The future of the Supreme Court is at stake in the 2016 election. We know the numbers. The death of Scalia split the Supreme Court between four Conservative Justices appointed by Republican Presidents (Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Kennedy) and four Liberal Justices appointed by Democratic Presidents (Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor.) The Republican Senate, in an … Read More
On June 14th, North Dakotans voted to overrule their government’s decision to allow corporate ownership of farms. That they had the power to do so was a result of a political revolution that occurred almost exactly a century before, a revolution that may hold lessons for those like Bernie Sanders’ supporters who seek to establish a … Read More
“What should Bernie do?” That seems to be the question of the month. Permit me to weigh in. Here’s what we know at this point in the campaign. For Sanders to have any chance of winning the support of superdelegates he must arrive at the convention with more elected delegates than Hillary. To do that he … Read More
Win or lose, Bernie Sanders has made this Democratic primary the most substantive in my lifetime. Not that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is devoid of ideas. She has some thoughtful ones. But the boldness of Sanders’ proposals is what has driven this historic and instructive debate. The dynamic so far consists of Sanders setting a marker (e.g. … Read More
The Veterans Administration (VA). Yes, a medical system 100% financed by the government and run by the government, provides higher quality care, at a lower cost, than private hospitals. That’s the conclusion of dozens of independent studies. But a multi-year, well-financed and highly effective campaign has persuaded Congress to ignore the data because, well, we all … Read More
In 2013, 52% of all African-Americans living in Michigan had their voting rights taken away by Emergency Managers, compared to only 2% of whites. In November 2014 a federal judge concluded that the Emergency Managers law had been applied in a racially discriminatory manner. That law allows the state to appoint a manager to unilaterally govern a … Read More
The founding fathers minced no words about their distrust of the masses. Our first President, John Adams warned, “Democracy will soon degenerate into an anarchy…” Our second President, Thomas Jefferson insisted, “Democracy is nothing more than mob rule.” Our third President, James Madison, the Father of the Constitution declared, “Democracy is the most vile form of … Read More
On the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Richard H. Brodhead argues the New Deal made possible the NEH and the National Endowment for the Arts. For the first time Americans endorsed a federal role in promoting the general welfare and creating public goods. In the 1960s the Great Society … Read More
On March 3rd Honduran Goldman Prize winner Berta Cáceres was assassinated because of the stunning victories she achieved with and on behalf of indigenous people. And she did it against the greatest of odds. Beverly Bell of the Institute for Policy Studies gives us some details about this remarkable woman and the sad role our country … Read More
