David Atkins

Americans are rightly celebrating over the release of Bowe Bergdahl, the lone prisoner of war from the conflict in Afghanistan. Legally, though, it’s a mess. Republicans are complaining that the President violated the law in not giving Congress 30 days notification prior to the release. The President for his part doesn’t deny it, but only […]

A new report in the Wall Street Journal reconfirms what many of already know instinctively: the biggest problem with the economy is that wages just aren’t growing fast enough to sustain prosperity. A long-awaited liftoff in the U.S. economy is facing pressure from stubbornly weak wage growth, muddying the outlook for consumers and challenging Federal […]

The new Gallup numbers have been a hot topic of conversation over the last few days. Most of the discussion has focused on how the electorate is slowly but surely shifting away from the GOP and conservatism in general, which is true. But some other interesting points stand out as well when you break down […]

Law enforcement has a difficult job. Police officers risk their lives and safety every day serving the public, and there are mountains of paperwork on top of that. So it’s understandable if things sometimes fall through the cracks. But one would hope that when the police receive several credible complaints that an individual might be […]

The same is true of TV shows, consumer products and politics: when you have to rely on gimmicks to make your sale, you’re on the path to failure. Despite a consistent and unyieldingly belligerent posture, the GOP has been increasingly substituting flash-in-the-pan gimmicks for actual policy positions or even coherent ideological talking points. Meanwhile, they’ve […]

Close followers of the climate change battle have been watching carefully for one major event that might serve as a bigger catalyst than any other to mobilize legislative action. But that event has nothing to do with weather or natural disasters. It’s about money. Specifically, the big money behind the insurance industry. You see, in […]

Income inequality is the hot topic of conversation in left-leaning circles right now, and for good reason. The American Dream seems increasingly out of reach, wages are stagnant, and the top 1% of incomes control almost half of all global wealth. But the standard Occupy-style formulation of the 1% versus the 99% actually undersells the […]