Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to eliminate governmental waste and fraud, just released its “2017 Congressional Pig Book,” an annual publication highlighting wasteful government spending that should embarrass each and every member of Congress. While it is true that most government spending is for “entitlements” and other fixed costs, the […]
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GOP tackles problem that doesn’t exist
A little context is critical here. It would be too easy to dismiss Donald Trump’s Commission on Electoral Integrity as superfluous evidence of the intellectual erosion of the Republican Party. As a Twitter observer who styles himself LOLGOP quipped last week when the commission held its first meeting: “All the evidence in the world won’t […]
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A new tone in Androscoggin County
You may have noticed that the Androscoggin County Commission has not been making headlines in 2017. It is because a new tone of partnership and thoughtfulness is emerging. The county government is here to bring our towns together, not set them apart from each other or to work independently. Great efficiency can be found in […]
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Congress achieves bipartisan failure on Obamacare
By Megan McArdle Bloomberg View For months, I’ve been watching in a sort of wonder as Republicans crafted the most unpopular major bill in living memory. Could they really mean to make a suicide charge at this –not some longstanding Republican goal, like dismantling the welfare state or slashing through the regulatory thicket, but pushing […]
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Mosul serves as case lesson in urban warfare
On July 10, Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared coalition forces had won a “total victory” in their fight to free the city of Mosul. Since June 2014, the unfortunate city had been occupied by ISIS terrorists. Abadi’s claim of total victory was premature. In the following days, several small firefights erupted around the city. […]
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Suicide epidemic: Social, economic or both?
Ours is a nation in despair. U.S. suicide rates have surged to a 30-year high, and it’s not just among struggling middle-aged whites. Suicides by girls age 10 to 14 have spiked over the last 18 years. And there’s been a shocking surge in children 17 or under dying from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Since 1999, […]
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Contemporary Republicans should learn lessons from Reagan
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.”(French proverb) While scanning YouTube videos, I came across an appearance by Ronald Reagan on “The Tonight Show,” hosted by Johnny Carson. The year was 1975 and Reagan was “between jobs,” having left office as governor of California, where he served for eight years, but not […]
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NRA goes the 'us versus them' route
It began in April. That’s when there appeared on YouTube an NRA recruitment video that raised eyebrows across the political spectrum. Speaking through a jaw clenched tight enough to crack walnuts, with an intensity that suggested a major artery might blow out at any second, conservative pundit Dana Loesch described an America wracked by carnage. […]
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Reeves' book takes middle class to task
WASHINGTON — To hear Richard Reeves tell it, the upper middle class is fast becoming the bane of American society. Its members have entrenched themselves just below the top 1 percent and protect their privileged position through public policy and private behavior. Americans cherish the belief that they live in a mobile society, where hard […]
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Will Reince Priebus be fired yet again?
It’s been a rough week for the White House, so reportedly — yet again — Reince Priebus might get fired. Surely, no high-level government official in American history has been on the verge of ouster so early and so often. Being the subject of shake-up rumors is practically Reince Priebus’ job description. If he’d been […]