Had Virginia Governor Ralph Northam committed a crime he might be in less hot water than he is now over a decades-old picture. Politicians can salvage their careers after a criminal conviction, but no apologies will save them from a search and destroy political climate where the slightest allegation of racism spells the end.
High Cost to Taxpayers from Shutdown Matters Why?
The Congressional Budget Office sent a bipartisan gift to Capitol Hill with its report on the dollars and cents cost of the partial shutdown. Lawmakers can’t resist the opportunity to seize on anything with a high cost to taxpayers if they don’t support whatever caused the loss.
Democrats, Give Us the Government Taxpayers Pay For
The IRS announcement that tax filing season is about to begin despite the partial shutdown sent a strong message to taxpayers about what we are good for in Washington’s eyes. We are here to fund our lawmakers’ government at their whim with no guarantee that they won’t deny us what we pay for.
Founding Principles Democrats Still Get Wrong
When Democrats fall back on America’s founding principles to justify their anger and frustration the words ring hollow. The usual political hypocrisy is acceptable and expected and we hear it from both sides, but do liberal lawmakers think we are so unschooled that we can’t see how ridiculous they sound when they turn to the Founding Fathers for support?
Big Money Plutocracy Less Damaging Than Partisan Lies
Despite optimism from the House of Representatives we are never going to rid ourselves of the influence of big money in politics. In America big money is politics. No matter what we do to reform the campaign finance system little will change because there are too many ways to get the word out.
New Democratic House Must Accept ACA Responsibility Now
It’s been a long time coming but Democrats own the House today. They’re ready to make big waves in Washington after riding in with the usual enthusiasm we hear whenever party leadership changes. Later the optimism will fizzle as lawmakers get down to the nuts and bolts reality of doing nothing.
All Americans Share Values but We Don’t Engineer Success
Don’t confuse Democratic Party political priorities like Medicare for All or free college with true American values. The former vanish with the changing of the guard and the up and down of the economy. Values that matter are enduring. They focus on ideas much greater than what to spend on next. We should all be wise enough to agree that it’s the height of arrogance for people we elect to tell us what we want and what we should have.