01/14/19 Filed in:
Political SystemThis should be an interesting year, judging from the predictions of five astute pundits, but political consensus doesn’t seem to be on the menu. Read More...Tags: Doris Day, Karl Rove, Jared Bernstein, Kurt Schlichter, Veronique de Rugy, Justin Wallin, Mueller report, Trump Tower meeting, impeachment , US economy, Democratic presidental candidates, Joe Biden , Federal Reserve, trade war with China, Trump fatigue, Afghanistan, Michael Cohen, monster tech, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Kamala Harris, Chief Justice John Roberts, Amy Barrett, fiscal problem, crony programs, help the dreamers, President Donald Trump, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tom Steyer, Michael Bloomberg
12/24/18 Filed in:
Political System | EssaysThere are heroes left in America, not necessarily in the top jobs, and this end-of-the-year essay celebrates the contributions some of them have made in the current political environment. Read More...Tags: Ship of Fools, Tucker Carlson, border wall funding, President Donald Trump, partial government shutdown, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Rep. Jim Jordan, Rep. Mark Meadows, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, First Step Act, farm bill, food stamps, Jared Kushner, federal prison reform, A.K.Van Jones, Sen. Mike Lee, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Turkish President Erdogan, troop withdrawal from Syria, troop reduction in Afghanistan
12/17/18 Filed in:
Political System SAFE proposed four relatively modest goals for the closing weeks of the 115th Congress; guess how many of them will be achieved this year. Read More...Tags: unified Republican government, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump, repeal and replace GovCare, Sen. John McCain, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Bipartisan Budget Act, Joint Select Committe re budget process, debt limit, Sen. David Perdue, farm bill, governmment shutdown, border wall funding, Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, NAFTA, USMCA, Sen. Pat Toomey, Thomas Donohue, Robert Mueller, James Comey, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Devin Nunes, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Trey Gowdy
12/10/18 Filed in:
Political SystemElections are about power, and a “win at all costs” mindset seems increasingly common. If this trend is not reversed, we may have reason to regret it. Read More...Tags: voter fraud, voter turnout, updating voter rolls, voter suppression, russian election, Vladimir Putin, early voting, all-mail voting, same day voting, absentee ballots, President Donald Trump, Chris Wallace, peaceful transition of power, Presidential Advisory Commission on Electoral INtegrity, Vice President Mike Pence, Kris Kobach, Matt Dunlap, Hans Spakovsky, ballot harvesting, Jerry Brown, sole loser syndrome, Stacey Abrams, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Hillary Clinton
12/03/18 Filed in:
EnergyDid Trump administration try to “bury” official report about adverse consequences of manmade global warming by releasing it on the day after Thanksgiving? Not likely! Read More...Tags: Fourth National Climate Assessment, Colin O'Mara, Bloom Energy, IPCC, Paris climae pact, Hearland Institute, EPA, CO2 ndangerment fiinding, William Happer, Patrick Michaels, NIPCC, man-made global warming theory, Heartland Institute, Jay Lehr, President Donald Trump, solar minima, Labrador current, Chicago snowstorm, global warming adaptation, carbon emissions reduction, global cooling, Camp Fire, Little Hoover Commission, forest management practdices, co-benefits, cost/benefit analysis, electric vehicle tax credit, Andrew Light, World Resources Institute, Andrew Wheeler, Al Gore, President Barack Obama
11/26/18 Filed in:
Budget Bipartisan reform of the "broken" congressional budget system sounded like a nice idea, but the JSC proposals wouldn't deliver any real benefits. Better to leave things as they are. Read More...Tags: Bipartisan Budget Act, Joint Select Committe re budget process, Joint Select Committe on Deficit Reduction, Tom Schatz, Michael Tanner, Mick Mulvaney, House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Speaker John Boehner, Amakudari, Rep. Steve Womack, groupthink, Steven Covey, David Obey, Budget Contol Act, Congressional Budget Office, continuing resolutions, biennial budgeting, spending caps, appropriation committees, Senate filibuster rule, reconciliation process, debt limit