Is the Tea Party Pooped? It Must Keep Making Its Case By Michael Barone
Has the wind gone out of the sails of the smaller government movement? Is the tea party movement going through a hangover?
Political Commentary
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March 31, 2011
March 31, 2011
Foggy Thinking in the Sunshine State By Froma Harrop
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- You'd think that a state knocked cold by the real-estate meltdown would invest in a future not based on housing bubbles. And that if the feds dangled a bag of money to help it address a serious economic drag -- a gridlocked highway system that turns off tourists, retirees and business travelers -- you'd think the state would grab it.
March 31, 2011
Full-Throttle Drill, Drill, Drill By Lawrence Kudlow
If you buy into the energy speech President Obama delivered on Wednesday, it sure sounds like we're headed for drill, drill, drill. It would be a total reversal of policy. I guess $100-plus oil and near $4 gas at the pump -- along with a consumer economic-political revolt -- will do that to you.
March 30, 2011
A Woman of Valor By Susan Estrich
"We have only just begun," Geraldine Ferraro wrote in inscribing a photograph to me after the 1984 campaign. I keep it above my desk, to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day, that it takes courage and perseverance when you're trying to change the world.
March 30, 2011
If It Is Tuesday, It Must Be Syria By Tony Blankley
In 1427, a ship captain sailing for his Portuguese Prince, Henry the Navigator, discovered the Azores Islands. If the question of the significance of this event had been posed, at the time, to Sultan Murad Khan (the leader of the Ottoman Empire), or to Itzcoatl and Nezahualcoyotl (the co-leaders of the Aztecs) or to Rao Kanha (one of the princes of Jodhpur in India), it is unlikely that any of them would have responded that it is an early indication of a historic explosion of cultural energy in Europe that will lead to European exploration and conquest of most of the known world, and to a renaissance of European thought that will give rise to scientific, industrial and scholarly dominance of the planet by European culture for at least half a millennium.
March 29, 2011
Let Voters Decide on Pensions, Spending By Debra J. Saunders
In Sacramento, the knee-jerk response to any crisis is to blame the Republicans. But if Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders can't cut a deal to win the two GOP votes in the Assembly and two in the Senate needed to qualify Brown's tax-increase extension for the June ballot, Democrats must take their share of responsibility for fudging a deal.
March 29, 2011
When Government Was a Bear By Froma Harrop
Are conservatives right that our government has become overbearing? Is it true that the rights of the individual, enshrined at the dawn of the Republic and cried over by Glenn Beck, are being smashed by the modern state?
March 28, 2011
The Eyes of Texas Are Sparkling in the 2010 Census By Michael Barone
The Census Bureau last week released county and city populations for the last of the 50 states from the 2010 Census last week, ahead of schedule. Behind the columns of numbers are many vivid stories of how our nation has been changing -- and some lessons for public policy, as well.
March 27, 2011
Gadhafi -- the Mad Dog Who Trumped the World By Debra J. Saunders
Every American should look at Libya through the prism of the 1988 Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing that left 270 people dead. Moammar Gadhafi -- the man whom Ronald Reagan called the mad dog of the Middle East -- ordered an attack that killed mostly American civilians in a bombing over British soil. Yet rather than be beaten by more powerful nations, he lived to crow about it.
March 25, 2011
Up in Smoke By Susan Estrich
I quit smoking 25 years ago. Before that, I had tried eight times, and each time I failed.
March 25, 2011
Paradox and Principle in the New Mideast By Joe Conason
Deciding whether to intervene in Libya, the United States and its allies confronted a terrible situation: the immediate imperative -- to prevent a promised massacre by the country's dictator, versus the many long-term reasons to stay away, from the uncertainty of success to the very question of what success would mean. On balance, we could not stand by and allow Moammar Gadhafi to carry out his grotesque threat.
March 25, 2011
Obama On Oil: More Misleading Rhetoric By Howard Rich
President Barack Obama says that Americans are “tired of talk” when it comes to rising gas prices. Unfortunately his administration continues to say one thing and do another on this critical economic front – ignoring opportunities to increase our oil supply while at the same time taking credit for production gains that he is actively seeking to dismantle.
March 24, 2011
Why Sacramento Can't Get Cellphones Out of Prison By Debra J Saunders
California prisons confiscated more than 10,000 cellphones last year. This year, officials at Corcoran State Prison found a cellphone with a camera in possession of convicted serial killer Charles Manson. It was the second phone found on Manson in two years.
March 24, 2011
The Damning Contradictions of Obama's Attack on Libya By Michael Barone
Let's imagine that all goes well in Libya. The rebels, protected by air strikes, recapture lost territory and sweep into Tripoli. Moammar Gadhafi and his sons one way or the other disappear.
March 24, 2011
Praise for (Some) Tea Partiers By Froma Harrop
When it comes to my sanity, the tea party often taketh away. I go nuts when they throw out huge sums to cut from budgets without getting into details.
March 23, 2011
"Let Me Just Be Very Unambiguous About This" By Tony Blankley
Amid all the confusion of our new little war in Libya, one thing is clear: Notwithstanding the bravery and professionalism of our troops, in naming it Operation Odyssey Dawn, the Pentagon has invoked a haunting specter. The war's namesake -- Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey" -- is the tale of the hero, Odysseus, taking 10 years to get home from the Trojan War -- which itself took 10 years to fight.
March 23, 2011
Q1 Slowdown: Caveat Emptor By Lawrence Kudlow
Caveat emptor: The first-quarter economy is slowing, and inflation is rising. A month ago, economists were optimistic about the potential for 4 percent growth. Now they are marking down their estimates toward 2.5 percent. Behind this, consumer expectations are falling, while inflation fears are going up.
March 22, 2011
Dud Deals in California By Debra J. Saunders
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Perhaps one of the most dangerous sentences in the English language is: "It can't get any worse."
March 22, 2011
The Madness of Slamming Midnight Basketball By Froma Harrop
Eighteen years ago, "midnight basketball" was the big har-har-har on the conservative talk circuit. It was a federal program that sought to coax young men off the late-night mean city streets and onto supervised basketball courts.
