In a very interesting way, the immigration quandary poses a deep question about the nature and viability of American democracy as we know it.  On the one hand, Americans continue to view citizenship within the nation-state as a prerequisite to the full enjoyment of the rights, privileges and responsibilities that have come to characterize the American way of life.

Supporters of extending the unemployment benefit unconvincingly argue that the extended benefit will stimulate the economy and thereby create jobs.  This macroeconomic benefit would be more convincing if unemployment benefits were not a zero-sum transfer of money from the productive sectors of the economy. Realistically, these payments come from taxes on the employed who must reduce their consumption to pay the taxes; or from investors who finance the increasing federal deficit rather than financing productive companies that create jobs.

There are certain economic systems that promote the virtues of the individual more so than others. Although, at a certain level there will always be people at the top who succeed, there will always be another set of people on the economic fringe who are more vulnerable to the economic systems in which they live and work in.

The White House has had a few laughs recently poking fun at Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele.

It’s hot outside.  Too hot for a summer stroll or any sort of outdoor activity.  So yesterday morning, I settled in for some riveting Sunday talk show action.

The ease with which the NAACP and other organizations dismiss the Tea Party debate by crying racism—and the vitriol reserved for those Black Americans who deigned to disagree—tells us that the same old racial fault lines remain in this country.  While racial discrimination is nowhere near the insurmountable barrier it once was, we still can’t seem to get beyond the same old paradigms: Blacks must support the Democrats and anyone who thinks otherwise is labeled a racist--something we've seen reprised in recent months regarding Obama.