policy

A lot of those spontaneous calls from constituents are the work of lobbyists.

Years ago, during the long-forgotten administration of George H.W. Bush, I looked in on a friend of mine who had been “tasked”— the military jargon was just then creeping into civilian life – with writing the president’s State of the Union address.

To those feverishly speculating, whether in glee or in terror, that the election results in Virginia and New Jersey portend loss of GOP control of the House of Representatives in midterm elections a year from now, I ask this question: What difference does that prospect make not as of January 2019…

There’s a 2010 episode of The Office where the bumbling Michael Scott illustrates how bad he is with money: “This has not be a blockbuster year for me financially. My Blockbuster stock is down.”

I once worked in a small state agency that, among other things, analyzed legislation. At one point the agency’s head hired three new analysts. One of them was a woman in her early thirties​—​call her Leena. Her job was to brief other staffers on budget-related bills. When she first took the job,…

I once worked in a small state agency that, among other things, analyzed legislation. At one point the agency’s head hired three new analysts. One of them was a woman in her early thirties​—​call her Leena. Her job was to brief other staffers on budget-related bills. When she first took the job,…

Public radio doesn't quite know what it wants us to think about the anti-addiction medicine Vivitrol.

Public radio doesn't quite know what it wants us to think about the anti-addiction medicine Vivitrol.

On Tuesday, multiple outlets reported that Donald Trump will propose six weeks of paid maternity leave for new mothers.

With Super Tuesday now behind us, 15 of the 50 states have voted. If this were the Indianapolis 500, only 150 of the 500 miles would now be completed. Donald Trump has won won a plurality of the vote in 10 of the first 15 states—while Ted Cruz has won a plurality in 4 and Marco Rubio in 1—but the…

We are just a year from November 8, 2016, and the election that will largely determine the fate of Obamacare, and the news isn’t good for President Obama’s centerpiece legislation. Premiums continue to rise, doctor and hospital networks continue to shrink, Americans continue to balk at buying…

As we approach the third Republican presidential debate, conservatives should consider what they expect the next president to accomplish.

Former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Jeff Bell found a lot to like in Donald Trump's tax plan. 

As a senator from New York, Hillary Clinton was staunchly opposed to recognizing same-sex marriage. She expressed that sentiment clearly in this 2002 interview with TV host Chris Matthews (starting at 2:05 mark):

Spokeswoman Karen Finney claimed today on MSNBC that Hillary Clinton did not flip-flop on the issue of same-sex marriage.

Bill de Blasio ran Hillary Clinton's New York Senate race in 2000. But he's not yet ready to endorse his former boss for president of the United States. He made the comments this morning in an interview with NBC's Chuck Todd:

Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a possible Republican presidential candidate, made the case that immigration policy should "protect"American workers and wages. Walker made the comments in an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity:

Scott Walker has had a pretty good run as of late. He’s made some new friends and wrong-footed the right enemies and became, in fairly short order, a leader among the pack of Republican politicians running for president.  Perhaps even the leader. 

In John Kerry's statement on President Obama's Cuba policy changes, the secretary of state doesn't simply suggest the policies in place for five and a half decades are outdated. He seems to be suggesting they were a failure from the start. And in doing so, he apparently misstates his own age at the…

The European Parliament has called for the dismemberment of Google, the French want  “les Gafa,” as they call Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, reined in, EU regulators are under pressure to get tough with the Americans. And the leaders of Silicon Valley’s non-tax-paying, privacy-invading,…

James Pethokoukis notes that according to a new study by the Tax Foundation, the United States:

Confident about the upcoming election, and afraid they’d fumble a handoff, House Republicans have apparently decided to take a knee until voters cast their ballots. But this timid run-out-the-clock mentality has the potential to hurt the party in both the short term and the long run.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said today that President Obama "is determined as ever" to take executive action to deal with the issue of immigration:

At the White House press briefing Monday, Jay Carney was not asked directly about his statement from June 2013 that "we would not make any decisions about transfer of any detainees without consulting with Congress and without doing so in accordance with U.S. law," as we reported yesterday. However,…

Responding to mild U.S. sanctions on Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced on May 13 that U.S. astronauts would no longer be welcome to ride to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Russian rockets.  “After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the…

The legalization of marijuana has acquired an aura of inevitability. But is there really no choice? Must Americans resign ourselves to the social acceptability, legal entrenchment, and widespread availability (including to our kids) of marijuana? 

President Obama said yesterday:

A new report from the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee finds that "Economic Growth In 2013 Just Half Of What The President Said His Policies Would Deliver." Here's a chart, showing the committee's findings:

Janet Yellen made her first appearance before Congress since assuming the chair of the Federal Reserve Board and produced the yawns she was seeking, even thanking several of her interlocutors for calling her “unexciting.” Knowing that some Fed critics are seeking to rein in the bank’s independence…

In an interview on Wednesday, CNN's Jake Tapper questioned Secretary of State John Kerry about Iran, the security of the Sochi Olympics, and Syria. On the latter issue, Tapper asked the secretary point blank if the Obama administration's Syria policy had failed:

President Barack Obama delivered a State of the Union Address on Tuesday that was important less for what he said than for what it says about him.

Walter Shapiro, writing in the The American Prospect, makes the case for second term agenda of jobs and economic growth. Not exactly original but, certainly, passionately argued.  

The press covering Joe Biden's trip Asia caught an unusually frank comment from the vice president. Biden, speaking about himself, reportedly said that his "profound insights on policy are vastly exaggerated, but we do have profound respect for the people of South Korea."

For just a moment, let’s pretend the GOP really were waging a “war on women.” Where would you go to find less inequality and chauvinism? According to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, three of the best options for women seeking greater equality are Cuba, Nicaragua, and Burundi.

Our economy is increasingly policy-driven, at least in the near- and medium-terms. What Congress and the president do or don’t do, what incoming Federal Reserve Board chairman Janet Yellen does or doesn’t do, will be important determinants of our growth, inflation, and job creation rates. So here…

“The thrill is gone,” famously warbled B.B. King among others. And so it is for watchers of the U.S. economic scene. The eighteenth partial government shutdown is over, World War II veterans can legally visit the monument to their bravery, hikers can trek through national parks, and the National…

Louisana governor Bobby Jindal, the two-term Republican and potential presidential candidate, has announced the formation of a new group called America Next. The organization bills itself as a "conservative policy group" that aims to "focus on winning a war of ideas." Here's an excerpt from a…

If not Janet Yellen, who? Larry Summers wanted the job, but couldn’t win the support of leftish Democrats and feminists. Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who can have Ben Bernanke’s job as chairman of the Federal Reserve board for the asking, is said to have told the White House that he…

First Lady Michelle Obama's office is holding a conference call with reporters now to tout her "New Effort To Encourage Everyone to Drink More Water," according to the White House. The content of the call is "embargoed until 6:00AM ET on Thursday, September 12."

Charlie Rose last night asked President Obama his new Syria policy. The president first objected to it being called a new policy. "I'm not sure you can characterize this as a new policy. This is consistent with the policy that I've had throughout," he said.

Thursday the White House announced that the American intelligence community assesses, with a level of high confidence, that the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against the opposition multiple times, in a limited fashion. Now that it is clear Assad has crossed the…

A list of rappers and stars, including Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Kim Kardashian, and many more, have written an open letter to President Obama to ask that he ease the nation's drug policy. They also ask that prison policy be changed, too. 

In these days of unprecedented monetary activism by the Federal Reserve, including massive purchases every month of federal government debt, it’s nice to see even a fledgling amount of resistance from attentive citizens. A bill now making its way through the Virginia legislature would establish a…

A women's group earlier today released a statement with the following headline, "More Women in Senate Likely Result Higher Taxes, Bigger Govt, Less Freedom." The group making the claim is the Independent Women's Forum.

New data compiled by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee shows that, last year, the United States spent over $60,000 to support welfare programs per each household that is in poverty. The calculations are based on data from the Census, the Office of Management and Budget, and the…

President Obama yesterday cited an "independent, non-partisan" economic study by the Tax Policy Center. The president used the group to buttress his argument against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's tax plan. (This, despite the fact that a former staffer for President Obama helped…

In the event the Supreme Court does not put Obamacare out of our misery next week, Mitt Romney ought be ready to roll with the punches and come out at once with Plan B. Plan A was to have the Court sever it neatly with one swing of the axe, but there was always the possibility the Court would not…

New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie blasted President Obama in a speech earlier today at a conservative conference in Chicago

White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked aboard Air Force One about President Obama's position on same sex marriage. He punted. Again. From today's pool report:

The Scrapbook has been reading, with great interest and profit, not one but two stellar recent publications of that stellar journal, National Affairs.

One federal department Rick Perry can remember he wants to eliminate is Education. The presidential candidate has just revealed an overview of his approach to “wasteful, overbearing, and redundant” agencies, going into greater detail yesterday with a new policy document.

Reuters blogger and WEEKLY STANDARD contributor James Pethokoukis takes a look at Jon Huntsman's recently unveiled tax plan, and by golly, it might be the first thing about his candidacy that generates real excitement: