SHARE        Friday, February 12, 2016
For Abe Lincoln, on his Birthday With respect to Honest Abe on his birthday (February 12), I update his Gettysburg Address.

(2 comments) SHARE        Friday, October 23, 2015
A Vote for Justice Over Money at the FCC "In my sixteen years as a regulator," said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, "this is the clearest, most egregious case of market failure I have seen." On Thursday the FCC voted to set it right, and to limit the exploitative pricing of phone calls between people in prison and their families.

(1 comments) SHARE        Monday, October 12, 2015
The Real Problem with Private Prisons. Hint: It's not the Lobbying The problem of private prisons goes beyond lobbying and campaign contributions. Private prisons are filled because they are there. They succeed by being available. Companies build them, and the people come.

(1 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Pope Goes to Prison. The Bishops Explain Why. On Sunday Pope Francis will visit a prison in Philadelphia. A statement by the US Bishops provides a Catholic perspective on crime and punishment.

(2 comments) SHARE        Thursday, September 17, 2015
The Pope on Climate Change: 'Thou Shalt not Kill' The Pope is coming to DC. His encyclical brings traditional morals to the climate debate. "The Earth is our common home," he reminds us. She cannot be "plundered at will."

(1 comments) SHARE        Thursday, August 27, 2015
Reversal after Ferguson shooting. What next? On Monday the municipal court in Ferguson, Missouri, announced that it was withdrawing thousands of arrest warrants. That's easy, useful and good. But only a beginning.

SHARE        Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Baltimore Burning. Foreseen in the Data. The riots in Baltimore give voice to a study I published ten years ago.

(1 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, November 18, 2014
70 Year Old Woman Prosecuted for Neglecting Her 98 Year Old Mother Another case of irrational, excessive prosecution. This is a tragedy,not a crime.

(12 comments) SHARE        Friday, November 7, 2014
Our Government is Broken: Ballot Initiatives Prove It Democrats lost but progressive ballot initiatives won. That's because the country is more progressive than people realize, but our broken government doesn't represent their interests.

SHARE        Thursday, November 8, 2012
Vote of No-Confidence: My election day experience in Virginia I worked the polls in Fairfax, Virginia on election day. All of us were honest, but my friend the UN election monitor would never certify electronic touch-screens without a paper-trail as "Free and Fair." Even my ATM prints out a receipt

(2 comments) SHARE        Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Private Prison Industry: Resistance isn't Futile The private prison industry is on the march. In recent months the industry moved to take over 24 state prisons in southern Florida and buy five prisons in Ohio. Now it's making moves in Michigan. But the industry doesn't always win. Resistance isn't futile.

SHARE        Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The Dream That Drives The Occupations I've been spending evenings and weekends recently with the Occupy protestors in DC. I can't stay full time because, unlike many protestors, I have two children and a full-time job. But I clearly share their interests and I'm glad they're making the ruckus. Plan or not, I know what they want, too.

SHARE        Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Representative Moran (and 25 others): Conned by the Concord Coalition A town hall forum convened by my US representative turned out to be an exercise in right-wing indoctrination by an outside group.

SHARE        Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Public Employees Offer Solutions. Examples. Enough with blaming public employees for all of America's problems. Like any other job, the people doing the work know how it's done and how to do it better.

(2 comments) SHARE        Friday, October 1, 2010
China Currency Vote and Obama's Export Goal: A Discussion Explains it All The US House of Representatives vote against Chinese currency connects with a DC conference on the Renaissance of American Manufacturing. Together they show the path to renew the American economy (1) rebuild manufacturing, with (2) a robust industrial policy.

SHARE        Friday, August 6, 2010
New Unemployment Data: No news. Clear conclusions. Today's new unemployment report contains no news, just decimal point changes. It tells us what we already know, that times are bad. The question is whether our great nation can rise to the challenge.

(1 comments) SHARE        Wednesday, August 4, 2010
New York State and Prisoners of the Census: Democracy on the March! New York is the most recent state to enact new rules about how people in prison are counted in the U.S. Census. As the votes of no confidence continue, the Census may need to change its practice.

(1 comments) SHARE        Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Progressive Movement: Out of Work and Losing Hope This coalition of blacks, Hispanics, youth and women worked to elect democrats a few years ago. They might be willing to work to keep them in office -- especially if they see that it did them any good. Right now they're sitting at home, out of work and low on hope. The Republicans have won the message war. Democrats don't even seem to be fighting.

(1 comments) SHARE        Friday, June 4, 2010
New Jobless Data: Without Census, it's 10 Percent Unemployment But for Census hiring, unemployment would have ticked all the way back up to 10 percent. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "I'm from the government and I'm already helping you."

SHARE        Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Census and Democracy: Maryland Fixes a Major Error In the wake of the 2010 Census, Maryland passed a law yesterday that fixes a major problem. Maryland will now count people in prison where they actually live, not where they are confined. This first-in-the-nation law will improve the fairness and accuracy of Census data used to draw legislative boundaries.