President Barack Obama wants 60 percent of adults in the U.S. to have college degrees by 2020. If today’s new figures from the Department of Education are any indication, the U.S. isn’t going to come close to that goal. The administration released new state-by-state numbers of college attainment for 25-34 year olds today and while […]
Danny Vinik
Danny Vinik is an intern at the Washington Monthly.
Posted inPolitics
Using Eminent Domain for Underwater Mortgages Is a Bad Idea
The idea of using eminent domain to help homeowners who own property worth less than the value of their mortgages, has become more and more popular in the past couple of weeks. Eminent domain allows the government to seize an individual’s property at market value if it is used for the public’s benefit. The Founders […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
The Next Step for Penn State
Jurors found former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sex abuse on Friday, with the charges carrying a minimum of 60 years in prison. The 68-year-old Sandusky will almost certainly be in jail the rest of his life. With Sandusky’s trial over, the focus will […]
Posted inPolitics
Ron Paul Fails to Lead on Social Security
Ron Paul has repeatedly declared that Social Security is unconstitutional. Apparently, that is not enough to stop him from collecting it though, as Paul revealed Wednesday that he receives social security benefits. Here’s how Paul justified it: Just as I use the post office, I use government highways, I use the banks, I use the […]
Posted inPolitics
Nick Lachey, Todd Palin, and Wesley Clark Do Reality TV
Singer Nick Lachey has had quite a career on television. It started in 2003 with Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which aired 41 episodes revolving around the (dysfunctional) marriage between Lachey and Jessica Simpson (they divorced in 2006). Next, in 2007, he was one of the choir directors on NBC’s Clash of the Choirs and hosted […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Borrowers Confused, Frustrated by Student Loans
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published nearly 2,000 comments on private student loans last Wednesday from students, parents and school administrators across the country. The CFPB launched a student loan complaint system to assist borrowers confused and/or struggling with their student debt. The Bureau plans to use all of the comments to craft specific […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education
Holding Colleges Accountable
More and more, parents and students have been weighing the costs and benefits of college and deciding whether it is worth the price. For most, the value of college does not come from the four years that the students spend there, but from the careers and salaries they earn after they graduate. And here is […]
Posted inPolitics
Unabashed Lying: Old or New?
As the 2012 campaign has gone on, Mitt Romney has begun stretching the truth more and more, many times lying entirely. At Maddow Blog, Steve Benen has been chronicling Romney’s dishonesty with weekly installments of Mitt’s Mendacity and the list never disappoints. So, how prevalent has unabashed, indefensible lying been in past elections? The first […]
Posted inPolitics
The Public Sector Still Needs Help
Washington Post columnist, and former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, Marc Thiessen penned an article yesterday rebuking President Barack Obama’s claim that “It’s very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it’s the public-sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers.” Obama has since refined his comments a bit as the private-sector is […]
Posted inPolitics
The Most Important Factor in the Presidential Election: Ben Bernanke
Matt Yglesias recently posted an article titled “America’s Economic Future Will Be Determined in America, Not Europe.” His main argument in the piece, that America is large enough to deal with any issues in Europe through policymaking, is certainly true, but I want to expand upon it as it relates to the presidential race. Yglesias […]
