Three stories will dominate American politics over the next week. As it turns out, they are very much related. On Thursday, President Obama will unveil his jobs plan which will invariably be opposed by Republicans claiming "America is broke." That same day, Congress' debt "super committee" will begin its work to slash $1.5 trillion from […]

On Friday, Republicans deployed two talking points - one new, one old - in response to the grim news that the U.S. economy added no new jobs in August. The same GOP leaders who in January gave credit to the "newly elected House Republican Majority" for the economy's strong performance in the fourth quarter of […]

"Congressional historians said Mr. Boehner's move was unprecedented." While the New York Times was referring to Speaker John Boehner's refusal to grant the President's request for a September 7 address to joint session of Congress, "unprecedented" is apt description for the stone wall of Republican obstructionism facing Barack Obama from the moment he took the […]

In December 2008, Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a stern warning to Senate Republicans opposed to President Bush's proposed bailout of the U.S. auto industry then teetering on collapse. "If we don't do this," Cheney cautioned his GOP colleagues behind closed doors, "we will be known as the party of Herbert Hoover forever." Now in […]

Americans can be forgiven for assuming Michele Bachmann was deadly serious when she repeatedly joked this weekend that God was using an earthquake and hurricane to send a divine message to restrain federal spending. After all, Bachmann has not only proclaimed time and again that the Almighty called her to seek higher office; in 2009, […]

Over the past week, Republican White House hopeful Michele Bachmann unleashed a tidal wave of campaign promises aimed at washing away the American social contract. After pledging to get gas under $2 a gallon, Bachmann announced she would make the U.S. the "king daddy dog" of energy by shutting down the EPA. And while Rep. […]

The dual budget and jobs deficits dominating discussion in Washington has put Social Security front and center this week. While Republican heart-throb Marco Rubio claimed the retirement program is among those which "weakened us a people," his GOP colleagues opposed President Obama's call to extend the payroll tax holiday for another year. Meanwhile, Vermont Senator […]

Earlier this month, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) neatly summed up the Republican platform for 2012, declaring that Americans must "come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept for many." Yesterday at the Reagan Library, Tea Party darling and GOP rock star Marco […]

Asked the biggest difference between himself and George W. Bush, Texas governor and new Republican White House front runner Rick Perry answered, "I went to Texas A&M. He went to Yale." Which isn't far from the truth. After all, their pronouncements on policies and personal beliefs are eerily similar. And when it comes to donning […]

While much about the future of post-Qaddafi Libya remains murky, some things are already quite clear. For starters, Republican leaders and GOP White House hopefuls simply cannot bring themselves to credit President Obama in any way for the apparent success of the rebellion. Unsurprisingly, the same conservative echo chamber which cheered as the United States […]