Phineas Baxandall

In the years after World War II, Americans' love affair with the car reached full flower.

To the post-war generation, cars were a symbol of maturity, prosperity and freedom. Acquiring a driver's license was a "rite of passage" for young people -- something that was ideally done as close to...

Ten years ago, "public record" meant that if you wanted information about government activities and you knew the proper agency and who to visit there, then you could request photocopies of documents by their proper bureaucratic code. If you could wait for officials to locate the documents and perhaps pay...

When a corporation pays a fine, it's not allowed to deduct the cost as a business expense for tax purposes. But when companies pay a settlement, such as that being negotiated between the US government and BP, then companies typically write off the costs, shifting the burden in part back...

The much anticipated corporate tax reform framework released last week by President Obama hit the right notes but lacked the details to know if it can fully realize it's potential.

While it's unclear if it would generate enough new revenue given high deficits and severe program cuts we face, the...

With much fanfare and 854 days late, the U.S. House last week introduced bills to fund our nation's transportation system for the next five years. The new rules for spending $260 billion over five years would be tilted more toward highways with less going to buses, rail, biking and pedestrian...

Taxes and democracy are two oft-maligned activities that Americans dearly depend on. "Indeed it has been said," noted Winston Churchill, "that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." He might just as easily have been...

A company contracts with your city to search through your individual garbage. If they find other improperly sorted waste, they send you a municipal citation and collect a portion of the fine. Another company surveys your house for zoning violations. The cash-strapped city is glad for the extra revenue and...

The politics of high-speed rail can be bizarre. Few people actually oppose connecting our cities with fast intercity trains. Most of the industrialized world has already shown that the idea is popular and works well. The politicians that do the most to prevent high-speed rail generally claim to be fans...

The politics of Maine's leadership has shifted dramatically in the past few years. The new Tea Party Governor and Republican-dominated legislature have made waves rolling back energy-efficiency rules, making it easier for insurance companies to raise premiums, and making it harder to register to vote.
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You'd think the only reason American infrastructure lacks funding was rules preventing private businesses from throwing money at it.

The issue is heating up. Last week Congress introduced a couple of bills to solve this imaginary problem and one that would set some ground rules to protect the public.

It's...

Scott Walker swept into the Wisconsin governor's office pledging to eliminate government waste and institute fiscal restraint over spending. When he rejected federal funds to build high-speed rail because the trains would require relatively minor operating subsidies, the move was misguided and shortsighted; but his supporters could admire...

Yesterday, millions of Americans rushed to the post office to file their federal income tax returns. For all of us, the checks we wrote were an average of $434 higher because of the burden we are forced to shoulder for major corporations and wealthy individuals who use offshore...

While some politicians try to cast state budget problems as all about public pensions and salaries, most government spending actually flows to other sorts of things. In many if not most public agencies the spending takes place largely through private contractors. Much other spending takes place through tax credits and...

The president's budget released this week follows up on several promises he made in his State of the Union a few weeks ago. The budget calls for ending some wasteful subsidies to big agriculture and the oil and gas industry, as well as improved management and IT upgrades for Defense...

Ever wonder why the roads and highways in our cities keep getting bigger and wider while public transportation, rail, and bike paths are left behind, even now when gas prices are rising and oil use is a major national concern?

Part of the reason is a deeply-held misconception that...

Although much has gone wrong during this year's wrangling over state and federal budget deficits, 2010 may go down as the year that America finally shined a light into the dark budget corners where billions are spent on government subsidies.

At the state and federal level, spending on subsidies --...

This Week's Basel Accord and New Poll Show How to Prevent Wall Street Meltdowns and Reduce the Debt with One Tool

This week's news made the path for great idea a lot clearer. The international agreement in Basel this weekend introducing mild controls on financial firms is proof that a...

With almost one in ten Americans currently unemployed, local governments have a special obligation to create jobs.

To that end, they also have an obligation to squeeze the most possible new jobs from every expenditure.

Rarely are we able to put a value on how many more jobs...

Just when you thought you had learned about all the ways the oil industry has taken shortcuts and dodged regulations, another one came to the surface this week, and all of us - not just those in Louisiana and the Gulf - are paying the price.

No "top kill"...

Every parent knows this one - you walk into a room and see your child playing carelessly with a new toy. Invariably, you warn: "If you break that, I'm not buying you a new one!"

For decades now, federal and state transportation decision-making has been geared toward buying shiny...