Karl Rove
9/16/2010

Rove is surprised that in just 20 months Obama has lost control of his presidency’s narrative. It’s too late for the president to turn John Boehner into the Gingrich of 2010. And while Obama’s personal attacks on the GOP leader may be therapeutic for him and send a thrill up the leg of left-wingers, it has cost him (and his party) dearly with independents and college-educated voters. In a little more than a year and a half, the president has lost a third of his support among independents, many of whom are ready to punish Democrats at the polls. It is too late for Obama to do a makeover before the midterms. For the country’s sake Rove hopes the midterms bring about real hope and change at the White House.

Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of “Courage and Consequence” (Threshold Editions, 2010).

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David Ignatius
9/16/2010

Ignatius recounts an interview with retired Congressman Lee Hamilton. At 79 the Indiana Democrat remembers a time in American politics when making the country work took precedence over partisan interests and political loyalties. The problem, Hamilton says, is not partisan politics; it’s the bitter, angry spirit that accompanies them today. To rise above America’s political turmoil, Hamilton advises putting the interests of the country first and focusing on what works to make America successful.

Ignatius is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on global politics, economics and international affairs.

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Maureen Dowd
9/15/2010

Newt Gingrich has embraced his party’s lunacy, Dowd says. She shares some of his comments with the media that smear the president, saying he is a socialist and likening his behavior to Kenyan anti-colonialism. She also notes Gingrich’s un-Christian behavior despite his conversion to Catholicism. Finally, she looks at the writings and rantings of Dinesh D’Souz, which she says is fear-mongering akin to what the Bush administration used to get us into Iraq. Both D’Souz and Gingrich are using insinuation, half-truths, and dishonest reasoning to discredit the president, which would be funny if it weren’t so scary.

Dowd is a New York Times columnist.

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Katrina vanden Heuvel
9/15/2010

Special interests and powerful corporate lobbies should be set aside in order to hold real debates on important issues. Political leaders along with the media engage in “gotcha politics” to the detriment of the country’s direction. Republican campaigns point accusingly to President Obama’s economic policies while Democrats point to past Republican policies as the cause of America’s woes. Republicans have remained in an “idea vacuum” for years, vanden Heuvel points out, which may actually help them in the upcoming elections. But for Democrat campaigns to be productive, Democrats need to be honest about the lack of jobs and the still-dismal state of the economy and clear about what needs to be done now.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.

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David Brooks
9/14/2010

The story Republicans are telling each other about limited government is an oversimplified version of American history, and Brooks says it has dangerous implications. Using examples from Washington’s, Lincoln’s, and Roosevelt’s presidencies, Brooks says the American story is also one of limited but energetic governments that used federal power as a tool to promote growth and social mobility in the nation. He notes that if Republicans today regard “every new bit of government action as a step on the road to serfdom,” it will be a political, fiscal, policy, and intellectual tragedy. We must focus not just on what is happening today, but also on what could happen the day after tomorrow and problems facing the nation that cannot be addressed by merely making government smaller.

Brooks is a New York Times columnist.

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Arthur Brooks and Paul Ryan
9/13/2010

The authors write that in polls, Americans overwhelmingly prefer small government and low taxes to the alternative. Yet they’ve been given big government, one program at a time. As we move into this election season, Americans are being asked to choose between candidates and political parties. But the true decision we will be making is if we still want our traditional American free enterprise system or if we prefer a European-style social democracy. Every day more Americans see that the road to serfdom in America starts with smooth-talking politicians offering seemingly innocuous compromises and an opportunistic leadership that doesn’t stand up for America’s principles of freedom and entrepreneurship.

Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute. Ryan is a Republican congressman from Wisconsin.

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Jeremy Wiesen
9/13/2010

The term “industrial policy” should not be seen as a pejorative. Wiesen notes that it certainly isn’t in China. Nor should it be anathema for the US government to provide capital and other incentives to keep scientific and entrepreneurial talent at home, give aggressive trade assistance, and incubate new businesses. China’s government incubates business with capital and other incentives. So should America’s. Wiesen argues that we need to develop dynamic new businesses to prove American-style capitalism isn’t second-rate.

Wiesen is a professor of entrepreneurship (emeritus) at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

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Robert J. Samuelson
9/13/2010

The question of just why and how Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail remains unanswered two years after the financial institution’s collapse. Lehman’s failure had profoundly negative consequences, such as tighter credit and higher unemployment rates. Its collapse gave the impression that the government had lost control. The ensuing panic might have been avoided had the government bailed out Lehman. Alternatively, such a rescue might merely have delayed an inevitable crisis. History has yet to answer this question accurately.

Samuelson is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on political, economic and social issues.

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Charles Krauthammer
9/10/2010

The Obama administration has wisely designed upcoming talks with Palestine and Israel to deal directly with the real issues in the region. Likud Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is prepared to give up the West Bank, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is prepared to give up his home in exchange for a real offer of peace from the Palestinians. The problem is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to accept the existence of a Jewish state. Abbas will refuse to participate in the talks at all unless the settlement freeze, imposed by Obama, is not renewed on September 26. A reason not to participate in the negotiations would actually work in Abbas’ favor. If he is not present, he can not agree to any concessions. Abbas knows how to undermine even the most well-designed negotiations.

Krauthammer is a weekly columnist for The Post, writing on foreign and domestic policy and politics.

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