Autiello: Will True Christianity Please Stand Up?
Nick Autiello, Contributor
The notion that homosexuality is a sin and un-Christian is one that is less than a hundred years old. It is wrong, and has no basis in scriptural or historical reality.
SASSO: The Coming New Year
James Sasso, Associate Editor
As the tumultuous 2011 comes down to its final day, this column could contain an obnoxious summary of the year’s extraordinary events. Rather than once again discussing the protests around the world, the death of Osama Bin Laden, Fukushima, America’s political ineptitude, Europe’s demise or the increasingly frightful weather patterns, here I attempt to predict what 2012 holds in store.
SASSO: Kicking the Can
James Sasso, Associate Editor
For one of the first times in his tenure as Speaker, John Boehner has made a statement with which every American, Republican or Democrat, should fully agree; the two-month Senate bipartisan extension of the payroll tax cut fails to fix the nation’s problems sufficiently. Providing a short-term band-aid to a long-term dilemma contradicts what a responsible government should accomplish, but fits the pattern of contemporary American politicking.
CIOCCI: A Foolish Consistency
Mitt Romney is guilty of serial hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich is guilty of being a public intellectual constantly scrutinized by the media and others, and Ron Paul never ceases to remind me about one of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”
AKMAN: Jon Huntsman’s Meaningless Campaign
Josh Akman, Columnist
Jon Huntsman did not participate in the CNN Debate in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Short of his family and small (and getting smaller) campaign staff, no one really noticed. In a bizarre and counterproductive effort to impress New Hampshire voters Huntsman skipped the debate to protest Nevada moving its caucus ahead of New Hampshire’s, which has always been the nation’s first primary. It’s bizarre because no one else skipped the debate. It’s counterproductive because right now, Jon Huntsman is polling 6% in New Hampshire.
SASSO: The 99% Rising
James Sasso
Associate Editor
For the past month a movement has grown out of Zuccoti Park in New York with the potential to grab at the very heart of America’s problems. “We are the 99%” is not simply a catchy phrase used by frustrated jobless Americans , but a commentary on the disgraceful economic inequality that has arisen in the United States since the 1970s.
SASSO: The Truth Will Now Be Revealed
James Sasso, Associate Editor
On Thursday, September 8, President Obama delivered a forceful speech that outlined his broad program to bring America back to work. While the speech did not deliver the full combination of stimulus and tax increases for which the liberal base had hoped, President Obama finally came out punching against the oppositionist Republicans who had done everything in their power to frustrate the President’s legislative agenda. Obama’s supporters and America in general, badly needed to hear from their Commander in Chief. With citizens’ trust in Washington approaching zero and fears of a double dip recession increasing, Obama had to demonstrate a serious, robust and, most of all, politically feasible strategy for creating jobs. And it did precisely that.
THERRIAULT: The Political US Economy and Developing Markets
Though emerging markets are increasing shares in consumption and output may simply be attributable to a scale of population, the true power of many emerging economies will be realized as they are tested by time. How can the American economy, which has enjoyed being at the top of the global heap for nearly a century, accommodate and work with these emerging economies to bolster its own position? Politics will surely play a large role.
INKELES: Solve The Debt Crisis — End Gerrymandering
Isaac Inkeles, Columnist Republicans had a golden opportunity at the beginning of the debt ceiling debate: Democrats agreed to not raise taxes, but instead close tax loopholes, and coupled this [...]
ROBINSON: How the Democrats Should Frame Their Tax-Increase Argument
Jonathan Robinson, Columnist
The debt deal that was forged between in Washington last week included the creation of a super committee meant to make the harsh decisions of austerity in the name of deficit reduction. The Democrats were asked to make tough choices, the Republicans…not so much.
ROBINSON: The Battle Over Rules and Discretion
Jonathan Robinson, Columnist
By moving from politics based on discretion to rules based politics, the Republican Party leadership is signaling that more painful budget cuts are on the way, and that’s not a good sign for the economic recovery.
ROGERS: An Equal and Opposite Reaction
Conor Rogers, Editor
The debt deal is more like a compromise between Moderate Republicans and Tea Partiers — but is a completely necessary step to bringing the nation back to solvency that deals a startling blow to fiscal liberalism in the United States.
THERRIAULT: Freddie and Fannie Still in Business, But No One Wants Them to Be
While everyone seems to agree that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to wind down, no concrete action has yet taken for neither a conservative solution nor a liberal one seem to be optimal. In light of this reality, is there anything that can be done to solve the problems the two government-sponsored entities create?
McCAFFREY: Cause and Concern in Wisconsin
Since Wisconsin became the first state to grant public employees the right to bargain collectively, a telling comparison can be made: while the unionized private-sector has decreased from roughly thirty percent of their workforce in the 1960s to roughly seven percent today, unions of employees in the public-sector have maintained a share of roughly forty percent. In the past two years, public-sector unions have been scrutinized on the national stage for abusing their bargaining rights and contributing to the fiscal disarray of many states. It is reasonable to wonder how these types of unions have come to thrive when their private-sector counterparts have not.
THERRIAULT: A Rational Look at Federal Spending
The biased, low quality information presented in the media about the looming budget crisis may make America’s problems appear as unsurmountable. However a rational, business-like approach to the country’s fiscal issues will provide self-evident solutions to our seemingly-unmanageable problems.
Stroster: America’s Revolt
Revolts and protests seem to be the thing to do these days from Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Iran, to our very our backyards in the U.S. Between the demonstrations in Madison, WI to the all-nighters in the U.S. House chamber, 2011 budgets are causing quite a stir.
MARIN: The Survivor
Humans are naturally risk averse. America’s deified president is no different. The 2012 budget reveals no brave heroism or audacious stupidity — just political cowardice.
WINN: Don’t Count Cameron Out Yet
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s political troubles are temporary. As the UK emerges from the recession and the pain of Cameron’s cuts receedes, Cameron will be well positioned to maintain a grip on Parliament for the foreseeable future and perhaps beyond.
Therriault: Debt-Reduction by a Thousand Cuts
President Obama’s budget will spark a partisan fight over an insignificant part of the country’s expenditures. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the bitterness this useless will create will undermine the political good-will necessary to actually tackle America’s fiscal challenges.
Therriault: Reforming the Post Office
Last fall, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that for the fiscal year ending September 2010, it had a post-revenue loss of $8.0 billion. Despite shedding nearly $9.0 billion in costs over the past two years, these figures have become unsustainable, and the USPS — as well as its overseers on Capitol Hill — have begun announcing more drastic measures to fill in this money pit.