Nathan Shrader
Fri, June 22, 2012
Richard Milhaus Obama
Last week President Obama decided to evade the legislative process by enacting an immigration amnesty plan without the consent of Congress. Regardless of your feelings about the policy itself, the ...
Tue, June 12, 2012
Independence, Pragmatism Normalcy
The new Franklin and Marshall College Poll released on June 6 contains a number of interesting nuggets about where things stand in the Keystone State today. Items from this survey receiving the most ...
Sun, June 03, 2012
Resolve Philly GOP War with Party Convention
Involvement in civic life–and thus in politics–comes natural to me. My family taught me from a young age that good citizens participate in their communities and do whatever they can to ...
Thu, January 26, 2012
Newt Gingrich: Comeback Kid or 2012 Spoiler?
The unsinkable Dick Nixon once commented that "Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits." We can easily apply this standard to ...
Fri, December 02, 2011
Three Cheers for Gridlock
Condemned by scholar Norm Ornstein in a Foreign Policy magazine piece in July 2011 as the worst Congress in the country's history, the 112th Congress has been chastised for its lack of civility, ...
Tue, October 25, 2011
On Iraq: An Apology
An end to the Iraq War and apologies from those who once supported it will not bring back the thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis whose lives have been unnecessarily lost. ...
Fri, October 07, 2011
Extreme Left Occupies Land of Make Believe
Benjamin Disraeli, the nineteenth century British prime minister and literary figure commented that "moderation is the center wherein all philosophies, both human and divine, meet." Apparently the ...
Tue, August 16, 2011
Malaise One Heads for Heartland
Just a few short years ago we grew accustomed to daily observations by Democratic politicians, editorial writers, and spinsters about how President George W. Bush was disconnected from reality. He ...
Wed, June 15, 2011
Enact Gas Tax Holiday for Independence Weekend
The 2011 Independence Day weekend is fast approaching. News reports suggest that many families are planning to take "stay-cations" at home this year instead of hitting the highways and ...
Wed, June 01, 2011
Big Government Wins Again
News flash! While Americans blissfully planned their Memorial Day barbeques the U.S. Congress extended for four years the dubious Patriot Act and narrowly rejected efforts to bring to a close the war ...
Mon, March 28, 2011
Bush III
As a former college newspaper editor, I'm a sucker for a great lead. The Philadelphia Daily News last week had one of the best I've ever seen. In a piece about how local pol Dwight Evans was caught ...
Fri, February 04, 2011
Win One for the Gipper
On Sunday Americans will mark the one hundredth birthday of the late Ronald Reagan, a GOP hero who led his party back from a steep decline caused by Watergate, the unpopular Democrat war in Vietnam ...
Mon, January 24, 2011
Will Health Care Repeal Vote Stymie House GOP?
Speaker John Boehner and the House Republican leadership team claimed a victory for their legislative agenda on Wednesday, Jan. 19 with the passage of their chief legislative priority for the ...
Tue, August 31, 2010
No Economic Patriotism, No Recovery
This year's political ads and the rhetoric emanating from candidates running nationwide tell us that the four letter word of the year is "j-o-b-s." If the 1992 presidential election was ...
Wed, August 11, 2010
Reason Jumps the Shark in the Empire State
The idiom "jumping the shark" has come a long way. Its source is a strange episode of the old Happy Days television program in which a leather-jacket clad Fonzi jumps over the back of a ...
Thu, July 15, 2010
Prepare for Photo Finish November 2nd
Uncertainty appears to rule the day as America approaches the November midterm elections. A new Washington Post-ABC News Poll conducted July 7-11 indicates that the national voting public is ...
Tue, July 06, 2010
In Defense of Michael Steele
Criticism from within his party is nothing new for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. The former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and 2006 U.S. Senate candidate has come under fire ...
Mon, June 14, 2010
Voter Choice Under Assault
What do former Republican Governors Mark Schweiker, Tom Ridge, and Dick Thornburgh have in common with current Democrat Governor Ed Rendell? Rendell and the Ghosts of Governor's Past have joined ...
Thu, April 15, 2010
Paging Dr. Paul
During the course of the 2008 election cycle Ron Paul became the favorite punching bag of the neoconservative right and the Big Government left. During the Republican debates through fall 2007 and ...
Tue, March 30, 2010
Polarization Getting the Best of Us
Watching the prelude, debate, and aftermath of the federal health insurance reform fight has been as painful as slamming your hand in the car door or watching the Pirates try to convince their few ...
Tue, March 09, 2010
Meet America's (Worst) Mayor
More than one decade ago Vice President Al Gore declared that Ed Rendell was "America's Mayor" because of his diligent work to improve the financial health of Philadelphia. After the ...
Mon, February 15, 2010
PA Dems Should Seize Reform Movement
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is in the midst of a vigorous primary election to succeed Ed Rendell in the Governor's Office. Unlike their Republican counterparts, the Democratic State Committee ...
Fri, February 05, 2010
Spineless Pols Pass Buck on Terror Trials
President Obama can't stand the heat. He's buckling under the pressure of weak-kneed politicians in New York City and in Congress to move the terror trial of professed September 11th mastermind ...
Thu, January 21, 2010
Chalk Up A Win for Federalism
Somewhere, James Madison is smiling.
Scott Brown's impressive upset victory over liberal establishment candidate Martha Coakley in Massachusetts is being viewed ...
Mon, January 11, 2010
PA GOP Should Abandon the Coronation
Seven months ago Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial primary election looked considerably different than it does today. Attorney General Tom Corbett was preparing to square off with former U.S. ...
Wed, December 23, 2009
Campaign 2010: Kennedy Seeks Return to Public Service
After concluding a successful legislative career and selling his self-built business, John Kennedy could have retired to the warm, sandy beaches of Florida and left the fight to reform Pennsylvania's ...
Tue, November 24, 2009
Afghanistan: Reject Dire Tax and Surge Plan
The 1988 Republican Party primary contest was a titanic struggle between several party heavyweights seeking to carry the Grand Old Party's banner in the post-Reagan era. The campaign featured Vice ...
Mon, November 16, 2009
Only We Can Help Us Now
It has been quite the month thus far in Pennsylvania politics. Highlights include a Republican resurgence in six statewide judicial races, an ongoing recount in a tight Superior Court race, the ...
Fri, October 30, 2009
These Kids Have a Lot to Learn
Temple University hosted a visit by Dutch Parliamentarian and Chairman of the Dutch Freedom Party Geert Wilders on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The controversial European politician was invited to speak by an ...
Wed, September 30, 2009
Run, Sam, Run
Harrisburg was atwitter late last week with a politicspa.com story indicating that State Representative Sam Rohrer (R-Berks) is "seriously considering" a gubernatorial campaign next year. The 17-year ...
Fri, September 18, 2009
Nutter Prevails on Sales Tax Hike
Over the past several weeks Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter resorted to unnecessary scare tactics, the demonization of non-city legislators, hostility towards the business community, and offended ...
Fri, September 04, 2009
Which Beltway Party Will Protect Our Pocketbooks?
The ongoing debate over health care reform and the cost of carrying out such an overhaul has become a bright, shining example of why the public should have serious doubts as to whether or not either ...
Wed, August 12, 2009
Time to Tone Down the Rage
President George Washington–first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts and minds of his countrymen–compiled a book known as Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and ...
Mon, July 20, 2009
PA Budget Battle Proves Need for Citizen Legislature
If Pennsylvanians have learned anything during the 2009 budget battle, perhaps it is that the sixth straight late state budget demonstrates the dysfunctional nature of our $342 million a year ...
Mon, June 15, 2009
GOP Brass Should Welcome Gubernatorial Primary
It has become apparent in recent days that certain members of the Pennsylvania Republican Party's upper brass are doing whatever they can to reduce the likelihood of a contested gubernatorial primary ...
Wed, May 27, 2009
Electing Judges: Mend It, Don't End It
Let me begin by saying I think John Baer is the finest political writer and reporter covering Pennsylvania politics today.
When I worked for the late Lieut. Gov. ...
Fri, May 15, 2009
Campaign Spotlight:
Westmoreland GOP Candidates Seek Dual Victories on Tuesday
A keen sense of optimism and a healthy supply of shoe leather are necessary when waking up each morning as Republican judicial candidates in Westmoreland County. Harry Smail Jr. and Michele Bononi, ...
Wed, April 22, 2009
Towards a Realist, Adult-Like Foreign Policy
Throughout the past several weeks we have heard from discredited Bush janissaries that President Obama is conducting foreign policy in destructive, unthinkable ways which violate the security and ...
Wed, April 01, 2009
An Agenda Worthy of George III
Perhaps we have been reading our history books incorrectly over the past 233 years. A recent pair of proposals out of Washington in the last two weeks is enough to make one wonder if Cornwallis ...
Fri, March 20, 2009
The McCain Corollary
Political Scientists are known for developing theoretical examples and realistic case studies as postulates to explain why political actors behave in the way they do. Modern political ...
Wed, March 04, 2009
In the National Economic Interest
Amidst the good news this week that President Obama will no longer permit the Bush Administration's dishonest, ham-fisted practice of submitting Iraq and Afghanistan war expenditures as ...
Thu, February 26, 2009
In Defense of the National Economic Interest
In Defense of the National Economic Interest
By Nathan R. Shrader
Amidst the good news this week that President Obama will no ...
Fri, January 30, 2009
We Could Use a Man Like Bill McKinley Again
Taking the oath of office on March 4, 1897, Ohio native William McKinley inherited a nation facing troubling economic times. The Republican had just bested Nebraska Democrat William Jennings Bryan by ...
Mon, January 05, 2009
Edwards' Tome Proposed Rebirth of Principle Following Bush Debacle
Just as Paul Revere rode through the Massachusetts towns of Arlington, Somerville, and Medford in April 1775 sounding the alarm of the British advance towards Lexington, former Congressman Mickey ...
Tue, December 09, 2008
Remembering Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll
Catherine Baker Knoll's election as Pennsylvania's 30th Lieutenant Governor marked the election of the first female executive in state history. Lieutenant Governor Knoll's sudden passing on November ...
Fri, November 21, 2008
Act of God, Not Act of Government Needed to Save Big Three
Several weeks ago, Congress passed an infamous, pork-laden $830 billion welfare handout to Wall Street gurus and banking big wigs to allegedly reduce the burden on the economy. Congress rushed to the ...
Mon, November 10, 2008
Palin, McCain, Anti-Intellectualism to Blame for Defeat
Asked Wednesday whether or not Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is now the leader of the Republican Party, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter responded with a clear and definite "no." While not always correct on ...
Sat, November 01, 2008
Obama Dumps Dissenting Reporters in Fourth Quarter Bush-Cheney Play
During his illustrious and unfortunately short-lived political career, Jack Kennedy remarked that "Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed–and no ...
Tue, October 07, 2008
As the Cheese Steak Goes, So Goes the Nation
Anyone who has ever been to Philadelphia will tell you there is something magical about the cheese steak. This sandwich is overflowing with taste. It is a cultural icon and a tasty piece of campaign ...
Thu, September 25, 2008
Bail-Out Plan is Recipe for Tyranny
Francois-Marie Arouet was better known by his pen name, Voltaire. A defender of personal, political, and religious freedom in 18th century France, this deep thinking man whose ideas helped influence ...
