Category Archives: Politics

Endure The Tyranny Of The DIsallowed

Posted on May 21, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

You’re never making a bad bet to predict that Iran’s rulers with act with a craven desire for power at all costs, but I have to admit I’m a little surprised about this: Iran’s senior pragmatist politician, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, News and Current Events | Leave a comment

Employers Discontinuing Health Insurance Coverage Due To Obamacare

Posted on May 16, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

… seems not to be happening in real life. Gotta keep monitoring the issue, but this indicates that criticism of the ACA has been overblown: The health care law’s requirement that companies with at least 50 employees provide affordable health benefits is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Health Care, News and Current Events, Politics | Leave a comment

Searching for Answers in All the Wrong Places

Posted on May 16, 2013 by dedc79

Kevin Cramer, North Dakota’s Republican member of the House of Representatives, knows why this country has so many school shootings.  It has nothing to do with the availability of guns or our collective failure to adequately address mental health issues, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 4 Comments

Was Benghazi Terrorism?

Posted on May 16, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

Paul Waldman makes an interesting argument, but I think he’s mistaken: This is about what has to be one of the most inane disagreements in the history of American politics, the argument about whether Obama called the Benghazi attack an … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, News and Current Events | 3 Comments

The scandal within the “scandal”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by dedc79

Jeffrey Toobin thinks the real IRS scandal is the way organizations have exploited 501(c)(4) of the tax code: Particularly leading up to the 2012 elections, many conservative organizations, nominally 501(c)(4)s, were all but explicitly political in their work. For example, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Taxes | Leave a comment

And No One Ever Really Knows The Truth From The Lies

Posted on May 13, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

On a scale of 1-10, the IRS scandal seems to me about a 3. It is improper to focus on one side’s fundraising groups. An overall examination of supposedly tax-exempt organizations would probably be worthwhile. But they didn’t audit or … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 8 Comments

It’s Not Always About You

Posted on May 9, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

Daniel Larison notes that Danielle Pletka didn’t make a very good argument: I was struck by her odd choice of opening the argument by marveling that George Will and Eugene Robinson happened to agree more or less on Syria policy. Both want the U.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, News and Current Events, Politics | 1 Comment

Paul Ryan: “My Fingers Were Crossed The Whole Time!”

Posted on May 8, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Republicans have no policy preferences. They say and do whatever they feel like they need to say to gain power at that moment. We can see this by reviewing the voting records of … Continue reading →

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GOP Glasnost?

Posted on May 7, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

I am on record predicting against a GOP effort to engage more closely with reality; here are some small indicators the other way. Heritage Foundation’s silly made-up numbers about immigration drew heavy criticism from other conservative groups (though they tried … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | Leave a comment

I Concur

Posted on April 26, 2013 by dedc79

TPM’s Brian Beutler thinks the Democrats are making a big mistake with the FAA funding legislation now working its way through Congress: Last night, the Senate proved it can fix big problems for real Americans — so long as they’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, News and Current Events | 15 Comments

Republican Health Care Policy

Posted on April 25, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

There’s no such thing as Republican policy, on health care, or any other issue. Former National Review writer Josh Barro explains: In urging Republicans to stick with a repeal-and-replace agenda on the Affordable Care Act, Yuval Levin and Ramesh Ponnuru identify high-risk … Continue reading →

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A “textual” argument on immigration

Posted on April 23, 2013 by dedc79

Congress is debating immigration reform and all I can say is, God help us: A bit of a theological debate also ensued. David Fleming, the senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, argued that Christian scripture wasn’t a … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, News and Current Events, Religion | 2 Comments

Gay Marriage, Federalism, Constitutional Protection

Posted on April 20, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

We’ve been having a discussion about federalism and same-sex marriage back on a previous thread. I wrote enough in response to Pino’s most recent comment that I decided to just make it a new post. His comments are in italics, … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 9 Comments

Simple Answers To Simple Questions

Posted on April 17, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

Justin Green affects surprise and offers a naive question: Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has proposed an amendment to the current gun-control legislation that forces any state without a concealed carry ban to recognize the permits of all other states. In … Continue reading →

Posted in News and Current Events, Politics | 10 Comments

For Want Of A Cell

Posted on April 16, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

Matt Yglesias opens, properly, by noting the lack of accountability among policy elites: So this is huge. Or, rather, it won’t matter even a tiny little bit but it ought to be a big deal anyway. You’ve probably heard that … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Media analysis, News and Current Events, Politics | Leave a comment

Today in Stupid

Posted on April 16, 2013 by dedc79

Update:  Given that we hadn’t blogged about the Boston Marathon bombing at all, this post might not have been the best place to start.   I don’t have much to say about the event itself at this point, in part because … Continue reading →

Posted in Immigration, News and Current Events | 4 Comments

Will Colbert Parody Colbert?

Posted on April 10, 2013 by dedc79

Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of Stephen Colbert, and Democratic nominee for South Carolina’s First Congressional District, sounds pretty much like a typical politician. Which means she’s happy taking five irreconcilable positions on the same issue.  Here she is criticizing Obama’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Taxes | 6 Comments

Why Republicans Can’t Reform

Posted on April 8, 2013 by reflectionephemeral

Happily this didn’t happen a week ago today, or it’d be an even harder sell. Two Republican operatives write a concise and insightful op-ed on the party’s problems in Politico: While Buckley conservatives and Reagan Republicans attracted smaller real-time audiences, … Continue reading →

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