As both the body count and the financial misery from the American coronavirus outbreak continue to grow, the fierce debate over whether, when and how to “reopen” the U.S. economy is starting to boil over. Many of President Trump’s allies are apparently so eager for people to return to work that they are willing to […]

As the new year begins, press, pundits and politicians alike are saying 2018 could be the year of the "blue wave." Led by a historically unpopular first-year president and still smarting from embarrassing losses in Virginia and Alabama, many Republicans are talking out loud about "bloodbath" in next November's midterm elections. While Democrats are fielding […]

In his 2007 book The Assault on Reason, former Vice President Al Gore warned about what he saw as a dire threat to American democracy. "The 'well-informed citizenry,'" Gore fretted, "is in danger of becoming the 'well-amused audience.'" In a presentation on Super Tuesday 2008 ("That's Entertainment: Politics as Theater in Campaign '08"), I elaborated […]

On March 23, 2010--the very day President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into low--then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his party's objective would be to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. But now, almost 7 years later, McConnell and Congressional Republicans finding it extremely hard to do either. And soon the task for Majority […]

Republican leaders and their amen corner in the conservative commentariat are ecstatic that both houses of Congress are finally about to send an Obamacare "repeal" bill to the President's desk. This morning, Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted, "The House will vote tomorrow to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood." But as Hot Air's Ed Morrissey ("CBO: […]

Just in time for holiday party season, there's a new drinking game certain to make things more jolly. It works like this: Every time Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says "tax reform," "close loopholes," "simplify the tax code," "lower rates," or "broaden the base," Americans have to drink. After all, for more than six […]

For four decades, American public opinion on the issue of abortion has been largely unchanged. As the numbers from Gallup, the Pew Research Center and other polls show, roughly half of Americans have identified themselves as "pro-choice" even as consistent majorities support keeping abortion legal in all or many circumstances. But now, a new survey […]

Carly Fiorina, the disgraced HP CEO and failed California Senate candidate, says her odds of entering the 2016 Republican presidential contest are "higher than 90 percent." Of course, that's not because she believes she can win the nomination, but because the odds she wants to be the GOP's vice presidential nominee are 100 percent. And […]

In the span of just two weeks, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has catapulted into Republican superstar status. Mitt Romney's premature withdrawal from the 2016 presidential race cracked open the doors for the emergence of a hardline right-wing alternative to the Party establishment's lone remaining consensus candidate, Jeb Bush. And with his surprisingly animated speech at […]

Last month, Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced his proposal for a major overhaul of the U.S. tax code. But among Republican leaders in Congress, its arrival was about as welcome as an ill-timed fart. Hoping to focus the 2014 midterm elections on Obamacare instead of controversial new tax provisions, […]