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Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the economy has hit a “soft patch.” The recent flurry of bad news makes that pronouncement feel like quite an understatement. First, the 4-percent-plus growth we enjoyed for four straight quarters dropped to only 3 percent in the second quarter (April to June). Then came the news that only […]

There is something quite lunatic about the entire debate on whether to permit imports of drugs from Canada. It’s not as if Canada manufactures drugs more cheaply. Nor are drugs like trees, or bauxite, or hydro power, which just happen to be naturally plentiful in Canada. No, the cheaper Canadian drugs are the same ones […]

At first blush, the treatment given to Michael Dobbs’ page-one swift-boat article in Sunday’s Washington Post seems at least vaguely reassuring. There’s the neutral headline “Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete,” but below that, a deck-headline informing readers that “Critics Fail to Disprove Kerry’s Version of Vietnam War Episode.” The banner treatment, running across three-fourths of the […]

A little advice for the Bush administration: Don’t lie to us. That’s the one thing, guaranteed, that will bite you in your golf-pants– and Sansabelt-clad behinds. The American public really hates a prevaricator. While we know that thing about George Washington and the cherry tree isn’t strictly true, that’s a lie about lying that we […]

It’s perilously close to conventional wisdom in the media that al-Qaeda wants John Kerry to win the November election. In the next 10 weeks, get ready for a concerted effort by the right to fix that notion in place. The meme originated, unsurprisingly, with the usual right-wing suspects. Rush Limbaugh kicked things off right after […]

Two stark facts have become apparent about how our government now finances itself. The first is about who’s paying taxes. There used to be a graduated system in which the rich paid a much larger proportion than the poor. But that’s changed. None other than the Congressional Budget Office — which, incidentally, works for a […]

Ohio schmohio. If you want a real fix on where this election is going to be decided, pay attention to where House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is spending her time next week: Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Except for New Mexico, where Al Gore won by a whopping 366 votes in 2000, these are […]

On Monday, the Bush campaign released its latest campaign ad, called “Intel.” Looking at its name, one would think the ad lays out the president’s plans for intelligence reform or touts his administration’s record on preventing terrorist attacks. But it doesn’t. Rather, the ad attacks John Kerry for allegedly missing 76 percent of the hearings […]

On Monday, the Bush campaign released its latest campaign ad, called “Intel.” Looking at its name, one would think the ad lays out the president’s plans for intelligence reform or touts his administration’s record on preventing terrorist attacks. But it doesn’t. Rather, the ad attacks John Kerry for allegedly missing 76 percent of the hearings […]

Arizona. Is Arizona really still purple? That’s the question on everyone’s mind these days. When last we checked in, the state’s rock-star senior senator, John McCain, had just reverted to good soldier and commenced stumping for George W. Bush in earnest — and that seemed to torpedo John Kerry’s Arizona prospects for good. (Two polls […]