WASHINGTON — In the early days of the Obama administration, I sat in a Capitol Hill hearing room and listened to Harry Markopolos, the whistle-blower in the Bernie Madoff scandal, bemoan the … more

Not only is a Senate plan for reforming the immigration program smart, it may actually become law. Those two things don’t necessarily go together. That it is bipartisan would seem a near … more

WASHINGTON — Well, at least we’re starting to get the procedure right. Washington has rediscovered the beauty of the boring. It’s called “regular order,” using the … more

“I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with those [Palestinian] kids, they’d say I want these kids to succeed.”— Barack Obama, in Jerusalem, March 21 … more

The Senate did something this past weekend it hasn’t done in four years: passed a budget. The law requires the Senate to pass a budget, but Congress often ignores its own laws. For most of … more

There’s a natural human impulse to help people who need a hand. In the political world, that often translates to an impulse to have government help people who need a hand. Who wants to argue … more

What happened to that millisecond after the election when both the president and the speaker said they’d heard the message that Americans wanted the two parties to work together, wanted to make … more

WASHINGTON — On the eve of a new year, a libertarian strain pulses through America — a get-government-out-of-my-personal-life sensibility that cuts across ideologies and is driven by a younger … more

WASHINGTON — Jesse Jackson Jr. arrived in court wearing a leather bracelet, not the gold-plated Rolex watch he bought with $43,350 in federal campaign cash.The former congressman’s head … more

Most of us do bad things. We betray friends, make hurtful remarks, lie. Often an apology will suffice in restoring trust and respect. But some very successful people engage in patterns of nutty or … more