National Politics

Breaking Campaign News at the Katz Household

By Justin Katz | February 13, 2008 |

John McCain just became the first candidate of the season to turn me off with an automated political telemarketing call just as we were succeeding in getting all the children to bed. Couldn’t McCain-Feingold at least have done the good deed of preventing that?

What Harm Could Four Years Do?

By Justin Katz | February 8, 2008 |

Cliff May has a point: This year’s election will be unusually consequential. In 2006, Democrats regained control of both houses of Congress. Democrats also now hold a majority of governors’ mansions and state legislatures. The left long has been regnant on America’s campuses, in the mainstream news media, in the entertainment industry, and in the…

Whitehouse’s Actions Commensurate with Danger

By Justin Katz | January 30, 2008 |

RI Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D, Ocean Drive) has personal experience with the dangers of global warming: Scientists say the world needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. Repeating the mantra of frustrated environmental advocates across the world, Whitehouse told a supportive audience that…

So, Tu?

By Justin Katz | January 29, 2008 |

I didn’t catch the State of the Union last night, but I’ve explained, before, that I have a hard time getting riled up for state of the x speeches. I will say that I continue to be struck by the irrational hatred of George Bush on the Left. Much of the fire, it seems to…

Stimulus Package

By Marc Comtois | January 24, 2008 |

The stimulus package: – Individuals must earn at least $3,000 to get a $300 rebate – 117 million people will get rebates, 35 million of whom don’t pay taxes – Higher-income individuals would receive up to $600 – Couples could receive $1,200 plus $300 per child – Rebates would be limited to individuals earning less…

Let’s Not Spin the Spin, Mr. Donnis

By Justin Katz | January 21, 2008 |

Over on Not for Nothing, Ian Donnis chortles about Hillary: The Movie, noting: Among the things we learn from Ann Coulter and a host of other putative experts is that Hillary is “worse than Nixon.” OK! I’m disinclined to rush to the movie’s defense as anything other than a political production, but this particular selectivity…

Nothing to Hope for…

By Justin Katz | January 15, 2008 |

Mark Steyn’s Sunday NRO column is a bit uneven, but much can be forgiven of the man who turns such masterful phrases as this: Terrific. In a Huckabee administration, nothing is certain but hope and taxes. Did he poll-test the line? Was it originally “What I didn’t raise was tobacco”? Or did he misread the…

Chris Mathews Thinks New England Democrats are Racists

By Marc Comtois | January 10, 2008 |

We close-minded, xenophobic, mouth-breathing christianists are used to being called racists. I wonder how our fellow New Englanders of the “progressive” variety feel when the talking heads at MSNBC lump them in with us simply because they voted for Hillary over Obama in New Hampshire? (via Michael Graham) JOE SCARBOROUGH: What the hell happened in…

Calling All Armchair QBs – New Hampshire

By Marc Comtois | January 9, 2008 |

New Hampshire voters just did what they do best–go against the Conventional Wisdom (or the establishment, in the case of McCain). All sorts of theories are out there about how the media misread the Democratic race. One interesting theory is that perhaps McCain pulled independents away from Obama because–to the NH independent voter–it looked like…

Emotional Populism

By Marc Comtois | January 7, 2008 |

Iowa rewards populists. That’s how Mike Huckabee and John Edwards and, to a certain extent, Barack Obama did so well last week. According to George Will, Huckabee and Edwards are cut from the same cloth (more on Obama in a bit) and their class-warfare dependent messages are flawed: [Huckabee] and John Edwards, flaunting their histrionic…