BU Now » Republicans

Big picture view on midterm elections

Jo Breiner — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:59:07 +0000

Political science department chair Graham Wilson offers his view on the midterm elections and what’s next for President Obama. Professor Wilson is the author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective.”

“A stunning blow for the Democrats. The question now is whether Obama can play the game of wrong footing for the Republican House as adroitly as did Bill Clinton in the ’90s.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

Brown gets reform bill changed

Dick Taffe — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:56:48 +0000

By threatening to withhold his vote for the final compromise, Massachusetts GOP U.S. Senator Scott Brown (l.) got the Democratic negotiators on the financial regulatory reform bill to delete a $19 billion fee on large financial institutions to cover costs of implementing the new law. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law and a former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors, says the Dems missed the boat by labeling the charge a “tax,” making it vulnerable to read-meat ideological attacks.

“Pure and simple, their charge should be labeled for what it is — a return of the subsidy that taxpayers bestow on the too-big-to-fail banks every day by pledging to their creditors and depositors that if the big banks go bust we collectively will pick up the tab. Senator Brown would have a difficult time refuting this framing of the discussion.”

Contact Cornelius Hurley, 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu

Arizona’s immigration law: What it means for midterm elections

Kira Jastive — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:16:14 +0000

Boston University Social Science Professor Tom Whalen discusses the potential impact of Arizona’s immigration law on this year’s midterm elections for both Republicans and Democrats.