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Same Dem Mistakes Call for New GOP Answers
Conservatives eagerly draw parallels between the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and that of Barack Obama. But conservatives should not expect the same playbook that brought them a conservative majority after Carter to work for them today. Political parties, like generals, have a tendency to fight a …Town Hallers: Not Crazy to Be Angry
I begin a new weekly column on CNN.com today. The first deals with the interconnection of the Medicare and immigration issues, and you can read it here . I begin a new weekly column on CNN.com today. The first deals with the interconnection of the Medicare and immigration issues, and you can …Obama Tries to Scale Back Government Flood Insurance
The Obama administration has helped reject plans to expand the National Flood Insurance Program which helps insure flood-prone homeowners. The program already has a $19 billion debt and no practical way to pay it back. The National Flood Insurance Program may well have earned the dubious honor of …Democrats' Health Budgeting: Garbage in, Garbage Out
President Obama pledged that any health reform bill would not exceed $900 billion in costs (over the next ten years). Despite the claims of the Democrats, the Baucus reform plan was kept under this cost limit only by the most transparent and dishonest budget trickery. The Congressional Budget …New Poverty Count Means More Expensive Reform
The Census Bureau, using a new calculation, increased the number of Americans living in poverty by 7 million. This new figure will also raise the estimated cost of healthcare reform. The Census Bureau reported Tuesday that 15.8 percent of Americans lived in poverty last year, using an …The Real Winner in NY-23: A Public Option
The conservative infighting between GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava and Conservative Party challenger Doug Hoffman in New York's 23rd congressional district is sending the message that there is not much to fear from the GOP. The recent resurgence of the public option may be a sign of the Dems …When Politics and Baseball Collide
At age six, my son Nathaniel discovered baseball and the New York Yankees came into our lives. In our household, there was one special complicating factor: Since the Eisenhower administration, the Yankees have never won a World Series with a Republican in the White House. If you had told me 12 …Bolton: Israel Must Bomb Iran
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, in an address at the American Enterprise Institute today, argued that "the use of force is required" to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and predicted that Israel would not "hesitate to act preemptively." Former U.S. Ambassador to the …Privatize Outer Space
NASA’s projected budget will not allow for any meaningful manned exploration beyond Earth. Now is the time to allow the private sector a role in space exploration and development. The Review of Human Spaceflight Plans Committee (also known as the Augustine Committee, after its chairman, …Hate Crimes
The Senate has just enacted the Matthew Sheppard Act, adding homosexuals to the list of groups covered by federal hate crimes laws. Like most conservatives, I flinch from hate crimes laws in general. But if we do have them - and we do - it's hard to see the justification for omitting homosexuals …Handling Limbaugh and Beck the French Way
To French conservatives, the problems Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck pose to the image of the Republican party are all too familiar. In the 1980s, the French Socialists tried to link conservatives with the politics of the far-right National Front party. From Paris, it is difficult to make an …No Questions for Scozzafava
A funny ad from the Doug Hoffman campaign. A funny ad from the Doug Hoffman campaign.Jeb Bush to GOP: Stop Being the "Party of No"
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush pushed for the Republican Party to transform itself into a party of “21st century reformers” in a speech to students last night at George Washington University. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush pushed for the Republican Party to transform itself into a party of …How Did the GOP End Up With Scozzafava?
Republican Dede Scozzafava's campaign in New York's 23rd congressional district is faltering. A recent photo-op was overtaken by supporters of an opponent and polls show her in third place. How did the GOP pick someone who is in favor of card check and had been approached by the Democrats to be …Prelude to Republican Fratricide
GOP candidates in New York and New Jersey should be cruising to victory this November. But angry conservatives would rather hand power to Democrats than help moderate Republicans win. At the beginning of the summer, most observers expected Republicans to win all three of the big elections on Nov. …Forgetting Communism's Crimes
While strolling down the streets of Manhattan the other day I saw a shirt which declared: “Communism Killed 100 Million People And All I Got Was This Stupid T-Shirt.” After immediately buying it, I reflected on what I had learned from those who had actually lived under the red jackboot. While …By New York Standards Scozzafava is a Conservative Republican
My colleague Boris Shor has performed some analysis on the ideological positions of state legislators. When he applied the analysis to Dede Scozzafava, running in the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district, he found her to the right of the average Albany GOP legislator. My …