The Tea Party Is Wrong About Earmarks

Posted by , 22nd October 2010

US CongressBob Livingston
10/22/2010

Why, Livingston wonders, does Congress all too often accept the president’s spending priorities? His advice to Republicans, if they regain the majority, is not to shun the appropriations committees and not to shun good and honorable earmarks, which even in the worst of years accounted for less than 1% of the federal budget. If earmarks have merit, they should be transparent to the public and not snuck through in the dead of night. Republicans, including supporters of the tea party movement, need to keep in mind that the president cannot force Congress to spend money it refuses to spend. And members of Congress have the right, the power, and the duty to appropriate money in accordance with their own responsible judgment of what is in the public interest.

Livingston was a Republican member of Congress from Louisiana and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee from 1995 to 1999.

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Christine O’Donnell’s misconceptions of the Constitution

Posted by , 22nd October 2010

Christine O'Donnel's supportersMichael Gerson
10/22/2010

Tea Party supporters and luminaries fashion themselves as constitutional conservatives, but in at least one significant area, their self-assessment betrays a basic lack of familiarity with the Constitution itself. The conception of America as a Christian nation carries profound weight among Tea Party conservatives, but it stands plainly counter to history and the Constitution itself. While an avowed reverence for the rights and dignity of all humanity is firmly rooted in the Christian heritage shared by many in the founding generation, it is precisely because of this that the original posture toward faith was fundamentally anti-institutional.

Gerson writes about politics, global health and development, religion and foreign policy.

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Is the NAACP trying to pick a fight with the Tea Party?

Posted by , 21st October 2010

NAACP LogoDana Milbank
10/21/2010

The NAACP has released a report entitled “Tea Party Nationalism” in which the organization compares the conservative movement with the KKK and Lee Harvey Oswald, among others. While racially charged elements and members have aligned themselves with the Tea Party, they have been recognized and expelled just as quickly. To suggest the presence of a concerted, continuous effort is irresponsible, especially since the charge itself is racially aggressive and divisive. Thus, the NAACP is essentially inhabiting the same space it accuses the Tea Party of occupying, using race as a political wedge.

Milbank writes about political theater in the nation’s capital.

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The Fury Failure

Posted by , 21st October 2010

Pamela GormanGail Collins
10/21/2010

Our political candidates’ use of undifferentiated anger to create nothing but a feeling of moral superiority on the part of the irate has backfired in political races this election season. Collins illustrates the stories of several candidates across the country who have done so and how it has cost them in the polls.

Collins is a New York Times columnist.

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The Biggest Race You Haven’t Heard Of

Posted by , 21st October 2010

Harry WilsonDaniel Henninger
10/21/2010

Henninger writes about what he calls a rare chance to defuse the pension bomb. New York, like many other once-important states, is sitting on a public pension debt bomb. If it blows, it will take great swaths of the productive American economy with it for years. Harry Wilson says he can defuse the New York bomb. If Harry Wilson can get the public-pension death spiral under control in New York–and he just might have the professional and intellectual tools to do it–it should be possible to reform pensions in any state. Henninger concludes that it should be possible for a Cuomo-Wilson alliance to fix another failing American state.

Henninger writes ‘Wonder Land’ for the Journal.

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Get Tough on Pakistan

Posted by , 20th October 2010

US Afghanistan PakistanZalmay Khalilzad
10/20/2010

Although Pakistan has and continues to do a lot of good in the war on terror, it continues to give only sanctuary and support to the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani terrorist network. This hampers American military efforts while contributing to American and Afghan deaths and has helped to sour relations between the two countries. Current American policy with Pakistan is not working. Washington must offer Pakistan a stark choice between positive incentives and negative consequences. Khalilzad offers a number of examples.

Khalilzad, a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the president of a consulting firm, was the ambassador to Afghanistan, Ira, and the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration.

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Just Knock It Off

Posted by , 20th October 2010

ObamaThomas L. Friedman
10/20/2010

Friedman gives several reasons why President Obama is not anti-Israel. These include building a global coalition to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon and trying to advance the peace process in the Middle East to get Europeans and the UN behind tougher sanctions on Iran. It is not an act of hostility to ask Israel to continue its expired 10-month partial moratorium on settlement-building in the West Bank to prevent Palestinians from avoiding peace talks, but Israel’s prime minister has been resisting this request or demanding a payoff from the US for continuing the freeze. Friedman gives two reasons why he is wrong to do so. He says president Obama is doing his job and Palestine and Israel’s leaders should do theirs and work for peace during this process.

Friedman is a New York Times columnist.

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‘Manning up’ isn’t the problem this election

Posted by , 20th October 2010

Meg WhitmanRuth Marcus
10/20/2010

With the prevalence and prominence of female candidates this election season, the depressing state of gender politics has come front and center. Female candidates are repeatedly telling their male counterparts to “man up” while others have referred to “man pants” and “cojones” as requisites for responsible leadership. Conversely, an aide within Jerry Brown’s campaign referred to his opponent, Meg Whitman, as a whore. Recognition of and respect for genuine gender differences is entirely lacking; in its place is an unreflective, grade school level of name calling unbecoming the national discourse.

Marcus is an editorial writer for The Post, specializing in American politics, campaign finance, the federal budget and taxes, and other domestic issues.

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GOP’s election strategy lets others do its dirty work

Posted by , 18th October 2010

Glenn BeckE.J. Dionne Jr.
10/18/2010

The Republican Party and conservatives generally appear to be taking a three tiered approach to this November’s elections. Glenn Beck has been the leading national voice for conservative criticism of the president, casting him as a dangerous and conspiratorial figure endangering the country’s future. Next, the Tea Party and other third party organizations are spending considerable sums on negative advertising against the various Democratic candidates. These influences then allow the local conservative candidates to adopt whatever pose or perspective will be most advantageous, from moderate to outspoken, in their respective races. The electorate is energized by the national influences and then mobilized according to the local tendencies.

Dionne is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on national policy and politics.

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