Suddenly, it’s in both parties’ interests to fight the broader decline of marriage. Here’s the case for a “marriage opportunity” agenda.
March/April/May 2015
How Mike Huckabee Became the New Sarah Palin
St. Joan of the Tundra taught him the art of inviting ridicule and turning it into victimization.
Tilting at Windmills
Four regulations and a funeral A few years ago, my wife became a funeral director. She has a special emphasis on “back to basics” funerals: simple caskets, avoiding embalming if possible, woodland burial, personal attention from the funeral director. She’d like to set up her own small funeral establishment some day, but she discovered a… Read more »
Washington’s Biggest Problem: Not Agreeing on the Problem
Gridlock rules Washington not just because the parties can’t agree on solutions to our nation’s problems, but because they can’t even agree on what the problems are. Senate Republicans didn’t block Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade bill in 2010 because they favored different policies—say, a carbon tax—for controlling global warming. They blocked it because they didn’t believe… Read more »
Operation Rent Seeking
How the war on terrorism became a business model.
Death with Indignity
How Medicare and other federal subsidies rope the elderly into painful, futile, and costly end-of-life care.
Welfare with an Ocean View
The federal government spends billions replenishing beaches for the affluent. The bill will soon skyrocket thanks to climate change.
The Reckless Reign of W.
We are still living with the forty-third president’s legacy.
The Future of Work
The American Midwest and the Mexican border are the twin faces of economic globalization—and the upheavals they have endured are the new normal.
Lost in Obamacare
Buried in Steven Brill’s convoluted tome are important truths about how to reform our health care delivery system.
A Lobbyist Just for You
And two other solutions to counter corporate influence in Washington.
A New Agenda for Political Reform
Instead of trying to weaken the pressure of corporate money in Washington, let’s try strengthening Congress’s capacity to resist it.
What Piketty Missed: The Banks
The explosion of finance, and its weak regulation, has exacerbated inequality. Stronger regulation could lead to higher middle-class wages.
When Freedom Isn’t Free
ALEC and the bail bond industry have a new plan to empty prisons—for a price.
Talk of the Toons
A selection of political cartoons from the past few weeks.