For all it has done to promote confrontation between the United States and Iran, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has worked to avoid the public perception that AIPAC is openly promoting war. In AIPAC’s public documents, the emphasis has always been on tougher sanctions. (If you make sanctions "tough" enough – an effective embargo…
Many Americans don’t realize that although it might be true that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee can get seventy Senators to sign a napkin, that doesn’t mean AIPAC can stop Members of Congress from taking actions to improve U.S. policy towards the Palestinians – actions that could have a real impact in improving living…
It’s interesting to observe when some Democratic Congressional leaders say Democrats have to be “loyal” to President Obama and when it’s apparently OK to join Republicans in undermining him. Earlier this week, Speaker Pelosi said progressive House Democrats said had to be “loyal” to President Obama in supporting more money to escalate war in Afghanistan,…
Economists have a concept they call “revealed preferences.” The basic idea is that it’s one thing to ask someone how much they value something. It’s another thing to watch the economic choices that they make, from which you can draw inferences about what their true preferences are, regardless of what they say. A lot of…
Senator McCain, President Bush, and some of their oil industry friends are urging Americans to support overturning a 26-year ban on offshore drilling as a way to bring down gas prices. Of course, it’s snake oil designed for what the Joe Lieberman campaign affectionately called “low information voters.” As Dean Baker and Nichole Szembrot of…