political cynicism for turbulent times
There are two big money questions swirling around tax code reform. They are the same questions we’ve been asking for decades: who should get the money and why?
Don’t expect answers this year. Just sit back and enjoy the show because this promises to be a good one.
Evidenced-based policymaking is the perfect Washington contradiction. Using facts and data isn’t what politicians who make policy do. Their real talent is creating, distorting, or outright ignoring the truth to get what they want. Both sides do it and they aren’t very good at hiding it, whether the goal is creating a hate crime trend or rationalizing spending more money with the hope that we can tax our way to prosperity later.
It’s been almost a week since we heard calls for unity on Capitol Hill. That’s what tragedy means to politicians. It’s an opportunity for speeches and press releases. This kind of empty talk is probably as much togetherness as our senators and representatives can endure.
With the nation at their mercy Republicans are about to blow the mission they staked their reputation to the instant Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act. We’ve heard the buzzwords: repeal, replace, dismantle. We might as well add destroy. The press isn’t great, but how could it be?
We don’t need another bad president. Bad presidents cause problems. They are hard to control. Often they want to stick around after one term. We have to waste time and money fixing their mistakes and dealing with the irresponsible things their advisors do.