Back in October, Ezra Klein of the Washington Post warned of the "anti-stimulus." That is, the draconian budget cuts and steep layoffw at the state and local level, Klein argued, were more than offsetting the gains from the $787 billion federal stimulus program. Now, a new analysis from the National Bureau of Economic Research - […]

George W. Bush was the first modern president to cut taxes during wartime. Now, the unpaid $2 trillion bill for the wars he fought - and chose to fight - is long overdue. While President Obama and the Republican leadership in Congress jockey to position their budget cutting plans, it's time for both parties - […]

Perpetual presidential candidate Mitt Romney has performed more flips than an X Games champion. The pro-choice Senate candidate (and Planned Parenthood donor) of 1994 did a hard right turn on abortion for the approaching 2008 GOP primaries, prompting adviser Michael Murphy to acknowledge "he's been a pro-life Mormon faking it as a pro-choice friendly." On […]

This week, Arizona Senator and Republican Minority Whip Jon Kyl declared he would not seek a fourth term in 2012. Of course, in 1994 Kyl, one of the signers of the GOP Contract with America, promised he would only serve two. And the ironies don't end there. Within hours of Kyl's announcement, six-term Congressman Jeff […]

Back in September 2009, Republicans made the unfortunate selection Louisiana Congressman and physician Charles Boustany to deliver the GOP response to President Obama's address on health care. Unfortunate, it turned out, because tort reform champion Boustany himself has been repeatedly - and successfully - sued for medical malpractice. Now, Georgia Congressman and retired obstetrician Phil […]

This weekend's Reagan centennial predictably produced paeans to the great tax cutter who never was. After all, in the wake of the his budget-busting 1981 tax cuts which ultimately tripled the national debt, Reagan raised taxes six of his eight years in office and 11 times overall. As it turns out, the Great Tax Cutter […]

On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that federal judicial vacancies are reaching a "crisis point." As it turns out, when Republicans aren't turning to record-setting obstructionism to block President Obama's nominees to the federal bench, they are threatening the "umpires" of the law outright. Just weeks after the Tucson slaughter that claimed the life of […]

For pure political shadenfreude, few developments have been as entertaining as the right-wing family feud over the chaos in Egypt. Among just the neoconservatives, democracy promotion idealists are clashing with advocates of authoritarian stability. On air and online, the Republican partisan pundits are at each others' throats. While Bill Kristol derided as "hysteria" Glenn Beck's […]

This weekend, Republicans marked the 100th birthday of Ronald Reagan with speeches celebrating his small government philosophy, anti-tax fervor and hard-line foreign policy. But if Reagan was a GOP candidate today, he would doubtless fall victim to violations of his own 11th Commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." Because despite all […]

In a 2008 campaign full of low points, John McCain's deepest descent may have come during his final presidential debate with Barack Obama. Dripping with condescension, McCain used air quotes to mock the concern of abortion rights advocates for the "health of mother." Now two years later, the new Republican majority in Congress is trying […]