Squeezing Ordinary Californians and New Yorkers

Following World War II, the United States produced something the world had never seen: a mass middle class. For the first time, a majority of a major nation’s people had real money left over after paying for basic food and shelter. New York and California served...
Invertebrate President

Invertebrate President

Well, the Democrats are finally showing some fight. They’re fighting with each other, but it’s a start. The fading Democratic majority in the House has balked at accepting President Barack Obama’s compromise with Republicans on the Bush tax cuts,...

Audio-Visual Accountability

Political pundits moan that video cameras on the campaign trail stifle candidates from saying much of anything, for fear a gaffe will ruin their careers. That happened to George Allen. At a campaign stop in 2006, the former Senator (R-VA) was caught on tape repeatedly...
GOP Magic Act

GOP Magic Act

Republicans now find themselves in the dilemma of a car-chasing dog that finally catches one. What does he do with it? The rhetoric of the “Republican revolution” that swept the party to victory in the recent elections is long on generalities–smaller...

Speaker Bachmann?

The crush of coverage regarding all the House, Senate, and gubernatorial races (see below) is burying several huge political stories. Such as: Speaker Bachmann? “There is a ‘draft Michele Bachmann’ effort afoot among House conservatives (and...