Joe Klein says this about healthcare, “there are enormous economic inefficiencies in the current system. It hurts the international competitiveness of American companies. It causes people to stay in jobs they don’t like; it makes it less attractive for them to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs.” I agree 100 percent. But let’s not [...]

In which the pros and cons of the blogosphere are discussed.

If all the other front-runners decide to skip Ames and leave the dog-and-pony show to Romney, it’ll be interesting to see how the campaign spins whatever results come of it. They’ll likely win, but it could be close to meaningless for them — and could give those who do even marginally well despite not participating [...]

We are safer…when it comes to homeland security, which is all she was saying in the debate on Sunday night. She’s had plenty to say–and very well-informed stuff at that–about the depredations of the Bush Administration’s so-called War on Terror overseas. In fact, Giuliani pretty much made Clinton’s point in the Republican debate last night [...]

Sorry to fall down on my on self-appointed role of Dick disputant, but I’ve been, uh, working… Past deadline now, and I want to respond to our guest’s response to the Republican debate. First, it was interesting to see Giuliani pick up on Armey’s any-universal-health-insurance is socialism riff. Question: Does that include Mitt Romney’s individual [...]

Rudy’s announced he’s skipping the Ames Straw Poll; this isn’t super shocking — the campaign was dropping hints about the possibility months ago. Slightly more surprising is his decision to “remain competitive” there nonetheless, i.e., to go ahead in participate in the caucuses — should he win in January, he’d be the first candidate in [...]