The Mitt Romney video you've probably heard about—the one where he talks about the 47 percent of Americans "who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it"—has certainly not suffered a lack of commentary. But I can't resist linking to a particularly clear-headed intellectual history, written by the Roosevelt Institute's Mark Schmitt, of the broad view Romney is laying out here. The makers/takers theory went ... Read More
A Genealogy of the “Makers/Takers” Theory of America
More like this: Business & Economics, Politics, The 101 Tags: Barack Obama, Makers/Takers, Mitt Romney
Bain, Solyndra, and Fannie Mae: Separated at Birth?
Naked Capitalism pointed out something yesterday that confounds conventional wisdom on what kind of capitalism private equity firms like Bain Capital really engage in: ... most members of the public do not know that close to half the investment capital in private equity funds is contributed directly by government entities. In this respect, private equity is little different than companies like Fannie, Freddie, and Solyndra that are regularly criticized in the media as recipients of government subsidies. “Government entities” here refers to public employee pension funds, or entities that ... Read More
More like this: The 101 Tags: Barack Obama, Economy, Mitt Romney, Private Equity
Dick Morris is Lying, Part Infinity Plus One
Dick Morris, legendary self-promoter and political arsonist, is calling the presidency for Romney. As sure a sign as any that campaign silly season has commenced. ... Read More
More like this: The 101 Tags: 2012, Barack Obama, Elections, Mitt Romney, Presidency
Why Obama Is Looking West
With little fanfare and far less media awareness than one might expect, last fall the Obama administration initiated a series of defense-policy moves that amount to the most significant transformation of America’s military position in the world since the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed. This new defense posture may even rework the post–World War II order itself. After all, if we are witnessing the dwindling in importance of Europe, a withdrawal from insoluble Middle East and South Asian crises, the inexorable pull of a growing China, and America turning to face the Pacific ... Read More
More like this: Cover Story, May-June 2012, Politics Tags: Barack Obama, China
Obama’s Military Strategy Follows Our Predictions
Will the Army and Marines take a big hit once the United States wiggles out of Iraq and Afghanistan? And after exiting, will the U.S. military continue on the road away from Fulda Gap and toward Tora Bora? These are some of the questions our Jeff Shear asked recently in pieces likes “An Army of Change” and “No Way Out: Exiting Afghanistan and Iraq,” and the dawn of 2012 provided crystal-clear answers as the Obama administration outlined the new, less-expensive look for defense, complete with sops toward soft power and development projects as well as hardware and troops. In a ... Read More
More like this: By The Way ..., Politics Tags: Barack Obama, Defense, Defense Spending, Military, Military Spending
Scientists Deflated by Obama’s Policy Decisions
Scientists and their advocates always come back to the Inauguration Speech. It was a high point in the enthusiasm Barack Obama carried into office, riding the endorsements of dozens of Nobel laureates who during the 2008 election had called for a new era in Washington where scientific expertise would be deferred to, not dismissed. Obama seemed to be speaking directly to all of these people the day he was sworn into office nearly three years ago. “I admit to being a little giddy when I heard those words — ‘restore science to its rightful place’ — in his inauguration speech,” ... Read More
More like this: Science, The Idea Lobby Tags: Barack Obama, Science Policy, Scientists
Studying Flags, Pins, Hope From 2008 Election
I Pledge Allegiance to the GOP Flag The flags of the United States of America and the Civil War-era Confederate Army have somewhat different symbolic associations. But recent research suggests exposure to the Stars and Stripes and the Confederate flag may have had the same effect on voters during the 2008 presidential election: A decreased likelihood of voting for Barack Obama. An experiment conducted at a major Southern university found that 108 white students who were subliminally exposed to the Confederate battle flag (the image appeared on their computer screen 20 times in ... Read More
More like this: November-December 2011, Politics, Research in Summary Tags: Barack Obama, Elections, Voting
Obamacare: No Friends in Free-Market, Single-Payer Camps
You might think in a debate over President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act would have one side arguing in support of it. But when Miller-McCune.com moderated a debate between an advocate of free-market approaches and one for a single-payer system, neither endorsed what's come to be called Obamacare. Which is not to suggest that Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a nonprofit research organization advocating a free-market approach to health care, and pediatrician Margaret Flowers, a congressional fellow who directs the Maryland chapter of ... Read More
More like this: Health, Politics Tags: Barack Obama, Health Care, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance
Obama’s Vow to Cut Oil Imports Sounds Familiar
"In the last third of this century," the president said, "our independence will depend on maintaining and achieving self-sufficiency in energy." That was President Richard Nixon in 1973, calling for the United States to kick its addiction to foreign oil by the end of the 20th century. As Miller-McCune noted last year ("Business as Usual: Hooked on Foreign Oil"), nearly every U.S. president since Nixon has tried and failed to turn a reluctant nation away from its dependence on oil imports. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter declared, "The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign ... Read More
More like this: By The Way ..., Politics Tags: Barack Obama, Foreign Oil, Fossil Fuels, Oil, Oil Imports, Presidents
GOP Examines Ways to Block Health Care Reform
How might Republicans try to block the U.S. health reform law from going into effect? Let us count the ways. Repeal, replace, defund, deregulate. And, lest we forget, litigate. If all that fails, they can always shut down the government — if not during this week's spending showdown, then the one after that, or the one after that. In January, House Republicans voted to repeal the Patient Protect and Affordable Care Act (PDF here) entirely. Senate Republicans tried for repeal, too, but there aren't enough of them to finish the job. Democrats, who control the Senate, pushed back and no ... Read More
More like this: Health, Politics Tags: Barack Obama, Congress, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform
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