Answers to recurring questions of the day: what’s the state of the economy, are Americans really as overtaxed as they think they are, and what has the 2009 economic stimulus accomplished–or not?
ideology
Rick Perry Myths, Facts, Half-Truths: A Guide
Swagger check: a guide to the Rick Perry record in Texas. The Republican contender for the 2012 presidential election has recast the race, presenting himself as a serious alternative to a GOP field of lightweights.
What Barack Obama Can Learn From Rick Scott
With Rick Scott’s poll numbers in the 20s, the governor went for a cosmetology make-over. Barack Obama could do the same, in reverse: he needs to be liked less and to govern more.
When Income Was Taxed at 94%: How FDR Tackled Debt and Reckless Republicans
The last time the nation faced war debts Franklin Roosevelt didn’t hesitate to raise taxes and show up Republicans who stood in the way of fiscal responsibility, argues Sam Pizzigati.
Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin and Tea Parties: The Gipper’s NAACP Warning to Extremists
“You are the ones who are out of step with our society,” Ronald Reagan said of extremists in a 1981 speech to the NAACP, a speech that resonates in tea party America today, Zach Roberts argues.
Boehner-Obama Debt-Ceiling Follies: Your Hair-Pulling Guide on Stats and What Ifs
How dire could the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling be? What are the possible solutions? Here’s a reading list to help you keep up as the clock ticks to next week’s deadline.
The Greater Threat: Christian Extremism From Timothy McVeigh to Anders Breivik
Those two men—two right-wing reactionaries, terrorists, anti-government white supremacists, Christians—have plenty in common with the fundamentalist politicians and ideologues among us who pretend to have nothing to do with the demons they inspire.
Debt Ceiling Fallacies: How to Pay Down The Deficit Without Really Trying
The debt limit debate could have some catastrophic consequences for the economy, writes Kyle Russell, but politicians aren’t telling the whole story, and the fix isn’t nearly as bad as it may sound.
President Concession: Obama’s Conviction Deficit
If Barack Obama fears alienating potential voters, argues Donald Kaul, he should consider this: People like leaders who aren’t walking around with whipped cream on their faces all the time.
Obama Releases Long-Form Birth Certificate; Trump Takes Credit
President Obama this morning released his long-form birth certificate, hoping to end conspiracy theories about his place of birth. The release is unlikely to put an end to birthers midwifing new theories.
Bogus Government Shutdown, Real Anti-Government Senility
The nation could use a government shut down, but a real one–including “essential services”–to give those who think they can do without government a taste of what they claim to want.
Despite 4 Million Uninsured, Florida Senate Approves Opt-Out Amendment on Health Law
Senators voted 29-10 to approve the proposed constitutional amendment, which would allow people to opt out of the “individual mandate” requirement that they buy health insurance or face financial penalties.
End of the Line for Rail Brawl As Supreme Court Ruling Sends $2.4 Billion Elsewhere
The Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Gov. Scott could not be bound to spend $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail money. That money will now go to New York or California.
Governor and Senators’ High-Speed Rail Brawl Crashes a Skeptical Florida Supreme Court
Judging from Justices’ questions, the legislators’ case to force the governor to accept $2.4 billion in federal funding for the bullet train looked slim after Thursday’s arguments before the high court.
Senators Against “King” Scott Face Off at Florida Supreme Court Over High-Speed Rail
Set for 3 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court showdown over $2.4 billion in federal money underscores the divide between Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-dominated Legislature ahead of next week’s legislative session.
Senators File Supreme Court Challenge To Gov. Scott’s $2.4 Billion Rail Spurn
The central Florida senators–one Republican, one Democrat–say Scott had no authority to cancel an act of the Legislature and cash appropriations former Gov. Crist had already approved for the $2.4 billion Orlando-Tampa high-speed rail link.
My Favorite Republican: A Look Back at Eisenhower’s Otherworldly Farewell Address
On the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower’s farewell address, what’s striking about the speech today, Donald Kaul argues, is its tone of balance and moderation. It sounds like a speech not merely from another era but from another planet.
Skipping Specifics, Scott Calls for $5 billion in Spending Cuts, $4 Billion in Tax Cuts
Gov. Rick Scott today unveiled to a tea party crowd a budget that would cut an unprecedented $5 billion and provide for $4 billion in tax cuts, $1.4 billion of which in property taxes. Scott’s details are few.
A Confederacy of Bipartisan Dunces
Obama’s deal with a minority of Republicans over extending tax cuts and adding $900 billion to the national debt is the latest in three decades of bipartisan collusion between Washington and the myth of American power.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 8-hr 38mn Speech on Obama’s Deal With the GOP
On Dec. 10, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, held the floor of the Senate for eight hours and 38 minutes in a remarkable filibuster-like speech opposing Obama’s tax deal with the GOP. Here’s the full speech.
Eleanor Roosevelt: If I Were a Republican Today
In a 1950 piece for Cosmopolitan that could have been written today, Eleanor Roosevelt sees through the vacuous sloganeering of the Republican opposition, though she’s not much kinder to Democrats.
From Fringe to Voting Booth, a Machinery of Information Churning Push-Button Citizens
Politicians know that the obsessed, the fearful, the paranoid and the insane are easier to manipulate and outnumber by far than the attentive, Darrell Smith argues in a column. They can push their buttons at will. Tuesday proved it.
Don’t Celebrate Yet, Republicans:
Between Din and Tea Stains, a Reality Check
Short-attention span politics are here to stay, which is why Tuesday’s results are merely the latest re-casting of the same tiresome play that’s not about to end its run on our second-world stage. Not with allegedly educated voters like us buying tickets.
How Republicans Became America’s Arabs
That’s the strength behind the Republican No, as it is behind the Arab No, the Islamist No in particular: it appeals to some mythical, mass-marketable golden age. No proof necessary.
Charter School Failure: Why Imagine and Heritage Weren’t Included in FCAT Tallies
Charter schools are not in the same league as traditional public schools. Their standards are lower. The burden is on charters to prove their worth.
Why Tea Parties Are More Bunkers than Bunker Hill
The tea party’s booting out of Utah Sen. Robert Bennett from his state’s GOP primary, despite Bennett’s extreme conservative credentials, is emblematic of a movement in the grip of its own delusions.
Tea Party Throng Fills FPC’s Dawg House Cafe
The third meeting of the local tea party movement to be held at FPC drew 228 people, but discussions were standard and relatively tame.
Socialism, Capitalism, and Other Fallen Stock
We can rail about socialism’s evil and worship capitalism all we like. It won’t get us out of the hole we spent the last 30 years digging. History and Adam Smith are better guides.
The Liberation of Charlie Crist
Charlie Crist, never foreign to transgression, transgressed what’s left of the Republican Party, which has no room for moderates.
In Alabama, They Speak Ass
Alabama Republican candidate Tim James pledge to ban non-English driving tests, in a campaign video, is xenophobic mob appeal.
Lawrence: Flagler Tea Party’s Four Values–and Aims
Tom Lawrence, chairman of Palm Coast’s Tea Party movement, sums up the 4 values of the movement as it conceives itself locally, and its aims in the next six months.