In his new book, Power, Inc., David Rothkopf -- an editor at large at Foreign Policy and a former Clinton under-secretary of Commerce -- sounds an alarm. He argues that thousands of private actors who he calls "super citizens" now hold greater power than most of the countries in the...
0 Comments | Posted May 11, 2010 | 3:09 PM
Co-authored by Richard Holober
One of the lesser-known tragedies of the Reagan era was the Federal Communication Commission's decision to abolish the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. That doctrine used to require radio and television stations to air opposing and contrasting views on controversial issues of public importance. In 1992, the...
0 Comments | Posted April 21, 2010 | 8:15 PM
There probably couldn't be a worse time than now for Americans to have lost faith in their government. And yet, that is the case. The most recent survey issued by the Pew Research Center a few days ago tells us that a scant 22% of Americans trust the federal government...
0 Comments | Posted November 4, 2009 | 4:10 PM
The saga of the battling McCourts, Frank and Jamie, will be played out in court. Whether or not one of them is able to hold onto the Los Angeles Dodgers will be determined by a judge. Whatever the result, the future success of the team on the field could be...
0 Comments | Posted September 12, 2009 | 7:29 PM
In a speech to a joint session of Congress on health care Wednesday night, President Obama briefly alluded to the age-old argument between the individual's desire for freedom and the need for security. He noted there has been a healthy skepticism of the federal government since the nation's founding. On...
0 Comments | Posted May 5, 2009 | 1:01 PM
If you like the Electoral College, then You're Probably a fan of the Filibuster Too
The Electoral College is provided for in the United States Constitution. The filibuster is not. In fact, the word doesn't appear in any of our founding documents. Its derivation is from the Spanish filibustero, meaning...
0 Comments | Posted May 2, 2009 | 2:44 PM
The Electoral College is provided for in the United States Constitution. The filibuster is not. In fact, the word doesn't appear in any of our founding documents. Its derivation is from the Spanish filibustero, meaning "pirate" or "freebooter." In the legislative context, a filibuster is the use of delaying tactics...
0 Comments | Posted March 19, 2009 | 6:44 PM
Long ago, I heard Joseph Califano, President Carter's secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (later to become Health and Human Services), tell an audience that real health care reform in this country could not become a reality until we accomplished the goal of enacting campaign finance reform at the national...
0 Comments | Posted May 9, 2008 | 5:00 PM
Mildred Loving died of pneumonia last Friday at her home in Central Point, Virginia. As reporter Jocelyn Stewart wrote in an obituary in the Los Angeles Times, "For marrying the only man she loved, Mildred Loving paid a price: she was arrested, convicted and banished from her home state." She...
0 Comments | Posted April 13, 2008 | 1:43 PM
The centerpiece of the bipartisan Foreclosure Prevention Act, passed by a bipartisan 84-12 in the Senate on Thursday, is a corporate tax giveaway for homebuilders, one of the groups most responsible for the housing bubble. You might remember that it was the homebuilders who rushed ahead with new housing developments...

0 Comments | Posted March 30, 2012 | 3:45 PM