Pete Spiliakos

“The most salient demographic change from 2008 to 2012 was the drop in white voters” argues election observer Sean Trende. To get an idea of what happened to these voters”working-class, rural, and living in the northern part of the country”it is helpful to look to Pennsylvania’s twelfth congressional district… . Continue Reading »

Reihan Salam points to some of the budgetary and political problems related to denying food and health care subsidies to those who would be getting amnesty. You will have millions of people (many very poor and in mixed-status families). These people will be connected to their communities and care . . . . Continue Reading »

1.  This Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry post did not get enough attention when it came out.  It has lots of good stuff.  One especially important observation: the GOP’s lack of a middle-class agenda makes it easier for their opponents to portray them as the party of white identity . . . . Continue Reading »

One thing (though far from the only thing) that makes me look forward to Peter Lawler posts is that they often help crystallize my thoughts. Peter writes about talking to the New Atlantis guys about assimilation, but I’m not so worried about assimilation per se. As a general rule, America is . . . . Continue Reading »

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a news release in support of the Gang of Eight’s immigration proposal. The problem is that the Gang of Eight proposal fails by the standards enunciated by the bishops and for other reasons too. At a press conference, Archbishop Gomez said: “Each day in our parishes, social service programs, hospitals, and schools we witness the human consequences of a broken immigration system… . Continue Reading »

You can produce an immigration policy that is all three.  I have some thoughts about it over at National Review Online . . . . . Continue Reading »

Rubio is now willing to occasionally admit that his Gang of Eight immigration plan provides for amnesty first and border security and internal enforcement either later or never.   Meanwhile, a Rubio advisor has been caught arguing for a larger low-skill guest worker program despite double . . . . Continue Reading »

Scott Galupo is right about Santorum’s speech. I was remiss not to link to it over the weekend. Good for Santorum for saying: One after another, they talked about the business they had built. But not a single—not a single —factory worker went out there . . . Not a single janitor, . . . . Continue Reading »

Don’t believe the professional movie critics. Just as Superman Returns has seen its reputation (deservedly) decline since it came out, Man of Steel is likely to see its critical reputation improve in the years ahead. The most puzzling critique of Man of Steel is that it lacks the . . . . Continue Reading »

I don’t think it is an especially good idea. . . . . Continue Reading »