Republicans' Anti-Obamacare 2014 Strategy
[ Posted Wednesday, July 17th, 2013 – 16:40 UTC ]
But what if it works reasonably well? What if (gasp!) people actually like it?
Archive of Articles for July, 2013
The Reid-McCain Deal
[ Posted Tuesday, July 16th, 2013 – 17:29 UTC ]
Harry Reid and John McCain apparently just cut a deal which will avoid the "nuclear" or "constitutional" option of changing the Senate's rule that allows filibustering presidential (non-judicial) appointees. Yesterday I wrote about the meeting which produced this deal, so I thought it was worth writing a followup article now that a deal has been reached.
Reid's Nuclear Disarmament Meeting
[ Posted Monday, July 15th, 2013 – 16:33 UTC ]
An extraordinary meeting is taking place today, which all 100 senators have been invited to attend. This should really not be an extraordinary thing -- you'd think that all senators meeting together would just be an actual floor session in the Senate -- but it is because it is actually a political meeting, with the doors closed. The senators aren't meeting to pass legislation, they're meeting to have a political showdown of sorts (hence the closed doors). Normally, each party's caucus meets separately behind closed doors to hash out party strategy, but what's extraordinary about today's confab is that both parties are meeting at once.
Friday Talking Points [264] -- Drop The Nuke, Harry!
[ Posted Friday, July 12th, 2013 – 17:19 UTC ]
OK, we've got somewhat of a backlog to take care of here, due to summertime laziness striking early this year. So we're just going to plow through the swirling storm of craziness as fast as possible. Insert your own "Sharknado" joke, if you feel so inclined.
Regular Order From Beginning To End
[ Posted Thursday, July 11th, 2013 – 16:32 UTC ]
Earlier this year, after the new Congress was seated, there was a rhetorical push from Republicans lauding the sanctity of "regular order" for Congress to follow. The term was used constantly, although few outside the Beltway knew what they were talking about.
Some Perspective On Egypt
[ Posted Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 – 16:48 UTC ]
The recent developments in Egypt have caused an interesting reaction from American political commenters, because real-world events have an annoying way of not fitting neatly into our prepackaged political pigeonholes. The basic questions (such as: "Is the overthrow of Morsi a good thing or a bad thing?") have complex answers, because while many argue that Morsi was bad for Egypt, the way he was removed from office is certainly nothing to celebrate. The United States government can't use the word "coup" because that would mean we'd have to cut off aid, but outside the world of diplomatic fictions, that's exactly what happened: a military coup d'état. As coups go it was a fairly restrained one, but celebrating a populist/military overthrow of a democratically-elected leader is an unusual stance for Americans to take, for obvious reasons. Even if we do like the new guy better than the old guy.
From The Archives -- Good News On The Deficit
[ Posted Tuesday, July 9th, 2013 – 16:26 UTC ]
That's pretty stunning, isn't it? In 2013, the deficit will be less than half what it was when Barack Obama took office. In 2014, it will be approximately one-fourth the size of the 2009 deficit. Whether in absolute terms or in proportion, this is likely to be the best deficit-reducing record in all of American history, in fact.
Boehner's Immigration Dilemma
[ Posted Monday, July 8th, 2013 – 16:35 UTC ]
Speaker of the House John Boehner faces a dilemma on how to proceed on immigration policy, and no matter what course of action he chooses, he is all but certain to disappoint a large part of his own party. Although the immigration issue is new, the dilemma is not. In fact, it's the same dilemma Boehner has faced on multiple issues ever since he picked up the speaker's gavel: do what the Tea Party wing of the Republicans wants, or do what the Republican Party establishment wants. While this division has shown up repeatedly, it seems to be much more stark on the question of immigration -- which doesn't exactly bode well for Boehner.
Congress Still Not Working
[ Posted Friday, July 5th, 2013 – 17:47 UTC ]
Maybe it's just envy. I'll fully admit it, up front. After all, who wouldn't want a job where you get one-third of the time you're supposed to be working as free vacation days? Nice work, if you can find it. So maybe there's a tinge of envy which propels me, on a semi-annual basis, to essentially air the same complaint. But the regularity of these rants is also due to the fact that not much changes in Washington, ever, and one of the reasons that Congress just doesn't work these days is that Congress just doesn't work all that much.
From The Archives -- Celebrate The 4th -- Pursue Some Happiness!
[ Posted Thursday, July 4th, 2013 – 09:00 UTC ]
That line will be widely quoted across this land today, in parks and bandstands, on radio and in newsprint, from California to the New York islands, in countless big-city parades and from a myriad of small-town gazebos.