In June, the junior Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, weighed in on the always controversial issue of immigration reform. The libertarian-leaning darling of the tea party tread into precarious territory by supporting efforts to reform the country's immigration system, something that some say cost his colleague, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), dearly.
What does the Bipartisan Policy Center have in common with the Berlin Wall, 9/11, the First Amendment, and the Civil Rights Movement? They all represent major news stories important enough to be featured at The Newseum, one of the top attractions in Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court will soon decide in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby the legality of the mandate under Obamacare that for-profit institutions must insure contraceptive care for their female employees. Dozens of companies have sued the government claiming that the owners’ freedom of religion is being violated by having to pay for medication that they believe contravenes Christian dogma about the sanctity of human life.
“All his acts, therefore, properly executive, must presuppose the existence of the laws to be executed. . . . . To say then that the power of making treaties, which are confessedly laws, belongs naturally to the department which is to execute laws, is to say, that the executive department naturally includes a legislative power. In theory this is an absurdity--in practice a tyranny.”—James Madison on George Washington
In recent years, several if not dozens of moderate or centrist groups have popped up. Their appearance is an understandable response to reflexive partisanship and political dysfunction.
For the first time in 15 years, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce met with Cuban dictator Raúl Castro last month to analyze investment possibilities and the reforms implemented by the regime. Thomas Donohue says he went to Cuba to "support" the opening of the island.
In classical rhetorical theory, there are three kinds of claims that you can advance: claims of fact (i.e. 25% of Americans live below the poverty level), claims of value (i.e. it is a bad thing that so many Americans are poor), and claims of policy (i.e. in order to lift Americans out of poverty, we should raise the minimum wage).
A bipartisan group of legislators looking to restore transparency to data collection programs conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA) won an initial victory late last week.
The partisan fracturing of American politics is a topic of frequent debate and discussion. Politics is becoming increasingly personal, and antipathy between ideologies is on the rise. As activists and politicos work to solve this crisis in Washington and on Main Street, Americans may find inspiration in the oft maligned little brother of U.S. sports: the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team.
“The fallacy of ad hominem (Latin: against the man”) is the assertion that someone’s argument or viewpoint should be discounted because of character flaws that have nothing to do with the issues at hand. It is a fallacy because it ties the outcome of an argument to a question or set of questions that are not at issue. Arguments, not arguers, are the proper subject of a debate.”—Reading the World: Ideas that Matter