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.
PANDYA: Earmarking Our Way to Prosperity?
Om Pandya, Columnist
Focusing on the low-hanging fruit of earmarks ignores 99.9 percent of the problem. Politically it makes sense, but it is safe to say that a ban on earmarks will not reduce the deficit by even a penny.
AKMAN: President Obama, It’s Time to Fight
Josh Akman, Columnist
Democratic candidates in Congress are beginning to fight. As their majorities in Congress are disappearing faster than the ozone layer, Democrats are getting up and getting pissed. Now, as Democrats see a bleak gleam at the end of the tunnel (meaning their losses in November might just be disastrous, not catastrophic), the message to the president could not be more clear: FIGHT.
LIFSON: Writing Off Murkowski
Matthew Lifson,
The real challenge to Senator Lisa Murkowski’s write-in bid is twofold: voters who walk into the polling booth with unformed preferences will break for the other candidates and many voters who prefer her will ultimately not vote for her.
ROGERS: ‘More of the Same’ Could Save Obama
Conor Rogers, Editor
If President Obama doesn’t want to become synonymous with President Carter, there’s about one thing left the President can do. Barack Obama should come out in favor of a one-year extension of the Bush Tax Cuts.
RUSHFORD: No Taxes for Old (Wealthy) Men
Stephanie Rushford, Columnist
The deficit is a real concern for many fiscal conservatives of all political parties, but many Republicans, like Senator Kyl, are not making the tough choices to eradicate the national debt. If Congress wants to truly balance the budget, then they must forget about November and start making painful cuts to spending.
HOLLINSHEAD: Michael Steele Puts RNC in a Bind
Kevin Hollinshead, Columnist
With his latest erroneous comments about the war in Afghanistan, RNC chair Michael Steele has put his party in a tight spot…again. How swiftly should the GOP give him the boot?
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.
PETERSON: Time to Press Refresh on Congress
Tim Peterson, Associate Editor
The first in series of posts discussing the role of politicians. They claim to be incrementalists even though their functions are reactionary; they deign to preserve rather than progress, even to the point when that which they are preserving is themselves, to our detriment.
BARON: The High Cost of Republican Federalism
Noah Baron, Religious Progressive
What price is the conservative wing of the Republican Party willing to pay for blind adherence to traditional dogma? The answer: any price, just so long as they can get re-elected.
CUEVAS: America the Despot?
Jesse-Justin Cuevas, Liberal
When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the United States in 1830 he found a profound fascination with American politics. Following his visit, he wrote Democracy in America’s first volume. In it, Tocqueville reveres the American system for its positive valuation of participation that manifests in the practice of townships and municipal institutions.
BARON: Blunt Equality — Marijuana, Marriage, and Referenda
Maine decriminalizes marijuana but bans gay marriage — what happened and why.
BARON: No Such Thing as a “Stolen Vote”
Politicians regularly take the money and votes of their constituents, and then turn around and ignore their concerns. Yet come next election-day, they cry foul when a third-party candidate challenges them because they failed to govern honestly or in accordance with the values of the people who supported them.
BILBO: Post-Racial Cowardice
A nation of ideological cowards gives rise to a racist media.
PERNELL: Town Hall Outbursts Hinder Democracy
Conservatives and anti-Obama activists are hijacking Obama’s town halls and in doing so are strangling democracy.