Last week, comedian Stephen Colbert shocked the media by announcing his intention to explore the possibility of running for President of the United States of South Carolina. Or somesuch like that. Because pollsters need something to fill the endless hours between now and November, Public Policy Polling decided to put the question to a testContinue reading “On Stephen Colbert’s Poll Numbers”
Tag Archives: Republican Party
On Cynicism, Mitch Daniels, and the Thin Republican Field
Mitch Daniels, the former Bush administration Office of Management and Budget director and current governor of Indiana, has decided not to seek the Republican nomination for President in 2012. Many Republicans saw him as a viable candidate in a weak field, yet Daniels has decided to join former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who would himselfContinue reading “On Cynicism, Mitch Daniels, and the Thin Republican Field”
On the Aftermath of an Averted Government Shutdown
When I woke Saturday morning, the crisis I expected on Friday — a government shutdown — had been averted. At the last possible moment, President Obama and Speaker Boehner reached an agreement, the Republicans would give up on defunding Planned Parenthood and the EPA, and in exchange the Democrats would agree to slightly deeper spendingContinue reading “On the Aftermath of an Averted Government Shutdown”
On the Looming Government Shutdown
So, it’s likely to happen. Sometime later today, the United States federal government will shut down. Even though the Democrats and the Republicans are within a few billion dollars of spending on the 2011 budget, the real issue for Republicans isn’t the overall spending but specific funding for Planned Parenthood and environmental regulations. Democrats wantContinue reading “On the Looming Government Shutdown”
On the Future of Health Care Reform
I have been thinking about health care reform and what the future holds if, as the Teahadists want, President Obama’s signature achievement is thrown out in the courts in its entirety. Consider the individual mandate. Proposed in the mid-90s by Republicans as an alternative to Bill Clinton’s plan, the individual mandate is a profoundly conservativeContinue reading “On the Future of Health Care Reform”
On Writing Political Tracts
Recently, I’ve been thinking of writing a book on politics. I go in the bookstores, and I see lots of books in the politics/current affairs section on being a libertarian or being a conservative, and how the future is with the Republican Party and its conservative/libertarianism. I see fewer books from the other side ofContinue reading “On Writing Political Tracts”
On Republican Policies and their Impacts
Like millions of Americans, I paid some attention last night to the State of the Union address and the two Republican responses, one from Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (who, much to my chagrin, did not mention the Fantastic Four at all), the other from Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Abler commentators than I have parsed andContinue reading “On Republican Policies and their Impacts”
On the Repeal of Health Care Reform
Today, the House of Representatives will be voting on the “Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Law Act.” This bill, written by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that was passed by the last Congress, and, despite some requests that, in the wake of the Tuscon shootingsContinue reading “On the Repeal of Health Care Reform”
On the Ratification of an Arms Control Treaty
A long-time friend, though I hesitate to use the world since he went off the deep-end into wingnut batshittery, railed on Facebook today against the ratification by the United States Senate of the New START Treaty, an arms control treaty between the United States and Russia that continues the Reagan-era doctrine of “Trust, but verify”Continue reading “On the Ratification of an Arms Control Treaty”
On Obama’s Tax Cut Capitulation
Yesterday, President Obama and the Congressional Republican leadership agreed on a two year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. It’s not entirely a done deal — Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont, has threatened a filibuster, and the deal still has to be sold to wary Democratic legislators, some of whom were willing to take PaulContinue reading “On Obama’s Tax Cut Capitulation”