I’ve just spent a harrowing weekend reflecting on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the pamphlet that came out in January 1776 and turned the public toward seeking independence from Britain. I say harrowing because the distance between the ideals found in this pamphlet and those of today’s America is so vast as to be nearly unrecognizable. …
Friday was day four of the U.S. government shutdown. And what does a former government insider have to say about that? Plenty. In fact, while 80,000 “nonessential” federal employees continue to enjoy their paid vacation, I’m working overtime to bring you today’s issue. [Ed. Note: This article was originally published Sunday, Oct. 6.] The shutdown …
A tense drama unfolded this week with the virtual shutdown of vital government agencies: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as many other such federal agencies. Without them, the Founding Fathers could not have imagined the republic. Even if …
In all likelihood, Republican efforts to defund Obamacare are toast — and sooner rather than later. It appears to be a fantasy that a bill to defund would even make it to president Obama’s desk. This straightforward reality has prompted many reasonable observers to ask why frustrated conservatives would bother risking a government shutdown over …