenneth Feinberg, pressured Lewis not only to forgo all remaining compensation for 2009, but to repay the $1 million he has already received this year. Lewis acquiesced, saying that “he…

Krauthammer on the problem with Obama’s foreign policy

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 16, 2009 |

Nobody says it like Charles Krauthammer does in Debacle in Moscow: Obama’s foreign policy is amateurishness, wrapped in naïveté, inside credulity: About the only thing more comical than Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize was the reaction of those who deemed the award “premature,” as if the brilliance of Obama’s foreign policy is so self-evident and…

2009 Nobel Prize in Economics

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 14, 2009 |

Cafe Hayek on More on the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics. More here. Hey, these awardees actually did something to earn their Nobels! LOL. Valuable reading to be found in the links. ADDENDUM #1: David Boaz of the Cato Institute on What is Regulation?

Links to various articles

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 13, 2009 |

Power Line on Taking the National Debt Seriously Stephen Spruiell on Obamacare Dissected: Ten things that probably will be in the health-care bill (but shouldn’t) Kevin Williamson on Real Health-Care Reform: Ten things that ought to be in the health-care bill (but probably won’t) Veronique de Rugy on Elinor Ostrom and the Essence of Economics…

Obama’s Agenda and the Nobel Peace Prize

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 9, 2009 |

Thoughts on the strategic issues and political agenda driven by Obama’s world view: Power Line: Paul Rahe on Obama’s Agenda Charles Krauthammer on Decline is a choice Peter Wehner links the two concepts of Obama’s agenda and his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. More thoughts from Jonathan Tobin, Jennifer Rubin and the NR editors.…

Republican Northeast Conference, Day 2 Afternoon, Video: Jim McLaughlin and Curt Anderson

By Justin Katz | October 8, 2009 |

Continuing with Saturday afternoon’s presentations, pollster and campaign strategist Jim McLaughlin and campaign strategist and media advisor Curt Anderson took the stage. Of particular interest is the exchange about tea party goers between RI candidate for attorney general Erik Wallin (off camera) and Mr. Anderson, which got a little testy (starting around minute seven of…