The EU was created to expand democracy, boost economic growth, and contain Germany within a democratic whole. Instead, it is destroying democracy, crushing growth, and leaving Germany's most churlish impulses to rule Europe. Before it is over, one of history's noblest experiments in enlightened statecraft could end in ruins.

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When it comes to predicting the future, we are all looking through the glass darkly, but it is only prudent to expect that if Congress rejects a deal agreed to by the administration and much of the world, the sanctions regime will -- if not collapse -- almost certainly erode.

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When will the trade association lobbyists that try to block such deals -- and the members of Congress people who listen to them -- understand they are on the wrong side of reason and history?

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It seems likely that the nominees in 2016 will be Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. After all, the ruling class still controls America. But the revolt against the ruling class won't end with the 2016 election, regardless. Which means the ruling class will have to change the way it rules America. Or it won't rule too much longer.

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Calling to defund Planned Parenthood is calling to prevent low-income women from getting lifesaving cancer screenings. It's calling to prevent HIV testing, well-woman exams, and other basic medical services. No matter how you cut it, it's an attack on the health and well-being of women.

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I am a Southern, white, gun-owning male who worries that one day my family will have to pay the price for America's unwillingness to stand up to the gun lobby. Let me be very clear: I am not opposed to personal gun ownership. What I am opposed to is the gun lobby's stranglehold on our elected leaders.

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Aware of the legacy of the Bush years, the Obama White House, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI have spent much time and effort rethinking previous policies and have designed what they are calling a "new" approach to security.

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The leading medical organizations plus the American Bar Association believe that "deaths and injuries related to firearms constitute a major public health problem in the United States." This consensus is not going to change because some judge thinks that doctors should avoid the issue of guns.

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It is widely assumed that crime is increasing, and is prima facie evidence of a breakdown of public order and private morality. Yet the facts point in quite the opposite direction. Indeed, the latest U.S. crime data has stunned even the most optimistic of observers.

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The vice presidency is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing if you are running for your party's nomination. Then it turns into a curse when you run in the general election. Any Democrat who gets the nomination next year will face the charge that he, or she, represents a third term for Obama. With Biden, the charge will stick.

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Years ago, Rev. Jesse Jackson would open up several of his speeches by loudly asking, "What time is it?" He would answer his own question by responding, "Nation time!" Well, it's "Nation time" again. Only this time, it is more urgent.

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The Times could have insisted on seeing the documents they were describing. Or, if the Times spoke with Republicans in Congress, even off the record, they could have checked their facts with me or other Committee Democrats. Unfortunately, this rush to print anonymous, unverified claims against Secretary Clinton is not unique.

Next week, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce what may be the Obama administration's most far-reaching climate change initiative: its final rule for cleaning up existing electric power plants. Dubbed the Clean Power Plan, it will require each state to submit its own individual strategy for cutting emissions.

Donors and staff of the Koch brothers political network are descending on the St. Regis Monarch Bay Resort for their yearly summer seminar. Tables have been brought out onto the Grand Lawn; security personnel roam the halls; and Charles Koch himself has arrived.

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It's tough to represent the hopes of Americans hurt by entrenched political interests when you've taken money from Donald Trump, or you've already run a campaign ad in 2008 that utilizes a "racist sub-message." For these reasons, Clinton's problem with white liberals, and Sanders's eventual appeal to minority voters, will enable Vermont's Senator to win the Democratic nomination.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the world's leading peace and justice advocates, has called Bryan Stevenson "America's Nelson Mandela." He has gotten innocent men off death row, successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court multiple times, including to ban "death sentences."

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In order to truly make our communities safer, we must make sure that people who have served their time are able to fully and productively engage in our society -- whether through education or employment or some other constructive means.