Leave a Comment

POLITICS: The Old Deal
Baseball Crank — Patrick Ruffini notes the disjoint between Democrats' claims to represent youth and new thinking and the hoary old 1970s/1930s ideas they are trotting out.

Crying Wolf on the Fairness Doctrine
The Next Right — If nothing else, this blog is about us on the right doing a better job communicating and knocking down barriers to our effectiveness that come from within the movement. A great example is how many on the right are all lathered up about the return of the Fairness Doctrine under an Obama Administration. I have two words for these people: Not happening. Not only has Obama, though a spokesman, flatly denied any interest in reimposing the Fairness Doctrine, or otherwise failed to show any interest in the issue, but his pursuing it would be political suicide. Even if you don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, ...

Should the GOP Build a Shadow Cabinet?
The Next Right — Bottom Line Up Front: It might not be enough to rely on "ranking members" to serve as a loyal opposition. The next leaders of the GOP should consider building a "shadow cabinet" system with a mix of public policy scholars and elected officials at all levels (even from different wings of the conservative movement) to serve as an anchor during our time in the minority. I have to admit that I'm somewhat relieved with Barack Obama's selections for his economic team. They are not as bad as they could've been: Tim Geithner at Treasury, Larry Summers at the NEC, and Christina Romer chairing the CEA ...

The Right's Current Transformational Moment
The Next Right — One of the biggest reasons for the Right's decline in the Bush era is that we had long since completed most of the items on our to-do list. Low marginal tax rates? Check. The Soviet Union gone? Check. Welfare reform? Check. This empty cupboard of ideas had led to progressively more minimalist Republican governing agendas and campaign platforms. If John McCain proposed any big, game-changing policy shifts in the last election, I must have missed them. It's true that Obama's ideas were not new either -- but he was able to sell them as "change" because they had been not tried in toto since the Johnson Administration, and people had forgotten ...