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 […]

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 […]

In the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school bloodbath last month, National Rifle Association vice president Wayne LaPierre summed up his group's Hobbesian vision for America this way, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." He then proceeded to propose a massive new […]

On Friday, 67 House Republicans voted against $9 billion in funding to replenish FEMA's flood insurance program in the wake of super storm Sandy. Among those naysayers were five Gulf State Congressmen including Mississippi Rep. Steven Palazzo, whose 4th District was one of the most extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Of course, back […]

As the Obama administration and Congress ponder their responses to the slaughter in Newtown, Connecticut, one of the central tensions in the American system of government is once again coming to the fore. That is, the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution's Bill of Rights are neither absolute nor in harmony with each other. For example, […]

When a federal judge ruled in August that Texas can withhold millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics, Governor Rick Perry proclaimed it a "win for Texas women." As it turns out, Perry's crusade against Planned Parenthood isn't a win for either the women of Texas or the budget of the […]

In Washington and on Wall Street, there is growing optimism in the wake of President Obama's White House meeting with Congressional leaders Friday that the U.S. will avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff." After their drubbing on Election Day, Republicans are walking back their scorched-earth opposition to new tax revenue to reduce the national debt. But […]

The cruel and unnecessary death last month of Savita Halappanavar, the 31 year-old dentist denied a life-saving abortion, is rightly prompting soul-searching in Ireland. But those in the United States whose business is saving souls would do well to join them. After all, with their "human life amendment," draconian clinic regulations, "personhood" initiatives, heartbeat bills […]

To secure the Republican nomination for President, Governor Mitt Romney ran away from his signature Massachusetts health care law he once touted as a model for the nation. Ran away, that is, until his general election prospects started to dim. Facing a persistently large gender gap in the polls, in August Romney boasted of his […]