Everyone knows the meaning of the word “hypocrite” and no one can claim absolute constancy when it comes to living a life consistent with one’s stated values. But in this election year, hypocrisy is on full display. It is now being practiced with neither shame nor irony by leading Democrats, who once forcefully argued positions […]
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U.S. foreign policy one of weakness
WASHINGTON — State of the world, Year Eight of Barack Obama: (1) In the South China Sea, on a speck of land of disputed sovereignty far from its borders, China has just installed anti-aircraft batteries and stationed fighter jets. This after China landed planes on an artificial island it created on another disputed island chain […]
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What the 2016 election is missing
Entering Super Tuesday, the 2016 election has encompassed a breadth of issues — immigration, national security, even Supreme Court politics. But what about the workplace? Not a single candidate has made it a priority to address labor policy. Yet the workplace is an integral part of daily life: Americans work almost 35 hours a week […]
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Trump: A fop with cantilevered coif and little there beneath it
Some nights, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s rich poseur Jay Gatsby studied a light across the water. The mysterious green glow symbolized what he could not attain, a wraith he loved. By New York standards it was a piddling aspiration. Donald Trump, by contrast, wants to become the colossus bestriding America. However, he is unqualified for this […]
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Deduction cap repeal a step backward
Gov. Paul LePage refused to submit a budget this session, leaving legislators to wrestle with big-ticket spending bills without a clear plan. The state budget process is vital to delivering good policy. Without it, legislators are forced to make expensive decisions about spending Maine taxpayers’ money out of context with the greater needs and priorities […]
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Trump not merely rude, he is dangerous
I may never forgive Donald Trump for what he said about Mexicans. I may never forgive him for what he said about Muslims or that smutty crack he made about Megyn Kelly. I may never forgive him for his lies and his bravado and his nasty personalizing of political differences. I may never forgive him […]
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Economist rationalizes deficit spending
WASHINGTON — Say it ain’t so, Doug. From 2009 to early 2015, Douglas Elmendorf was the widely respected director of the Congressional Budget Office, where he repeatedly warned lawmakers that chronic deficits are unsustainable, pose long-term dangers — and that shrinking them sooner rather than later would make the task easier. Now, economist Elmendorf, who […]
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Local residents lost in megatower shadows
Many longtime residents of San Francisco, Miami and other hot U.S. cities complain of “Manhattanization” when developers put up 20- or 30-story apartment complexes. In Portland, Oregon, they’re debating the wisdom of 40 stories. They should try 100 stories on for size — or not, if they value the amenities of urban life. That’s the […]
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Putin’s creeping aggression proceeds
On Feb. 25, 2014 — two bloody years ago if you live in eastern Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Since then, the Kremlin has cleverly pursued its “creeping war of aggression” and its death toll — Russian and Ukrainian alike — continues to mount. Ukraine gets the worst of it, suffering […]
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GOP candidates plot strategies
By Albert Hunt Bloomberg View Billionaire Donald Trump’s big win in Nevada, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio pulling even with or just ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, fuels the conventional wisdom that the Republican presidential contest is now down to a two-man race. However, this year the conventional wisdom has been consistently wrong. Next […]