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The Gulf oil spill, Shirley Sherrod, and Afghanistan may have chased some of the economic news off of the front pages, but everyone nonetheless knows the economy will be at the top of the voters' agenda for the fall election, and Democrats are slipping in public opinion polls when on the question of which party is trusted to do a better job on the economy. On the one hand this ...
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What happens when a law is enacted that most experts think is good and much of the public sees as bad? We may soon have an interesting test case in the health reform legislation passed earlier this year. Many voters don't like it. That segment is likely to grow in the months and years ahead, for reasons I'll describe later that go beyond Republican rhetoric. Those with expertise tend to ...
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Right now a Bill to extend unemployment benefits another six months is being held hostage in the Senate due to an ideological struggle between followers of the last century's greatest economist, John Maynard Keynes, and those who believe it's a good idea to obsess about balanced budgets during a major global economic downturn. Still there is more to the Republican side of the debate than just Hooverism, and given the way ...
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As one general replaces another in Kabul, it's worth noting that Obama started out last year determined to get American troops out of Afghanistan in the shortest feasible time. If that is still the president's aim, I don't think he can expect much support from the new man he's put in charge there, Gen. David Petraeus.In The Promise, his authoritative book about Obama's first year in office, Jonathan Alter reports that the ...
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Health reforms won't work until Americans are convinced they'd be happier and healthier if they consumed less medical care.I've written repeatedly about how difficult it will be to sell this new conservation effort that is based on two basic insights - people who take care of themselves(think diet and exercise)tend to require less care and much of the care delivered today-- respected experts say the number may exceed 25% -- isn't ...
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Immigration Debate: Press One For Culture War In EnglishThere are number of illuminating moments in the HBO Documentary "The Senators' Bargain" that aired on HBO2 ; see a trailer here). The documentary looks behind the scenes at the fight in the U.S. Senate in 2007 for comprehensive immigration reform legislation and focuses especially on Senator Ted Kennedy and his staff. Among the remarkable moments are a floor speech by Sen. Trent Lott (of all people) imploring ...
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Amid the celebrations as President Obama signs health reform legislation into law, it is worth taking stock of where we are and where we're going.First, this is clearly a very big deal. That's one thing everyone who spoke during the House debate agreed on. It is a big political victory for the President that will have a positive impact on the lives of millions of Americans in decades ahead.Second, the ...
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Immigration reform appears to be moving forward and so does health care reform with the support of the Hispanic Caucus. The complicated relationship between the forces fighting for immigration reform and the labor movement have been on display this week. A potentially uncomfortable moment on the stage was averted before the March For America rally for immigration reform on the National Mall in Washington this Sunday. Andy Stern, the President of the Service ...
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Maybe there's a game on. The President had three meetings on immigration reform at the White House today. He is increasingly under pressure to act on promises he made as a candidate to enact immigration reform in his first year in office and, now in his second year, the patience of pro-reform advocates - and Latino and immigrant voters - is wearing thin.The power of the Latino vote is a ...
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Immigration doesn't break cleanly along left/right, liberal/conservative, or Democratic/Republican lines. There are lots of pro-immigration and pro-immigrant conservatives and they come in different varieties. Likewise, there are lots of progressives with deep reservations about immigration reform and immigration in general. But the divisions the immigration debate creates on the right are deeper, more passionate, and much more destructive to GOP unity than the division on the left and the last few ...
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