Tag: Congress

Pelosi vs. Reality

There are times when a statement by a politician is so far from reality that it takes a while to be able to come up with a response other than laughter. For instance, in case you missed it, Nancy Pelosi, defending her four years as House Speaker made this astounding claim: “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” When I first heard her say this, I thought perhaps I had misunderstood, but it… Read more »

Watch the Back Door

Now that the House is Republican, probably no radical legislation is going to succeed. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that there are other ways an administration can try to achieve its agenda. We have to be alert to those possibilities: Last week, some alert observers noticed that the end-of-life provision [a.k.a., death panels] that had to be excised from Obamacare because of the uproar created over the government determining whether or not someone would be allowed to… Read more »

Return of the Constitution

I remember standing in the freezing rain outside the Capitol on inaugural day 2001, watching George W. Bush replace Bill Clinton as president. It’s hard to describe the relief that swept through the crowd once he took the oath of office. Eight years of one of the sleaziest episodes in American presidential history had mercifully come to an end. I wasn’t present on Wednesday when the Republicans once again took control of the House of Representatives, but something similar to… Read more »

An Endangered Tax Deal?

That tax deal I wrote about yesterday may be in trouble. The biggest potential obstacle resides in the outcry on the Left. They feel betrayed by “their” president. They can’t stomach the idea that no one making more than $250,000 will be penalized by higher taxes. In their Marxian worldview, this appears to be unfair. There is no guarantee that enough Democrats in Congress will support this deal. On the Right, there are concerns as well. Sen. Jim DeMint is… Read more »

Posturing, Politics, and Principle

The congressional song and dance on the extension of the Bush tax cuts has been fascinating to watch. The Democrats try to position themselves as the champions of the middle class while excoriating the Republicans as tools of the filthy rich. The Republicans, meanwhile, push for extending the tax cuts to all Americans rather than just the middle class. That puts them in a bad light in the eyes of some, but those who can analyze and think clearly realize… Read more »

Charlie Rangel and Justice

On Thursday, the House of Representatives formally voted to censure one of its members—Charlie Rangel of New York. A censure has occurred only 23 times now in the history of the institution. It is the highest penalty that can be meted out other than expulsion. Rangel justly earned it. Yet, given an opportunity to speak for one minute after the censure vote, Rangel used that minute to say he did nothing wrong, and chided the House for, in essence, abusing… Read more »

The Path We Need to Take Now

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the economy was the big issue in the elections. A related concern was the attempt by the federal government to unleash unlimited power over everyone’s lives—all of which was unconstitutional. The two ought to go together. More people thought about the economy, of course, but I was encouraged by the new discussion on constitutionalism, particularly by those on the Tea Party side of politics. It can be argued that overreaching constitutional authority… Read more »