PUBLICATIONS BY Robert B. Bluey
Commentary
Media Appearances
2008 Commentary
May 19, 2008
McCain's Global Warming Plan Threatens Economy
By Robert Bluey
Exactly one year after angering conservatives with an amnesty bill for illegal aliens, Sen. John McCain managed to fire up the right again last week—only this time he's proposing a massive plan to combat global warming that would have severe consequences for the U.S. economy.
May 10, 2008
Obama Signals Less Union Oversight
By Robert Bluey
The Labor Department's seven-year effort to improve financial reporting and disclosure by unions could come to a screeching halt once President Bush leaves office.
May 05, 2008
Polar Bear Politics
By Robert Bluey
Talk about bad timing. Gas prices are spiking and U.S. energy policy is contributing to skyrocketing food costs, yet environmentalists apparently want to make it even more expensive to live in America. And they’re trying to use the polar bear to do it.
February 25, 2008
Congress Operates in the Dark Ages
By Robert Bluey
A congressional Web site devoted to spending reform may soon fall victim to a nearly 10-year-old House rule governing online activity. If the Web site is axed, it will serve as an embarrassing example of just how behind the times our lawmakers are.
January 28, 2008
Nothing Stimulating About This Deal
By Robert Bluey
I wouldn't want Hank Paulson negotiating on my behalf. The U.S. treasury secretary did such a poor job representing the White House in negotiations on the economic stimulus deal, it wasn’t clear if Paulson was purposely trying to help House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or simply unaccustomed to how business is done in Washington. If it weren’t for House Minority Leader John Boehner, this deal would be far worse -- and that’s not saying much, given some of the misplaced priorities that made their way into the package.
The episode represented an abysmal failure by the White House to stand firm
January 22, 2008
Government Handouts Won't Help Economy
By Robert Bluey
President Bush doesn't like to admit he's made mistakes. But if White House chatter about an economic stimulus package is true, the president is about to repeat a misstep made early in his first term.
January 14, 2008
A Pay Raise for Poor Performance
By Robert Bluey
Members of Congress return to Washington this week $4,100 richer. During their three-week vacation, the annual cost-of-living adjustment kicked in, bringing the salary of a congressman to $169,300.
January 07, 2008
Fighting Vote Fraud With Photo ID
By Robert Bluey
All eyes will be on New Hampshire Wednesday morning for the first true primary in the 2008 elections. But even as hardy New Englanders trudge to the polls, something at least as consequential will happening in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a major case on election law.
2007 Commentary
December 31, 2007
New Year's Resolution for Republicans: End Earmarks
By Robert Bluey
Earmarks were supposed to be a thing of the past for Republicans after allegations of corruption cost the GOP control of Congress in 2006. Throughout 2007, Republicans acknowledged repeatedly that straying from principles had hurt them dearly. But changing their profligate ways proved difficult: Just 14 Senate Republicans voted against the pork-laden omnibus spending bill this month.
December 24, 2007
Big Labor's Unfulfilled Wish List
By Robert Bluey
The federal government’s union watchdog agency will have to get by on less next year. The mammoth omnibus spending bill passed last week hacks nearly $3 million from the Office of Labor Management Standards -- a small gift for Big Labor just in time for Christmas.
December 17, 2007
Will Republicans Go Soft on Spending?
By Robert Bluey
Feeling pressure to wrap up work on 11 of the 12 unfinished appropriations bills that fund the federal government, congressional Democrats will push this week to pass a mammoth omnibus spending package just in time for Christmas.
December 10, 2007
How to Save Taxpayers $31 Billion
By Robert Bluey
Sen. Jim DeMint is as frustrated as anyone on Capitol Hill about Congress's failure to wrap up work on the federal budget. With 11 of the 12 appropriations bills unfinished and U.S. troops in need of funding, DeMint sees the next couple weeks as a make-or-break period for lawmakers intent on steering Congress back toward fiscal restraint.
November 19, 2007
The Inspirational Life of Clarence Thomas
By Robert Bluey
Ask Clarence Thomas what he enjoys doing and he'll tell you about driving his RV across America or cheering for his beloved Nebraska Cornhuskers. That hardly sounds like the life of a U.S. Supreme Court justice, but in the case of Thomas, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
November 13, 2007
A Bonbon for Big Labor
By Robert Bluey
Free trade has fallen on hard times in America. With commentators such as CNN's Lou Dobbs promoting protectionism and liberal politicians pandering to Big Labor, the tide has clearly turned.
November 05, 2007
Bush's Bold Veto
By Robert Bluey
Congressional Republicans have tried hard this year to reclaim the GOP’s traditional "brand" as the party of fiscal responsibility. They're about to face a test that will show whether their rhetoric matches reality.
October 29, 2007
Congress Reaches the Wrong Milestone
By Robert Bluey
For the first time in history, the House of Representatives hit the 1,000-vote mark. It's a thoroughly meaningless milestone, yet liberals proclaimed it a monumental accomplishment.
October 15, 2007
All the Bad News That's Fit to Print
By Robert Bluey
The U.S. budget deficit fell to the lowest level in five years last week, but three of America's leading newspapers -- the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times -- couldn't find the space to mention the dramatic drop.
October 08, 2007
How to Help the Kids
By Robert Bluey
Nobody in Washington likes to compromise, but when it comes to helping poor kids, you'd think politicians would choose solutions instead of spin. Think again.
October 01, 2007
Can Newt Solve America's Problems?
By Robert Bluey
Thirteen years ago, then-Rep. Newt Gingrich stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to unveil the Contract with America, a document that crystallized conservative principles and led Republicans to a remarkable triumph on Election Day. Gingrich was at the top of his game and the country was following closely behind.
September 24, 2007
Dust Off the Veto Pen
By Robert Bluey
Alan Greenspan’s criticism of the administration’s fiscal record couldn’t have come at a better time. The former Federal Reserve chairman’s autobiography, “The Age of Turbulence,” lays into President Bush and congressional Republicans for their free-spending ways. The criticism seems to have emboldened Bush just as Democrats challenge him on taxes and spending.
September 17, 2007
Outflanked by a Four-Star General
By Robert Bluey
The anger and frustration over Iraq that prompted voters to bounce many Republicans from Congress last November was supposed to give Democrats the momentum they needed to end the war. Instead, 10 months after Election Day, many are conflicted and confused about what to do next.
September 10, 2007
Education Reform Goes From Bad to Worse
By Robert Bluey
No Child Left Behind has seen better days. Under attack from both the right and left, President Bush's signature education achievement might not survive if some members of Congress get their way.
September 03, 2007
HillaryCare on the Horizon
By Robert Bluey
Topping the Democrats’ to-do list when they return to Washington this week is reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The House and Senate passed two different versions of the bill before August recess and now must reconcile the legislation before the program expires at month’s end.
July 24, 2007
Ringmaster Reid Cracks the Whip in the Senate Circus
By Robert Bluey
Congress hasn’t accomplished much this year, but at least our politicians are displaying a flair for political theater.
July 09, 2007
Democrats Pick a Fight Over Bush's Budget
By Robert Bluey
President Bush made no friends in liberal quarters when he told Congress to hold the line on spending or confront his veto pen. Now, with the top slot in Bush's budget office newly vacant, congressional big spenders are threatening payback.
July 02, 2007
Another Revolt on the Right
By Robert Bluey
Having halted the Bush-Kennedy "grand bargain" on immigration, many conservatives are expressing newfound optimism that they can do the same to the president's signature education achievement, the No Child Left Behind Act.
June 25, 2007
House Republicans Reclaim Their Brand on Spending
By Robert Bluey
Senate Republicans are squabbling amongst themselves over immigration reform. President Bush is fighting a losing battle with his base. But in the House of Representatives, times couldn't be better for the GOP.
June 18, 2007
Judicial Nominee Hangs in the Balance
By Robert Bluey
Senate Democrats and Republicans operated in relative harmony this spring when confirming President Bush's judicial nominees, but the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the New Orleans-based federal court of appeals has shattered that peace.
June 08, 2007
Do-Nothing? You Know-Nothing
By Robert Bluey
Senator John McCain wants you to believe that “doing nothing” on immigration reform amounts to “silent amnesty.” It’s his way of making the case for a bill that offers little in the way of new security measures while granting amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens.
June 04, 2007
Bush's Blunder: How Not to Fire Up the Base
By Robert Bluey
For the past two weeks, talkers' phone lines have been jammed with angry calls from frustrated listeners. They're hot as blazes about the immigration bill, and their anger has emboldened grassroots conservatives to criticize President Bush like never before.
May 29, 2007
The Politics of Amnesty
By Robert Bluey
The amnesty deal negotiated by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the White House has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it. Plain and simple, it's bad public policy being used to advance a political agenda.
May 21, 2007
Kennedy Dupes Republicans on Immigration Bill
By Robert Bluey
The world's greatest deliberative body, the U.S. Senate, is expected to move with blazing speed this week to vote on a massive immigration reform bill that grants amnesty to 12 million illegal aliens.
May 21, 2007
Myth-busting the White House on Immigration
By Robert Bluey
A White House "Myth/Fact" explanation of the new immigration bill perpetuated more myths than it punctured. Here are 10 myths the White House wants us to believe.
May 14, 2007
Congress Is Still Feeding at the Trough
By Robert Bluey
It's no secret that Rep. Jack Murtha loves his pork-barrel projects. The burly Pennsylvania Democrat has for years played the role of broker for his own party and the GOP to get deals done in exchange for lucrative earmarks.
May 07, 2007
Top 10 Ways Pelosi Can Reform the House
By Robert Bluey
When Democrats won control of Congress last November, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi made a simple promise: "We pledge to make this the most honest, ethical and open Congress in history."
April 30, 2007
Keeping Democrats Accountable
By Robert Bluey
Longtime congressional staffers Michael Brady and Michael Giuliani are fed up with reporters who cover Congress. Frustrated by their failure to investigate stories and tired of the liberal bias, Brady and Giuliani have vowed to make it right -- by becoming investigative journalists themselves.
March 20, 2007
Bush Faces Revolt on No Child Left Behind
By Robert Bluey
Conservatives on Capitol Hill have openly rebelled against President Bush’s signature education initiative. Last week, they unveiled legislation that would let states opt out of many requirements of No Child Left Behind in order to pursue alternative, performance-based education strategies.
March 19, 2007
The Left-Wing Echo Chamber
By Robert Bluey
Death threats. Harassing phone calls. Threatening e-mails. Such was a day in the life of Drew Johnson a few weeks ago.
March 14, 2007
A Conservative Alternative to No Child Left Behind
By Robert Bluey
As a presidential candidate in 2000, George W. Bush proposed an education plan that focused on local control of schools. But a year later, after going through the congressional sausage machine, Bush’s proposal had morphed into something entirely different.
February 02, 2007
Bloggers affect change in politics and policy
By Robert Bluey
Do you have a blog? If not, what are you waiting for?
November 6, 2009
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