Jeremy Derfner

Frank I. Michelman’s Brennan and Democracy 01.03.00 | reviewed by Jeremy Derfner Frank I. Michelman is a political theorist with a problem. He believes in democracy-all the people deciding for themselves how they will be governed. He also believes in the Consti tution, a 200-year-old document that sets down the fundamental rules of governance, “a […]

In California‘s 27th district, in suburban Los Angeles, Republican incumbent James Rogan is especially vulnerable this year because he acted as House prosecutor during President Clinton’s impeachment trial. But his seat was never very secure to start with. Although Rogan has won two terms (his last with only 51 percent of the vote), his district […]

Congressman James Clyburn has built his political career hammering out compromises behind the scenes. He has worked for economic growth in his eclectic South Carolina district, lobbying successfully for a Honda plant in Timmonsville, a significant increase in the state’s share of federal highway funds, direct flights from Charleston to Chicago, and the deepening of […]

George W. Bush has ducked the question of whether South Carolina should haul down the Confederate flag. But regardless of Bush’s position, the flag will likely come down, and soon. Even before the huge demonstration on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, some of South Carolina’s most venerable and conservative institutions (the Citadel, Bob Jones University, […]

In 1974 Congress created the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) “to provide the Congress with objective, timely, nonpartisan analyses needed for economic and budget decisions.” Over the last quarter-century, members of the minority party (be they Republicans or Democrats) have sometimes raised concerns about how the CBO’s numbers have been crunched. But, in general, the office […]

For the record, John Anderson, the 77-year-old former Illinois congressman last seen vying for the presidency in 1980 as a third-party candidate, is not running for the Reform Party nomination this year. But that hasn’t stopped his diehard supporters from creating www.draftanderson.org. They’re serious. Indeed the campaign is moving forward with all sincerity, boasting a […]

When Big Tobacco agreed to pay out hundreds of billions of dollars in a settlement two years ago, it looked like the public interest finally had the upper hand. More than 99 percent of the $206 billion settlement went to 46 states to spend however they saw fit (some on antismoking efforts and much more […]

Frank I. Michelman’s Brennan and Democracy 01.03.00 | reviewed by Jeremy Derfner Frank I. Michelman is a political theorist with a problem. He believes in democracy-all the people deciding for themselves how they will be governed. He also believes in the Consti tution, a 200-year-old document that sets down the fundamental rules of governance, “a […]