Jan 27th, 2010
by James Kane.
Republicans nationally had reason to celebrate Tuesday last week when Scott Brown did what seemed impossible not long ago; captured a Senate seat not held by a member of the GOP since Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. The Massachusetts special election on January nineteenth of this year had all of the hallmarks of the Barack Obama campaign from [...]
Jan 10th, 2010
by James Kane.
The narrowing and possible elimination of Martha Coakley’s lead in even Democratic polls shows that the discontent felt by bread-and-butter voters is real. While the jobless rate is holding at ten percent nationally, indications are that this is due to more would-be laborers giving up on trying to find work rather than on anything the [...]
Jan 8th, 2010
by James Kane.
There has been and will continue to be much discussion regarding the surprise retirements of Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) announced on Tuesday this week. Certainly, these retirements could completely reshape the Senate contests later this year in those two states. In the near term, however, the attention of Republicans should be on Massachusetts, where a [...]
Dec 28th, 2009
by James Kane.
With some form of health care reform poised to be enacted following the passage of a trillion-dollar, pork-filled boondoggle in the U.S. Senate on Christmas Eve, reflection on the course of this policy debate and its broader implication for the trajectory of the Obama administration seem warranted. Whatever results in the coming months on the issue of [...]
Dec 15th, 2009
by James Kane.
With much disappointment today, I read the list of those considered likely to be named Person of the Year by TIME magazine for 2009. Though not a political story per se, the bulk of the figures named hold public office, or are otherwise in the employ of the United States government. Those considered to be [...]
Dec 9th, 2009
by James Kane.
As world leaders start to assemble this week in the capital city of Denmark, discourse on the topic of climate change and the public policy implications thereof have increased. Complicating matters, however, was the revelation in recent weeks that one organization researching anthropogenic global warming was suppressing research running contrary to their claims. Good science [...]
Dec 2nd, 2009
by James Kane.
Recent polling has found that a majority of Americans feel that the country is too politically divided. No, this does not mean that the American people feel that fifty states are too many, or that counties, cities, parishes, and boroughs should be dissolved across the board. Rather, the concern is that there is too much [...]
Nov 16th, 2009
by James Kane.
It has now been more than a week since the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping health care reform legislation. Yet, with what has been written about the bill since that time, one might think it was still being debated. Though there are many faults in the legislation, one issue therein seems to be sustaining [...]
Nov 6th, 2009
by James Kane.
The big news from Tuesday this week came with the announcements of gubernatorial wins for the Republican Party in both Virginia and New Jersey. While both of these states voted for President Obama last year, and are represented by Democratic senators in Washington, the former has traditionally leaned Republican in presidential contests, only going Democratic three [...]
Nov 1st, 2009
by James Kane.
The news of the past week has shown that President Obama does not take well to criticism. If the Fox News flare-up was not enough to suggest this, then certainly the White House’s terse response to criticism from the Associated Press of dubious stimulus-related job claims was. Thus, one is left with reasons to worry about [...]
