Jonathan Chait

When George W. Bush's campaign leaked his economic plan to the press last week, the lucky recipients were forced to accept a special condition: any reporter who wanted to see it had to agree not to share the details with other campaigns or, more importantly, outside analysts. "This is between you, me, and your typewriter," a … more

It would seem, on the face of it, that the only thing standing between George W. Bush and the presidency is a persistent reservation about his intellect. The doubts have crystallized around a reporter's now-famous pop quiz, in which the Texas governor could not identify various difficult-to- pronounce heads of state. Bush,… more

When George W. Bush's campaign leaked his economic plan to the press recently, the lucky recipients were forced to accept a special condition: Any reporter who wanted to see it had to agree not to share the details with other campaigns or, more importantly, outside analysts. "This is between you, me, and … more

If there is one thing that most everybody agrees upon regarding the ideological legacy of the Clinton presidency, it is that there is none. President Clinton, left and right typically concur, is a man of polling and expediency, and almost infinite flexibility of viewpoint. A subset of this thinking, indigenous to the left, holds that Clinton does stand for something, sort of, but it's really nothing more than warmed-over Republicanism. A number of liberal economists have indicted Clinton's fiscal policies… more

Here are some of the chapter headings in Dick Morris's latest book: Issues over Image, Strategy over Spin, Generosity over Self-Interest, Racism Doesn't Work.

No, really. Dick Morris, inventor of triangulation, who advised President Clinton to alter his vacation plans on the basis of polling data, and who was forced out… more

The annual budgetary fight between the president and Congress has, this year, boiled down to a heretofore arcane accounting question: Should Social Security be counted as part of the federal budget or separate from it? This topic used to interest almost nobody outside the pocket-protector crowd. This fall it has precipitated a… more

Were he not a reactionary and a demagogue, I would feel sorry for Pat Buchanan. Not long ago he held a respected position within the Republican Party, wherein he gave keynote speeches at political conventions, represented the conservative viewpoint on TV talk shows, and was courted by party leaders. Now he has… more

If the details of the proposed Republican federal budget were widely known and understood, it is hard to believe that even one American in ten would vote to keep the GOP in control of Congress. Thankfully, few or none of the abominations that Congress proposes will actually survive a veto--the Republicans' political… more

Congress has spent the summer in the thrall of a weird kind of giddiness. The discovery that the budget surplus may be a trillion dollars larger than previously believed has prompted visions of a kind of domestic End of History. No more scrimping and scrounging: there is talk of new tax cuts, paying off the national debt, new prescription drug coverage, and, well, pretty much anything anybody wants.

Yet somehow, even while it dreams of untold abundance, Congress finds… more

Congress has spent the summer in the thrall of a weird kind of giddiness.

The discovery that the budget surplus may be a trillion dollars larger than previously believed has prompted visions of a kind of domestic End of History. No more scrimping and … more