Pete Spiliakos

Thoughts here. . . . . Continue Reading »

In a deeply sobering article, R.R. Reno warns of the danger of faith becoming captive to political alliance: “First, religiosity now strongly correlates with partisan loyalty. Nones are overwhelmingly Democrat. Regular churchgoers, especially but not exclusively Evangelicals, trend Republican. This politicizes religion. Second, religious people are becoming more and more dependent on the Republican party to protect their interests… Continue Reading »

 One way to understand libertarian populism is as an attempt to put limited government politics on the side of the average American. You can look at the speeches of Obama and see how the president constantly tries to frame his higher taxing, higher spending, higher regulating policies as . . . . Continue Reading »

Will Wilkinson is a liberaltarian with a problem.  Having some libertarian tendencies, he agrees with conservatives on some issues. The problem for him is that many conservatives do icky things like pray and have positive emotional connections with the American flag. The result is that . . . . Continue Reading »

So, for reasons that I don’t understand, I got to thinking about the Ben Stiller movie Night At the Museum yesterday. Ben Stiller plays a failed inventor and entrepreneur who has trouble holding a stable job partly because he keeps investing so much of himself into failed business ventures. . . . . Continue Reading »

One thing Trey Gowdy is right about is that Republicans need a positive immigration agenda.  Ramesh Ponnuru has a good one.   If Republicans are smart, they will adopt Ponnuru’s proposals.  2016 Republican presidential aspirants should take note. . . . . Continue Reading »

In the wake the House of Representatives voting for the bloated farm bill, Ross Douthat argued that, absent a view of the common good, Republicans end up acting primarily on the short-term interests of Republican politicians and the short-term demands of the part’s client groups. Enter South . . . . Continue Reading »

According to the Washington Post, Luis V. Gutierrez quoted Paul Ryan as saying ““You’re a Catholic; I’m a Catholic; we cannot have a permanent underclass of Americans exploited in America,” Ryan is absolutely right, which is why Gang of Eight-style immigration reform is . . . . Continue Reading »

My On The Square column today is about how Republicans underperform even among African-Americans and Latinos who express right-leaning policy preferences. Basically, the lack of a Republican agenda that takes into account the struggles of much of the lower-middle-class makes it easier for Democrats . . . . Continue Reading »

Is the Supreme Court’s decision to make it easier for states to institute voter ID laws a gift to the center left? So argues Ross Douthat, who points out that while voter IDs do not seem to have driven down voting by nonwhites in 2012, there is reason to think that the left can use them to rally public opinion against the return of Jim Crow-type disenfranchisement… . Continue Reading »