Victor S. Thomas professor of government and sociology at Harvard and director of the Scholars Strategy Network
Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University: co-author of The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism and Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know
On the road to SCOTUS: Politics trumps the law Conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation looks highly likely, but crucial issues won’t go away. The Supreme Court may see cases involving abortion, health care and the limits of presidential power. Can Democrats use upcoming hearings to dramatize what’s at stake--before November’s elections?
Guns, Tribes and Steel President Trump wants tariffs on steel, and softens his tone on gun restrictions after meeting with the NRA.
Healthcare: The Law and the Politics The US Supreme Court has upheld President Obama's Affordable Care Act , a short-term victory with long-term consequences for health care, the powers of Congress and the presidential campaign.
Healthcare: The Law and the Politics The US Supreme Court has found the Affordable Care Act constitutional , a major victory for President Obama . The decision was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with four liberal colleagues against conservatives, splitting the court five to four. The "mandate" requiring all Americans to buy health insurance was upheld — but the majority called it a "tax" — and that gave Mitt Romney an opening. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said today he'll introduce a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act when Congress returns to Washington. We hear about today's opinion, and what it could mean for the availability of healthcare, the presidential campaign and the powers of Congress.
Zero-Sum Politics in an Age of Austerity It's no surprise that older Americans have accumulated more wealth and earn more income than their children and grandchildren. But a recent study shows the gap is growing much faster than previously reported. The growing federal deficit and demands for spending cuts create a sense of scarcity that's pitting Americans against one another. We look at the impact of that and other "fault lines" between Americans in this election year.
The Politics of Austerity It's no surprise that older Americans have accumulated more wealth and earn more income than their children and grandchildren. But a recent study shows the gap is growing much faster than previously reported, leading to age-based competition for federal benefits. Older conservatives who see the pie shrinking view programs to help younger people, and even the poor, as threats to Medicare and Social Security. That fear has energized the Tea Partiers, and Occupy Wall Street is the first sign of youthful resistance as the struggle for scarce resources turns nasty. Meantime, well-off elites face a middle class plagued with unemployment and a sense of deprivation. What are the implications for this year's campaigns?
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.