Memo to Robert Gates: Duty, Sir, Lies in Getting a War's Premise Right
Taking a shot at the commander-in-chief he served, former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates in his new book faults President Barack Obama for a lack of "passion" in his prosecution of the wars in...
View ArticleNet Neutrality Is Dead -- Here's How to Get It Back
Three judges in D.C. just killed Net Neutrality. This could be the end of the Internet as we know it. But it doesn't have to be. The big news: A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the Federal...
View ArticleHillary and Pope Francis
Let me interrupt the coronation. Hillary Clinton did not have a good political year in 2013. And there are warning signs that she may be repeating her mistakes of 2008. I am a strong supporter of...
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We Need to Start Seeing Other Futures...
Today is the second day of "Copyright Week!" Talk about a lede. That sentence has all the inherent excitement of "Periodontal Health Awareness Week" or "'Hug Your Proctologist! No, After He's Washed...
View ArticlePlaying Poor Children Against Jobless Is Ugly Game of Survival
Sometimes when a member of Congress says or does something that insults a whole class of people one has to decide whether the member is being mean-spirited or is woefully uninformed. But when a group...
View ArticleGot Science? Beyond the Spin: Here's Why Energy Efficiency Standards Are...
With tighter efficiency standards finally kicking in for 60- and 40-watt lightbulbs this month, the Heritage Foundation's blog recently encouraged Americans to "stock up on incandescent bulbs" before...
View ArticleSenators Tell Obama to Abandon His Social Security 'Mistake'
Democrats have been pleading with President Obama not to cut Social Security for years. Until now, most of the public pleas have come from Democratic voters. Now they're coming from Democratic...
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Our Ever-Expanding Three-Way Arms Race
The overwhelming presence of guns in the United States is the result of an arms race -- a three-way arms race. Potential gun owners are persuaded to get guns with the newest technology designed to be...
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Where Things Stand for the Unemployed
With last month's expiration of emergency federal jobless benefits, only regular state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits are available to qualifying workers who lose their jobs through no fault of...
View ArticleWhen Fetal Rights Trump Those of Patient and Family
Numerous strategies by antiabortion groups to curb women's constitutional right to abortion are frequently reported in the news, and come as no surprise. However, a recent development illustrates novel...
View ArticleWith Upcoming Discussion on Limiting Abortion Rights, the Personal Is Political
Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will take up the so-called "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion" Act. The drill has already started. Those who oppose access to abortion are already firing off press...
View ArticleRight Wing 'Wanted' Poster for JFK: Sound Familiar?
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose A few days prior to President John F Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, a flyer was widely distributed in the form of a "Wanted" poster. With front and side...
View ArticleLeadership, Emotional Intelligence and Positive Reinforcement
This past month I've written a series of columns on leadership, discussing some issues in a very broad sense, and highlighting a number of individuals as well. Leadership, of course, can be defined in...
View ArticleI'm From West Virginia and I've Got Something to Say About the Chemical Spill
My dad, a lifelong firefighter, used to teach Hazardous Materials Response and Safety classes to first responders. The first informational point he covered at the beginning of the course was how to...
View ArticleThe New Hillary Hit -- Pit Her Against President Obama
GOP strategists have made absolutely no secret that they are loading up for bear against Hillary Clinton, if but more likely when, she announces that she's in for White House in 2016. They've already...
View ArticleWill Marijuana Decide the Florida Governor's Race?
Democratic and Republican insiders are saying that marijuana law reform may decide the Florida governor's race, according to a recent Bloomberg report. As activists in Florida work on a ballot...
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Obama Should Stop Talking and Start Acting on Equal Pay
Maria Shriver's The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink was released this week to much media fanfare. Highlighting the gender pay gap, it estimates that the U.S. economy would...
View ArticleRepublican Bullying Finally Meets Stupidity in Chris Christie Mess
Even as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's headaches over the George Washington Bridge scandal mount rapidly, it is really the Republican mentality that should be blamed for what happened. Like...
View ArticleThe Last 'Lion'
No one has been more disheartened by the breakdown of bipartisanship in Washington than the staff at The Education Trust. As an organization, we worked hard over many years to cultivate strong...
View ArticleThe Minimum Wage Is a Moral Issue
Today 75 economists, including 7 Nobel Laureates signed a letter advocating for a higher minimum wage. They sum up what is now the consensus among economists: a modest boost to the minimum wage won't...
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