Opinion

Compromise is the Essence of Our Democracy

You may not be ready for next year’s presidential and congressional elections, but in political time, they’re coming up fast. Even politicians who aren’t running for president are crafting their stump Read More

The night they came for the celery

Well, my grandchildren, it all began many years ago with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). She got herself elected back when Donald Trump was president. AOC mounted an attack on cauliflower. She said th Read More

The Key to Representative Democracy? Persuasion

I'm lucky enough these days to be in regular touch with young people — students — who are interested in public service. I find hope in their quality, energy, and motivation, and they press me to think Read More

On the strong economy, big media says: “Kill that good news”

“I’m still ugly,” sniffed the young woman. Her words come to mind when good news about our economy emerges. They were part of a talk by a famous motivational speaker. He made a simple point: How we Read More

Protect Victims of Violent Crimes from Frequent Parole Hearings

For victims of heinous crimes whose perpetrators are behind bars, parole hearings can be traumatic. The state can do more to protect victims and families of victims from undue suffering by passing Ram Read More

Advocating for People with Disabilities

It was less than 30 years ago when the Americans with Disabilities Act passed Congress and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The law prohibits discrimination and guarantees that peopl Read More

To Improve, Congress Needs to Look Inward

There are many reasons why Congress finds itself hamstrung in Washington, D.C. and discounted by the people it serves at home. These include long-term trends over which it has little control — the pol Read More

What Would Make Congress Better?

[Recently], I was speaking to a group of students and decided to start with a point-blank question: Is Congress doing a good job? About 100 people were in the room, and not a single one raised his or Read More