by jpitney | Jun 5, 2025 | Congress, House of Representatives
AT NYT, Michael Gold reports that some House Republicans have expressed regret about voting for the reconciliation bill, which they did not read. Last week, Representative Mike Flood of Nebraska admitted during a town hall meeting in his district that he did not know...
by jpitney | Jun 4, 2025 | Civic Education, Civility, Deliberation, Higher Education
Claremont McKenna College Commencement, Hiram Chodosh “Your traverse of the stage today is the road the world needs to follow. You prove the possible. The 64% of Americans who have lost confidence in higher education have not met you. You face and surmount the...
by jpitney | Jun 3, 2025 | Congress, Violence
Andrew Solender at Axios: Jewish members of Congress are worried by a spate of attacks aimed at Jews — and are openly saying they may be next on the target list. Why it matters: There has been a sharp rise in antisemitism and threats against lawmakers in recent years....
by jpitney | Jun 1, 2025 | Military, Russia, Ukraine
BREAKING: Ukraine launches the largest attack against the Russian Air Force of this war. Drones smuggled into Russia have struck Russia’s strategic bombers at airfields deep in Russia. Up to 40 planes destroyed, including several A-50 (AEW&C) & Tu-95 &...
by jpitney | May 30, 2025 | Bipartisanship, Civility, Congress, House of Representatives
Don Wolfensberger writes about the late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA): Despite the rough and tumble party battles for committee leadership, Connolly distinguished himself by his bipartisan outreach to Republicans to co-sponsor bills that had a good chance to become law....
by jpitney | May 29, 2025 | Authoritarian
At The Hill, Ruth Greenspan Bell and Janine R. Wedel describe how authoritarians silence dissent: Here is the Polish, 1980s version of how it happens, as one of us, then a Fulbright Scholar in martial law Poland, witnessed. From the street sweeper to the...
by jpitney | May 28, 2025 | Claremont McKenna College, Journalism, Journalists
A NYT press release: We are thrilled to announce that Mike Shear, one of the great talents and pillars of the Washington bureau, is now a senior U.K. correspondent based in London. In his new role, he will take his boundless curiosity and drive for news across the...
by jpitney | May 27, 2025 | Democracy, Uncategorized
Daniel Stid: Friends, I am committed to updating you here every other week with my reflections on philanthropy, civil society, and democracy in America. Alas, a sprawling and recalcitrant draft has conspired against me this week. But in the spirit of holding this...
by jpitney | May 26, 2025 | California Politics, Immigration, Population, Technology
Jim Carlton and Paul Overberg at WSJ: The state’s population rose 0.6% in 2024, reaching 39.43 million by adding almost a quarter-million people, according to Census Bureau estimates…Yet California’s growth is tenuous. Without immigration, it would have shrunk...
by jpitney | May 25, 2025 | Congress, Trade
Protectionists like to point to the 19th century. They don’t understand history. Phil Gramm and Donald J. Boudreaux at WSJ: Under the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, the U.S. government had no power to tax income until 1913. Throughout the 19th...
