Tag Archives: Boehner

Immigration From Tribulation to Triumph?

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

“Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.”

There is as much truth as humor in those words from my friend and former colleague Bob Orben, a brilliant political speechwriter and comedy script craftsman (sometimes they are one and the same, but I digress).

The point is that Americans have been both immigrants and native population. Many of us are the progeny of immigrants. But despite our heritage, we still struggle with immigration, both legal and illegal, how we feel about it and what we should do or not do to integrate new arrivals into a burgeoning and diversifying American society.

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Plan B

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

We’re now within 10 legislative days ’til the Fiscal Cliff – assuming the Members won’t be decking the Halls of Congress with boughs of holly on Christmas Eve and Day.

There is movement in the positions coming from either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. The President campaigned successfully on the idea of raising taxes on the wealthy – with the wealthy being defined as any family earning $250,000 or more annually. Continue reading →

Another Jacksonian Era

BY RICH GALEN

Reprinted from mullings.com

The deal to head off a government shutdown Friday night got done because a guy named Barry Jackson said it was done. Not one second before.

I have no – zero – inside info on what in the press world is known as a “tick-tock” who said what to whom, and when they said it. I am not one of Barry Jackson’s pals. I’m not even sure who they might be.

But, I have known Barry Jackson for about 15 years and I know this: He has the ability to focus in on a problem not like a laser – that would be too diffused; but like the beam of sub-atomic matter zooming around a particle accelerator.

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Get New Scorecard for Judging Value

BY RICH GALEN

Reprinted from mullings.com

We need a new way of keeping score when it comes to government spending. The only test is: How much did we spend on a program last year and how much more (or, rarely, less) are we spending this year.

There is no mention of whether the program in question is working well, badly, or not at all. There is no consideration of whether there is a more efficient way to deliver whatever services or goods are involved in the program.

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Nothing Small About Spending Cuts

BY JOHN FEEHERY

Reprinted from the feeherytheory.com

It is easy to be fairly nonchalant about the current budget battle that has consumed the Congress.

Pundits (myself included) have pointed out that the tens of billions of dollars being discussed is chump change, especially if you consider the trillions of dollars that we owe to the Chinese.

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President, Politics and A New Year

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com
There are a number of sites which will recount the month-by-month news for 2010. I’m not going to do that.

There is only one story for 2010 – and it was not Stephen Strasburg needing Tommy John surgery. That was number two.

The only story for this year was the uprising among American voters to produce a 63 seat turnover in the U.S. House plus major changes in the U.S. Senate, in Governors’ mansions, in State Legislatures, county courthouses and city halls from one end of the nation to the other.
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Energy & Commerce Chair Critical Call

BY GARY ANDRES

Intra-party fights for political spoils are one of the dark sides of legislative politics.

These battles are divisive and unproductive. They destroy party morale, political efficacy and even lifelong friendships.  Fortunately, the incoming Republican House majority kept most of these internal squabbles to a minimum when it came to selecting their new leadership team.

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Process, Policy Both Critical to Governing

BY BILL PITTS

Several years ago Congress authorized an earmark of $223 million in tax dollars to build a bridge in Alaska from the mainland to a practically uninhabited island. The bridge funding caught national attention and public ire. It became the “bridge to nowhere” and the iconic symbol of government waste. It rekindled a campaign that may result in the demise of the earmarking process.

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Boehner: Washington’s Mr. Fix It

BY GARY ANDRES

Reprinted from weeklystandard.com

If the Republicans win enough seats in Congress this November, GOP leader John Boehner will become the next speaker of the House. The Ohio Republican would assume the gavel amid a maelstrom of polarization not seen since the late nineteenth century.

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