By all accounts Newt Gingrich’s debating performance had a lot to do with his big win in South Carolina‘s presidential primary. That’s unfortunate because debating has nothing to do with governing. When was the last time an incumbent president engaged in an actual non-electoral debate with anyone? But now that debates have taken on added [...]

Having for years emaciated education and other public services, the powers that be in California are considering raising taxes. That’s right, the great unmentionable suddenly has become fit for conversation in mixed company. While on the subject of taboos, I would fix responsibility for making it virtually impossible for years to have rational debate on [...]

At the height of the recent budget impasse, Republican cries of “Shut it down! Shut it down!” filled the air. Call them the voices of the anarchist wing of the GOP. Anarchism: the doctrine urging the abolition of government. If that sounds extreme, it is, but none other than than the patron saint of the [...]