Recent Government Commentaries

Featured image for “‘First 100 Days’: A Closer Look, Part II”
‘First 100 Days’: A Closer Look, Part II
Last week I shared the results of a new poll that Capps Center Director Wade Clark Roof and I commissioned Zogby International:  “Integrity, Leadership, Trust.”  We asked more than 3,300 Americans to grade both President Obama and Congress based on the qualities and issues they considered most important on November 5-6, 2008. Last week’s commentary revealed the “quality” grades:  Mr. Obama scored 58% positive...
Read More
May 15, 2009
Featured image for “A Closer Look at Obama’s ‘First 100 Days’”
A Closer Look at Obama’s ‘First 100 Days’
Digging deeper into the results of the Walter H. Capps Center’s “First 100 Days” poll some interesting figures stand out. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, our poll is different from other “100 Days” surveys in that the majority of the questions were based on those qualities and issues Americans told us were most important to them last November:  honesty,...
Read More
May 6, 2009
Featured image for “A Different Kind of ‘First 100 Days’ Measure”
A Different Kind of ‘First 100 Days’ Measure
Last November, immediately following the presidential election, Wade Clark Roof, director of the Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion and Public Life and I asked more than 3,300 likely voters what “qualities do you think the country needs most from the new president” and, “what actions would you like to see accomplished most by the new president and Congress?” The top...
Read More
May 4, 2009
Featured image for “First 100 Days of the ‘New Era of Responsibility’”
First 100 Days of the ‘New Era of Responsibility’
President Obama has called for “a new era of responsibility… Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.”  Last week he pointed to “a confidence gap, when it comes to the American people… [and said] we’ve got to earn their trust.” So, when it comes to responsibility and openness, how is Mr. Obama doing?  Is...
Read More
April 27, 2009
Featured image for “Why Be Ethical?”
Why Be Ethical?
A weekend conversation with a friend prompted the following: “Why be ethical?  What’s the payoff?” The standard fall-back:  “Virtue is its own reward.” Another might be the adage by Louis Armstrong when asked the definition of Jazz: “If you have to ask… you’ll never know.” The reality is that most of us face issues that challenge our ethical integrity on a regular basis.   » Read...
Read More
April 22, 2009
Featured image for “Integrity Matters”
Integrity Matters
“How does the court have confidence that the Public Integrity Section has public integrity?” That was the question Judge Emmet G. Sullivan asked last October in the face of prosecutorial misconduct by attorneys from the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in the corruption case of former Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. In a front page story in the New York Times (April...
Read More
April 3, 2009
Featured image for “Mr. Ethics”
Mr. Ethics
You’re trapped in an elevator with a guy who looks like a cross between Al Franken and a computer nerd. You’re a little uneasy. Wait, he just put his hand in his pocket, reaching for… a BlackBerry.  You discreetly look over his shoulder to read: “Need your help!  Can you come… fast?” Oh, it’s just Norm. Norm Eisen is Mr. Ethics...
Read More
March 26, 2009
Featured image for “Senate Blvd.”
Senate Blvd.
“You’re Roland Burris.  You used to be in the Senate.  You used to be big.” “I AM big.  It’s the Senate that got small.” First, he’s in:  Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, arrested on corruption charges stemming from trying to “sell” Barack Obama’s Senate seat, appoints Roland Burris. Then, he’s out:  Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says the Senate won’t seat anyone appointed...
Read More
February 23, 2009
Featured image for “And the Winner is…”
And the Winner is…
Nixon had Watergate, Clinton had Lewinsky, Cheney his “Scooter” Libby.  Now, we have Rod Blagojevich who seems determined to turn hubris into a new category at the Academy Awards. For your consideration:  “They’re just hanging me… [They’re] trampling the constitution… The good guy is up against the establishment.” However, when Illinois state senators begin their impeachment trial today based on the governor’s...
Read More
January 26, 2009
Featured image for “January 20, 2009”
January 20, 2009
It’s difficult to express in words the true significance of the event that took place in our nation’s capitol yesterday. All I can do is offer my own impressions. “Our challenges may be new… But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things...
Read More
January 20, 2009