Archives for July 2011

Mark Wilson

It seems to make sense: families have to live within their means. State and local governments have to live within their means. Why not the U.S. government, too? But as John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out in The Affluent Society, “conventional wisdom” — premises that everyone generally holds as true — are usually unexamined and often false.

A balanced budget amendment, promoted by Republicans in Congress as a necessary component of federal debt reform, would have the unintended (or maybe intended) consequence of hog-tying Congress’ budgeting ability, especially in the face of a recession.

Yevgeny Shrago 

While markets anxiously watched America’s debt ceiling debate and Europe announced another round of bailouts for Greece in the hopes of saving Greece’s increasingly rickety monetary union, the big news out of China carried a more tragic cast: 32 people died and another 200 people were hurt when one of China’s new high speed trains rear-ended another train that had lost power. This collision culminated months of unreliable service on the main Beijing-Shanghai line.

America’s national sport these days, at least in some quarters, appears to be counting the ways in which China is catching up to or surpassing us. Those who fear China love to worry about our massive trade deficit, China’s burgeoning manufacturing industry or China’s million man People’s Liberation Army. Even those not looking to score political points by railing against China note with envy its ability to spend $120 billion a year on railway construction, while America’s big move toward modernizing it’s rail system ensures that Amtrak’s locomotives will remain obsolete for another 30 years. [Read more…] about All aboard the democracy train

Jake Laperruque

Last week the Tea Party website The Tea Party.net conducted the first ever Presidential Twitter Debate.  Actually, according to the moderator its title was “Twitter Pres debate” (got to save that character space!).  The debate was conducted fully on Twitter; all questions were posted on Twitter by the host site, and candidates gave their answers entirely on Twitter.  The link to the full debate is here.

The Tea Party site is owed credit for managing the event well.  As simple as Twitter seems, organizing a variety of separate feeds into a single chronological stream to simulate conversation can lead to a host of problems.  However, no noticeably technical issues occurred.  The discussion went up in real time without a hitch, and gave the appearance of an actual presidential debate.  And yet, if you look at the content, it becomes clear that this “debate” in no way deserves the title. [Read more…] about 140 Characters and No Character: The First Ever Twitter Debate

Billy Corriher 

President Obama took office after campaigning as a defender of civil liberties.  But his record as President has disappointed many civil liberties advocates.  Some argue that Obama’s policies for handling detainees are nearly indistinguishable from those of President Bush’s second term.  The administration failed to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in the face of fierce political opposition.  Obama has not hesitated to use American weaponry, such as unmanned drones and Special Forces, even in countries where we are not engaged in prolonged conflict.

Despite this flexing of executive power, Republicans insist on painting President Obama as “soft” on terrorism.  Last week, several members of the House of Representatives wrote to Obama about Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, the alleged al Qaeda associate from Somalia.  The letter argued that Obama’s decision demonstrated that he had relinquished the “absolutely critical” option of trying suspected terrorists in military commissions. The letter warns of lost intelligence and “serious difficulties with removing terrorists who are either acquitted or who conclude their sentences.”  Senator Mitch McConnell raised similar concerns, “[T]he administration has purposefully imported a terrorist into the U.S. and is providing him all the rights of U.S. citizens in court.” According to McConnell, “This ideological rigidity is harming the national security of the United States of America.” McConnell and 22 other Senators also sent a letter to Obama. [Read more…] about Congress asks Obama to Use Military Commissions

Jessica Jackson 

Last Friday, as many of us watched in horror, Norwegians experienced absolute devastation as the news feeds revealed the murders of over 90 teens in Utoya and the destruction of Oslo’s government buildings.  The attacks, which have been attributed to a young Norwegian man, brought back a flood of memories for many Americans:  Oklahoma City, 9/11, Columbine, Virginia Tech.

As I sat down at the computer to email friends of mine who live in Oslo, I searched my brain for ways to express the fact that despite their whole world had suddenly been thrown into a realm of chaos, things would one day return to normal.   At a loss for words, I suddenly realized how untrue that statement really was. [Read more…] about Norway: Standing for Freedom in the Face of Fear

Jake Laperruque

With the 2010 census completed, states across the country are currently in the midst of redrawing their Congressional districts, something that is so easy to abuse for political purposes that you could make a fun online game about it.  There are means to reform the process and prevent manipulation, but like the process itself, the method of redistricting is determined at the state level.  Here’s a quick overview of the methods you’ll see across the country:

[Read more…] about Redistricting 101 (and a chance to draw your own district)