National Politics

Money Well Spent?

By Marc Comtois | October 23, 2008 |

$605 million and $350 million. That’s how much Barack Obama and John McCain, respectively, have raised in this year’s presidential run. Almost $1 Billion. Of that, Obama has raised slightly more than $543 million from individual donors while McCain has raised a little over $151 million. Almost $700 million sent from individual Americans to two…

Talking Over the Outro

By Justin Katz | October 9, 2008 |

Given so much negativity floating around, I was happy to offer some long-view optimism last night on the Matt Allen Show on 630AM/99.7FM WPRO. Boring debates, inept candidates, and the end of the world are certainly worthy justification for talking over the outro as the academy seeks to usher one off the stage. Stream by…

Popping My Head Up

By Marc Comtois | October 8, 2008 |

For those wondering, yes, I’m still around, but priorities are elsewhere at the moment (nothing wrong, just a temporary shift in priorities). I’m keeping up with the news, if not my commentary (no great loss, that, I hear some saying). FWIW, some scattered thoughts…. I watched the first 15 minutes of last night’s debate and…

Group Liveblog: McCain v. Obama Debate II

By Engaged Citizen | October 7, 2008 |

Given the mildly confusing results of our improvised group liveblogging of the vice presidential debate, we thought to try something a bit different this time around: We’re going to liveblog in the comments to this post, which has the added benefit of allowing you to participate. Please note, though, that we’ll likely be more particular…

A Timely Question

By Justin Katz | October 6, 2008 |

With the economic downturn still in the news while a fresh wave of “saying he’s inevitable makes it true” passes through the opinion world, one question comes to mind: How does a family prepare for a Great Depression? Keeping in mind that I’m an optimist on religious grounds, that particular trajectory carries fair odds with…

Partisan Spin, or Something Else?

By Justin Katz | October 6, 2008 |

Does Froma Harrop even try to understand the other side? A couple of columns ago, she laid the entire economic crisis at the feet of Phil Gramm, and now, she dismisses a contrary explanation by reducing it to one component: ACCOMPLISHED GOOGLERS can probably find the original talking points off which dozens of conservatives have…

Back with a Bullet

By Justin Katz | October 5, 2008 |

It seemed as if Mark Steyn took a hiatus from regular punditry, and it’s good to have him back: By contrast, Senator Biden was glib and fluent and in command of the facts — if by “in command of the facts” you mean “talks complete blithering balderdash and hogwash.” He flatly declared that Obama never…

Well, take your pick

By Donald B. Hawthorne | October 4, 2008 |

Gotta love that Harry Reid. And, if Obama wins, the Dem majorities in the Congress will allow him, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi to do most anything they want in DC. Lovely. Harry Reid: reckless and ignorant OR an extreme partisan. Take your pick.

Good to Be Leader (Bad to Be Beholden)

By Justin Katz | September 30, 2008 |

Well, now: Pelosi and her aides have made it clear they were not going to “whip” or twist the arms of members who did not want to vote, but they also made no effort to rally any support for a bill they attempted to hijack over the weekend. Further, according to House Oversight Committee staff,…

Re: A Study in Contrasting Responses

By Donald B. Hawthorne | September 7, 2008 |

UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 8 & 9 Incentives drive human behavior but, especially in government where there are no market forces, rarely does anybody pay attention to the impact of the incentives created by laws, regulations or government actions. Which is why government actions will always create “unintended” consequences and less than efficient solutions. There is…