The New Jobs Number: OK For Obama, Less So For the Country
It might be tempting to read today’s expectations-beating jobs number—163,000, against private forecasts in the neighborhood of 100,000—as a sign the economy is surging just in time to help Barack Obama. My take is a bit more pessimistic, though not quite demoralizing. READ MORE >>
The Square and the Flair
Yes, Really, Ban All the Guns
Can We Please Drop the Gun Rights PC-ness?
Jon Meacham is a smart, sensible guy who makes the case for an assault weapons ban in terms no one of good faith could disagree with. If I were a public figure, I’d plant myself exactly where he is. Heck, I’d carry his piece around so I could wave it at any constituent who gave me lip. READ MORE >>
The Cultural Politics of the Obama-Romney Ad Volley
The intended message of the most recent campaign dustup, with an Obama ad showing Romney singing “America the Beautiful,” and a Romney ad that shows Obama doing Al Green, couldn’t have been clearer: Team Obama believes Romney’s big vulnerability is the way he's amassed and tended to his wealth (Romney’s vocals were the backdrop to a parade of headlines about outsourcing and offshore tax-shelters); Team Romney believes the president’s biggest vulnerability is his economic mismanagement (the Romney ad is about rewarding donors with alleged boondoggles like Solyndra while the middle-class take READ MORE >>
Dems Discover Their Self-Interest
Obama and the Bush Tax Cuts—This Time With Feeling
In honor of Obama’s opening gambit on the Bush tax cuts, a brief reminiscence from late 2010, the last time he found himself in this position. From my favorite book on the subject: READ MORE >>
And You Call Yourself a One-Percenter?
From the excellent lead to The New York Times story on Mitt Romney's Hamptons fundraisers: "EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. — A woman in a blue chiffon dress poked her head out of a black Range Rover here on Sunday afternoon and yelled to an aide to Mitt Romney. “Is there a V.I.P. entrance? We are V.I.P.” READ MORE >>
