While Bernie isn’t short on rhetoric about getting money out of politics, he remains curiously short on specifics. For the past couple months, I’ve been chronicling the emerging debate over the role of money in politics and the increased calls for campaign-finance reform within the Democratic field. The most notable development in the political discourse […]
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Posted inElection Night Blog
O’Malley Follows Clinton with a Money-in-Politics Plan of His Own
Today, former Maryland governor and Democratic presidential contender Martin O’Malley unveiled his detailed plan to limit the rampant role of money in politics. Like Hillary Clinton, who released her plan a couple weeks ago, campaign-finance reform advocates widely applaud O’Malley’s ambitious plan. (It’s worth noting that Bernie Sanders has yet to release a specific money-in-politics […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Hillary’s Relationship Status with Labor: It’s Complicated
From the get-go, Hillary’s campaign has been banking on early support from labor unions. And so far, she’s done OK. Very early on, the American Federation of Teachers, led by political ally Randi Weingarten, endorsed Clinton for president. She’s also garnered support from International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. A number of smaller unions […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Walker Walks Away from the GOP Race
The New York Times is reporting that this evening, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker will announce that he’s dropping out of contention for the GOP presidential nomination. Though he was once a frontrunner in Iowa, his campaign has long been struggling for notoriety-a chronic problem now for many candidates competing with The Donald. The latest CNN […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Why Major Parties Want Big Donors to Ditch Super PACs
In 2014, the Supreme Court dealt yet another blow to campaign finance regulations as it did away with contribution limits to political parties. The case, McCutcheon v. FEC, overturned the tenet of Federal Election Campaign Act that imposed individual aggregate contribution limits to national political parties and federal candidate committees. While Citizens United created a […]
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
What a 20-Week Abortion Ban Would Mean
Mitch McConnell isn’t willing to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood-but only because it would be political suicide, not because he’s suddenly become pro-choice. In an op-ed for Cincinnati.com, the Senate Majority Leader championed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a national 20-week abortion ban that the Senate will take up on […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
The Fed Will Continue to Support the Recovery—But For How Long?
This afternoon, the Federal Reserve announced that it will keep interest rates near zero for the time being, maintaining its critical support for the sluggish economic recovery. The decision came as a surprise to many observers on Wall Street, including analysts at Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, who expected a rate hike to […]
Posted inEducation in America
Outsourcing Substitute Teachers in Philadelphia Gets Off to a Bad Start
Last spring, officials from the Philadelphia School District announced plans to contract out substitute-teaching services, saying they could not effectively manage the responsibilities in-house. At the time, approximately 60 percent of substitute teaching jobs were filled daily, and officials said a private vendor would be able to fill more open positions. Naomi Wyatt, the chief […]
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Three Ways the Planned Parenthood Hearing Was a Ridiculous Show Trial
Yesterday, a mostly male group of GOP lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee made good on their promise to “investigate” Planned Parenthood, by holding a hearing on the heavily edited and widely debunked “sting” videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, which, despite its misleading name, is not a medical organization. But the hearing […]
Posted inEconomic Policy
Details Emerge for Baltimore’s Plan to Privatize Public Housing
A little over a year ago I reported on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)-the federal government’s new plan to preserve public housing by turning units over to the control of private developers. Instead of Congress supporting public housing through direct subsidies to local housing authorities-a responsibility which they’ve persistently shirked for decades-RAD would enable private […]
