The GOP Congress is working on a new toxic chemical bill. Should Obama sign it, or wait for the next president to get a better deal?
Congress
Posted inGovernment, June/July/August 2015, Magazine
The Monthly Interview: John Sarbanes
A conversation with Representative John Sarbanes, on a new campaign finance idea to get lawmakers more focused on voters than big-money contributors.
Posted inGovernment, Magazine, March/April/May 2015
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 […]
Posted inGovernment, Magazine, March/April/May 2015, Politics
A Lobbyist Just for You
And two other solutions to counter corporate influence in Washington.
Posted inGovernment, Magazine, March/April/May 2015, Politics
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.
Posted inBooks, Government, January/February 2015, Magazine
The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Government
While other conservatives say that the American state has become too powerful, Francis Fukuyama argues that it has grown too weak.
Posted inGovernment, January/February 2015, Magazine
Ten Secret Truths About Government Incompetence
What you can learn from the management mistakes of Obama and Bush.
Posted inGovernment, January/February 2015, Magazine
Why I Quit the Congressional Research Service
How Congress’s dysfunction has degraded its own in-house think tank.
Posted inMagazine, Politics, September/October 2014
The Monthly Interview: Ralph Nader
In his new book, Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State, the consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader argues that on many issues, from undeclared wars to unprosecuted Wall Street crimes, liberal and conservative citizens increasingly agree with each other, and that, by working together, they can take back Washington. […]
Posted inEducation, Higher Education, Magazine, September/October 2014
Who’s Afraid of College Rankings?
Obama wants the federal government to disclose how much it actually costs to attend different colleges and universities, and what their success rates are. But to do so, he has to work around a powerful, little-known lobby and its Republican friends.
