In his 2005 book What's the Matter with Kansas, Thomas Frank provided a case study in how conservatives in his home state successfully used social issues to get working class Americans to consistently vote against their economic self-interest. But that formula failed spectacularly in 2012, as Republicans nationally hit the brick wall of America's changing […]

After its shell-lacking in November, the Republican Party is now splitting in two over the issue of immigration reform. On one side are the cynical, convinced the GOP must change its stand not out of principle or basic humanity but simply because of, as John McCain put it, "elections, elections." But on the other side […]

As a quick glance at his record shows, no American political figure has been as consistently and catastrophically wrong on matters of national security than John McCain. (Worse still, McCain's out-of-control temper and erratic judgment led many of his Republican colleagues like Thad Cochran to worry that "the thought of his being President sends a […]

All along, the real danger of the so-called "fiscal cliff" wasn't that U.S. national debt would increase, but instead that it would drop too quickly. Now, the surprise news that the American economy contracted by 0.1 percent in the last quarter of 2012 is providing a case in point. Along with the impact of super […]

The new bipartisan immigration framework announced by the "Gang of 8" brought some great news for Mitt Romney. After he lost the Hispanic vote by 44 points in 2012 (up from just 9 in 2004), Senate Republicans have apparently concluded you can have illegals, for Pete's sake. But at least for now, you shouldn't compare […]

One sure sign of the success of Barack Obama's second inaugural address on Monday is that right and left shared a common assessment of its impact. Conservatives decried the "amazing" speech (Charles Krauthammer) as "among the best of the past half-century" (David Brooks) precisely because liberals found Obama's "expansive case for progressive governance, grounded in […]

President Obama's gun control proposals have predictably--and disturbingly--spawned protests with names like "Gun Appreciation Day" and the February 23rd "Day of Resistance." But with their bills calling for the nullification of new national gun laws and the imprisonment of federal officials enforcing them, some supposed defenders of the Second Amendment have apparently confused the Confederate […]

This week, Mississippi Republican Governor Phil Bryant had great news for the residents of the Magnolia State. Whether you have insurance or not, cancer or cardiac disease, diabetes or dialysis, Bryant declared, "There is no one who doesn't have health care in America." Rejecting the Affordable Care Act 's expansion of Medicaid which would enable […]

When John Boehner picked up the Speaker's gavel in January 2011, he also laid down some new rules regarding the U.S. national debt. Despite the near-doubling of the red ink and the seven debt limit increases under President Bush (all of which Boehner supported), the first Boehner Rule demands "cuts and reforms greater than the […]