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Bobby Jindal’s Right and the GOP Is About to Change for the Better
Tweet Share on Facebook January 25, 2013 CommentIn the days since President Obama's inaugural address, I've heard from friends all over the country. Many of them are Republicans, some are not, but all are very alarmed at the direction the president is charting for the next four years: uncompromising and divisive, unabashedly progovernment, unapologetically redistributionist. Worst of all, he's oblivious to the biggest threat our nation faces, which is a looming European-style debt crisis. He seems to care more about "collective action" and expanding government than creating individual opportunity and unleashing innovation.
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The GOP Should Align With Gun Owners, Not the NRA
Tweet Share on Facebook January 18, 2013 CommentThe President's new push for gun control presents an opportunity for Republicans to start rebranding themselves and maybe even win back some of the women's vote. According to the latest polling by Pew Research, support for gun control is lower today than it was when President Obama first came into office. The number of Americans who said it was more important to control gun ownership than to protect gun rights has dropped from 58 percent in April 2008 to only 49 percent today. Meanwhile, those who would rather protect the rights of gun owners has grown from 37 percent in 2008 to 46 percent today. Even in the wake of Newtown, enacting gun control is not a slam dunk.
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Obama’s Inaugural Address Must Offer a Hand to Republicans
Tweet Share on Facebook January 11, 2013 CommentI asked my teenage daughters what they thought the president should talk about in his upcoming inaugural address, and both immediately answered: "the school shootings." They may be right. Not for the predictable political reason of trying to build support for gun control, but because there was a great story buried in the coverage of the latest shooting at Taft Union High School in California. An unarmed teacher and a school counselor confronted the shooter and persuaded him to hand over his gun. So many of these stories end with the death of the shooter; in this case, many lives were saved because two adults were able to listen to the boy and reason with him. The violence we're seeing lately is a symptom of a bigger problem in our society: We're losing our ability to reason with each other. It's shoot first, ask questions later.
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Three Women Who Belong in Obama's Cabinet
Tweet Share on Facebook January 4, 2013 CommentA few days ago, I wrote about five women who could change the face of the Republican Party. If you've seen photos of either the Obama cabinet or the senior staff at the White House recently, you've probably noticed there aren't many women there either. I'll leave the White House staff for another day, but let's take a look at some women who could change the face of the Obama cabinet. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is stepping down, and there are persistent rumors that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Attorney General Eric Holder will as well. Neither Treasury nor Defense has ever been led by a woman, and Justice hasn't had a woman in charge since Janet Reno. Here are my nominees:
