A Recovery Menaced By Dysfunctional Politics
In a time of fundamental uncertainty, what do we know for certain? No, that’s not a Yogi Berra kind of question. Timing of passage of an increase of some size in the national debt ceiling remains uncertain. Which side will blink first remains uncertain. Final form of the legislation …
The Cost of the Crisis
The forcing of a debt-ceiling crisis seems likely to have permanent consequences, even if it is settled before Default Day, reports Bloomberg News : Conviction that lawmakers will fail sent rates on bills due next month to the highest level since March 31, data compiled by Bloomberg show. …
States Will Be Slammed by Default
A federal default could cascade through state governments, forcing tax increases and budget cuts on local taxpayers. Medicaid budgets could be slashed. Federal money for unemployment benefits could halt. State colleges could lose federal grants. The Pew Center on the States reports that …
Do You Believe in Magic?
My new column in the Week (misattributed a few minutes ago to my estimable Week editor, Ben Frumin, no relation) praises the Boehner plan for its artful use of smoke and mirrors. Tea Party Republicans confront a party establishment unanimously representing the Boehner plan as a huge …
Blame for Debt Talks is Divided
There is little evidence to suggest that either President Obama or House Speaker John Boehner gained much political leverage as a result of Friday night’s dueling press conferences or Monday night’s back-to-back speeches. If anecdotal evidence and public opinion polls are to be believed, the only …
Ratings Agencies Want to See Bush Tax Cuts Lapse
The suggestion that the US needs to cut $4 trillion in projected debt over the next ten years in order to avoid a downgrade in its debt rating, posed here in an S&P report , has gained significant traction among many on the right. Erick Erickson, when he's not denying "absolution" to the …
Oslo Killer Posted On My Site
How did this worldview of war, death and destruction arise in my peaceful, beloved country of Norway? What is the relationship between a demonizing political debate and violence? Are regulations, laws or a stricter editorial policies part of the solution? After the excruciating, but …
Meet Rick Perry, the Teastablishment Candidate
The Republican Presidential field has a problem. The top two candidates are Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Romney’s issue is that he’s the same Mitt Romney who signed a health care law that the Tea Party considers a Bay State knock-off of President Obama’s “tyrannycare.” Michele …
Payback's a Bitch
Consider this scenario: President Palin (or Romney or Perry or Pawlenty or whoever) is sworn in with great jubilation among movement conservatives in January 2013. Voter distaste with Democrats also led to the crushing defeat for Democratic Congressional incumbents, leaving Republicans with hefty …
Stumbling Toward Disaster
There's blame for all in the debt talk breakdown. The president walked away from Simpson-Bowles, declined to present plans to reach long-term budget balance, etc. etc. etc. But in the argy-bargy, keep this in mind: the debt problem has become a debt crisis for one reason only: because …
That's Show Business
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-99165" title="Coulter Maher" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-07/coulter-maher.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="280" />Is Threatening to Kill the President Still Illegal?
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-99102" title="secet service" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-07/secet-service.jpg" alt="" width="420" height="180" />Worried About Freedom? Worry About Ecuador
img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-99094" title="Jail" src="/files/wxrimport/2011-07/jail.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="260" />Want to Fight Federal Over-reach? Start Here
When the House of Representatives last week voted for the “BULB Act”—a proposal its sponsors said would lift a coming federal ban on incandescent light bulbs—plenty of Tea Party supporters and others rejoiced at a major victory for limited government. Plenty of others, it's true, had fair …
Government Spending: Better Than No Spending
In my column for The Week , I write about how even wasteful government spending is better then no spending at all: Government spending is often wasteful. But it's still spending. When the Department of Waste, Fraud & Abuse buys toothpicks for the office cafeteria, that money is …Winners From a Cheaper Dollar
My Marketplace commentary broadcast today celebrates the US export boom. An economy as big as the U.S. cannot export its way out of recession. But the export surge does contain promising signals of the U.S. economy of tomorrow. The U.S. is increasing its exports to China faster than to any …
Can Dulles Airport Get More Inconvenient? Yes.
Really, I dont understand this: having agreed to spend $8 billion to dig a subway all the way out to Dulles Airport, Virginia authorities won't spend the final $300 million necessary to make the subway usable. Instead of emerging inside the airport, the Dulles subway will emerge outside - …