Pete Spiliakos

Poking around on the internet, I see a lot of articles whose headlines are some variation of: President Proposes “Administrative Fix” To His Health Care Law But reading Megan McArdle, I wonder if the articles would give a better sense of the situation if they were written as: President . . . . Continue Reading »

Today’s On The Square column is about how a limited government politics should do more to take our relational natures into account. . . . . Continue Reading »

America’s high-earners are more likely to be married. Its low-earners are not: There is a reason why the Julia in President Obama’s “Life of Julia” slideshow got what she needed from President Obama’s policies at every point in her life (and never needed anyone else for anything else). As Peter Lawler has pointed out, the combination of weak social networks and the responsibility of raising children tends to incline voters toward statist policies. . . . Continue Reading »

Obamacare’s problems have taken a toll on the president’s job approval numbers. What is worse is that President Obama’s poll numbers are sinking even though the stock market is hitting new highs and the job market is slowly healing. Even the economy stays on the same path (or a . . . . Continue Reading »

  Kevin Noble Maillard is trying to read into the significance of New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio being part of an interracial marriage: Enter the domestic hipsterdom of racially mixed family, a multivalent Rorschach for political campaigns. It appeals to multiple demographic groups. . . . . Continue Reading »

Ramesh Ponnuru argues that Chris Christie’s impending win shows that a social conservative can win in purple (or even blue) territory. Samuel Goldman argues that the price for these social conservatives being elected is that they must not actually do much to advance their policies. I’m . . . . Continue Reading »

David Weigel has a good (both civil and probing) interview with Nebraska Republican Senate candidate Ben Sasse.   I’m not sure I agree with Weigel’s framing of Sasse as a Ted-Cruz-type.  Reading the Weigel interview and other stories about Sasse, my sense is that Sasse . . . . Continue Reading »

We need to channel our old zeal for tax cuts into reforming health care. . . . . Continue Reading »

The well publicized problems of Obamacare are a sign of both opportunity and a danger for conservatives. The dysfunctions of Obamacare (the premium increases even more than the website problems) will give conservatives a wider hearing for their ideas on health care policy. But there is a danger: If conservatives fail to offer alternatives to the failures of Obamacare, the left will be able to offer single-payer as the only viable alternative to the problems caused by Obamacare. Whether or not conservatives can offer an alternative will determine if Obamacare is the high point of government control of medicine or just another step toward a complete public takeover… . Continue Reading »

 I very strongly recommend Mike Lee’s speech at the Heritage Foundation on the importance of American conservatism taking a reformist and pro-middle-class turn. What is most encouraging is that this speech on upward mobility, the importance of pro-parent tax reform and the centrality of . . . . Continue Reading »