For a full collection of Lanny’s columns, visit LannyDavisNews.com
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White House counsel should resign if she knew about IRS abuses, The Hill, 5.16.13
I’ve been told today by several reporters that President Obama’s White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, knew for several days — perhaps weeks —that some Internal Revenue Service officials were engaging in political targeting of conservative groups, and that she did not tell the president as soon as she knew even partial reports about the story.
With all due respect to someone who has impeccable legal credentials, if she did have such foreknowledge and didn’t inform the president immediately, I respectfully suggest Ms. Ruemmler is in the wrong job and that she should resign.
For full op-ed, click here.
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The purple Michael Smerconish on POTUS , The Hill, 5.1.13
I recall very well the first time I was on the Michael Smerconish radio talk show on WPHT in Philadelphia. He was doing a nationally syndicated talk show carried by 70 stations across the U.S. He was also a well-read and respected columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
I recall very well the first time I was on the Michael Smerconish radio talk show on WPHT in Philadelphia. He was doing a nationally syndicated talk show carried by 70 stations across the U.S. He was also a well-read and respected columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Revisiting a former president, The Hill, 4.23.13
Thursday, April 25, on the Southern Methodist University campus in Austin, Texas, four living presidents — Jimmy Carter, No. 39; George H.W. Bush, No. 41; Bill Clinton, No. 42, and Barack Obama, No. 44 — will honor one of their colleagues, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, at the dedication of his presidential library.
So I take this occasion to remind my fellow liberal Democrats, many of whom continue to attack Bush in harsh and personal terms, of three things about him that I don’t think they understand or appreciate.
For full op-ed, click here.
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A wrong ‘purple moment’ for Obama, Boehner, The Hill, 3.20.13
I have been writing this “Purple Nation” column for a long time, waiting for the “purple moment” when President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would agree on an important position on the budget and deficits. Little did I know that when it finally happened, I would be disappointed, to say the least.
“We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt,” President Obama told ABC’s “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos, in an interview that aired March 13. “In fact, in the next 10 years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place.”
For full op-ed, click here.
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Obama’s path for Mideast peace, The Hill, 2.27.13
There are many pro-Israel Americans, including members of the American Jewish community, who believe that the best strategy for bringing Israel and the Palestinians to the peace table is for President Obama to try to appear neutral or even lean toward the Palestinian/Arab world viewpoint, pushing Israel to the peace table and in the negotiating process.
But the truth is, history supports exactly the opposite. History proves that the stronger an American president is in being uncompromising in supporting Israel’s security, the more likely Israel is to take risks for peace. Thus, in 2004-05, with President George W. Bush acting staunchly and unambiguously pro-Israel, Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew Israeli military forces from Gaza, despite the continued presence in Gaza of the terrorist organization Hamas, publicly dedicated to killing civilians and children in the cause of the destruction of Israel.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Carnival’s crisis mismanagement — Déjà vu all over again, The Hill, 2.20.13
When will they ever learn?
As obvious as are the fundamental rules of effective crisis management, time-tested over the ages, it is amazing how often the same mistakes are made by politicians and companies in the midst of a crisis.
In politics, the most famous case of crisis mismanagement is Watergate; summed up by Nixon presidential assistant John Ehrlichman’s famous wrong-headed strategy that he called the “modified limited hangout,” a little bit of truth dribbled out, but not all of it.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Hagel: Time to confirm and move on, The Hill, 2.14.13
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) deserves thanks. He managed to go so far over the top in showing poor taste in his shameful questioning of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) during this week’s Armed Services Committee hearing on Hagel’s nomination as Defense secretary that he managed to assure that Hagel will be confirmed, as he should be.
Cruz challenged Hagel’s loyalty and even patriotism — not directly of course, but by innuendo — in demanding that Hagel disclose whether any foreign government directly or indirectly paid him to make a speech. Even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who opposes Hagel’s confirmation on intellectually honest grounds based on serious differences of opinions on Iraq and the troop surge, was offended by Cruz’s demagoguery, and came to Hagel’s defense. McCain reminded the Texas freshman that Hagel served in battle in Vietnam and won medals for heroism.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Ridge and Davis: Stand up for Simpson-Bowles, USA Today, 2.8.13
We have heard the president and leaders of both parties talk about the need for a “balanced approach” in addressing our nation’s unsustainable and unconscionable $16 trillion national debt. Now the president has a chance during his State of the Union Address, scheduled at his request on Feb. 12, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, to state specifically what he means.
We hope the president says and does the following as the nation watches on television:
“Members of Congress: I have invited here tonight, as guests of honor, two great public servants, Republican Alan Simpson, former United States senator from Wyoming, and Democrat Erskine Bowles, President Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff.
…
Tom Ridge was the first secretary of Homeland Security and is a former governor of Pennsylvania. Lanny Davis was special counsel to President Clinton and is a partner with former RNC chairman Michael Steele at Purple Nation Solutions.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Opinion: ‘Conscious Capitalism’: A business primer for doing well — and doing good, too, The Hill, 1.29.13
Once in a while, a book about business theory and philosophy transcends the usual audience that reads “how to” business books — with lessons to be learned by everyone, business people and consumers alike. Such a book is Conscious Capitalism, recently published by the Harvard Business Review Press.
The two co-authors are John Mackey, co-CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods Market, a Nasdaq-listed public company based in Austin, Texas, which has become one of the most successful and premier supermarket chains and brands in the world; and Dr. Rajendra (Raj) Sisodia, professor of marketing at Bentley University, who in 2006 wrote, along with two other management specialists, Firms of Endearment, identifying 35 such firms, including Whole Foods, that have been successful as businesses and followed progressive, socially responsible policies.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Opinion: Kerry, Hagel — Vietnam’s lessons and legacies, The Hill, 1.17.13
By nominating Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as secretary of State and former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as secretary of Defense, Barack Obama is the first president — and maybe the last — to have Vietnam War veterans as the two top members of his national-security team.
In many ways, these two men could not be more different in background and political philosophy. Kerry is a Yale graduate from Massachusetts with a consistent liberal voting record. Hagel’s consistent conservative record was frequently to the right even of President George W. Bush — for example, he voted against Bush’s No Child Left Behind education reform law and his Medicare prescription drug bill.
For full op-ed, click here.
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Opinion: Hagel must address ‘Jewish lobby’ comment, The Hill, 1.7.13
I believe a president — Republican or Democrat — almost always deserves to have the Cabinet that he wishes, with the bar very, very high to oppose his choice. Thus, there should be heavy presumption that President Obama’s reported nominee for secretary of Defense, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, should be confirmed by the Senate.
Whether senators agree or disagree with Hagel’s past positions — on the Iraq war (against), declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a “terrorist organization” (against), engaging with Iran in negotiations more aggressively (for), engaging with Hamas in seeking a peace agreement in the Middle East (for) — these positions are known to the president, and he still has decided to nominate Hagel for the post.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: Farewell to Secretary Clinton — public servant and friend, The Hill, 12.19.12
The fact that she may be the most popular secretary of State in U.S. history is no surprise. All the qualities that made her so successful are familiar to those of us who have known her for a long time: always working hard, sensitive to others, smart, sees the big picture, great people skills.
Memories … September 1969. I first met Hillary Rodham when I was a third-year student at Yale Law School, registering for classes, and she was behind me in line. I recognized her, since I had recently seen her photo in a national magazine story about her valedictorian speech at Wellesley College about the legacy of the 1960s. Within five minutes she had asked me where the nearest legal clinic for the poor was in New Haven. Five minutes later I had made up my mind. One day she would be the first female president of the United States, or at the least a United States senator. Almost everyone who knew her back then had the same first reaction.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: Fiscal cliff could cause political revolution, The Hill, 12.5.12
There is no doubt that there will be serious, adverse consequences to ordinary Americans if, on Jan. 1, 2013, the nation goes over the “fiscal cliff” — meaning, on that day, $1.2 trillion in cuts in federal domestic and defense spending over the next eight years will begin, combined with immediate substantial tax increases and less money in paychecks for all taxpayers, especially hurting the middle class, as the Bush tax cuts are rescinded.
Any Democrat who thinks there is a tactical advantage to going over the cliff is probably someone who isn’t about to lose a job or remain out of a job and whose family is suffering.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: In defense of Norquist and his right to be wrong, The Hill, 11.28.12
I strongly disagree with Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge. But I believe his views are sincere. And I condemn those who substitute personal attacks on Norquist for factual arguments to prove him wrong.
First, I don’t get why my fellow Democrats and liberals blame Norquist for the “pledge” — rather than those who sign the pledge.
Last time I looked, no one forced 285 members of Congress at gunpoint to sign the pledge prior to the November elections — 238 of 242 House Republicans and 41 out of 47 Senate Republicans. They freely signed a commitment to oppose increases in marginal income tax rates for individuals and businesses and to oppose net reductions or eliminations of deductions and credits without a matching reduced tax rate.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: Post-election day advice to President Obama: Three phone calls, The Hill, 11.7.12
My advice to President Obama in the next several days: Make three phone calls, for starters — as soon as you and your team finish celebrating, with justification, having run a great victory. These three calls should be made to conservative Republican senators who I know, from personal experience, care more about the best interests of the nation and who care more about solving problems than about winning ideological wars or passing someone else’s litmus tests for purity.
They are Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah).
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: My prediction: Why Obama will — and should — win on Tuesday, The Hill, 11.2.12
I believe President Obama, based on all the evidence and my own gut instinct, which I will explain below, will win a narrow victory on Tuesday to serve a second term.
My best guess is the popular vote margin will be 50.5 percent to 49. The electoral vote margin will likely be 281 for Obama and 257 for Romney. I am picking battleground states for Obama to include Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada and New Hampshire. For Romney I am predicting he will win battleground states Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado.
There are three clear reasons — positive for President Obama and, conversely, negative for Romney — that explain and justify the president’s reelection.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: The Obama second term — doing the Clintonian pivot, The Hill, 10.26.12
Last week on the ABC Sunday morning news program “This Week,” Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, was asked about what to expect in an Obama second term if he is reelected on Nov. 6.
Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, mentioned President Clinton and his policies twice in his answer — the last time stating, explicitly, “Barack Obama has built policies on the same premises that President Clinton had, investing in America and strengthening America’s foundation, its people, and its economic bedrock.”
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: Advice to President Obama for Tuesday night’s debate, The Hill, 10.15.12
Dear Mr. President: I disagree with most of the advice you have been getting regarding what you should do in Tuesday night’s debate, as I do with the analysis from the same critics from my fellow liberals in the Democratic Party regarding your performance in the first debate on Oct. 3, two weeks ago.
You were criticized, overly harshly, in my view, by liberals in the party’s base because you didn’t attack Gov. Romney enough — for example, didn’t raise his record at Bain Capital or his “47 percent” gaffe. You are advised to come out “swinging” Tuesday night, aggressive on the attack, as if this is a boxing match rather than a presidential election at a crucial moment in American history.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: The first debate — the only way for a ‘game-change’ moment, The Hill, 10.3.12
I predict that nothing that happens tonight at the first debate is likely fundamentally to change the status quo: a tight election with President Obama likely to win.
But one issue could be a fundamental game-changer — or bring this country together on one paramount moral issue if both candidates agree — a real purple moment.
My game-changer — if EITHER candidate turns to the other and says:
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: Obama-Clinton center rejoined, The Hill, 9.19.12
The irony is too overwhelming to resist. After Bill Clinton’s speech on Sept. 5, the same pundits on the left who were critical of Bill Clinton’s “centrism” and “triangulation” in the 1990s and through the Obama primary campaign were gushing about Clinton on national TV. And many of the same conservative pundits who were critical of Clinton and supported the partisan impeachment process were also singing his praises after the speech.
Yes, the left and the right finally appeared to agree on at least one thing: They liked Bill Clinton. On July 22, 2010, I wrote a “Purple Nation” column in this space, titled “The Clinton-Obama progressive center: Returning to the winning formula.” On Feb. 1, 2012, I wrote a “Purple Nation” column titled, “Get ready for the Obama-Reagan-Clinton pivot.” On Wednesday and Thursday nights in the Clinton and Obama convention speeches, that happened.
For full op-ed, click here
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Campaign Civility IS Possible: Show the candidates you’re fed up with negative politics, AARP Bulletin, 9.5.12
by: Michael Steele and Lanny Davis
The very headline suggests we have an uphill battle convincing most people that civility and etiquette are still possible in American presidential campaigns — since we felt obliged to highlight the word “is.” Most people believe just the opposite, that incivility and negativity are the rule and can’t be changed.
As public affairs consultants now working together, we have a unique vantage point for this election year.
For full op-ed, click here
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Opinion: The two Clinton legacies that Obama should continue,The Hill, 9.4.12
There are many legacies of the Bill Clinton presidency, but two should influence President Obama most of all as he hits the reset button Thursday night to begin his general-election campaign.
The first is the legacy of fiscal responsibility — appealing to those voters who consider themselves conservative on debt and deficit issues.
For full article, click here
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Opinion: Obama’s best argument for reelection,The Hill, 8.29.12
(This column was preceded yesterday by one presenting Mitt Romney’s best arguments for winning the presidency in 2012. The author supports Barack Obama for reelection.)
First and foremost, President Obama must return to the themes of his 2008 presidential campaign and his 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote speech that so inspired Americans from all walks of life, and from all across the political spectrum.
For full article, click here
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Opinion: Romney’s best argument to win in 2012,The Hill, 8.28.12
(This is the first of two columns pre-GOP and -Democratic conventions. This will present the best arguments Romney can make for Americans to elect him over President Obama. The next column will present President Obama’s best arguments. The writer supports President Obama’s reelection.)
During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney should present three arguments for why he should be elected over President Obama.
For full article, click here
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Aurora reminds us to raise campaign tone,The Hill, 7.25.12
Early Friday morning in Aurora, Colo., we were reminded that there remains in the world the existence of pure, sociopathic evil — an inhuman monster who celebrates death and has no sensations from a beating heart of feelings, empathy or anything other than the glorification of death.
For full article, click here
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Romney’s taxes: Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself,The Hill, 7.18.12
Yes, Gov. Romney — that subtitle to my memoir concerning the rules we learned the hard way at the Clinton White House in 1996-98 about getting the truth out yourself proactively, even if it is a bad-news story, applies to you and the issue of your tax returns.
For full article, click here
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Polls, Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics,The Hill, 7.11.12
Throughout the world of political reporters and pundits, the blogosphere and social media — left, right and center — the conventional wisdom was impressive: Obama’s negative ads on Bain Capital and outsourcing were working in the 12 battleground states where they were exclusively running.
For full article, click here
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Column: Why Dems should not gloat over health care ruling,USA Today, 7.2.12
A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that GOP House Speaker John Boehner, confident that the Affordable Care Act would be held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, put the word out to Republicans to avoid gloating, telling colleagues, Don’t spike the ball. Now that the top court has upheld the legality of the health care law, my advice to Democrats is the same.
For full article, click here
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Use the facts, don’t stretch the truth,The Hill, 6.27.12
There is a cynical view of American voters that they don’t care about the truth — that they can be bamboozled into being persuaded by negative ads. “Negative ads work,” is the trite expression that gets an almost unanimous nod of the head, even among those who hate them.
For full article, click here
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Romney remains in the far right corner on immigration,The Hill, 6.20.12
OK, Gov. Romney — regarding your refusal to endorse President Obama’s executive order on immigration relief for illegal high school graduates — I have a bunch of questions for you.
For full article, click here
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Memo to Obama, Mitt: Nix Negativity, Politico, 6.19.12
Monday, we announced that we would be working together in a new company focused on bipartisan solutions in Washington. The reaction on the Internet on the left and right has been — surprise! — personal attacks, bile, blatant false accusations.
For full article, click here
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Behind the Dems’ debate, The Hill, 6.13.12
Make no mistake: The debate within the Democratic Party is an important one, but it’s about tactics and strategy, not about support for the president and his policies.
For full article, click here
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The Politics of Fear vs. the Politics of Hope, The Hill, 5.30.12
Within 24 hours over the holiday weekend, Democrats could read two starkly different messaging strategies for President Obama’s reelection campaign.
On Monday, May 28, Memorial Day, John Heilemann’s New York magazine article was headlined: “For Obama & Co., this time it’s all about fear.”
For full article, click here
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Cory Booker Got it Right, The Hill, 5.23.12
The attacks on Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (D) by the more vitriolic liberal commentators for what he said about Bain Capital on this past Sunday’s “Meet the Press” are just as indefensible as the Republican Party’s cynical and dishonest attempt to exploit and distort what the mayor actually said during the program.
For full article, click here
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Mixed signals on Gay Marriage, The Hill, 5.16.12
Last week, I believe President Obama got it right when he told ABC’s Robin Roberts, “for me personally … I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”
For full article, click here
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Obama and the Polls – Half-Full or Half-Empty?, The Hill, 5.10.12
Virtually every poll in the last two weeks — Gallup, Democracy Corps, USA Today, Rasmussen, New York Times/CBS — shows that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are in a dead heat nationally as well as in the nine battleground states.
For full article, click here
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Holder, Fast and Furious, and the Double Standard, The Hill, 5.4.12
Attorney General Eric Holder has been the subject of vicious partisan personal attacks on his integrity over the failed “gun walking” operation, “Fast and Furious.” The hypocrisy of the double standard by congressional Republicans is obvious.
For full article, click here
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My Chuck Colson lesson, The Hill, 4.25.12
Sometime in 1973, I first heard the name Charles Colson from my father at the dinner table. My dad, who always told me he “hated” President Nixon, told me that night that he also “hated” a man named Charles Colson, who had the title “special counsel to the president.” He told me about a sign on Colson’s wall in the White House: “When you’ve got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.”
For full article, click here
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They’re both right (and wrong) on Buffett Rule, The Hill, 4.18.12
One of my favorite scenes from the classic musical comedy “Fiddler on the Roof” is when the lovable lead character in the Russian Jewish village of Anatevka, Tevye, is trying to referee an argument between two men.
For full article, click here
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Shapiro’s ‘The Last Great Senate’ a must-read , The Hill, 4.16.12
For anyone interested in understanding why one of the great institutions of democratic government in the world — the United States Senate — has become so dysfunctional and paralyzed by partisanship, Ira Shapiro’s recently published book The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis (Public Affairs, New York 2012), should be mandatory reading — not only by pundits and political science classes, but by every member of today’s Senate.
For full article, click here
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Wyden-Ryan plan deserves a look, The Hill, 3.21.12
Among the most hypocritical aspects of certain purist Democrats who call themselves liberals is their willingness to attack any Democrat who veers even slightly from liberal orthodoxy.
For full article, click here
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Rush’s right to despicable speech, The Hill, 3.7.12
As someone who has been personally attacked by Rush Limbaugh many times, I yield to no one in my strong disagreement with Limbaugh on virtually everything. I consider his opinions too often hateful, inaccurate and despicable. That is my opinion.
For full article, click here
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Your move, Mr. President, The Hill, 3.2.12
Let’s face it — Republicans believe in tax reform if it means reducing taxes on the wealthy. Democrats believe in tax reform if it means increasing taxes on the wealthy.
For full article, click here
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The PBS Clinton series’ lack of proportionality, The Hill, 2.22.12
To watch four hours of the so-called documentary on the eight years of the Clinton presidency gave me the sensation of a report about a glass of water that is 75 percent full and 25 percent empty. The PBS presentation, I am guessing, spent 75 percent of the four hours reporting on 25 percent of the story, i.e., the issue of “scandal” in the Clinton presidency, omitting the substance and policy achievements of the Clinton presidency, i.e., issues that affected the lives of most Americans and that they care about most.
For full article, click here
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Inside Romney’s spin room, The Hill, 2.8.12
“So now we have a problem, Governor,” said Gov. Romney’s mythical Spinmeister. “What problem? We just won the Florida primary and the Nevada caucuses, and we destroyed Gingrich with tens of millions of dollars of ads attacking his character — so what’s the problem?” the governor might have responded.
For full article, click here
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Get Ready for the Obama Reagan-Clinton Pivot, The Hill, 2.1.12
The Republicans are making a big mistake by assuming they can successfully depict Barack Obama as an out-of-the-mainstream leftist. They are making it easier for him to move to the center, where he actually has been for most of his years in politics.
For full article, click here
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Morning in America again, The Hill, 1.25.12
President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night framed the issues in a way that polls show commands a majority of the American people’s support.
For full article, click here
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Romney’s ‘dog on a car roof’ story won’t go away, The Hill, 1.12.12
It might be unseemly to bring this up just as Mitt Romney celebrates his win in New Hampshire on Tuesday night and seems to be a strong front-runner for the GOP nomination. But the story of his putting his dog in a carrier on his car roof for a 12-hour family trip is spreading again on the Internet and disturbs me the more I learn about it.
For full article, click here
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Look for the Romney hemorrhage starting Wednesday morning, The Hill, 1.3.12
It doesn’t matter if Mitt Romney wins the Iowa caucuses tonight or not. He is about to experience a severe political hemorrhage over his refusal to disclose his tax returns.
For full article, click here
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Indecent blogosphere: If the truth matters, why not retract and apologize when you get it wrong?, The Hill, 12.19.11
What happens when you are wrongly accused in a posting on the Internet and you call to correct the false or misleading assertion?
This happened to me on Dec. 8 — not the first time — on a post on a website associated with the liberal Democratic organization the Center for American Progress (CAP) — an organization I strongly support and whose leader, John Podesta, is a close friend of mine of over 40 years.
For full article, click here
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Obama opts for the third way, The Hill, 12.7.11
President Obama’s “Renewed Nationalism” speech on Tuesday sets important themes for his 2012 campaign and offers him a chance to win back the vital center of American politics. His focus on fairness, income inequality and the plight of the middle class is his best chance to overcome what is, at best, a disappointing record on the key issues of the economy and the hemorrhaging national debt.
For full article, click here
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Obama and the supercommittee — the time to lead is now, The Hill, 11.16.11
President Obama looks better for reelection today than any Republican could have possibly imagined as recently as six months ago. Recent polling shows him ahead of all Republican candidates in the pivotal swing state of Ohio, and he leads or is in a dead heat in the national polls against every GOP candidate, including Mitt Romney — this despite his low grades on handling the economy and the continued unemployment rate of 9 percent.
For full article, click here
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If Herman Cain called me for advice, The Hill, 11.2.11
A hypothetical conversation: “Hello, Mr. Davis, this is Herman Cain. People tell me you combine the practice of law with crisis communications — I could use your help.”
For full article, click here
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With Romney racing to the bottom, odds favor Obama to win in 2012, The Hill, 10.26.11
Even before the first Republican debate, I have consistently stated in TV and print interviews that Mitt Romney would be the strongest Republican candidate against President Obama.
For full article, click here
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Charter schools — the smart answer to public education, The Hill, 10.19.11
In the 1960s, the late New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (D) used conservative, market-based, competitive forces to renew and create new jobs in the inner-city wasteland of the minority neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. A cynical New York City reporter (a redundant expression) was heard to mutter, as he heard Kennedy’s pro-market, pro-business ideas to help the poor, “You sound like Barry Goldwater.” Legend has it that Kennedy responded: “Maybe, but I know that I mean it.”
For full article, click here
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Let’s get the facts straight on Holder, The Hill, 10.12.11
If ever there were an example of hyper-partisanship, the recent personal attacks challenging the honesty and competence of Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the ATF’s errors in its “Fast and Furious” gun-tracking program should be Exhibit A.
For full article, click here
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Grover Norquist — standing on principle, The Hill, 10.5.11
I like and respect Grover Norquist. Despite the many matters on which I disagree with him, I respect his consistent, deeply held belief in limited government, which leads him to oppose higher taxes as an enforcement mechanism.
For full article, click here
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Obama, New York’s 9th and the mystery of the Jewish voter, The Hill, 9.21.11
It is a mystery: Why do so many Jewish Americans wherever I go express grave concerns about President Obama’s commitment to the Jewish state of Israel?
For full article, click here
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Howard Schultz’s Challenge — Is
Anybody Listening?, The Hill, 9.14.11
It was the summer before the presidential year to come, more than seven months before the New Hampshire primary. All of the Republican presidential candidate’s top campaign staff had quit; he was virtually out of money. All the pundit class declared him politically dead, mocking his campaign.
For full article, click here
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Obama, be a Sharp-Elbowed Centrist, USA Today, 8.17.2011
The time is now: Barack Obama needs to demonstrate a new style of leadership.
The president is a basketball player. He knows that sharp elbows can hurt people when they are swung. But they also open up scoring opportunities.
America faces two major problems that have shaken the country’s confidence: debt and high unemployment. To lead on both issues, Obama needs to emulate two presidents from opposite parties who provided needed leadership by sometimes throwing an elbow or two at their own political bases.
For full article, click here
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Rep. Connie Mack’s penny plan for spending cuts worth another look, The Hill, 8.4.11
Now that the national debt-ceiling deal is done — and liberals like me are unhappy and conservatives, deservedly, have more to cheer about — Thanksgiving 2011 will be about more than good turkey. This is the deadline for the so-called “super” congressional committee of six Democrats and six Republicans from the House and Senate to cut at least $1.2 trillion in the projected budget deficit for the next 10 years.
For full article, click here
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Obama, Boehner and ‘Rashoman’, The Hill, 7.27.11
A famous 1950 Japanese movie, “Rashomon,” describes a murder from the perspectives of four main characters who were involved in it — including the medium speaking for the murdered man. All four versions differ as to who is the real murderer. The director was asked by the actors: Who was the real murderer? The director’s response: We don’t know, because each person was telling the truth as he or she perceived it.
For full article, click here
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‘Let them eat peas’, The Hill, 7.13.11
The headline in the left-hand lead of The New York Times on Tuesday read: “Obama Grasping Centrist Banner in Debt Impasse.”
Wait a minute. Isn’t this the same president the Republican Tea Partiers decried as “socialist”?
For full article, click here
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Bill Clinton offers path on economy, The Hill, 7.6.11
Read the June 27 Newsweek cover story, with a smiling Bill Clinton filling the cover, and the headline “14 Ways to Save America’s Jobs,” and you will be reminded why and how Clinton began his first term as president with a $300 billion deficit and a stagnant economy emerging from a recession, and ended after two terms with a trillion-dollar-plus surplus and 23 million new jobs, not to mention a 65 percent job approval rating.
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America can’t afford breach with Pakistan, The Hill, 6.29.11
For several years in the late 1990s, I worked for the government of Pakistan, mostly when the late Benazir Bhutto, an inspiring small-“d” democrat and charismatic populist leader, was prime minister of Pakistan. I made lots of Pakistani friends, in Pakistan and among the large Pakistani-American community here.
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Obama and Libya – sometimes political is better than legal, The Hill, 6.22.11
A remarkable purple moment has occurred regarding the president’s legal decision to define “hostilities” as not having taken place in the U.S. operations in Libya, and thus declaring that there was no need to seek congressional authorization under the War Powers Act.
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Don’t count Newt Gingrich out so fast, The Hill, 6.15.11
It was the summer before the presidential year to come, more than seven months before the New Hampshire primary. All of the Republican presidential candidate’s top campaign staff had quit; he was virtually out of money. All the pundit class declared him politically dead, mocking his campaign.
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Prosecuting Edwards, The Hill, 6.8.11
At first blush, the decision to indict former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) for conspiracy to accept illegal campaign contributions, given the facts and circumstances, seems like a stretch, to say the least.
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No Delay on Medicare, The Hill, 6.1.11
As a liberal Democrat, I was happy with the results of the New York 26th congressional district special election, in which Democrat Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Jane Corwin by emphasizing her opposition to Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget proposal and her Republican opponent’s support of that plan.
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