John Dingell (D-Mich) has become the longest-serving member of Congress. The U.S. Rep. has held his position for 57 years, five months, and 26 days, breaking the record held by Robert Byrd (D-WVa). To put it in historic perspective, Dingell cast a vote for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Even more interestingly, Dingell took the […]

James Moody and Peter Mucha published a fascinating article recently on the polarization of the United States Senate. Given their findings (published in Network Science, 1:1, 119-121), senators are farther apart, and are more partisan than at any point since the early 1900s. To put it differently, there are more straight, party line votes than at […]

No one does ritualistic self-immolation like the Republican Party. Still stinging from the 2012 setback, the Grand Old Party remains on the political couch, yearning for therapy and analysis. On Monday, the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) issued a lengthy report on the party and the youth vote. Politico‘s Katie Glueck published a nice summary […]

Many things make a film ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ We consider the acting, writing, visual imagery, plot, setting, tone, or myriad other factors. Sometimes it is a matter of execution. Sometimes it is the mere idea that never bears fruit. In every mediocre, or worse, Hollywood production, there is often a good film clawing to get […]

Normally we focus on political economy issues on a broader scale, but today I’d like to take you down the path of a local example, as a microcosm of the problems of regulation.  Recently we upgraded the paint in our building, as well as a number of other “clean up” type functions to remove eyesores.  […]

I hope everyone has been watching the unfolding scandal at the IRS (that’s the Internal Revenue Service for the present).  As I see it, this seems like the perfect convergence of several disturbing trends in recent decades. First, we see the increasing use by congress of “big” and “broad” statutes whose language is left (deliberately?) […]

Wow–Mark Dever has blown me away today with his How to Survive a Cultural Crisis over at The Gospel Coalition.  For those concerned over the cultural decay in the United States, this is absolutely a must read.  The title of this blog post is just one of the gems within…

Public opinion experts–I do not consider myself one of them, mind you–use a variety of techniques to tap into how people perceive our nation’s health and welfare. One of the most popular is the right track/wrong track question, which is usually worded like, “do you think America is headed in the right direction or on […]

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on the Department of Justice’s request for a warrant to search and seize the electronic communications of Fox News reporter James Rosen. According to NBC News‘ Michael Isikoff, based on information just obtained, Holder affirmed the decision. Meanwhile, today, President Obama claimed to be troubled by the possible chilling effect […]