It's semi-official: The economy is about to take the second leg down in a so-called W-shaped recession -- down, up, then down again -- and delicious as it may be to reflect that this disaster has its roots in the administration of George W. Bush, the result for you and...

Cooperstown, NY: Gas drilling and the forces behind it are massed to exploit the rich gas deposits of upstate New York, in the process trampling on the basic idea of government in America.

That idea, of course, is that governments are created to protect us from each other, and especially...

Lost in the uproar about whether Rep. Joe Wilson (R.-SC) displayed bad taste or patriotic vigor by calling the President a liar was the spectacle, earlier that day, of Supreme Court Justices soiling their honor, that corporations might own us more thoroughly.

The subject is no legal quibble: If...

Michele Bachmann and David Vitter finally crossed the line last week: Once just dizzy, entertaining eccentrics, they're now calling for treason.

Not for themselves, of course: They're just talking. But that's their advice for the country. At a rally, they both said that if states don't like any final health...

Shocked to find the Right Wing using lies, mobs, and loaded guns against the health care debate? Why? In the early days, it didn't shrink from murder.

This is not wild talk. In the mid-'70s, right wing groups like the John Birch Society (JBS), the Posse Comitatus, and the Liberty...

Republican lies about the Obama healthcare plan should be no surprise to anyone with a memory: Full-throated, shameless lies, and accusing the opposition of their own sins, are the first things to hand in the right wing toolkit.

There was a time, of course, when Republican politicians were respectable, even...

The push to bring American health care into the 21st Century is in full swing, but whether the debate is in full cry is another matter. That matter is pretty much all being left to the experts, while the rest of us wait to see what we'll get.

That's disappointing,...

Investment bankers and career criminals have something in common: When they get caught, they spend their time figuring out what they did wrong, so they can do it better next time.

Harsh words, you say; if nothing else, high finance is legal, so by definition, its practitioners can't be criminals.

Barack Obama is beginning to disappoint. There's no doubt about it.

From financial regulation to energy policy, Iraq to health care reform, the President and his team are showing us what they're made of. And it's not pretty. At every turn, they've been choosing the achievable over the better angels...

Every time the Republican Party drives another nail in its coffin, you can almost hear Democrats mutter "never kill a man who's committing suicide."

It's painful, really. We're watching the spectacle of a rump party, abandoned by its rank-and-file, casting about for some magic words to bring back the...

For years, there's been a loud voice in American politics insisting government must shrink so liberty can grow. It sounds great. But it's what your lawyer calls a phony premise; a small government is a weak government that can't manage a big country.

Governments -- especially our government --...

Cooperstown, New York -- Whether gas drilling creates rivers of gold or industrial waste is a matter of opinion. What it definitely creates is legislation.

Last week, two members of Congress, Diana DeGette (D.-Colo.) and Maurice Hinchey (D.-NY), said they were re-introducing a 2008 bill to rescind features of...