Gwen's Take

The View From Indiana

Posted: March 4, 2011 at 12:49 pm

INDIANAPOLIS -- This otherwise unprepossessing state capitol has in recent weeks morphed into one of several hot spots around the nation that are testing what it means to govern and be governed.

Close To The Edge

Posted: February 24, 2011 at 6:25 pm

Tales from Tripoli, Madison and Washington

When I was just a young thing, I loved a song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five called “The Message.” “Don’t push me, cuz I’m close to the edge,” the refrain went. “I’m trying not to lose my head.”

Meaning What You Say

Posted: February 17, 2011 at 6:44 pm

It’s a familiar cycle. Voters say they want new faces and fresh thinking in Washington. But once the newcomers arrive in the nation’s capital, they discover themselves consigned to back benches and basement offices.

Reality soon sets in. It’s harder than it seems to get things done.

But in both the House and the Senate this year, first-termers are making their presence felt on deficit spending, defense budgets, anti-terror laws -- and even Big Bird.

Sending Signals

Posted: February 10, 2011 at 5:53 pm

When it Matters and When It Doesn’t

House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor strolled out onto the White House lawn after lunch with the President this week to deliver an upbeat and focused message to the reporters gathered there.

“I thought it was pretty clear today that the President wants to try to find some common ground with us,” Boehner said.

“The economy so desperately needs us to work together,” Cantor added, “to send a signal that we should start growing again as America.”

Date Night: Or Why the Best Part of the State of the Union Address Wasn’t the Speech

Posted: January 27, 2011 at 6:02 pm

Seldom have I watched the President’s annual speech to the joint session of Congress with anticipation that had so little to do with the contents of the address itself.

By now we surely know that – aside from the occasional brandishing of a veto pen or the periodic pledge to rein in government – these speeches are seldom memorable.