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20 hours ago
2 min

The Minimum Wage, Public Opinion, & the Lost Art of Political Compromise

Even though we now know that it can't be included in President Joe Biden's Covid relief package, a minimum wage increase should be fairly simple. It hasn't been raised since 2009 and its buying power has been undermined by a dozen years of inflation. Congress should have included an inflation adjustment in the legislation back then, but there wasn't adequate support and so we are left with the same debate; a living wage vs. job losses. Democrats support an increase to $15 per

2 days ago
5 min

6 Reasons Why the GOP Has Lost the Youth Vote

6 days ago
2 min

Virginia Republicans Prefer Wacky Trumpist, Amanda Chase for Governor in New Poll

Virginia will elect a new Governor this year and the state may provide an early indication of Donald Trump's hold on the GOP. A new poll released this week by Christopher Newport University found that a Trump acolyte, State Sen. Amanda Chase, leads in the race for the Republican nomination for Virginia's highest office. Many Virginians remain undecided, but Chase leads with 17% while 10% back former Virginia House Speaker Kirk Cox and 6% support businessman Pete Snyder. Wealt

7 days ago
2 min

Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump & the Coarsening of American Politics

You can't overestimate Rush Limbaugh's influence on the Republican Party over the last 30 years. He helped to transform it from a Party of starched shirt, good government technocrats into the white Christian nationalist, antigovernment, QAnon infected mess it is today. Those of you who have read my articles over the last few years might be surprised, but in the 1980s I served as a public official in central Pennsylvania, appointed by Republican office-holders. I also ran nume

Feb 11
1 min

It's Simple; Trump Incited a Deadly Attack on the Capital to Bolster His Insane Election Fantasies

Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is not a waste of time despite the likely outcome. America needs a detailed record of the former President's utter contempt for truth, the nation's values, and the rule of law. We all need to see the results of Trump's lies and careless incitement to violence, how easily it spiraled out of control. It's also important that Republican Senators are forced to go on record with their eventual impeachment vote. They either stand with America

Feb 10
2 min

GOP Controlled Legislatures are Considering 165 Bills to Make Voting More Difficult

If you don't like the outcome change the rules. After Donald Trump's loss in November and his baseless and often cringe-worthy voter fraud conspiracy theories, it was inevitable that Republicans would cook-up new ways to make voting more difficult. They have been doing it for decades, with mixed success, but Trump's voter fraud fantasies have taken it to an entirely new level. We have discussed the issue a number of times: Illuminate: "During his years in office, and especial

Feb 1
2 min

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jewish Space Lasers & Anti-Semitism Within the White Nationalist Movement

Historians in the future will look back at this era of Republican politics and wonder if someone laced their coffee with LSD, perhaps at a CPAC conference. Political Scientists look on with a mixture of horror and amusement as the GOP sinks further into the muck of QAnon, stolen elections, Bill Gates virus hoaxes, deep state cabals, and now Jewish space lasers. Newly elected Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of GA is becoming the post-Trump face of the GOP by being just

Jan 21
3 min

Biden Begins to Wash Away the Scourge of Trumpism with a Wave of Executive Orders

President Joe Biden made a good start yesterday in expunging Donald Trump's shameful legacy. There is much to do and some of it will take legislation by Congress, but Biden demonstrated that he won't waste any time in reversing Trump's most reviled policies. Immigration: Biden ended the "Muslim ban" which blocked travel to the United States from several predominantly Muslim and African countries and strengthened DACA protections for the children of undocumented immigrants [Dr

Jan 17
1 min

GOP Senator Sasse: Lies & Conspiracies are Destroying the Republican Party

This weekend, Nebraska's conservative GOP Senator Ben Sasse penned a powerful article for the Atlantic describing how his party is being destroyed by the lies and conspiracy theories of groups like QAnon that have become so prevalent in the right-wing media universe. In Sasse's editorial, titled "QAnon is Destroying the GOP From Within" the lawmaker states that the riots that took place at the Capitol were not a result of a "few bad apples" but rather a "seed" that Republican

Jan 15
2 min

New Research on How Our Political Beliefs are Shaped by Party Leaders

Political scientists have long realized that there is a substantial "team effect" in politics, meaning that political party leaders have the power to shape the beliefs of their voters, even to dramatically alter their opinions. The theory is that many voters will change their views on specific issues to stay aligned with their party's message and remain part of the "team." For instance, in the United States many researchers have been surprised by how easily Donald Trump alter

Jan 14
2 min

Where Does the Republican Party Go From Here; Fantasy v. Reality

Ross Douthat, the very conservative, but mostly grounded in reality, columnist for the New York Times wrote this week about the future of the Republican Party after Donald Trump and the attack on the Capital. His point is that the GOP could "break" because the fault line dividing the wacky Trump/QAnon wing and traditional Romney/Hogan/Sasse conservatives has become too wide to bridge. Douthat envisages the Republican Party collapsing as the conventional wing attempts to break

Jan 5
2 min

No Matter the Outcome Today, Stacey Abrams is a Rising Star & Maybe the Governor of Georgia in 2022

More than anyone, Stacey Abrams is responsible for Joe Biden's victory in Georgia and if Democratic senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win today, they too will owe her a debt of gratitude. Since narrowly losing her race with Brian Kemp for Governor in 2018, she has dedicated herself to grass-roots organizing in Georgia, registering hundreds of thousands of new voters. And she has raised a lot of money through her organization "Fair Fight" to support smaller loca

Jan 4
4 min

Trump Proves His Corruption Has No Limits & His Co-Conspirators in Congress Defile the Constitution

Who could have believed that our great nation and its Constitution could be so easily defiled by a lying, incompetent, lout with a badly applied spray-on tan. In four short years Donald Trump has gutted our country's most sacred institutions, failed every test of leadership, and reduced our stature internationally to that of a poorly governed banana republic. And now, after being rejected by the majority of Americans, he wants to burn the nation down on his way out the door.

Dec 14, 2020
3 min

11 Things that Joe Biden Can Do to Restore Integrity, Fairness, & Competency to Government

Activists from across the ideological spectrum and with a variety of agendas are now encouraging President-elect Joe Biden to act quickly on issues closest to their heart. Biden should be careful not to employ a scattershot approach during his first weeks in office and focus on a handful of topics that Americans can easily relate to. A president's initial acts are often the ones that citizens remember and he can use his first months in office to craft a moderate progressive a

Dec 11, 2020
2 min

The 106 House Republicans Who Backed the Texas Lawsuit will be Remembered as Traitors

106 House Republicans have joined a lawsuit authored by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to overturn the results of the election in several states that didn't vote for Donald Trump and allowed the use of mail-in ballots. It is, as conservative GOP Senator Ben Sasse explained, a "PR stunt rather than a lawsuit," and an attempt by ethically challenged Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton to obtain a "pardon" from the President before he leaves office. Massive voter fraud of the type

Dec 10, 2020
2 min

Loeffler and Perdue, the "Bonnie & Clyde of Political Corruption"

Jon Ossoff is running a good campaign in his Georgia Senate race against Sen. David Perdue. He has been pounding relentlessly on Perdue's questionable stock trades and the Senator's refusal to face him in a public debate. And he certainly knows how to turn a phrase. New York Times: "Mr. Ossoff voiced a major theme that both Democratic candidates were seeking to exploit: allegations that Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue benefited from questionable stock trades as they learned about

Dec 5, 2020
2 min

David Perdue Now Trails Jon Ossoff as Stock Trading Scandal Haunts Incumbent

Republican Sen. David Perdue has fallen behind media executive Jon Ossoff in one of the two Georgia special election races. A new poll by the Trafalgar Group, a Republican leaning polling organization, has Ossoff ahead 48-47 among likely voters. And, to give you some idea about Trafalgar's GOP lean, they had Trump ahead by 5 points in Georgia just before the November 3rd election. Joe Biden ended up winning the state, of course. Ossoff has hammered Perdue on his stock trading

Nov 22, 2020
3 min

The Election Shows the Importance of Political Messaging

Here is an iron rule of politics; because of the complexity of the modern world, many voters do not understand all the nuances of perplexing public policy issues. That's why we are fed a constant stream of painfully oversimplified campaign ads during our elections that add little to a serious dialogue about important issues like trade, immigration, climate change, taxes or international relations. But, that's our political environment, and you can't wish it away. So, in this

Oct 10, 2020
1 min

Lindsey Graham Loses His Mind, Says Blacks Don't Face Discrimination if They are "Conservative"

Yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina refused to be tested for the coronavirus, so his debate with his Democratic challenger Jaime Harrison was scrapped. Instead, both candidates sat for separate interviews that were televised last night. During his interview, Graham was asked about potential legislation to address police brutality, and he gave one of the most bizarre answers one is likely to hear this campaign season. It was either a case of brutal honesty about r

Sep 8, 2020
2 min

Where the Race Stands with Just 8 Weeks to Go; Biden Leads, But it May Be a Nail-Biter

The final lap of the election begins today. The dust has settled from the nominating conventions and there are just eight weeks remaining until election day. The first of three presidential debates will be held in four weeks, on September 29th, and mail-in voting has already begun in North Carolina, with several other states starting shortly. One of the most momentous elections in US history is underway. Here are four things to know about the race: 1. National Vote: The race

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The Minimum Wage, Public Opinion, & the Lost Art of Political Compromise

6 Reasons Why the GOP Has Lost the Youth Vote

Virginia Republicans Prefer Wacky Trumpist, Amanda Chase for Governor in New Poll

Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump & the Coarsening of American Politics

It's Simple; Trump Incited a Deadly Attack on the Capital to Bolster His Insane Election Fantasies

GOP Controlled Legislatures are Considering 165 Bills to Make Voting More Difficult

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jewish Space Lasers & Anti-Semitism Within the White Nationalist Movement

Biden Begins to Wash Away the Scourge of Trumpism with a Wave of Executive Orders

GOP Senator Sasse: Lies & Conspiracies are Destroying the Republican Party

New Research on How Our Political Beliefs are Shaped by Party Leaders

Where Does the Republican Party Go From Here; Fantasy v. Reality

No Matter the Outcome Today, Stacey Abrams is a Rising Star & Maybe the Governor of Georgia in 2022

Trump Proves His Corruption Has No Limits & His Co-Conspirators in Congress Defile the Constitution

11 Things that Joe Biden Can Do to Restore Integrity, Fairness, & Competency to Government

The 106 House Republicans Who Backed the Texas Lawsuit will be Remembered as Traitors

Loeffler and Perdue, the "Bonnie & Clyde of Political Corruption"

David Perdue Now Trails Jon Ossoff as Stock Trading Scandal Haunts Incumbent

The Election Shows the Importance of Political Messaging

Lindsey Graham Loses His Mind, Says Blacks Don't Face Discrimination if They are "Conservative"

Where the Race Stands with Just 8 Weeks to Go; Biden Leads, But it May Be a Nail-Biter

Images of the Week

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Please visit our Friends at Feline Design: Making superior quality cat furniture in the US since 1986.