It’s always a bad sign when a candidate for President of the United States makes the case that he is actually doing worse in the polls than he is. Here is Tim Pawlenty on Fox News Sunday: CHRIS WALLACE: You, as we just said, are third in the polls now, somewhat distant, but you are [...]
On July 10, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner left little doubt that the rumors of his impending departure were not without basis. Asked on NBC’s Meet The Press if he would stay on with the administration until the end of Obama’s first term, Geithner replied, “For the foreseeable future.” Then he added cryptically, “Well, foreseeable is, [...]
Let us pause a moment to admire the collective wisdom of the intertubes, which has come up with the pitch-perfect reaction to the debt-limit compromise. A YouTube slow-clap campaign.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is not just any federalist. He is the grand poobah of federalists, an alpha-dog federalist, a federalist other federalists dare not challenge. His call for state sovereignty and a limited federal encroachment on “liberty” has been a central plank of his political rise. There is an entire section on his official [...]
Here is House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in an interview today with the Wall Street Journal: People are tired of the pain. They want to be given some hope. I think that sensible prudent fiscal management will be a foundation for that. We need to lay out a vision for how America can lead [...]
So we already know what the debt-limit debate did for leaders in Washington: nothing pretty. By and large, the American people were turned off by both parties, infuriated that political squabbling might do measurable damage to the nation’s bottom line. Some politicians, of course, lost more than others. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell proved, once [...]
Now that a compromise has been reached to raise the debt limit, there is a good chance that the political climate in Washington is going to get worse. And the reason can be found on Page 49 of the bill that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday: “On January 2, 2013, for fiscal year [...]
Pew came out with a new poll on Monday confirming what we all already knew: The American people think the last several weeks in Washington have been a disgrace. In fact, the words most often volunteered to the pollsters were “ridiculous,” “disgusting,” and “stupid.” The response was negative from 75% of Republicans, 72% of Democrats [...]
In the final debt limit compromise, Republicans and Democrats agreed to swap out the hostages. Gone is the threat of defaulting on U.S. bonds by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. In its place: Medicare providers and defense contractors. If Democrats and Republicans do not agree to another $1.5 trillion in cuts later this year, [...]
Exit polls from last November’s midterms left little ambiguity about the issue that motivated most voters: 63% listed “the economy” as the most important issue. When asked the top priority for Congress in 2011, only 40% said “reducing the budget deficit,” while 55% said “cutting taxes” or “spending money to create jobs”–two approaches that almost [...]
