In the ArenaViewpoint
Daily Sanity Watch: Paul Ryan seems very reasonable on TV except for one thing–the President has put $1.5 billion in budget cuts on the table (and more, for a grand deal that includes entitlements). Ryan has put zero revenue increases on the table. Once again, that number is…0. So who’s unwilling to compromise?
Partisan hack watch: …
Joe's Road Trip 2011Joe's Road Trip
As I was saying…Washington is just too ugly for words. The rest of the world isn’t much of a bargain, either. I’m feeling the need to get outta here, hit the road, talk to actual people. And so–you knew it was …
In the ArenaViewpoint
David Rogers over at Politico, who has been doing this–extremely well–for about as long as I have, has word that the President of the United States monstered down on Representative Eric Cantor in Wednesday’s deficit ceiling squabble. This is so refreshing on so many levels. Cantor has been using this crisis to undermine his leader John …
In the ArenaEducation
I’ve received quite a few responses to last week’s print column about Head Start. In the next print edition, you’ll see responses from HHS Secretary Katherine Sibelius and others defending the program–even though none dispute the results of the HHS study, which shows it doesn’t work. Some individuals vehemently defend the Head Start …
In the ArenaAfghanistan
Ahmed Rashid, as usual, provides the best and most personal assessment of Ahmed Wali Karzai’s death.
In the ArenaViewpoint
Mitch McConnell proposes simply raising the debt ceiling. This is supposed to be some sort of brilliant political move. Obama will be blamed for the ever-increasing debt ceiling. The Republicans will be able to hammer him with it …
In the ArenaViewpoint
Pete Wehner simply can’t get over the notion that the President of the United States is a narcissistic messianist. The latest evidence: Obama’s call, on Monday, for both Republicans and Democrats to make concessions in order to reach a budget deal that begins to solve some of our long-term debt problems. Outrageous, huh?
In the ArenaAfghanistan
This is huge news, but I’m not sure what it means. Ahmed Wali Karzai was the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan. He was President Karzai’s half-brother. He was most likely a major drug lord; he was definitely on the payroll of the CIA. He was therefore an iconic figure: the embodiment of everything that has made Afghanistan a …
In the ArenaViewpoint
I just got off the phone with Senator John Kerry, who told me more about his Infrastructure Bank proposal. It sounds pretty good to me. The basic bottom line is this: a $10 billion federal contribution will leverage about $640 billion in private investments…money from entities as diverse as union pension funds to foreign sovereign …
In the ArenaMiscellany
I think a certain amount of reporter-source tension is a good thing, but this may be taking it too far.
In the ArenaViewpoint
The President was masterful, and prohibitively Cheshire catty, in his debt-ceiling press conference Monday morning. He was in the position he likes best: way above both parties, asking sacrifices from all, the grownup in a roomful of Congressional infants. He almost seemed to be enjoying himself, which is nice–he deserves a little …
In the ArenaViewpoint
Alright, back to work after a week at the beach…Hmm…Errr…Do I really have to? I mean, there are times–almost always, in fact–when work is the most fun I have in life. I’ve had the privilege of a front row ticket for the world’s best ongoing drama, the saga of the United States at its apogee. Now, though, I am just not looking …
In the ArenaImmigration
The New York Times reports–again, but more prominently–that illegal immigration from Mexico has fallen off a cliff. The annual rate has dropped from 500,000 per year to less than 100,000 last year. This is yet another triumph, sort of, that the Obama Administration has refused to tout. (One wonders if the reasons are political: Latino …
