Clive Crook's Slant

The main problem with Scott Walker's assault on public-sector unions in Wisconsin is not that it's unwarranted, but that it's disingenuous. He says he needs to roll back collective-bargaining rights to close the projected budget deficit, but this is untrue. It's wrong on his own analysis, for he .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

I don't suppose I should be surprised by the operatic dismay of liberal Democrats at the agreement Obama has reached with congressional Republicans. But is it really good politics for the party to keep telling the electorate that raising taxes on the rich is the one thing, in the end, it .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Ron Wyden have a radical plan to change the health-care law that, according to Max Fisher at Atlantic Wire, could please both proponents and opponents of the reform law. I'm not sure "plan" is quite the right word, though. In section 1332(a) of the Affordable Care .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Ron Wyden have a radical plan to change the health-care law that, according to Max Fisher at Atlantic Wire, could please both proponents and opponents of the reform law. I'm not sure "plan" is quite the right word, though. In section 1332(a) of the Affordable Care .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

And I don't just mean he might agree to extend all the Bush tax cuts, as he seems to be getting ready to do. A much bigger deal needs to be done--one that raises a lot more revenue in the medium and longer terms. You might say Republicans will never agree to this. I say it depends. I think the chanc .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

The president's comments on the Florida pastor's plan to burn copies of the Koran on September 11th were well judged. Yes, a stunt is exactly what it is--a disgusting and irresponsible stunt. What a shame that the issue has come to such prominence that the president needed to respond to the ques .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

The quarrel over extending the Bush tax cuts is escalating. In his Ohio speech the president gave the issue prominence. He said the country could not afford to keep the cuts in place for high-income households: it would cost a fortune, and have relatively little effect on employment. Such a policy w .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

We will see what the president has to say in Cleveland on Wednesday--according to the Washington Post, he will pitch the R&D tax credit but no payroll-tax holiday: all told, a non-proposal, stimulus-wise. His speech on Monday already said, in effect, that he is giving up the effort to pass another s .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

Decades ago I worked in the British civil service. I remember a colleague once got into trouble when security guards, patrolling the office one night, found he had left a secret paper on his desk. To be exact it was a single empty page -- a blank continuation sheet, stamped "secret". The guards, fol .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments

Here is an interesting and dare I say important article about the media's role in the Sherrod scandal by John Harris and Jim VandeHei at Politico. Race was a factor in what happened, self-evidently: in this case, specifically, sensitivity to the charge of racism. (See Jonathan Chait on the White Hou .. submitted 05/21/12

0 Likes Comments