For over 30 years, it has been the Republican Party's uber lie. Ever since Jude Wanniski first sketched Arthur Laffer's curve on the back of a napkin, conservatives have claimed that "tax cuts pay for themselves" because the extra economic activity they incentivize will produce tax revenues at least as great as they otherwise would […]

Still in the throes of Bridgegate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has another crisis on his hands. With only two months remaining in the Garden State's current fiscal year, Christie faces a whopping $800 million shortfall. In response, Chris Christie is doing what Chris Christie always does. After being warned by the legislature's nonpartisan budget […]

Back in May 2009, the Washington Post touched on the greatest irony of the health care debate just beginning to grip the nation. "The Democrats' No. 1 domestic policy initiative," Alec MacGillis wrote, "is likely to help red America at the expense of blue." You didn't need a crystal ball to see why. The chasm […]

The Bundy Ranch controversy has now divided Nevada's two United States Senators. While Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) referred to Bundy's armed supporters as "domestic terrorists," his Republican colleague Dean Heller praised them as "patriots." Their disagreement begs the question: What do you call someone who owes the United States government a million dollars and […]

Imagine that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned that America was about to be hit by a preventable epidemic of a deadly, though curable, virus. In response, the federal government budgeted funds for each of the 50 states to purchase antidotes to save the afflicted and vaccines to immunize residents against future outbreaks. Recognizing […]

For pure political theater, it's hard to beat the Republican Senate primary in Mississippi. There, incumbent Senator Thad Cochran is trying to fight off Tea Party favorite and neo-Confederate State Senator Chris McDaniel. In the latest twist in this entertaining saga, Tea Party leaders called for the resignation of state GOP chairman Joe Nosef after […]

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, […]

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 […]