TIME’s legal columnist Adam Cohen writes this week that voters’ decision to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices whose ruling paved the way for gay marriage in the state is a cautionary tale against electoral tests for judicial appointee: The Iowa vote is just the latest evidence that elections are a terrible way of choosing [...]
Paul Krugman really hates the deficit commission’s report working proposals: If you’re sincerely worried about the US fiscal future — and there’s good reason to be — you don’t propose a plan that involves large cuts in income taxes. Even if those cuts are offset by supposed elimination of tax breaks elsewhere, balancing the budget [...]
In Washington, when problems can’t be solved they are given to bipartisan blue-ribbon panels. Then a report is produced that is long, complicated and boring. And the problems generally remain. Today, the co-chairs of the bipartisan deficit commission put forward a draft proposal with a thesis that no one will like: “The Solution Is Painful.” [...]
An early proposal from President Obama’s deficit commission appears to have been leaked today. The commission was due to release recommendations in December and its findings and proposals were much anticipated. It’s unclear if the “draft” unveiled today will mirror final recommendations from the commission, but at the very least, what came out today is [...]
I wrote yesterday about the collapse of all institutions of authority in America, especially the press. Well, here is another example of why. All day yesterday, cable news viewers–and online clickers–were treated to reports like the one above. Those who tuned into Glenn Beck’s ruminations about “puppetmaster” George Soros last night got treated to a [...]
When the president is away, White House aides do not get to play—especially after President Obama took a “shellacking” by the American people. And so as President Obama tours Asia—repeating parts of a post-drubbing tour that Bill Clinton embarked on in 1994–they have been plotting various scenarios for the great showdown that approaches next week: [...]
Yes, Democrats beat back enough Republicans to maintain official control of the U.S. Senate. But Gerry Seib notes that if you take a closer look at who’s left in the chamber and what their incentives will be, Democrats hardly look to be in the driver’s seat: Among the Senate Democrats, 23 will face re-election in [...]
“I don’t think it’s in our society’s best interest to expend energy in repealing the law.” —David Cordani, the CEO of Cigna, the fifth largest health insurance company in the U.S., commenting on Republican pledges to repeal the Affordable Care Act Of course, health insurance companies got something very important out of health care reform: [...]
