The rise of the Tea Party five years ago may have among the most ironic developments in modern American political history. After all, the astro-turf protesters who chanted "Taxed Enough Already" on Tax Day 2009 had just received the largest two-year tax cut ever, courtesy of the same Obama stimulus package they wrongly maligned. And […]

If you refuse to pay $1 million in federal taxes over two decades, you should expect to go to prison. If you announce your intent to resist, you might even get a visit from large numbers of heavily armed U.S. marshals. And if you have any doubt on either score, visit the Justice Department web […]

If nothing else, the tense standoff at the Bundy ranch in Nevada provided a helpful reminder of what it means to be a patriot in America. There are many things one may do and a small handful of things one must do to be considered a true patriot. Real patriots vote. They vaccinate their kids. […]

For the two clinics, it was the best of times and the worst times. In Mena, Arkansas, the 9th Street Ministries free clinic is closing its doors after 16 years, its services no longer needed by the poor residents who have now obtained health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act. But in Glenwood, Georgia, […]

Ezra Klein launched his new Vox venture on Monday with a piece titled, "How Politics Makes Us Stupid." Looking at some recent research suggesting that "individuals subconsciously resist factual information that threatens their defining values," Klein concluded, "People weren't reasoning to get the right answer; they were reasoning to get the answer that they wanted […]

Stung by the blowback from his denunciation of the "tailspin of culture in our inner cities" bred by "generations of men not even thinking about working," Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) took to Fox News last week to declare, "I don't have a racist bone in my body." But the GOP's 2012 vice presidential pick needn't […]

This week, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted to release a declassified version of its 6,000 page report on the CIA's abuses and deceptions as part President Bush's program so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques." Predictably, its architects immediately circled the wagons. On Fox News, former Bush National Security Adviser and CIA Director Michael Hayden called […]

During a September 2011 debate, the assembled Republican White House hopefuls provided one of the most disturbing moments of the last presidential campaign. When CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Ron Paul what should happen to a healthy 30 year-old that refused to pay for an insurance policy and then suddenly has a major medical emergency, the […]

Before the ink was even dry on the Affordable Care Act back in March 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his Republican Party's response. "I think the slogan will be "repeal and replace", "repeal and replace," Mr. McConnell said. "No one that I know in the Republican conference in the Senate believes that […]

And now a few words of advice to Paul Ryan: for your own sake if not ours, stop unveiling your House Republican budget proposals on April Fool's Day. It only draws attention to the fact that from top to bottom, your supposed "Path to Prosperity" is a joke. Here are just some of the reasons […]