Back in 2002, Vice President Cheney famously told Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter." Now just two months after promising to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term, self-described Reagan foot soldier John McCain has decided he agrees. Before abandoning his balanced budget pledge during his Pittburgh […]

Just one day before lambasting Barack Obama over his recent comments about religion, John McCain was a no-show at Sunday's CNN Compassion Forum on faith. That's because when it comes to discussing his own religious beliefs, the Republican presidential nominee believes that silence is golden. And judging by the fawning stories from the Washington Times, […]

As ABC News helpfully reminds us, April 15th is John McCain Tax Flip-Flop Day. McCain, as you'll recall, twice voted against President Bush's budget-busting tax cuts for the richest Americans who need them least. But having undergone a supply-side conversion on the road to the White House, John McCain now wants to make them permanent. […]

Addressing the annual meeting of the Associated Press, John McCain stayed true to form in his ongoing courtship of the media. Pandering to what is in essence his base, McCain proclaimed his support for a proposed federal press shield law. Then in typical fashion, McCain joined President Bush in decrying the use of confidential sources […]

In advance of his first papal visit to the United States this week, Time this morning examines the clergy sex abuse challenge Pope Benedict will face here. But missing altogether from the analysis of that continuing crisis in the American Catholic Church is any discussion of then Cardinal Ratzinger's essential role in perpetuating it. Time […]

In presidential politics, when the going gets tough, the wannabe tough go for their guns. So almost exactly a year after failed Republican White House contender Mitt Romney comically declared himself a "hunter pretty much all my life," Hillary Clinton today bragged about her gunslinging past. Hoping to capitalize on Barack Obama's gaffe about "bitter" […]

Over the past several days, a flurry of stories has raised red flags about the prospects for state-based health care mandates. On Saturday, the AP reported that soaring costs are buffeting the pioneering insurance mandate program in Massachusetts. Just days earlier, the New York Times described a Massachusetts primary care system now swamped with new […]

On several occasions, I've suggested that the Obama-Clinton slugfest bears an uncanny resemblance to the 1984 Democratic race between Walter Mondale and Gary Hart. Now just two weeks out from what could be his make-or-break moment in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama may be about to relive Gary Hart's '84 New Jersey nightmare. Alas, the God and […]

Three new surveys released today document the steep descent of President Bush, and with him, the American economy. While Bush's approval rating reached a new low of 28% in the AP poll, three quarters of economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal believe that the United States is in a recession that has yet to […]

In order to secure the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain has reversed course on almost every issue he once held near and dear. Now with the general election contest underway, McCain is starting his predictable walk-back from the hard right abyss. Just days after proclaiming his adamant opposition to federal intervention in the housing market […]