Subscribe to RSS
Subscribe by Email
The first thing I thought about Detroit is that the state’s appointment of a receiver demonstrated the Republican governor’s profound indifference to the democratic process of a Democratic city, not to mention a white governor’s profound indifference to a black city. This may be true, but it’s also true that Detroit’s finances are such a [...]
Archive for the ‘Republican Party’ Category
April 1st, 2013
Via Jared Bernstein, we learn about how the sequester has made us a stronger country: At least two Indiana Head Start programs have resorted to a random drawing to determine which three-dozen preschool students will be removed from the education program for low-income families, a move officials said was necessary to limit the impact of [...]
January 9th, 2013
Category: 2013 Democratic Agenda, Debt ceiling, Journalism (Online and Otherwise), Policy Analysis, Republican Party, Uncategorized
Although I sometimes disagree with Jonathan Chait (as in this RBC post), I’ve been a big fan since his days at The New Republic. He now writes for New York Magazine, which published his remarkably prescient mid-October essay about the fiscal cliff. Directly or indirectly, that essay shaped much of the subsequent public debate on [...]
November 29th, 2012
Category: 2013 Democratic Agenda, Health Care, Macroeconomic Policy, Medicaid, Republican Party, Watching Conservatives
Kevin Drum notes that Republicans insist on something called “entitlement reform,” but have no actual ideas about what this reform might mean (aside from getting rid of Medicare). So now they are insisting that President Obama make the first offer, which is a laughable position. The also insist on “putting Obamacare on the table”, which [...]
November 20th, 2012
At this writing, Middle East watchers are, well, watching to see if Israel and Hamas can reach a cease-fire. Signs are good, but pessimists are rarely disproved in the Middle East. There is little doubt that Jerusalem would like a genuine cease-fire. Even though the Israeli public strongly supports Operation Pillar of Defense, it is [...]
November 18th, 2012
Category: Foreign Policy, Israel, Permanent campaign, Republican Party, Uncategorized, Watching Conservatives
For the last 20 years, the Right has worked hard to convert support for Israel from an area of bipartisan consensus into a topic for Republicans to beat Democrats with. Even Washington’s most tepid disagreement with the Israeli government will be lept upon by right-wingers as an indication that the US is selling out the Jewish [...]
November 15th, 2012
At least so far. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has been making a lot of loud noises lately, theoretically criticizing GOP plutocracy. A few days ago, he supposedly advanced a new conservative concern for the not-1% percent: “We’ve got to make sure that we are not the party of big business, big banks, big Wall Street bailouts, [...]
November 14th, 2012
Category: 2013 Democratic Agenda, John McCain, Permanent campaign, Republican Party, Watching Conservatives
Filegate. Travelgate. Whitewater. Birtherism. Solyndra. Fast and Furious. Notice a pattern? When there is a Democratic President, Republicans are quick are quick to make wild accusations of wrongdoing that turn out to be a huge nothingburger. (Oh yes, they did impeach a President for having sex with an intern. Saving the Republic, that.). Now we [...]