Nov 12, 2013 | Elections, Elections - Presidential (2012), Libertarianism, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (November 12, 2013) Double Down, the new book on the 2012 presidential election by John Heilemann and Mark Helperin, falls short in one way that has been overlooked by the media. While it contains nifty insider tidbits about Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and other major players from that epic political battle, it overlooks one man whose influence may prove as lasting as the others...
Oct 25, 2013 | Conservativism, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans, Satirical Essays
Published: mic (October 25, 2013) "The only shame is to have none." –Blaise Pascal While the 17th century French mathematician may not have had Ted Cruz in mind when he penned the aforementioned aphorism, few words are more fitting for the Texas senator and his supporters. Having egged the radical right into a frenzy so fanatical that they shut down the government and drove America to the brink...
Oct 18, 2013 | Democrats, Economic Policy, Immigration, mic, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (October 18, 2013) Right now congressional Democrats have an abysmal approval rating of 31%. Not surprisingly, however, their Republican counterparts are doing even worse, polling at only 20%. By comparison, President Obama's approval rating remains in the low 40s, suggesting that if anything, legislative Democrats are being damaged more by their institutional association with...
Oct 17, 2013 | Democrats, Economic Policy, mic, Political Parties, President Obama, Republicans
Published: mic (October 17, 2013) America, it is time to doff your proverbial hat to President Barack Obama. This is what a leader looks like. It isn't simply that he managed to protect his signature legislative legacy, the Affordable Care Act, from being mutilated and/or defunded by congressional Republicans. While that is quite the accomplishment in its own right (one that will be appreciated...
Oct 16, 2013 | Conservativism, Economic Policy, Libertarianism, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (October 16, 2013) The Senate has presented its bipartisan bill to end the government shutdown and avert a debt default. With the fate of America's financial future now resting in the hands of right-wing firebrands, it is perhaps appropriate to remember the words of Edmund Burke, the 18th century British statesman widely regarded as one of the great paladins of conservative...
Oct 10, 2013 | Conservativism, Economic Policy, History, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (October 10, 2013) Before you ask, I present the definition of "snollygoster," courtesy of TheFreeDictionary.com: One, especially a politician, who is guided by personal advantage rather than by consistent, respectable principles. While not born of this crisis, snollygoster is an antique in the American political lexicon, tracing as far back as the 1840s and allegedly inspired by...
Oct 2, 2013 | Conservativism, Democrats, Economic Policy, History, Liberalism, Libertarianism, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Originally Published: PolicyMic (March 8, 2012) Republished on PolicyMic (October 2, 2013) as "Government Shutdown Question: Would the Founding Fathers Fight Liberalism?" Editor's Note:Although this article was originally published on March 8, 2012, we felt it would be valuable to offer the perspective of a PhD student in history on the ideological debate accompanying the current government...
Oct 1, 2013 | Conservativism, Economic Policy, History, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (October 1, 2013) It would be nice if Republicans would occasionally listen to the words of their party's first president. Abraham Lincoln, February 27, 1860: "Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves justified to break up this Government unless such a court decision as yours is, shall be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final rule of political action?...
Sep 25, 2013 | Conservativism, Economic Policy, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, President Obama, Republicans
Published: mic (September 25, 2013) After 21 hours of orating, Senator Ted Cruz's one-man jeremiad against Obamacare has officially come to an end. What in the world are we to make of it? Certainly the punditocracy has not come up short on feedback. Top Republicans are livid at Cruz for what they perceive to be his grandstanding, even going so far as to send research to Fox News correspondent...
Aug 25, 2013 | Centrism, Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues, Economic Policy, Health Care Reform, History, mic, Political Ideologies, Political Parties, Republicans
Published: mic (August 25, 2013) On the centennial year of his birth, a renaissance of interest has occurred about President Richard Nixon. First came Penny Lane's documentary Our Nixon, which compiles home movies shot by the 37th president's closest aides as a way of humanizing the much-maligned "Tricky Dick." Then came the release of The Butler, which adds further nuance to Nixon's cultural...