When Science Meets State
Who should decide on the future of stem cell research?
Post Tagged with: "Bipartisanship"
Will We Ever Be Ready for President Mark Warner?
That’s right. That’s Mark Warner, junior Democratic Senator from Virginia, who won an astonishing 65% of the vote in 2008 (besting Obama by 12 percent), after a highly acclaimed term of Governor from 2002-2006. That’s the same Mark Warner who was rumored to be considering a Presidential run in 2008, a favorite among the establishment elite for his mixture of [...]
The Economist: Blame Obama, Not the System
Didn’t want to let this go by without comment. From the Feb. 18 edition (“What’s Wrong With Washington?”): Washington has its faults, some of which could easily be fixed. But much of the current fuss forgets the purpose of American government; and it lets current politicians (Mr Obama in particular) off the hook. America’s political structure was designed to make [...]
Ross Douthat’s Phony Moderateness
Ross Douthat says “Let’s Make a Deal” on health care reform. Analyzing some choice quotes will illustrate his faux-centrism and tendency towards false equivalence. “The Republicans are convinced they’re inches away from killing off a fundamentally misguided piece of legislation.” No, they’re convinced they’re about to kill Barack Obama’s presidency. Stopping health care reform is a secondary benefit at best. [...]
The State of the Union – LIVEBLOG
Follow us as we watch President Obama’s State of the Union! Summary: Obama’s State of the Union Address was reminiscent of his victory speech on the day he was elected. He appealed to voters on all parts of the political spectrum by focusing on issues that are at the forefront of the minds of most Americans. Obama touched on nearly [...]
Georgian Reflections
The EU has faulted both sides in the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict for violations of international law. Russia, unsurprisingly, broke international law by its invasion of Georgia and its attacks on Georgian civilian infrastructure. Though if that’s against international law, color me confused as to nations are supposed to fight wars and if any of them have ever done so. The [...]
Not in Kansas Any More
New role, new tactics for Kathleen Sebelius In December 1999, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius expressed concern that new privacy rules imposed by the federal department of Health and Human Services would undercut state jurisdiction over health information. Federal bureaucracy, she argued, could not handle enforcement as nimbly as the states. A decade later, Sebelius will have the opportunity to [...]
A Detente in the Culture War
Social issues move off center stage At the 1992 Republican National Convention, conservative media personality Pat Buchanan fired the opening salvos of the ongoing national culture war, declaring, “There is a religious war going on in our country…it is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself.” [...]
Rush Is My Favorite Band!
Two weeks ago, Obama made a comment to House Republicans that they “can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done”. This was treated as the failure of bipartisanship*, and was perceived as an impolitic thing for him to say. Hypothesis: Obama messed up. Datum: Rush Limbaugh is incredibly unpopular. This story provoked a spate of Republicans rushing (I’m [...]
On Bipartisanship
Briefly: It’s a load of bull. Less briefly: “Bipartisanship” is a feel-good election-y term that should not, and cannot, be the way President Obama gets things done in Washington. Let me offer some thoughts on the matter. First off, there’s now no incentive for most of the Republican Party to cooperate with Obama, especially in the House of Representatives. Though [...]
