Political Mavens » John J. Pitney,Jr.

The Professor and Marianne
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

In light of recent accusations from his ex-wife Marianne, Newt Gingrich would probably prefer to forget the time he drew a picture showing the two of them at the center of their universe.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on January 21st, 2012
Permanent link: The Professor and Marianne

Ron Paul Against Ronald Reagan
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

On the campaign trail, Ron Paul has been talking about his support for Ronald Reagan.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 31st, 2011
Permanent link: Ron Paul Against Ronald Reagan

A Couple of Surprising Things about Gingrich
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

He once supported a value-added tax.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 17th, 2011
Permanent link: A Couple of Surprising Things about Gingrich

Odds and Ends About Newt
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

In 1988, he said that we were in a political civil war and that we should fight it with “savagery.”

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 13th, 2011
Permanent link: Odds and Ends About Newt

Newt Gingrich, Rachel Maddow, and Public Goods
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

In MSNBC ads, Rachel Maddow has been pointing to bridges and other public works as examples of the need for government. Private enterprise cannot produce the public goods we need, she says. Perhaps surprisingly, Newt Gingrich has long been making the very same case. More here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 6th, 2011
Permanent link: Newt Gingrich, Rachel Maddow, and Public Goods

Items About Newt
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Now that Newt Gingrich is surging in the polls, there is renewed interest in his background. This eclectic collection of items may be relevant:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on November 19th, 2011
Permanent link: Items About Newt

An Incident at an Intersection
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

When I stopped my car at an intersection on Friday night, I heard yelling from the car behind me. It was hard to make out what the commotion was about until the car pulled up to the next lane. The young driver, his face contorted with hate and rage, was yelling at me, “F— Israel! F– ISRAEL!” Apparently he had seen the sticker on my car’s back bumper: “I Stand with Israel.”

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on October 16th, 2011
Permanent link: An Incident at an Intersection

Netanyahu and the GOP
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

A New York Times article made it seem as if the friendship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and congressional Republicans were a new development. In fact, their bond goes back many years, involving political connections and shared convictions about economics, security, and many other things. More here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on September 22nd, 2011
Permanent link: Netanyahu and the GOP

Irene and the Tomb
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Throughout Hurricane Irene, the Army kept guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: a reminder that the phrase “duty, honor, country” really means something.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on August 28th, 2011
Permanent link: Irene and the Tomb

Survey Findings
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Some recent poll results:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 30th, 2011
Permanent link: Survey Findings

The S-Word
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

When the president spoke at West Point about the Afghanistran troop buildup , he didn’t call it a “surge.” Now that he’s calling it off, he uses the word. Curious.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 22nd, 2011
Permanent link: The S-Word

Hostilities and War Powers
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

The administration claims that the War Powers Act does not apply to Libya because US actions there do not amount to “hostilities.” Recent news accounts suggest difficulties with this position:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 21st, 2011
Permanent link: Hostilities and War Powers

Not a Good Week for Citizenship
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

According to new reports, students remain woefully ill-informed about government and history, and citizens worry about the inadequacy of civic education. Meanwhile, the number of Americans renouncing citizenship is going up.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 16th, 2011
Permanent link: Not a Good Week for Citizenship

Why So Little Protest?
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Americans are still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the United States is taking part in combat against Libya. So why is there so little protest?

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 9th, 2011
Permanent link: Why So Little Protest?

D-Day
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Today is the 67th anniversary of D-Day. As the invasion was under way, what did FDR do? He led the nation in prayer. Forty years later, President Reagan recalled the amazing courage of the Army Rangers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 6th, 2011
Permanent link: D-Day

Scandal and Politics
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

The John Edwards scandal probably won’t help the GOP. The Weiner affair might be different. More here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 4th, 2011
Permanent link: Scandal and Politics

Newt, the Polls, and Medicare
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Gingrich’s unpopularity is nothing new. Neither are Democratic attacks on Republicans over Medicare. More here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on June 3rd, 2011
Permanent link: Newt, the Polls, and Medicare

The Military and Public Opinion
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Many polls show that the public has a high opinion of the military. But a new Gallup survey finds that the military does not have a high opinion of the Obama administration. More here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on May 30th, 2011
Permanent link: The Military and Public Opinion

Gingrich
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

For the 1996 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, I wrote a paper titled “Understanding Newt Gingrich.” Click the link for full text: the takeaway is that typical ideological labels really do not apply, which helps us understand his controversial comments about the Ryan plan. Some other materials on Newt:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on May 29th, 2011
Permanent link: Gingrich

American Exceptionalism
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

The idea of American exceptionalism is much in the news. Critics disparage it as the idea that Americans are better than everyone else and that the United States can do whatever it wants.But it doesn’t necessarily mean that at all.In its most modest form, it is simply the idea that the United States tends to differ from other nations in certain important respects.There is abundant empirical evidence for this point:for instance, there are other rich countries, and other religious countries, but the United States is unusual for being both rich and religious.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on May 10th, 2011
Permanent link: American Exceptionalism

Rattled Liberals
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Do liberals think that there is a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” or is it just a boogeyman that they exploit in order to raise money?

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on July 23rd, 2010
Permanent link: Rattled Liberals

A Response to the First Lady
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

In The Kansas City Star, congressional candidate Craig McPherson responds to Mrs. Obama’s attack on the tea party movement:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on July 14th, 2010
Permanent link: A Response to the First Lady

It’s Nice to Be Proved Right
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times quoted me as saying that Senator Boxer could face tough reelection battle. One online commenter harrumphed:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on March 18th, 2010
Permanent link: It’s Nice to Be Proved Right

Jerry Brown Equals John McCain Minus Heroism
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

The San Francisco Bay Guardian reported a few days ago:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on February 21st, 2010
Permanent link: Jerry Brown Equals John McCain Minus Heroism

Biden on the Filibuster
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Vice President Biden on the Filibuster:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on January 18th, 2010
Permanent link: Biden on the Filibuster

Expectations That He Could Not Meet
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

This article appears in today’s Inland newspapers.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on January 16th, 2010
Permanent link: Expectations That He Could Not Meet

The Nobel Prize for Inconsistency
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

In today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman rails against the filibuster. He writes: “A Congressional Research Service report from 2005, when a Republican majority was threatening to abolish the filibuster so it could push through Bush judicial nominees, suggests several ways this could happen - for example, through a majority vote changing Senate rules on the first day of a new session.” Funny - back then, he seemed to think that the filibuster was a valuable safeguard against a zealous majority. On March 29, 2005, he warned that “the big step by extremists will be an attempt to eliminate the filibuster, so that the courts can be packed with judges less committed to upholding the law than Mr. Greer [the judge in the Schiavo case].”

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 21st, 2009
Permanent link: The Nobel Prize for Inconsistency

G– Has a Sense of Humor
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

As world leaders meet to discuss global warming, Copenhagen is getting really cold. The Copenhagen Post reports:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 17th, 2009
Permanent link: G– Has a Sense of Humor

Charles Schumer’s Language Problem
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

As Greg Pollowitz notes, Senator Charles Schumer recently called a flight attendant a “b****.” Some history is relevant here. During Schumer’s first Senate race in 1998, incumbent Al D’Amato called him a “putzhead.” Expressing outrage, Schumer milked the incident for all the advantage he could get. The Washington Post reported: “The remark, made Tuesday, was seized upon today by Schumer, who called it `a cheap slur against me.’ He linked the insult to D’Amato’s claim earlier this week to be more committed than Schumer to helping survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. He also challenged the senator to `have the guts to use that same slur to my face’ when the two meet for debates this weekend.” After his own outburst this week, Schumer merely had an aide issue a pro forma apology. So here is Schumer’s Law: It is an outrage to use a vulgar epithet against a Harvard-educated politician, but it’s no big deal to use one against a working-class woman.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 16th, 2009
Permanent link: Charles Schumer’s Language Problem

Kill Bill, Part 2
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

“The Republicans, they have no interest in this bill.They’re using the 1994 playbook. Let’s kill the bill and kill the president.” - Howard Dean, August 18.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 15th, 2009
Permanent link: Kill Bill, Part 2

A Modest Proposal for Congressional Salaries
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Most Americans favor cutting salariesfor lawmakers and White House officials as a way of reducing government spending. Adam Kokesh, seeking the GOP nomination in New Mexico’s Third Congressional District, may thus be onto something. He has a bold proposal for his fellow candidates: pledge that you will refuse any salary in excess of average family income. See video here.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on December 8th, 2009
Permanent link: A Modest Proposal for Congressional Salaries

Palestine and Polo
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

There is an odd gap in media coverage of the White House gate-crasher. As of 8:10 AM this morning, Pacific time, a Google News search of “Tareq Salahi” (in quotation marks) yields 3,222 hits. Mr. Salahi is an avid polo player, and adding the word “polo” to the search produces 246 hits. As TPM has revealed, he has also served as a board member of the American Task Force on Palestine. But replacing “polo” with “Palestine” leaves only 8 hits. There is no evidence that the group had any involvement in this incident, but isn’t this connection at least as newsworthy as his polo-playing?

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on November 28th, 2009
Permanent link: Palestine and Polo

Palin, Obama, and a Double Standard
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

During the 2008 campaign, Sarah Palin suggested that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her some insight into national security. The media lampooned her.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on November 15th, 2009
Permanent link: Palin, Obama, and a Double Standard

Pelosicare: A Lose-Lose-Lose for Democrats
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

Whatever happens to the health bill on the floor, Speaker Pelosi will end up with serious worries.

If the bill fails, then her leadership will have suffered a serious blow. Liberals will say that she should have pushed it farther to the left and moderates will blame her for caving to the liberals. And her archrival Steny Hoyer will look the way a vulture would look if a vulture could smile.

If the bill passes the House, she may still have trouble. The Senate might not pass anything, or it might only pass a version that House Democrats regard as a nothingburger. In that case, she will have forced dozens of members to cast a risky vote for little in return. Their memories will reach back to 1993, when the leadership got them to vote for an unpopular BTU energy tax, only to see the Senate drop it. Many of the Democrats who “got BTU’d” lost their seats in 1994.

If something close to the House bill makes it to the president’s desk, then a different headache arises. Even in the extremely-unlikely event that the measure actually works, it will take years for significant benefits to reach most ordinary Americans. But meanwhile, Democrats will have assumed political ownership of American health care. All major decisions on health care will take place as a result of the bill, or in anticipation of its effects. Fairly or unfairly, Democrats will get the blame for every premium increase, every unwanted change of coverage, and just about any hassle that anyone has with an insurer or provider. In that case, the “vulture smile” will be on the face of the guys who make Republican attack ads.

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on November 7th, 2009
Permanent link: Pelosicare: A Lose-Lose-Lose for Democrats

States’ Rights
By John J. Pitney,Jr. (bio)

The Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general, Stephen C. Shannon, has suggested that Republican opponent Kenneth T. Cuccinelli is a bigot because he supports states’ rights. The Washington Post reports:

Posted by John J. Pitney,Jr. on October 24th, 2009
Permanent link: States’ Rights

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