With Occupy Wall Street sputtering during its spring reboot, it looks like the movement that dominated last year’s political discussion may not repeat. That’s not entirely unexpected. OWS promoted two  concepts, one that resonated with Americans and one that didn’t.

The… Read full post »

Ted Nugent just said some really crazy stuff. But he has a very important reason to get himself in the news. He’s launching his own line of Ted Nugent brand ammunition.

Despite his nutty ranting, you actually have nothing to fear from Ted Nugent. In Nugent-world he’s a… Read full post »

Today, most Americans see conflict between the rich and us

The United States has always had a culturally-enforced taboo: don’t speak ill of the rich. If anyone thought or said that the rich don’t play fair, they were simply a sore loser. This taboo lasted much… Read full post »

Here’s the latest wrap-up of the Republican primary polls. 

1.   Gingrich leads—toping one third of likely “R” voters in several states.
2. Tea-partyers break for Gingrich, despite all they’ve advocated up to now.
3. Religious intolerance is alive and well.
4. More
… Read full post »

Quick, what are the top ten performing retail stocks this year?

Number one is Dollar Tree, one of those stores where everything costs a dollar, everything has “China” somewhere on the label, and quality is never the point–of–purchase reason. Number three is Dollar General… Read full post »

Whenever a campaign-killing allegation erupts—Bachmann’s Medicaid billing, Cain’s serial sexual harassment, Ron Paul’s eyebrow falling off, and now Gingrich’s lobbying scandal, the perp is quick to blame a Democratic conspiracy. OK, Ron Paul didn&… Read full post »

This generation’s most important legislation is still just a halfway measure

In the coming days, you’ll hear more about legislation unveiled this week by New Mexico’s Senator Tom Udall. It would give Congress and the states the power to regulate campaign contributions.… Read full post »

In just six weeks, Occupy Wall Street protesters have won. They can now rightfully declare victory, having changed the substance of our national  conversation. Before OWS, the political narrative centered on made-up notions that taxes are too high and that the rich are paralyzed by oppress%IM… Read full post »

  Occupy Wall Street arrived in Washington DC this week. A DC-based Occupy closes the circle around the big money interests who buy government and the elected officials who sell it. In Washington, Occupy DC is really two different groups. One is a small, ongoing protest at McPherson… Read full post »

Can the myth of “certainty” be far behind?

Employers don’t create jobs, customers do. This week, business owners themselves exploded the myth that they are the job creators.

Previously we’d offered the argument that businesses don’t create jobs. “Cu… Read full post »

 There were clear winners and losers in the latest Republican debate, held at the Reagan Library. But before we score the candidates, it’s worth noting the two über winners. The first was Ronald Reagan. While I remember Reagan as the affable con artist who decided kids were pro… Read full post »

A great leader finally has the memorial he so richly deserves

“All men are caught in an inescapable network of  mutuality.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

I remember the day the black kids came to Greenbelt Junior High School. This was not the… Read full post »

Des Moines Iowa—Midwestern Iowa might seem like a haven of nutbaggery, especially when viewed through coverage of the Iowa Straw Poll. Iowa is a state of over three million people. But well under one percent of them attended this over-reported event. So this week,… Read full post »

If you want to understand Republican obstructionism, look no further than American exceptionalism.

“They’re not even informed enough to know what they don’t know.”

Congressman Jim Moran

As near as I can tell, “exceptionalism” is a made up word only found… Read full post »

Newscorp to close British newspaper after criminal newsgathering scandal

July 6 -- A simmering criminal scandal broke wide open at Newscorp’s British newspaper, The News of the World, last week. Now -- only one day after Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch expressed his continued support f… Read full post »

President Obama’s recent speech was supposed to be about winding down the Afghan war. But actually it was a signal that permanent war is now our status quo. Every other branch of government -- including the ruling corporate branch – was full-tilt ready to keep the wars… Read full post »

Arizona takes the lead with a smart new public policy idea

Arizona has not—repeat, has not—gone crazy. Not entirely anyway. Sure, Arizona still takes the prize for nuttiest state in this great nation. From deciding to let transplant recipients die, to banning the history of its large… Read full post »

“The global war on drugs has failed” That’s the primary conclusion of a new report by Global Commission on Drug Policy, an impressive group of world leaders including five former heads of state, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, former US Secreta… Read full post »

 The next election will turn on what voters believe about five issues. Democrats need a clear message in order to win.

Their opponents are the same guys who spent most of President Clinton’s first term accusing him of murdering his friend, Vince Foster. Now they promote the notion… Read full post »

Charles and David Koch seem less confident these days. The brothers – who inherited money from their dad and grew it into America’s largest collection of dirty industries – have decided they need to fight back. That’s not surprising. Since Koch-sponsored secret meetings were r… Read full post »

And who is paying Ginny Thomas’ salary this time?

The tea party’s B-team mad hatters are back in the news after a few months of wallowing in their election-season failures. Now back in the game, they will once again try to bury substance under a big pile… Read full post »

Unannounced presidential candidate Newt Gingrich rolled out yet another intelligence test – this time aimed at US Christians. It’s a simple test with just two, true-or-false questions:

1. Would you believe that Newt Gingrich’s serial philandering is caused by his lo/
… Read full post »

We'll be talking about this week's political stories for months to come...

About once a year, so much big political news happens that a single column can’t be devoted to a single topic. This is that week. So lace up your running shoes…

In gay rights,… Read full post »

  The conservative media activist offers a strategy for permanent right-wing dominance

The CPAC event, Engaging America through Pop Culture, was in one of the big rooms and it was full. Most attendees had probably come to see the actor Steven Baldwin, but he didn’t bother to show. (In… Read full post »

 The first thing you notice about CPAC is that most everyone is young – really young. Sponsors American Conservative Union, said that half the attendees were under age 25. But it looked much higher, more like seventy percent. A three-day youth ticket was $35 – half the cost of/… Read full post »