On Tuesday, Craig Becker, Obama’s nominee to the National Labor Relations Board, failed to overcome a GOP filibuster. There is no reason why presidential appointments of either party should require a supermajority to be confirmed.  more

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama failed to do what Reagan did during his first address in 1982: make an argument not merely for discrete policies but on behalf of his worldview.  more

Ultimately, the Democrats who really do want to help people weren’t going to miss a chance to get 30 million plus people health insurance for the rest of their lives.   more

In New Jersey’s governor’s race and in New York’s 23rd congressional district, expect the Democratic candidates to slip by GOP opponents weakened by third-party challengers.  more

Demagogues like Limbaugh and Beck exploit the resentments and anger of conservative Republicans while keeping them marginalized and unable to build a viable movement.  more

Recently, Newt Gingrich described President Obama as “a radical in the sense that the victory of [his] values would mean the end of American civilization as we know it.” If Obama’s presidency is the “end of civilization” – I’m both disappointed and relieved.  more

If American conservatives continue to oppose universal health insurance coverage, they will remain the outliers of the civilized world.   more

According to a new poll, 7% of North Carolinians who voted for John McCain do not believe Hawaii to be a part of the United States. They may be older voters who never quite absorbed the news that our 50th state is indeed our 50th state. Sadly, even if the latter is the case, it doesn’t explain much about the birther phenomenon.   more

Look at three Democratic politicians: Bill Clinton, LBJ, Mario Cuomo. If you used the standard measurement for “working class,” their backgrounds fit the label.  more

Conservatives tend to define white people as “working class” for reasons of cultural affect, i.e. they say, “you betcha”, and own guns, are anti-abortion, seem to have conservative economic views, didn’t go to an elite university, and are deeply religious.  more

Quite a lot of American politicians have become great success stories without graduating from Columbia and Harvard. Even Republican politicians.  more