Andrea Batista Schlesinger

Unemployment. One could argue that no single word best defines the current political and economic discourse. With almost one in ten Americans unemployed, it is easy to see why. The problem for policymakers looking for solutions, however, is that unemployment is not monolithic. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg acknowledged this...

Gov. Paterson has picked Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S Senate. As described by the New York Times earlier today, Gillibrand is "known for bold political moves and centrist policy positions." Gillibrand--endorsed by the National Riffle Association and the recipient of a high grade...

With President Obama's administration urging Congress to pass an economic stimulus quickly, political leaders should waste no time pointing to a smart, stable source of green job growth: port trucking. If we reverse years of dangerous deregulation, thousands of new low-paying jobs could quickly become sustainable middle-class jobs. This is...

At the Drum Major Institute we've been keeping an Eye on the Right. Here are the most memorable arguments (if you want to call them that) we heard conservative think tanks peddle in 2008--arguments likely to be repackaged and regifted as the Obama administration and new Congress enter...

Another day another cash-strapped mayor or governor headed to Washington in search of a bailout. Members of Congress and Obama's transition team would do well to reverse the pilgrimage and spend more time in the states and cities where truly innovative policy ideas have been developed or enacted in the...

Was it a debate or a sporting event? Hard to tell from the post-game coverage. It's all about "who won?" McCain seemed angry, Obama presidential. One pushed the other well, the other played a mean defense. McCain had his game face on, yet Obama wasn't easily psyched out. Was Joe...

According to a recent poll by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, more than 80% of American adults consider themselves to be middle class. About 40% of these citizens plan to vote for John McCain for president. But some of the policies favored by these middle-class McCain...

"Most Americans don't want more government -- they want a lot less."

Gov. Huckabee is a good speaker. But he doesn't know what Americans want. He only knows what will make RNC delegates clap.

Here's what Americans want:

75% of middle-class Americans want a national health...

Enough with the talk about filling in the foreign affairs gap. This just accepts that we are going to live out yet ANOTHER campaign the way the right wants us to -- on their turf. The most pressing issues to America's middle class are economic, economic, and ECONOMIC, so...

Is all of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for election in November? In the midst of all of the talk of vice presidential choices, Paris Hilton and who is the real celebrity, and how much was raised this quarter by the DNC and RNC, I...

I'm not surprised that the new head of the American Enterprise Institute is an expert on happiness. They must need a dose.

It is the home, after all, of the discredited John Bolton, the discredited Paul Wolfowitz, the discredited Richard Perle, the fiction writer Lynne Cheney, the fiction perpetrator...

From the Drum Major Institute's 2008 Injustice Index on Paid Sick Leave:

Rank of “stay home when you are sick” on the list of Centers for Disease Control recommendations for preventing the flu: 2

Proportion of employees without paid sick leave who worry that taking time...

Sometimes it seems like change in Washington is something that crawls along, moving onward at a turtle-like pace. Legislation gets stuck in committees, and it can take months or even years to turn into a bill that both chambers of Congress and the president can agree on. Some members of...

If the middle class could give your Congressmember a grade, what would it be? Today, DMI releases grades for every senator and representative, evaluating their votes on key legislation that affects the current and aspiring middle class.

2007 began as a year of great promise. Congress was flooded with...

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy's Rapid Response to the 2008 State of the Union

Click here to read DMI's full analysis of the President's domestic policy prescriptions - complete with statistics and talking points -- online here.

The...

From the Drum Major Institute's 2007 Year In Review. A look back at the numbers that paint a picture of our nation in 2007.

Minimum number of hazardous children's toys recalled by Mattel in August 2007: 9,500,000

Number of employees on the Consumer Product Safety Commission...

From the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy's Year In Review, "a hawk's eye view of what the think tanks on the conservative right are up to." Read the full report on this year in politics and policy on our website.

The Manhattan Institute

The Manhattan...

From The Drum Major Institute's Year In Review (read our full round-up of the year in politics and policy online here)

1. Selling Out Consumer Safety
As headlines about the recall of millions of children's toys coated with highly toxic lead paint dominated the newspapers this summer, many...

Do you have a bit of down-time at the end of the year? Catch up on your reading with the DMI 2007 Year in Review's Reading List. This list features some of the "can't miss" books, studies and reports that you just may have accidentally missed. So here...

From DMI's Year In Review 2007

1. Arbitrary Dispute Resolution
The Seventh Amendment hasn't been repealed. So how did Americans lose the right to trial by jury? In purchasing the modern world's necessities, from a credit card to a cell phone and even nursing home services,...