by jpitney | Nov 26, 2020 | Thanksgiving, Washington
Yuval Levin and Adam J. White at National Review: Each Thanksgiving calls to mind early Thanksgivings — at Plymouth in 1621, of course, but perhaps also in the nation’s capital in 1789. In October of that year, just months into the nation’s new constitutional...
by jpitney | Nov 25, 2020 | Immigration
Anthony Blinken, on his nomination to be Secretary of State: For my family, as for so many generations of Americans, America has literally been the last best hope on earth. My grandfather, Maurice Blinken, fled pogroms in Russia and made a new life in America. His...
by jpitney | Nov 24, 2020 | Debt, Economic Policy
Some policymakers think that the federal debt is a free lunch: growth rates will always exceed interest rates, allowing growth itself to reduce the debt. This theory is badly flawed, explain Sita Slavov and Alan Viard at The Hill: There is always a chance that the...
by jpitney | Nov 23, 2020 | China, Civility
Alexander Hamilton, Feberalist 6: A man must be far gone in Utopian speculations who can seriously doubt, that if these States should either be wholly disunited, or only united in partial confederacies, the subdivisions into which they might be thrown would have...
by jpitney | Nov 22, 2020 | Debt, Economic Policy
From the Congressional Budget Office: In fiscal year 2020, which ended on September 30, the federal budget deficit totaled $3.1 trillion—more than triple the shortfall recorded in fiscal year 2019. Much of that amount was the result of the economic effects of the...
by jpitney | Nov 21, 2020 | Deliberation
Jonath Goldberg at The Dispatch: Here’s a small life hack: If you’re a right-winger, you should read more left-wing stuff, particularly if you currently don’t read any at all. And, if you’re a left-winger, vice versa. I used to read a lot of left-wing stuff. Indeed,...
by jpitney | Nov 20, 2020 | Congress, House of Representatives
Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan at Politico: Democratic leaders, under pressure from across the caucus, are mulling ways to blunt a procedural tactic Republicans have used to divide their caucus on the floor. The GOP has repeatedly weaponized the...
by jpitney | Nov 18, 2020 | California Politics, Civility, Local Government
Erica L. Manuel at CalMatters: Local elected officials can and should step up and lead by example to model unity and encourage public trust and confidence. Cities statewide can view the recent election as the proverbial “reset button” and embrace changes to the...
by jpitney | Nov 17, 2020 | Congress, House of Representatives, Uncategorized
Dear House Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, Chair McGovern, and Ranking Member Cole: We write to encourage the House of Representatives to re-establish the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in the...
by jpitney | Nov 17, 2020 | Civility, Congress, House of Representatives, Uncategorized
Kevin Kosar at The Hill: For the past two years, the Modernization Committee pursued its work diligently. It held 16 congressional hearings and six virtual discussions, and listened to the complaints and advice from legislators, experts, and the private sector. Last...
