“Billions and billions.” Where is Carl Sagan when we need him to provide the proper intonation? Billions — $200 billion — in fact, is what the Congressional Budget Office says would be shaved off the federal deficit in 10 years with passage of the immigration reform bill gaining steam in the Senate. Look 20…
DetailsAnd so it begins again, and on cue. Like an incendiary device on a timer, summer has turned patches of Rocky Mountain paradise into scenes of fiery hell. The people of Colorado are beginning to wonder if for the foreseeable future they are locked into four seasons: fall, winter, spring and wildfire.…
DetailsThree words for some thoughtful young Republicans concerned about the future of their party: Save your breath. Those worried that the GOP is losing traction with young voters know exactly who runs the party today: its most reactionary — meaning least conciliatory — faction in generations. So the College Republican National Committee could…
DetailsWe all know when a popular revolt succeeds. Someone gets overthrown. At what point, however, does a historic, full-scale rebellion take wing? Always hard to tell. The revolt we discuss here involves bad policy and public schools. A climactic victory has yet to come. But let me fancy this notion: What now simmes…
DetailsIf one could paint a portrait of America under the leadership of today’s fiscal disservatives, it would be the sorry scene in the Skagit River 60 miles north of Seattle. There, a section of the bridge conveying Interstate 5 soaks like a tea bag tossed in the brine. I wonder how…
DetailsIs that Anthony Crispino I’ve been hearing tell us what horrific things President Obama has done? I think so. Crispino — Bobby Moynihan’s “Saturday Night Live” “second-hand news” character — knows everything except for everything. “Didja hear the IRS interrogated the tea party?” I hear Crispino say. “Yeah. It’s true.” It doesn’t phase Anthony…
DetailsSen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., says the “coverup” surrounding the tragic incidents in Benghazi is “bigger than Watergate, bigger than Iran-Contra, bigger than the Pentagon Papers.” It’s interesting that Inhofe doesn’t mention another matter that didn’t make his top four. It involved allegations of weapons of mass destruction, talking points planted in the…
DetailsFrom reports, the entrance was what one imagines of a drug lord who isn’t used to waiting for a table in Guadalajara. Only this was in Washington. Stepping out of the elevator, a wedge of body guards shoved people out of the way, one pinning a cameraman against the wall. “You don’t…
DetailsHarold Lloyd had nothing on today’s forces of regression. In iconic black-and-white on a silent screen, the bumbling comic grappled with the big hand of a clock. The year was 1923. Today, in Arkansas, North Dakota and wherever they can summon the votes, political forces seek to turn the hands of time…
DetailsIt’s easy to deride Sen. Ted Cruz’s double standard. In fact, he is only observing a tradition of great duration. Former Sen. Phil Gramm was truly a mythical bird, decrying federal spending at every stop, then racing at the speed of an arclight to the nearest microphone to take credit for any…
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