With his much-hyped call for the firing of President Obama's economic team, House Minority Leader John Boehner ensured his speech in Cleveland today would get a lot of attention. But sadly for the would-be House Speaker, the address also spotlighted his unique combination of political cowardice and fuzzy math. After all, while Boehner claimed to […]

On Monday, New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman summed up Republicans wanting to make permanent the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. At a time of record income inequality and massive budget deficits, Republican "politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people […]

Among the latest claims of Republican mythmakers is that Barack Obama is not only a secret Muslim, but one who takes too many days off. Of course, the charge is hardly new. In May 2009, the Republican National Committee sneered, "Have a great Saturday evening - even if you're not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer […]

After ignoring the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict for most of his time in office, President Bush in January 2008 predicted the success of his belated Annapolis peace process. "I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," he announced, adding, "I'm on a timetable. I've […]

As a quick glance online shows, President Obama's sagging popularity is producing a cottage industry for political diagnosticians. In the Washington Post, former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson proclaims "the lost promise of Barack Obama" even as his colleague Eugene Robinson touts "President Obama's winning streak." Elsewhere, an incredulous Kevin Drum mauls Aaron David Miller's claim […]

In the span of just a few days, Sarah Palin has demonstrated that her ignorance of the First Amendment is total. One day after repeating her earlier call for Muslim Americans to "refudiate" their freedom of religion, Palin defended the disgraced Dr. Laura Schlessinger. But in tweeting that Dr. Laura's "1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist," Palin […]

With the first wave of its new provisions set to begin in September, Americans' support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is gradually growing. And with good reason. A Commonwealth Fund study released last month concluded that the health care reform law will be especially beneficial to women. And now, a new analysis confirms that […]

From the same people who sold you the American calamity in Iraq comes a new offer. At no cost to you, Israel will bomb Iranian nuclear facilities. But the special promotion ends this week, after which a regional war with Tehran and its proxies returns to its suggested retail price of an American military quagmire […]

Addressing Congress on September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush reminded the American people that in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, "We're in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them," adding, "No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic […]

On Sunday, Republican Senator John Cornyn promised to make opposition to the so-called Ground Zero mosque a campaign issue, proclaiming, "This is not about freedom of religion." No, it's about much more than that. It is, as President Obama explained Friday, "essential to who we are." Because Ground Zero does not just belong to the […]