Last week’s House vote to end the American Community Survey defied the advice of conservative think tank experts, the interests of the business community, and, most critically, common sense.... Read more»
The Republican party chairman claims “most Americans” agree with Mitt Romney “that marriage ought to be defined between one man and one woman.” Americans are closely divided on the issue.... Read more»
Of all the fantasies indulged in by a society speeding toward self-destruction, none is as consequential as the idea that continuing growth — both in population and size of our economy — has a happy-ever-after ending. Yet, when overpopulation is discussed at all, it is discussed as a problem limited to the developing world.... Read more»
We’ll be hearing a lot from politicians this summer and fall about the urgency of dealing with Medicare spending. If we’re fortunate, some courageous candidates will call for renewed debate on a provision of the health care reform bill that had once enjoyed bipartisan support.... Read more»
The Pentagon’s personnel budget is composed of three major items: pay, retirement, and health care. These costs have nearly doubled in the past 10 years and now consume one-third of the baseline defense budget. If they continue growing, these costs will begin to divert funds from other critical national security initiatives such as training and modernization.... Read more»
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s latest onslaught of television ads continues to miseducate voters about the potential impact of the health care law.... Read more»
Smart v. Stupid: As America grapples with a long-term decline, we have only Ronald Reagan to blame.... Read more»4
Mitt Romney claims government will “constitute … almost 50 percent” of the U.S. economy when the new federal health care law takes full effect. That’s nonsense.... Read more»
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s plan to introduce a bill to provide legal status—but not citizenship—for undocumented youth ran into an obstacle when Speaker Boehner announced that such a proposal would not pass his chamber.... Read more»3
You’ve heard it before. Let’s deep-six ObamaCare and replace it with sure-fire free-market solutions: tort reform, allow insurance to be sold across state lines and encourage people to set up health savings accounts. Here’s the problem: there is mounting evidence that all three of these strategies not only are ineffective but may actually be making matters worse.... Read more»
Looking at Paul Ryan and Barack Obama’s plans in detail shows that practical effects are likely to be very different when it comes to restraining federal spending and impact on seniors.... Read more»
An ad from the conservative Americans for Prosperity distorts the truth about stimulus money for “green jobs” going overseas. The ad, titled “Wasteful Spending,” introduces some new wrinkles to this well-used line of attack.... Read more»
Last week I offered Russell Pearce’s anti-Mexican jihad as an example of the kind of overt racism that is no longer tolerated in politics. Now just a few days later we learn that J.T. Ready, Arizona’s leading white supremacist, appears to have committed a murder-suicide.... Read more»1
Despite a Times story that features the potential impact on the middle class — look, we’re all in this together — it is entirely clear that no one is looking to raise taxes on the middle class. What is at issue, just as it was in 2010, is whether the era of enormous tax cuts for the wealthy will continue.... Read more»
The Rockefeller provision of President Obama’s health care reform law will require consumer rebates from insurers who didn’t spend enough on care.... Read more»
New data and projections point to a future fiscal and economic crisis for Arizona unless the state’s Latino educational attainment gap is addressed in a concerted and sustained manner, according to a report released Friday.... Read more»
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