Skip to content

POSTS

Blog No. 42. Contraceptive Confusion: The Puzzlements of Hobby Lobby and Wheaton

On June 30, The Supreme Court issued an opinion in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius (collectively Hobby Lobby) invalidating regulations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that require that insurance provided by employers cover a broad range of contraceptive medications and devices. The employers in each case objected to coverage for four specific types of contraceptives that they consider to be abortifacients, i.e., causing an abortion. The employers claimed that the requirement to provide that coverage infringed their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). A five-justice majority of the Court agreed in an opinion by Justice Alito. The immediate controversy over the decision was quickly heightened when, three days later,the Court entered a preliminary stay in Wheaton College v. Burwell relieving Wheaton, a Christian college, of complying with an alternative procedure that the Court had appeared to endorse in Hobby Lobby.Read More »Blog No. 42. Contraceptive Confusion: The Puzzlements of Hobby Lobby and Wheaton

Blog No. 41. The Mess at the Border (and in Washington).

The surge of unaccompanied children from Central America across our southern border has produced what is generally recognized to be a mess. Sadly, it has been accompanied by the familiar mess in Washington with the usual antagonists, the Administration and Congress, Republicans and Democrats, struggling over how to respond. And the border crisis appears to have made the goal of “comprehensive immigration reform” more elusive than ever.Children-at-borderRead More »Blog No. 41. The Mess at the Border (and in Washington).

Guest Blog: Are the Books in the Stores?

Before leaving on vacation, RINOcracy.com had become concerned that the current controversy between a major publisher, Hatchette, and Amazon has serious implications for the industry and its customers. We asked for comment from an individual with a long and distinguished career in publishing and he generously responded with the guest blog below. We are delighted to relieve the vacation hiatus with its publication. Because the writer is still active in publishing, and reluctant to become a combatant in the current conflict, it is published under a pseudonym.

As previously indicated, regular postings on RINOcracy. com will resume in July.

Last BookstoreAre the Books in the Stores?

“In this city I account [my book] as fallen on barren ground. I avoid all public places, so as not to meet the persons to whom I have sent it; and if I cannot avoid them, I greet them without stopping; for when I pause they give me not the faintest sign that they have received it, and thus they confirm my belief that it has gone forth into a desert.”

     This might be the lament of a contemporary novelist, but instead it is Giambattista Vico, writing in 1725 upon the publication of his book New Science, which was destined to become a classic. Ah, if only the publisher’s job ended when the book came out of the bindery. But in 2014 as well as 1725, there remains the damnable problem of “getting the book out there” so that people might buy it. This, despite all the agonizing details of contracts, royalties, manuscript editing, proofreading, jacket design, and the hand-holding of authors, is the real bane of the book publishing business: distribution.Read More »Guest Blog: Are the Books in the Stores?

Special Bulletin. RINOcracy.com on Vacation

There will be hiatus in postings on RINOcracy.com over the next few weeks as we travel to destinations as varied as Lake Como, Rome, London and Santa Fe. It would be tempting to describe at least some part of our itinerary as a fact-finding mission, but that would push the envelope of spin even by Washington standards. On the other hand, if we do come by any new insights along the way, we will not hesitate to share them upon our return.

In the meantime, should you need something to fill in your reading list while we’re away, we have a couple of suggestions.Read More »Special Bulletin. RINOcracy.com on Vacation

Blog No. 39 The Mess at the VA and the Need for Bipartisan Solutions.

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.

– Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Emanuel’s observation has never seemed more appropriate than in the current crisis enveloping Veterans Affairs hospitals. That crisis could bring important and long-needed reforms to the medical service provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.Read More »Blog No. 39 The Mess at the VA and the Need for Bipartisan Solutions.

Blog No. 38. Climate Change: Will the GOP Ever Warm Up To It?

On a recurring basis a rather troubling vision comes to mind. It is a reprise of that night on August 11, 2011 when Bret Baier said to the assembled candidates:

“I’m going to ask a question to everyone here on the stage. Say you had a deal, a real spending cuts deal, 10-to-1, as Byron [York] said, spending cuts to tax increases…. Who on this stage would walk away from that deal? Can you raise your hand if you feel so strongly about not raising taxes, you’d walk away on the 10-to-1 deal?”

All eight candidates dutifully raised their hand. It was then, if not before, that the image of Mitt Romney as human pretzel began to form.Blog 38 hands-300x1681Read More »Blog No. 38. Climate Change: Will the GOP Ever Warm Up To It?

Special Bulletin. Remembering Len Garment

A few days ago, May 11, marked what would have been the ninetieth birthday of Leonard Garment, who died last year. The day should not have passed unremarked upon. Len was a brilliant lawyer, a distinguished public servant and an influential figure in the arts. The lengthy obituary in The New York Times on July 15, 2013 chronicled his life and many of his accomplishments.

When Richard Nixon joined a Wall Street law firm in 1963, Len Garment was head of the firm’s litigation department, and he persuaded Nixon to argue in the Supreme Court a case that Garment had successfully brought through the New York courts. That would lead to Garment becoming an early member of Nixon’s team for the 1968 election and later to a position on Nixon’s White House staff. Many will remember Garment primarily as counsel to Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigations. He was one of the few survivors of the Nixon White House to emerge with a reputation not only unblemished but enhanced. He served Nixon with loyalty and determination but without compromising his own integrity, not always an easy task. But if Watergate was the most dramatic chapter of Len’s life, it was not the only notable one.

Read More »Special Bulletin. Remembering Len Garment

Blog No. 37. Of George Will, the Chicago Cubs and RINOs.

George Will’s syndicated column provides weekly evidence that, even in 2014, the term “conservative intellectual” need not be an oxymoron. But Will is known not only for his erudite political analyses, but also for a love of baseball. The latter is a passion that has yielded three elegant books on the subject, and his latest, published this year, is A Nice Little Place on the North Side, Wrigley Field at One Hundred. Wrigley Field, as surely everyone knows, is the home of the Chicago Cubs, and Will is not just a baseball fan but a diehard Cubs fan, a distinction he shares with your correspondent.

Read More »Blog No. 37. Of George Will, the Chicago Cubs and RINOs.

Blog No. 36 Free Trade Agreements: Good Policy–and Good Politics for Republicans

Current debate over trade policy revolves around two confusingly similar acronyms: TPP and TPA. The first, TPP, refers to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade agreement among 12 Pacific nations. The second, TPA, refers to Trade Promotion Authority, (sometimes known as “Fast Track”), which provides for expedited consideration of trade agreements by Congress. The two are closely linked because, in the view of many observers, passage of TPA will be essential to concluding and ratifying the TPP agreement. Together, the TPP and TPA provide an interesting mix of policy and politics.BLOG 36 05edsall-map-articleLargeRead More »Blog No. 36 Free Trade Agreements: Good Policy–and Good Politics for Republicans