A bipartisan Senate group comes out with a bold plan for US immigration reform, pre-empting the president's own proposals. But can either of them overcome the Republican rhetoric of "border protection"?
Category: United States
Debt ceiling crisis over, for a while
Congressional Republicans give in and vote to suspend America's debt ceiling for three months. So where's the next crisis?
Progressive? liberal? socialist? Where is Obama coming from?
Obama's second inaugural seems to have reinforced the narrative that he's a believer in big government. Here's why we should be sceptical about that.
Guns, debt and hostages: tough times for Obama in Congress
Obama already had trouble with Congress over debt and spending; now he's added guns as well. It's worth looking at the different dynamics involved.
Torture goes to the movies
A film about the hunt for bin Laden puts torture in the spotlight. Will America face up to what Bush and Cheney did?
Is Obama a realist?
Chuck Hagel's nomination brings back into focus the old debate between realists and idealists over American foreign policy.
Obama picks his man for the Pentagon
Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel is to be the new US defence secretary – provided he's confirmed by the Senate. It looks as if Obama has picked the right man for the times.
Fiscal cliff: a Civil War postscript
One more thing to say about America's fiscal cliff, and it's on the regional breakdown of the vote to approve the legislation in the House of Representatives yesterday morning (Australian time). I can't claim originality for the idea – John Judis posted about it at the New Republic. But it was sufficiently interesting for me … Continue reading Fiscal cliff: a Civil War postscript
More to liberty than gun rights
So if gun rights need to be defended as a safeguard against tyranny, why are conservatives so cavalier about trashing other safeguards?
And over the cliff we go – sort of
A deal dragged the United States back up the fiscal cliff, and the markets loved it.
