With an estimated 2 million Americans having signed up for private health insurance plans on the federal and state exchanges, the Affordable Care Act is now making real progress towards the goal of 7 million new enrollees by the end of 2014. But as the Washington Post cautions, Obamacare's first real test comes on January […]

For years, the defining truth of health care in America has been this: health care is worst in those states where Republicans poll best. In general, the states with the greatest percentage of uninsured, the unhealthiest residents and the most dismal health care systems give the GOP its strongest support. (With the "coverage gap" in […]

One man is the star of reality television show with 12 million viewers. With over 1.2 billion followers worldwide, the other may now be the hosting the greatest show on earth. Yet for American conservatives, Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty clan is being silenced for "a point of view that is traditional, that holds […]

Back in November 2010, I wrote a piece titled "The End of the Tea Party." A year later, a version of that essay ("Tea Party Activists Are Just Republicans by Another Name") appeared in The Tea Party Movement, an anthology published by multi-billion dollar education publisher, Cengage Learning, Inc. But in the intervening two years, […]

As 2013 draws to close, the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program have entered a delicate stage. But in 2014, the tensions will escalate dramatically as a bipartisan group of Senators brings a new Iran sanctions bill to the floor for a vote. As many others have warned, that promise of new measures against Tehran […]

After watching Americans engage in a week of national self-flagellation over Duck Dynasty and its controversial patriarch Phil Robertson, I decided to watch something else. Passing up ersatz conflict for the real thing, I put on Ken Burns' unforgettable documentary, The Civil War. But my escape from the Daily Mail's latest "exclusive" from the Robertson […]

Former Arkansas Governor and Baptism Minister turned Fox News regular Mike Huckabee has had a very big week. On Monday, his son David announced his father would be launching his own news and culture web site--Huckabee Post--in January. That same day, Governor Huckabee announced he was "keeping the door open" to a run for the […]

In 1988, Tom Delay made the painful decision to have his father removed from life support after he was severely injured in a tragic accident. Yet in 2005, then House Majority Leader Tom Delay led the massive federal intervention to prevent Michael Schiavo from choosing the same act of mercy for his wife, Terri Schiavo. […]

With another government shutdown averted by this week's two-year budget compromise, Republican leaders are once again threatening to hold the debt ceiling hostage if their demands aren't met. So what if they don't know yet what those demands will be? House budget chief Paul Ryan insisted, "We as a caucus -- along with our Senate […]

On January 24th, Netflix will air Mitt, a documentary about Governor Romney's quixotic quest for the presidency. But that hagiography, lovingly compiled by a close friend, covers only the campaign that led to Romney being immortalized as Mr. 47 Percent. But the years before--when Mitt became Mitt--seemed destined to remain a mystery. A mystery, that […]