The Week: Most Recent News & Opinion:Bullpen

A student debt crisis that cannot be ignored

The Week — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:00:00 -0400

Last week, in an appearance with smooth and snazzy Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, awkward as usual, did something that made him seem even more robotic. He was about to walk off the stage after a run-of-the-mill speech when an invisible switch was flipped, and Romney, like a wound-up toy soldier, returned to the microphone and added, "I forgot to mention at the very beginning... I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans."

You forgot to mention? With a July 1 deadline looming for Congress to act to prevent interest rates on millions of federal student loans...

Why young progressives shouldn't give up on Obama

The Week — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:34:00 -0400

In 2008, Democrats were fired up and ready to go, and Barack Obama cruised to a historic presidential win. In 2010, Democrats were glum, Republicans were raring to go, and the GOP won one of the biggest midterm landslides in modern history.

Which side will the enthusiasm gap favor in 2012? The jury's still out, but President Obama clearly needs to shore up his base. Young voters in particular, who turned out in droves to donate, volunteer, and vote for Obama in 2008, aren't nearly as excited this go round.

Consider one of my doctoral students at the University of California, now in her mid...

In defense of socialism

The Week — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:00:00 -0400

Driving around Texas some time ago, I saw a big billboard by Interstate 35 that sported an unflattering headshot of President Obama and a bold slogan: "Socialist by Conduct." Having grown up in China, where being labeled a socialist is like being called Mother Teresa, I was utterly befuddled by the ad.

From day one of Obama's presidency, critics have tried to label him "a socialist from Kenya," attacking his policies as evil attempts to redistribute wealth. Newt Gingrich has called Obama "the food stamp president." Rick Santorum warns that in a second term, Obama would turn America into a bankrupt...

Mitt Romney, waiting at the altar

The Week — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:10:00 -0400

After last week's Super Tuesday struggles, and heading into embarrassingly tough races in Alabama and Mississippi, Mitt Romney looks more and more like a bride in a traditional marriage arranged by GOP elders. Mitt may be eagerly going to the wedding, but the groom — the base of conservative, evangelical Republicans — isn't exactly thrilled with the match. In the end, the marriage will still likely happen. But at what cost to our poor bride?

Painful efforts to woo the Right have been quite costly for Romney, and will severely hamstring his nearly inevitable general election campaign...

Why Republicans should lay off China

The Week — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:15:00 -0500

Earlier this month, lucky Michigan viewers of Super Bowl XLVI were serenaded with a political attack ad that is, to borrow a word from the ever poetic Mitt Romney, "severely" stupid. It takes the game of China-bashing to a new level, just as Chinese President-Select Xi Jinping arrives in the United States for a friendly visit.

The 30-second ad, put out by Michigan Republican and U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra (who hopes to take on incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow in the fall), opens with a Fu Manchurian clang of a gong, followed by a young Chinese woman riding a bike leisurely down...

Newt the goat

The Week — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:00:00 -0500

You'd think that being a Republican, Newt Gingrich would be an elephant — and that he might even have been an inspiration for Ellis, the patriotic pachyderm in Sweet Land of Liberty, a children's book by Mrs. Gingrich III. But no, Gingrich is not an elephant. Born in 1943, he is a goat. That's according to my pirated edition of Encyclopedia of the Chinese Zodiac, which tells us that the character traits of the goat include being elegant and artistic, and charming with people — although always getting off on the wrong foot with them. The best career choices for goats? Actor, gardener...