Recess appointments: Obama loses, but the presidency mostly prevails A loss for the president, a win for the presidency. That’s the best way to describe the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Thursday on the “recess appointment” power–the president’s power to fill government posts when the Senate isn’t in session. Technically speaking, the Obama administration lost 9-0, with not…
How Big Money failed to rescue Eric Cantor Big money couldn’t save Eric Cantor. The darling of big Wall Street donors, the K Street business types, and the Republican establishment went down in flames Tuesday, all the while crushing his no-name opponent with a 26-1 cash advantage in the money race. Cantor, the House majority leader, raised…
As of the close of business on Friday May 16, we had a total of 873 PCO candidates filing. There are 51 contests to resolve in August, and we’ll be starting the term in December with 820 elected PCOs. The breakdown by legislative district is as follows: Leg.Dist. Candidates Precincts New People 46 119 112…
New type of poverty: How the iPhone became a placebo for the poor The face of poverty in America has changed dramatically from what Walker Evans and James Agee indelibly captured in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, their book documenting the lives of our nation’s poverty-stricken tenant farmers during the Great Depression. Now, an American family…
The King County 2014 Democratic Convention met on Saturday, April 12 and adopted a new platform (also available in PDF and MS Word versions)
The devastating, sneaky genius of John Roberts’ opinions Chief Justice John Roberts. has an unparalleled talent for making the sweeping seem small and the sharp seem mild. His rhetoric is all about sounding reasonable and earnest, even if (especially if) the outcomes of his rulings are anything but. He’s a champion of the long game. He’s Scalia’s…
A “nation of takers?” Here are the real “takers” In the debate about poverty, critics argue that government assistance saps initiative and is unaffordable. After exploring the issue, I must concede that the critics have a point. Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” Perhaps…
Banks won’t do business with legal marijuana sellers—enter PotCoin So far 20 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes, but with the rise of the legal pot business has come a wave of robberies and other crimes targeting pot dispensaries and their owners. The purveyors of legal pot…
When the government outsources to private companies, inequality gets worse State and local officials nationwide are responding to budget crunches by siphoning off public services to private contractors—the classic “market-based solution” for a fiscal crisis. But on balance, the savings of these supposedly cost-saving outsourcing measures often turn out to be less than advertised. A new…
Ethics board: ‘Substantial’ belief McMorris Rodgers misused funds An independent congressional ethics board found “substantial reason” to believe Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the fourth-ranking House Republican, improperly used official funds for campaign activities. The full findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) were made public for the first time on Monday by the House…