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Vol. 20 No. 9October 2009
Columns
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The Polanski Paradox
The epidemic of violence against women is a public scourge, but respecting survivors' wishes must be paramount. -
Harry, Louise, and Barack
Instead of being a big winner politically for Obama, industry-dictated health reform will be a political wash, at best. -
Title IX Dad
Title IX, with all its limits, was a nudge that set off a chain of social transformations. -
Lessons Overlearned
Affordable health care is important, but right now making a living is more urgent.
Culture
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Girls Just Wanna Have Fangs
A defense of the teen-girl fan base that has made the Twilight books and movies so wildly successful. -
He Kept the Flame
As his memoir reveals, the true Ted Kennedy emerged as he fought to keep the country from moving rightward. -
Beyond No-Fault Finance
Restoring stability and fairness requires thinking about the whole economy, not just Wall Street. -
Will the Color Line Fade?
Racial distinctions may be blurring due to demographics and mobility, but discrimination and racism remain.
Departments
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The Canadian Way of War
Can we learn to fight from our staid northern neighbors? -
Up Front
Telling term papers revealed; The North American Nut Tree in Fall; and The Question -
Can Human Rights Win the War?
Top U.S. military officials are starting to sound like human-rights advocates when it comes to detention policy in Afghanistan. -
Can Reason Win the Drug War?
Stoner jokes aside, the debate over America's drug policy is sounding increasingly sane. -
All These Governors
Do the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey say anything about the Democratic Party's future? -
Noted
Special Report
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Rationing College Opportunity
Many more young people could succeed at college if given the chance. But public policy has been raising hurdles rather than increasing access. -
The Graduation Gap
America needs to do a much better job of increasing its college enrollment and graduation rates, especially for less advantaged students. -
It's Not Just Education
If we want more economic opportunity and equality, a better-skilled work force is only one element among many. -
Our Two-Class System
The recession has worsened already widening inequalities of access and affordability in higher education. Could it also trigger a new grand bargain? -
The High Cost of Working Hard
Why students need to work less and study more. -
Can Community Colleges Rise to the Occasion?
Yes -- with fundamental internal reforms and a new vision of their role in higher education. -
Ideas From the Other Washington
Policy reforms to increase student success. -
Grand Solution or Grab Bag?
Community colleges are being asked to provide everything from second chances to vocational education. Is America ready to help them succeed? -
Saying Yes in Syracuse
A battered industrial city is leading the way in preparing all schoolchildren to succeed in college.
Features
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The Innovation Administration
The White House assumes that newer ideas are always better, but that's not necessarily the case. -
Twilight of the Op-Ed Columnist
Are syndicated opinion writers a dying breed? -
Let's Make a Deal
A look at the lobbying groups that shelled out the big bucks to influence health-care reform. -
Constant Comment
How Kathleen Parker became America's most-read woman columnist. -
The Obstacles to Real Health-Care Reform
How a series of roadblocks and compromises shaped the health-care debate -- and why the battle doesn't end when Obama signs a bill. -
The Myth of Too Big to Fail
Breaking up sprawling institutions won't be enough to clean up our financial mess.
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Vol. 20 No. 8September 2009
Columns
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My Model City
To a kid imbued with the idealism of "reform," Dahl's was a bracingly sanguine view of machine politics. -
Opposite Day
Obama decided that if everything Carter and Clinton did turned out wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. -
Bipartisanship in One Party
The Democratic health-reform proposals are built around ideas Republicans used to favor. -
Integrate Expectations
The Obama administration is pressuring suburbs to end segregated housing but ignoring their history of segregated schools.
Culture
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A Darwin for the Divine
Evolution and religion are compatible if we accept that even our cultural development displays inbuilt direction. -
The Moral Equivalent of Anti-Slavery
Gender equality in developing countries may be the premier human-rights struggle of the 21st century -- but first the rest of the world has to care. -
What to Do About the Court?
Not much. An activist Supreme Court may strike down laws, but it can also give them political legitimacy. -
What's Killing Conservatism?
Self-destruction is inevitable when a rigid ideology of disdain for government fully comes to power. -
Winning With the Economy -- or Without It
Candidates running with the economy against them have a tougher go, but it's possible to win by changing the conversation.
Departments
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Up Front
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Evasive Maneuvers
Journalists learn what to do if they're captured in Afghanistan -- or rural Virginia. -
Noted
Special Report
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The Good War and the Workers
World War II defense contracts raised labor standards. Government could use the same leverage in peacetime. -
Which Side Is Government On?
Millions of contract workers whose salaries are ultimately paid by government live in poverty. Uncle Sam should demand high standards, not pay as little as possible. -
Good Jobs, Healthy Cities
Eight steps city governments can take to promote good jobs. -
Forgotten Corners of the Economy
As unemployment rises, the illegal treatment of day laborers only worsens. Where's the government? -
Government Paves the Way
A decent work agenda for the Obama administration. -
Stuck on the Low Road
Deregulation turned truck driving from a good job into a bad one. Now, thanks to local organizing and government action, there's a better road. -
Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers
Rebuilding our economy on the back of illegal working conditions is morally untenable -- and it is bad economics. -
Dark and Bitter
Food workers increasingly exist in a legal limbo with no protections for wages, benefits, job security, or life and limb. Why are employers like Hershey off the hook? -
Decent Work
How government can get back on the side of promoting good jobs.
Features
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Childbirth at the Global Crossroads
Women in the developing world who are paid to bear other people's children test the emotional limits of the international service economy. -
See Jerry Run. Again.
California, still living with the consequences of Jerry Brown's first governorship, is poised to elect him again. -
Refugees of Diversity
One man's journey into the whitest -- and fastest growing -- communities in America. -
How Detroit Went Bottom-Up
Outsourcing has made the automotive industry so co-dependent and fragile that one company's downfall is every company's concern.
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Vol. 20 No. 7August 2009
Columns
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States of Distress
A second stimulus could help states avoid layoffs, program cuts, and tax hikes. -
Left Without Labor
A party of professionals and young voters risks becoming a party that overlooks the core economic crisis facing American workers. -
The Limits of Likeability
The president remains popular even as many of his supporters become uneasy about what he's actually doing.
Culture
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In Wal-Mart's Image
The "values" of the largest private-sector employer in the U.S. are shaping our national economy -- and that's a very bad thing. -
Chicken Little Goes to Europe
Western Europe is being transformed by immigrants from the Islamic world. But they are not the enemy within. -
The Life and Death of Online Communities
How online communities are born -- and what happens when they die.
Departments
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Noted
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Insurance Fraud
In the health-care reform debate, the insurance lobby is a wolf in sheep's clothing. -
Countercyclical Capital
Is D.C. the only place in America not affected by the downturn? -
Going to Extremes
There is much to fear in the right's comfort with radicalism, but little to envy. -
Up Front
Insurance companies are doing A-OK; Back-to-school CliffsNews; The Search for credible Republicans; and The Question. -
Nativism Versus Security
When police become immigration enforcers, everybody loses.
Special Report
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Don't Forget the Men
Why has helping the single, childless workers become the darling of poverty policy? -
Recovering Opportunity
Racial barriers continue to hold back millions of Americans -- and our economy. -
Behavioral Theory
Can Mayor Bloomberg pay people to do the right thing? -
Mis-Measuring Poverty
In recent years, there has been a growing effort to revamp our poverty definition. -
A National Mission
Britain's national goal of reducing child poverty was a political success. Did it work? -
Putting Poverty in Its Place
Neighborhood-based approaches can succeed, if they're part of a broader urban strategy. -
Can Separate Be Equal?
The classroom is where poor and middle-class kids should meet -- to the benefit of both. -
Race, Wealth, and Intergenerational Poverty
There will never be a post-racial America if the wealth gap persists. -
A New Agenda for Tough Times
After a decade of economic change and fresh thinking, it's time for a new national effort to fight poverty. -
The Poverty of Political Talk
It's still hard for politicians to speak clearly about the poorest Americans. -
A Modern Safety Net
We need to update our social contract for the real lives of working families in a brutal economy.
Features
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Aborting Health Reform
Without reproductive-health coverage, any public insurance plan is doomed to fail. -
Present at the Re-Creation
These seven liberal financial experts are our best hope for truly fixing the economy. -
The Truth About Tuition
The conversation about college costs shouldn't end at student loans. -
There Goes the Neighborhood
Housing speculators are back, and they're hindering efforts at block-by-block revitalization. -
Overdue Process
When it comes to terrorist suspects in detention, Obama is finding that Bush set a difficult precedent to break. -
Suburban Ghetto
Segregation, not immigration, is to blame for the growth of Hispanic gangs. -
Suburban Ghetto
Segregation, not immigration, is to blame for the growth of Hispanic gangs.
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Vol. 20 No. 6June 2009
Columns
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The Optimist
By asserting that our institutions are capable of actually governing, Obama is, in effect, demanding that they do so. -
Race De-Baiting
As Sotomayor's nomination has made evident, accusations of racism often obscure much deeper and more pressing questions about how our differences matter and how they should not. -
Perils of the Public Plan
A badly designed public plan could turn out to be the opposite of what progressives intend. -
Testing Testing
Beneath the feel-good press releases about national education standards lie unresolved policy differences.
Culture
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Cheap Thrills
Is buying more the way to economize? Clearly, this is not your grandmother's downturn. -
The Ultimate Bear Market
The uncouth bankers who brought down Bear Stearns make for an entertaining story. But the real responsibility for the crisis lies elsewhere. -
Our Cherished Paradoxes
American history is a series of clashes between personal freedom and societal order. Politics may be what holds us together. -
Do the Netroots Matter?
The progressive blogs and online networks have changed politics. But did they replace the media or win the 2008 election?
Departments
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Up Front
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Noted
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Marion's Moral Compass
The philandering former D.C. mayor leads a crusade against gay marriage. -
Recession Depression
The authors of Womenomics are telling employees to demand work-life balance -- or else! But in a bleak economic climate, most women workers lack real bargaining power. -
Women and the Minimum Wage
The increase in the federal minimum wage helps women -- but not nearly enough. -
The 10 Dumbest Arguments Against Health-Care Reform
The health-care debate has been overwhelmed by grumbling resistance. Too bad the complaints are largely groundless. -
With China, Money Talks
Strategic and economic dialogue? Forget it, Hillary -- it's China. -
A Scheme Out of Gas
Hawks are lobbying hard for a gasoline embargo against Iran. Too bad such a sanction just won't work.
Special Report
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Banks as Heroes
Community-development banks show what financial institutions can do when they have the right motivation and the right mission. -
Reversing the Damage
What will it take to resume credit flows to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods? -
A Bridge to Somewhere
How do we build the road from predatory lending to good financial services for all Americans? -
Don't Blame the Community Reinvestment Act
Homeownership rates and CRA enforcement soared in the 1990s, but sub-prime came later. CRA shouldn't be the scapegoat for the housing meltdown. -
What Does Financial Capital Owe Society?
Corporate social responsibility is a worthy goal, but it's no substitute for regulation, subsidy, and government sponsorship of social institutions. -
Financial Product Safety
The case for a new agency to put the needs of consumers first -
Reforming Credit
Our financial system needs to work for consumers at all income levels. A guide to the crisis, its causes, and cures. -
When Creditors are Predators
We need to regulate to assure that loans work -- and stop the loans that work people over. -
Regulation as Civic Empowerment
The policing of the financial system can't just be left to bureaucrats. Properly designed, regulation can be a community-organizing strategy. -
Community Reinvestment: The Broader Agenda
CRA has created a cadre of community-friendly bankers. It's time to bring reinvestment policy into the 21st century. -
The Assault on the Black Middle Class
Sub-prime lending was racially targeted and demolished decades of progress made by America's most diligent and striving people of color. How will America make amends?
Features
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Charm Offensive
A long list of liberal groups worked to elect Obama. Now the administration is working overtime to make sure they stay happy. -
Latin America's Legalization Push
South of the border, where drug violence has taken a serious toll, lawmakers are weighing their decriminalization options. -
The Shipping Point
Wal-Mart and other discount retailers are exploiting workers in California warehouses. Can an organizing campaign make a difference? -
The Last Drug Czar
Both Obama and his appointed leader of the war on drugs, Gil Kerlikowske, say they've had it with the military metaphors and are taking a new approach to America's substance abuse problem. -
Hillary's Challenge
Our first feminist secretary of state sets out to prove that foreign policy works best when it makes women a priority.
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Vol. 20 No. 5May 2009
Columns
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The Mystery of the Right
The right's abrupt decline is one of the most puzzling questions in political history. -
John McCain's Best Idea
Employer-provided health insurance is our single biggest tax break. It's time to give it up. -
Across District Lines
"School choice" does not have to be code speak for privatizing public education. -
Tough Love for Obama
Can Obama's supporters save him from his economic advisers?
Culture
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Keeping Secrets
Lawyers and shrinks have privilege; journalists should, too. But it's not that simple. -
Blacks in Space
In the future, we will be able to travel faster than light. And black women will still be secretaries. -
I.F. Stone, Journalist -- and Spy?
Was "Pancake" working with the KGB? The evidence is inconclusive. -
The Pakistan Puzzle
Recent tomes on Pakistan overlook ordinary citizens' conflicting motivations, says our man on the ground. -
A Violent Regeneration
A search for American identity after the Civil War led to a surge of machismo and bloodlust.
Departments
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Can a Speech Change the World?
In his Cairo address, Barack Obama sought to transform the way the United States engages with the Muslim world. -
Noted
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The Peak Shrink
Freaked out about the end of oil? There's a therapist for that. -
Up Front
Battle of the cable news demagogues; modernizing the GOP; a graphic view of swine flu; and The Question.
Features
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Wealth-Care Reform
Fixing our health-care system will make us more economically secure. It won't make us much healthier. -
Green Peacemaker
Can Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, meet businesses' needs without alienating the environmental-justice movement? -
The Next Tax Revolt
It's time for progressives to stop pretending that raising taxes on only the very rich will be sufficient to fund an ambitious agenda. -
When Opting Out Isn't an Option
For too long, "working women" has meant professionals with children. It's time we focus on the majority of female workers. -
Pink-Collar Blues
Many male-dominated professions are suffering an epidemic of job loss. But women aren't faring so well in the recession, either. -
New Kids on the Hill
To see where the parties are headed, look to the youngest members of Congress. -
Outside the 9-to-5
Some of the fastest-growing professions with nonstandard work hours are dominated by women. -
Settling for Radicalism
Israel has looked the other way as its military and government have gradually become more radical, and it may be too late to go back. -
The Invisible Workers
For nannies and housekeepers, the home is a workplace, and they're fighting for basic rights. -
Betting the Fed
The Federal Reserve is a hugely powerful yet unaccountable institution. Will its activism bring a backlash? -
A Family-Leave Safety Net
Right now paid time off is a perk available to only privileged families. Here's how we can make it an option for all workers.
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