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.
WINN: Romneycare and the Politics of State’s Rights
The similarities between Mitt Romney’s healthcare reforms to President Obama’s controversial legislation exposes him to a powerful attack from the right in the upcoming Republican primaries. The best political path for Romney is to embrace his reforms as an assertion of states’ rights.
STROSTER: What’s at Stake this November
Lianna Stroster, Columnist
With the general election 37 days away, campaigns are in full swing. From attack ads to yard signs in front yards, voters know it is that time of year again. But, do voters really know what is at stake this November? There is an array of choices for voters, but the decisions they make will have consequences in the future.
BILBO: Arizona, BP and a Golden Opportunity for the GOP
Tyler Bilbo, Columnist
Can the GOP accomplish the herculean task of reclaiming the House and the Senate? Thanks to Obama’s failure to intensify Democrats, it’s looking like they can.
LIFSON: Republicans Make the Center a Moving Target
Matthew Lifson, Columnist
If Democrats want moderate bills, they must make liberal arguments and then move to the center only though debate and negotiations. Otherwise, Republicans will just continue to choose new, more conservative positions and move the center with them.
BILBO: The Tea Party’s Race Problem
Tyler Bilbo, Democrat
Shortly before the House of Representatives passed a drastic overhaul of our health care system, Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats walked arm-in-arm through an angry mob of protesters that converged on The National Mall. As the Speaker clenched the arm of John Lewis, a current Congressman who organized the Selma to Montgomery Marches, I could not help but think about the Civil Rights Movement.
HOLLINSHEAD: Boy’s Health Insurance Company a Real ‘Death Panel’
Kevin Hollinshead, Progressive
Five year-old Kyler VanNocker of Edgewater Park, NJ has neuroblastoma, a rare and deadly type of childhood cancer that attacks the nervous system, leaving his body riddling his body with tumors. But Kyler’s health insurance company denied him the proven-effective treatment and decided to place their profits above a doctor’s opinion. To deny Kyler coverage was to prescribe his death.
MARIN: John Boehner’s Guide to the Healthcare Summit
Paul Marin’s ideal GOP strategy for facing the President’s healthcare summit and capturing the president’s bipartisan aura.
MARIN: Bribes We Can’t Believe In
Paul Marin, Liberal Republican
Before the State of the Union address, President Obama will have likely signed comprehensive healthcare reform legislation — legislation secured through political bribes. A bipartisan approach is necessary to prevent political bribes from reoccurring the in the future.
HOLLINSHEAD: Limbaugh Loves (Socialized) Medical Care in Hawaii
by Kevin Hollinshead, Progressive
Upon his discharge from the hospital after being admitted for chest pain, Rush remarked that “there is nothing wrong with the American health care system. I received no special treatment.” Here, he inadvertently stumbled upon the real point here—American medicine is indeed a godsend. At least, for those who can afford it. No one in Hawaii is given special treatment, because, yep, everyone can afford it.
BILBO: The Impermanence of Health Care Reform
Only a strong public option can ensure the permanence of President Obama’s reforms
Carpenter: Stop Playing Games with Our Health
The public option is dead and the debate continues. The reality remains that Americans still need health care reform and it’s time to deliver it.
MARIN: Lifting Each Other Up
The GOP should fight for their free market solutions to healthcare and not against reform or universal coverage. It is better for them — and for the country.
CARPENTER: When ‘Change’ Meets the Real World
Emma Carpenter, Staff Writer Ideology: Liberal Democrat | Writing From: George Washington University What happens to the value of change when it is promised but never delivered? I fear that [...]
SIEG: Overcoming Path Dependence in Healthcare
Emily Sieg, Staff Writer Ideology: Social Democrat | Writing From: Washington, DC The long and tumultuous strive for healthcare reform in the United States could prove one of the greatest [...]