Gov. Scott Walker has survived the recall attempt in Wisconsin, although it appears the Democrats may have won a symbolic victory in the state's Senate. That is not cheering news for the Obama campaign, and neither are the depressing economic numbers, the chaos in Europe, or the amazingly tone-deaf Obama...

This week Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. conference of Cathlic Bishops, urged Catholic parishoners to become politically involved in order to join a "freedom of religion battle" against the Obama administration. Dolan's complaints have become a standard rallying cry for Republican presidential...

In the past two decades, the American religious Right has become increasingly Catholic. I mean that both literally and metaphorically. Literally, Catholic writers have emerged as intellectual leaders of the religious right in universities, the punditocracy, the press, and the courts, promoting an agenda that at its most theoretical involves...

Romney's victory in Florida is being hailed as a dramatic comeback, a decisive victory, a clear statement of who owns the Republican race. The truth is, this may not be Romney's race to lose, but there are perfectly plausible scenarios in which he loses it. And not losing is not...

George W. Bush shared their values. Newt Gingrich shares their resentments.

Polling data from South Carolina and Florida suggests that Tea Party and evangelical voters may finally be coalescing around a candidate, and that candidate is Newt Gingrich. Which is interesting, because as many people have noted he does not...

Details of the raid in which Osama Bin Laden was killed are still trickling out. Some conclusions seem clear, others are still matters for speculation... and some we will likely never know, and probably shouldn't.

Start with what looks like a safe conclusion. It seems beyond peradventure that bin...

"Sunshine," wrote Louis Brandeis, "is the greatest disinfectant." There is a deep truth in this classic bit of Progressive wisdom. Government cannot be accountable if it works in secret. Yet governments always seek to make as much information secret as they possibly can, sometimes to the point of unintentional comedy....

"The American system of public education is the greatest mechanism for social and economic mobility in the history of the world." I wish I had said that. Actually, it was my friend Tim. Tim is a conservative Republican. Let me clarify that. At various points in his life Tim has...

Madison, Wisconsin, The Heartland, America.

I am not what you would call a real "progressive" in the modern sense of the word. I actually have significant concerns about the role of public sector unions when they become too large -- they can begin to act like monopoly players in the...

Madison, WI -- In the past two weeks, we have gotten used to hearing the phrase "Day of Rage" applied to cities across the Arab Middle East. Today, it was hard not to draw an analogy between those cities and Madison, WI. Not that anyone resisted the metaphor particularly: Congressman...

The debate over the constitutionality of the individual health insurance mandate is headed to the Supreme Court. The narrative for how to read the outcome is set: if the Court upholds the law, it will be acting in a principled and consistent way, but if the law is struck...

I. The Theory: Laffer Curves, Supply Side Tax Cuts, and Demand Side Tax Cuts

We are hearing a lot these days about the lessons of the Reagan tax cuts. We are also being treated to a revival of the Laffer Curve. Which is... interesting.

There are two basic...

I heard an Egyptian joke yesterday that goes like this: Every Egyptian ruler chooses a vice president to make himself look good by comparison. So Nasser chose Sadat, and Sadat chose Mubarak. The reason there has been no vice president for thirty years has been that in all that time...

The obvious missing player in the demonstrations in Egyptian are "the Brothers." Even as protesters chant "Allah hu Akhbar" in the streets, there is no visible presence of the Brothers in any kind of leadership roles, no Muslim Brotherhood banners and flags being waved. This is extremely interesting.

As of...

And our message is ... um ...

First, a little background. There was a Rasumssen survey conducted about 10 days ago that showed that voters overwhelmingly believe - by an 81% to 10% margin - that most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in...

LAHORE, Pakistan

Last night, either two or three suicide bombers attacked a Sufi shrine here in Lahore. The toll is presently estimated at 40 dead and 170 injured, and those numbers are likely to rise. The attack took place at the Data Ganjh Baksh Hajveri shrine, which is...

This past week, Foreign Policy listed Pakistan as # 10 on its list of failed states. Factors receiving particularly high scores were factionalized politics, group cleavage, security apparatus and foreign intervention. Not everyone agrees. Christine Fair, at Georgetown, gives a more positive view, emphasizing recent moves...

LAHORE, Pakistan -- In America, we know what Pakistan is supposed to look like. Rife with anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories, sympathetic if not outright supportive of Islamic extremists, blind to the dangers of corruption and extremism that we see more clearly. It's not hard to find support for these stereotypes...

One of the arguments one hears a lot from Israel's representatives and supporters is that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that the blockade only keeps out dangerous materials. The blockade, according to Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev, is only aimed at preventing the shipment of...

Based on numerous reports from various parties, my conclusion is that the IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara was a tactical failure of the first order. In their partial defense, there had been no violence on any of the previously boarded vessels. On the other hand, the manner in which...