Cynicism At the Dawn Of the Age Of Bipartisanship

Yesterday I heard John Cornyn say that he admires Edward (Ted) Kennedy, even though they differ philosophically in many ways, because, “He’s been a courageous fighter as he has been for his entire career. … Our thoughts and prayers go with him.”
Today I read this: “[Bobby Jindal] admires Kennedy [...]

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Is This The “A” List?

Brian Gaines, who is with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and is also a political science professor, had this to say when asked by the Daily Illini about the next GOP presidential candidate:
Whether successful or not, I don’t think anybody is likely in the next two years to emerge as the likely [...]

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Mean Economic Riptides Threaten Louisiana, Jindal

Times are tough, so Governor Bobby Jindal is tightening the collective Louisiana belt. There is a $342 Million shortfall in the state’s budget, so he’s taking away $118 Million from the state’s healthcare system. Trouble is, Louisiana already ranks 50th (yes, that’s last place) in health care according to AmericasHealthRankings.org.
Another $55 Million will be taken [...]

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On the GOP chief executives

As this Newsweek piece reminds us, there are still 21 of them. I’m really not in the mood to talk about Bobby Jindal right now, since for the first time in my life a key figure in the Republican Party is younger than me, and I’m still stinging from the blow. (They don’t [...]

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Jindal’s Medicaid plan

On Friday, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal received a preliminary approval to move ahead with his health care plan. In a “near-unanimous vote,” the state legislature approved his application for a federal waiver of certain Medicaid rules. If Uncle Sam allows, Jindal’s plan will set up “managed care networks as a pilot program in [...]

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GOP 2012 Readiness Test, Part 1

Many post-mortems in the past month have espoused upon the GOP’s failures in embracing technology and message dissemination. I took a look at the 2012 candidates’ website to see if they have learned anything from these lessons. I rated these websites on a scale of 1 to 5 in three areas: Issues pages, Web 2.0 [...]

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Crying wolf about crying wolf.

I’m coming down with a serious case of Derangement Syndrome Derangement Syndrome. I understood accusations of Bush Derangement Syndrome, even Clinton Derangement Syndrome. But Palin Derangement Syndrome? Obama Derangement Syndrome? Joe the Plumber Derangement Syndrome (!!!)?
I propose a truce. I simply cannot handle four years of talk of [...]

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Old math in the new age. Or is it new math in the old age? New math, new age, but old news? Or is it that old age is not math news, but…

States are heading for budget difficulties that may compel the governors to swallow hard and either propose or accept tax increases.
And there is no better way to alienate the base of the Republican Party than to push for, or acquiesce to, tax increases.
Yeah? So?
The problem is particularly sensitive for a group of governors who [...]

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Bobby Jindal: “I’m not running for president”

“The most important thing for me is to be the best governor for the state of Louisiana,” the [Louisiana] governor said in an interview. “If the people of Louisiana will allow me, I’m going to serve for two terms.
“I’m not running for president.”
Read more here. Also from the source article:
Since the dismal Republican [...]

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The List That’s Not “The” List

Chris Cillizza has a new entry in the Washington Post blog in which he reveals a GOP top 10 list that he insists is not a presidential candidates list. This is a list of Republicans, he writes, to “to keep an eye on over the coming months and years.” Uh… okay. You decide if the [...]

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