Recent Government Commentaries

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Far Worse
Watergate — a name forever synonymous with former President Richard M. Nixon. Forty years ago this month, I was glued to the TV watching the Senate Watergate Committee hearings, and astounded at the laundry list of accusations made against then President Nixon that would eventually lead to his resignation – something no one could ever imagine, let alone see come to...
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June 11, 2012
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Big Gulp or Big Brother
There he was, everybody’s favorite mayor (well, maybe noteverybody’s), New York’s own Michael Bloomberg staring down at me from a full-page ad in Saturday’s (June 2) New York Times with the bold headline, The Nanny. A fiscal conservative, Bloomberg is credited for turning New York’s $6 billion deficit into a $3 billion surplus. He’s in favor of abortion rights as well...
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June 4, 2012
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This One’s for Bruce
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a stunning announcement on the steps of the Capitol today, scientists from four leading research centers believe they have found a direct link between the ethics scandals of the last five years – perhaps going back as far asfive decades – and a chemical imbalance in the brain. The new disease, which scientists are calling “Involuntary Ethics...
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May 28, 2012
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A Tale of Two Leaders
In less than two weeks in April, we learned of two high-profile scandals involving two government agencies. Both carry potential for serious repercussions based largely on how their respective leaders handled the crisis. The General Services Administration’s job is to support and manage the basic infrastructure of federal agencies by providing supplies, communications, offices, and transportation through “government-wide, cost-minimizing policies.” Apparently,...
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May 11, 2012
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The Supreme Issue
In an Op-ed for U.S. News and World Report, GOP Presidential candidate Rick Santorum wrote that “Polls show Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to ObamaCare, especially the individual mandate.” Is he right or wrong? While the Supreme Court deliberates the constitutionality of The Affordable Care Act, Pollster Mark Blumenthal at Huffington Post has done some fairly comprehensive work cataloging the public’s...
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March 30, 2012
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Mr. Kroft Goes to Washington
Last November, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft reported on a nice little perk that members of Congress have enjoyed for some time, insider trading. According to a report entitled, Insiders, Kroft interviewed “Peter Schweizer… a fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank at Stanford University… Schweizer says he wanted to know why some congressmen and senators managed to accumulate significant wealth...
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February 8, 2012
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Supreme Impartiality
A few years ago, I was called for jury duty. After being selected as a finalist, the judge explained that the case we would be deciding had to do with spousal abuse. He asked if we, as potential jurors, had anything in our personal lives that might cause us not to be impartial in this case, to speak up. I...
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January 4, 2012
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End of the Year Round-Up
Hold on to your cynicism, kiddies, it’s my end of the year wrap-up of the highs and lows. Here’s just part of the past year’s craziness summarized in words: “The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal-consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short.” – Standard and Poor’s, in a statement regarding the downgrade in the U.S....
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December 28, 2011
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Trust
This is not a good year to be a member of Congress. In its annual measure of Ethics and Honesty in Professionssurvey, the Gallup organization, not surprisingly, found that 64% of Americans rate Congress at “Low” or “Very Low,” which tied a record low score with Lobbyists in 2008. Telemarketers, stockbrokers, bankers, real estate agents, and lawyers all beat out Congress...
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December 14, 2011
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Memo to the “Super Committee”:
These are the 12 members of the Congressional “super committee” charged with finding $1.5 trillion in debt savings over the next ten years. They are: Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas (Republican and committee co-chair), Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (Democrat and committee co-chair), Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (D), Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona (R), Sen. John Kerry of...
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November 9, 2011

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