The anniversary of the tragedy at at the Sandy Hook Elementary School should not pass without comment. Yet it is a dispiriting subject to address. The prospects for significant strengthening of gun control laws seem as remote as ever. Nevertheless, the sisyphean struggle continues and deserves the support of RINOs.Read More »Blog No. 23 The Sandy Hook Anniversary
The budget agreement reached between Senator Murray and Rep. Ryan meets the most important precept of medical ethics: Primum non nocere (First, do no harm). The agreement, if approved by the House and Senate, will avoid the harm to the country that would follow from another government shutdown. It will also avoid the harm to the Republican Party from yet another demonstration of inability to function in a divided government. Read More »Special Bulletin. The Patty and Paul Show Update: Now Let’s Support the Deal.
The death of Nelson Mandela prompted an out-pouring of eloquent tributes that hardly needs a contribution from RINOcracy.com. It seems to us, however, that Mr. Mandela’s life and achievements have a message for America in 2013 that is worth pausing to note.
Read More »Special Bulletin. Nelson Mandela and Polarization
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases challenging the requirement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that insurance plans provided by employers must include coverage for certain contraceptive drugs and devices. Circuit courts hade reached conflicting decisions as to whether that requirement infringes the rights of corporate employers or their stockholders under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), and the Court will resolve that conflict. The cases raise interesting legal questions and, like most of the more interesting cases in the Supreme Court, they have stimulated political reactions of which more no doubt lie ahead. RINOcracy.com will not predict how the Court will rule, or even take a firm position as to how it should, but will merely attempt to clarify the issues. As a political issue, however, we will suggest that the cases probably represent more of a risk than an opportunity for Republicans and that they should treat the Court’s eventual decision with some caution.Read More »Blog No. 22. Obamacare and Contraception: Science, Freedom of Religion and Politics
As soon as it was signed, the Agreement with Iran became a subject of vigorous debate. As is often the case, RINOcracy.com questions some of the claims on both sides of the debate. In our view, it is neither a historic breakthrough nor a historic mistake. Whether it is one or the other, or more likely neither, will not be known for at least six months or perhaps much longer.
Iran’s Nuclear Capability: BBC News, Nov 24, 2013
Read More »Blog No 21. The Agreement with Iran: Historic Breakthrough or Historic Mistake?
Schadenfreude: a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people.
Republicans may be forgiven if they have indulged themselves in a bit of Schadenfreude over the continuing debacle of Obamacare. To be sure, that debacle could hardly have come at a more opportune time. The furies unleashed by the website failures and the cancellation of insurance policies served to soften, if not erase, the public disdain for the Republicans’ recent antics: the ill-advised gambits with the government shutdown and the debt ceiling. Nevertheless, those furies, and the agonies they have produced in Democrats, may prove to be ephemeral. A diet of Schadenfreude does not provide much nutrition, and it surely is not a policy.Read More »Blog No. 20. What now for Republicans? (Schadenfreude is not a policy.)
Greetings, RINOs and Friends of RINOs.
Tomorrow, November 19, RINOcracy.com will have have been up and running for six months. That is a rather modest milestone, but perhaps an appropriate time to pause and consider where we’ve been and where we might go.Read More »RINOcracy.com: A Six Month Anniversary.
Senator Mike Lee has not been a favorite of RINOcracy.com. Most particularly, we strongly disapproved of his effort, along with that of Ted Cruz, to seek the defunding of Obamacare at the price of a government shutdown. Nevertheless, we salute Senator Lee for his willingness to address an issue that most Republicans have tended to tiptoe away from: income inequality. While the subject is often raised by liberals, a typical Republican response has been to mutter a complaint about “class warfare” and attempt to change the subject.
Senator Lee, however, has introduced legislation intended to mitigate economic hardship through tax reform, and it has drawn favorable comment from several quarters. Nevertheless, as constructive as his proposal may be, Lee’s recognition of our underlying problems and the need for action–by Republicans–may be even more important. Speaking in September to the American Enterprise Institute, Lee’s remarks are worth quoting at some length:Read More »Blog No. 19 Senator Lee vs. Scrooge McDuck
A subscriber called my attention to an article by the distinguished journalist and political commentator, Bernard Goldberg, which included the following observation: The Tea Party… Read More »Special Bulletin An Update to Blog No. 18: Who’s a RINO Now?
On Thursday, the Senate passed the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), 64-32. Subject to broad exemptions for religious institutions, the bill prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation or gender identity. RINOcracy.com salutes the ten Republicans who voted in favor of the bill:
Kelly Ayotte (N.H.)
Susan Collins (Maine)
Jeff Flake (Ariz.)
Orrin G. Hatch (Utah)
Dean Heller (Nev.)
Mark Kirk (Ill.)
John McCain (Ariz.)
Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.).