Economy

President Barack Obama, soon to be former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, former Congressman Barney Frank, and many other prominent Democrats and leftists have over the past several years declared that their ultimate goal is turn the U.S. healthcare system into a "single-payer," i.e., completely government-controlled, enterprise. That likely explains why the reaction to Vermont's abandonment…

Mark Sumner contends that since the Reagan years, “conservatism has been more than just an argument about tax rates and regulat[ions]. It's become an open and honest war on the whole idea of governing.”

The establishment press is virtually giddy over New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's cowardly, self-serving decision to ban fracking in New York. It's cowardly because Cuomo is publicly pretending that he's only deferring to his environmental and health commissioners, when everyone with an ounce of sense knows that he's getting the recommendations he wanted. It's self-serving because it enhances his…

In addition to its slanted coverage of the news regarding Cuba, NBC Nightly News on Thursday offered up a biased segment against the growing transportation company Uber by using two incidents involving its drivers to conclude that Uber’s currently experiencing “a rough ride” over “increasing concerns” regarding safety. NBC News correspondent Janet Shamulian only interviewed two individuals…

Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas is exultant that we are “finally moving on” from the embargo “despite the wailing and teeth gnashing of the [Marco] Rubios and [Bob] Menendezes of the world, and the new generation of Cuban Americans is leading the way.”

On Wednesday, David Gergen ranked a supposed foreign policy accomplishment of President Obama higher than the killing of Osama bin Laden during CNN's special coverage of the Democrat's "historic..decision to restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba." Gergen contended that "ultimately, he's going to be judged very favorably by history...on climate change. It probably is the most significant…

Those who rail at Fox News for allegedly being a haven of unbridled, uninterrupted conservatism usually and conveniently fail to remember that Shepard Smith is there. Smith's take yesterday on the potential pitfalls of a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations, particularly on the commercial front, was nothing short of astonishing. His primary fear, expressed in an interview with Gerri Willis of the Fox…

During Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News, correspondent Mark Potter reported from Havana, Cuba on the news that President Obama was altering U.S. relations with the communist state and parroted a long-standing liberal argument as to why Cuba’s economy has struggled for over half a century. Speaking about the regime of Fidel and Raul Castro, Potter chose not to blame the policies of the Castros, but…

Joe Scarborough has a warning for conservatives: going after Jeb Bush will make him more likely to run for president. According to Scarborough, speaking on today's Morning Joe, Jeb is "his mother's son," "kind of "cranky" and "rough around the edges." If conservatives think they will drive Jeb out of the race by attacking him, "they've got him played exactly backwards." To the contrary, …

Here's a small window into a journalist's mindset. In a report on how lower gas prices are affecting the companies operating retail gas stations, Associated Press reporter John Fahey revealed his apparent believes that there are millions of us walking around, perhaps including him, obsessed with getting back at gas station owners for charging us so much at fill-up time for years:

The Esquire blogger argues that anti-Obamacare lawsuits and an effort to weaken Dodd-Frank derivatives regulation are examples of how “the slow, steady and inexorable campaign to render this president a non-person in the long sweep of history continues apace.”

Two guests on this evening's Ed Show on MSNBC revealed what lies just below the surface for many in the current protest movement: opposition to capitalism. First up was Rosa Clemente, a "hip hop activist" and 2008 Green Party VP candidate: "Capitalism, I think that is the institution all over this country. It is really the oppressive force." Next, Georgetown Prof. Marcia Chatelain, who said that…

On NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, moderator Chuck Todd fretted that after the show he would be inundated with complaints about his news coverage, but not from conservatives: "I'm going to get a ton of emails today, 'Gosh darn you, Meet the Press, great news on the economy, and you haven't done anything giving President Obama praise.'"

Friday's Employment Situation Summary contained one strong element: In November, the economy added 321,000 seasonally adjusted payroll jobs. That's not insignificant, but that news, especially in the report's full context, certainly didn't justify the level of elation seen in much of the press. Predictably, the Associated Press found a specious reason to characterize the government's report as…