At least five of the Democratic presidential candidates, including Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, worry a Democratic president would face a hostile Supreme Court and want to add more justices to the Court. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has used his GOP caucus to block judicial nominations by President Obama and open the floodgates for […]
Notes from a Corner of the Country has a new post on Wednesdays as well as the usual Saturday post. Maine news media announced last week that Susan Collins ranks as the “least popular” of all 100 members of the U.S. Senate. That sounds like bad news about her chances for re-election this year. But […]
“Checks and balances” are the hallmark of the American political system. But it is increasingly clear that they don’t work. The idea is to have three equal branches of government, legislative, executive and judicial. If each can limit the scope of action of the other two, the result should be a government that avoids dangerous […]
The Supreme Court has ruled several times that free speech includes making political contributions. These rulings get many people upset, mostly people without a lot of money. They believe that everybody has their own voice, but only a relative few have enough money to buy themselves a loudspeaker called television or social media or mass […]
As the year ends, it’s time to take a look at the state of the economy. There’s a wide gap between what is happening now and what lurks beneath the apparent prosperity. The economy is flourishing as corporations enjoy benevolent government policies and reduced taxes. The stock market reveals a persistent optimism and keeps climbing. […]
You are a first-term U.S. House Democrat, representing a large, sparsely populated district. In 2018, by a narrow margin, you took a seat, previously held by a Republican. The district had voted for Trump in the 2016 election. You are among the 31 House Democrats, 22 in their first term, who won in districts he […]
The British election has encouraged political pundits as they rush to reveal what the U.K. vote for Parliament means for the 2020 U.S. presidential race. The chances are good that their predictions will not only be wrong but soon forgotten. Still, the U.K. elections, which will result in the country’s “Brexit” from the EU, illustrated […]
A funny thing happened to the House on its way to impeachment. It got lost. It happened a long time ago. Despite the unusual focus of impeachment on the role of Congress, it highlights just how irrelevant the national legislature has otherwise become. In the congressional conflict with President Trump, its leaders stress that the […]
Is the presidential campaign already boring or confusing? The pundits endlessly ponder, “Who won the last debate? Who’s ahead in the Democratic caucus in Iowa? Can Trump win again?” As usual, people following politics are being treated to a campaign covered like a sports event. But this may be a landmark election. Despite appearances, it […]
Americans are not great theater-goers. But the theater is now coming to us. It is a major national show: “The impeachment and trial of Donald J. Trump – in three acts.” We already have a pretty good idea of the plot, but we remain fascinated by the leading character. Act 1 is the impeachment inquiry. […]
