National Politics
Noting a New York Post article on Washington’s spending bonanza, Glenn Reynolds writes: And yet members of Congress would be hard-pressed to tell you where the money’s going. This isn’t just undisciplined spending. It’s looting. I’d like to know whether the culprits will face a consequence for the travesty beyond their names’ being footnotes in…
Stated in passing — as an inarguable truism — is the most eerie part of President Obama’s recent healthcare remarks (video, at about minute two): We’re now at a point where most everyone agrees that we need to invest in preventive and wellness programs that can save us money and help lead healthier lives. Put…
This bit of cynicism should be beneath the cool-headed genius whom we elected president: Obama countered yesterday that “if we step back from this challenge at this moment, we are consigning our children to a future of skyrocketing premiums and crushing deficits. If we don’t achieve health-care reform, we cannot control the costs of Medicare…
It really is astonishing. With the economy flailing and the trends in job losses disappointing even the whiz kids of the Obama administration, despite its having whipped out the “stimulus” credit card, with “cap and trade” energy policy seeking to raise the cost of doing business (and of simply living), the Democrats are hitting the…
Ben Stein presents an excellent image: True, by many metrics, the economy has stopped falling drastically, but we are still in a painful recession, large by postwar standards. The bank crises seem to have abated for now and Wall Street is paying itself fantastically well again, thank heavens, after being rescued with taxpayer money. But…
Put aside that it was pure fundraising pabulum; it’s a pity that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi probably doesn’t know just how right she was: “When I return to Washington, D.C.,” Pelosi said, “I’ll tell them that I’ve been to Rhode Island and I’ve seen the future.” What she was talking about hardly matters.…
David Kahane lets us in on a little secret: I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but maybe now you’re beginning to understand the high-stakes game we’re playing here. This ain’t John McCain’s logrolling senatorial club any more. This is a deadly serious attempt to realize the vision of the 1960s and to fundamentally…
It’s encouraging to see that figures most often noted for their irascibility against right-leaning politicians can find fault with the other side: Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the…
In a hearing room, Tuesday, on Capitol Hill. Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was testifying on the Louisiana coastal restoration process in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He began to answer one of Boxer’s questions with “ma’am” when Boxer immediately cut him off. “You know, do me a favor,”…
Via ProJo: In a sharp reversal from last year, the House has voted down a proposal aimed at changing the way that the president and vice president of the United States are elected. On Thursday afternoon, lawmakers defeated a measure that would have allowed Rhode Island to join in a compact with other states that…