Trump and His Apologists

As a standard-bearer for conservative ideas, Mr. Trump would likewise be a catastrophe. His only discernible principle is the promotion of his personal brand. His main message seems to be that because he’s rich and doesn’t care what anyone thinks, he can afford to tell everyone to go to hell.

Allentown’s contracting process open to abuse

LEHIGH VALLEY MORNING CALL EDITORIAL: …Allentown’s contracting process is at the heart of an FBI investigation into Allentown City Hall. During the July 2 raid, FBI agents seized documents looking for links between campaign donations to city officials and those awarded municipal contracts or seeking contracts… A Morning Call review of city contracting procedure shows […]

Barack Obama’s Long Game

POLITICO COLUMN: …From the Supreme Court decisions upholding his signature health care plan and the right of gay Americans to marry, to contested passage of fast track trade authority, the opening of normal diplomatic relations with Cuba and an international agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Obama is on a policy and political roll […]

President Obama Takes On the Prison Crisis

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: …[President Barack] Obama’s visit to El Reno, a medium-security prison in Oklahoma, capped off a week in which he spoke powerfully about the failings of a criminal justice system that has damaged an entire generation of Americans, locking up millions — disproportionately men of color — at a crippling cost to […]

Kerry: the Sunday before the Iran deal was a dark day

POLITICO: …“On the Sunday before we got the deal, Joe, about a week out, I had a very sober and almost depressing conversation with my counterpart [Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif],” the secretary of state said during an interview with panelists on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” The day began “with a very serious evaluation” on whether […]

Germany’s Wolfgang Schäuble puts Grexit back on the agenda

FINANCIAL TIMES: … Speaking before a key Bundestag vote on Friday, Mr Schäuble said voluntary departure from the eurozone “could perhaps be a better way” for Greece than a proposed €86bn bailout package, which was painfully assembled at a marathon eurozone summit in Brussels over the weekend… Mr Schäuble’s manoeuvre makes clear he is leaving […]

To Fix the Euro, Look to Connecticut

According to calculations by The Economist, Connecticut paid out 5 percent of its gross domestic product in net fiscal transfers to other states between 1990 and 2009; that is, its tax payments exceeded its receipt of government services by that amount. This is typical for rich states: They pay a disproportionate share of income and payroll taxes, while government services are disproportionately collected in states where people are poor or old or infirm…

Pat Toomey’s Senate run raises $8.3M

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Arming for his 2016 re-election battle, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., continued his robust fundraising pace in the second quarter of the year. The freshman Republican raised $2.2 million in the three-month reporting period that ended on June 30. That gave him a cash balance of $8.3 million 16 months before he is […]