The Method & Madness of Those Pesky Fundraising Emails
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 6th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
The Method & Madness of Those Pesky Fundraising Emails
Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics
The subject lines on the emails read like they could have been sent by exes, stalkers — or cultists awaiting the Apocalypse. “Throw in the towel,” says one. “Kiss all hope good bye,” reads another. A third simply says, “Doomed.” At the other end of the emotional spectrum, another evokes the enthusiasm and encouragement a fifth-grade teacher might offer an earnest student: “Awesome.” These are not blasts from the past or rants from predictors of Armageddon, however. They are political fundraising pitches. To the list of “death and…
The Empire of Contention
Robert Samuelson, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — I am reading historian Gordon Wood’s splendid “Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815.” It is an ideal companion for this July 4th weekend because it reminds us of the great continuities in our politics and national condition. Dynamic social and economic change, concern for the middle class, poisonous politics, bad policies, flawed leaders — they were all there two centuries ago, just as now. There’s a lesson here, though perhaps not the one you suspect. Dynamic change? In 1800, the 5.3 million Americans (nearly a fifth were slaves) had increased by more…
Happy Fourth Despite It All
Mona Charen, RealClearPolitics
On July 4, I plan to celebrate this nation’s birth with something approaching devotion. I will so despite the fact that each day’s news brings fresh reasons to worry about the future. I could list the things that worry me, but you know what they are. They probably worry you, too, but the Fourth of July is a time to elevate and celebrate rather than fret. So here’s a story: Last week, I was in Europe and had dinner with a European gentleman. He is very successful and pretty happy with his lot. As sometimes happens when people of different cultures speak, I didn’t understand something he was…
Minimum Wage Debate Steeped in History, Dueling Stats
Michael Cipriano, RealClearPolitics
Democrats intent on raising the federal minimum wage are resuming an old battle, one unfolding in the states as well as Washington, D.C. In the 1930s, the issue was fought in Congress, the states, on the presidential campaign trail, and before the Supreme Court, which amid the Great Depression ultimately ruled the minimum wage to be constitutional. The initial battleground, however, was state capitals, which then — as now — set their own labor standards. But even those state laws got caught up in the machinations of national politics. In 1936, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a New York…
