Recent Government Commentaries

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Memo To: Hank Paulson
Dear Hank: I know you and your staff at Treasury are busy managing the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector, but when you have a chance could you, or someone in your office, take a closer look at what they’re doing at A.I.G.? A.I.G., they’re the ones that we gave the $85 billion bailout “loan” to not long ago...
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October 10, 2008
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Statesmanship vs. Partisanship
In explaining the importance of a $700 Billion dollar plan to shore up the economy, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson said in an interview that, in affect …the American people don’t understand this. Mr. Paulson is a finance guy, not an education guy. Moments before the House was due to vote on a very complex and highly contentious bill,...
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October 1, 2008
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Mr. Smith Goes on the Take
No, not that Mr. Smith, the other one, Gregory W. Smith, the former program director of the “royalty-in-kind program” at the Interior Department.   Gregory Smith is one of 19 officials (about one-third of the program’s staff) who accepted gratuities from oil companies including Chevron and Shell, while conducting official business. As the New York Times reported (Sept. 11), the Interior “…department’s...
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September 12, 2008
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Seckatary of What?
If you vote by mail, then die before Election Day, does your vote count? Not if you live in South Dakota. According to a (July 25) AP story, “Laws in at least a dozen states are evenly split between tallying and dumping the votes.” Most voters had not heard of this until the issue was raised during the last primary...
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August 6, 2008
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Now, More Than Ever
If I had the opportunity to speak to Congress on the importance of trust, it might sound something like this – The first time I became aware of political leadership it was 1961. Our 7th grade homeroom teacher wheeled in a big television set so that the entire class could watch the inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. We all sat...
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August 1, 2008
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The Conscience of the Senate
Whom can we trust? Who has the credibility to lead? These are just two of the critical questions Charles Lewis, founder of The Center for Public Integrity has raised in his investigative examinations into the inextricable link between Congress and special interests.  And yet, there are examples of leaders who do it right.  In his 1998 book, The Buying of the...
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July 30, 2008
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Building a Better House
The 2007 “Honest Leadership and Open Government Act” was passed in response to a laundry list of scandals involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  The new law outlines tougher standards for lobbyists in an effort to stop the flow of undue influence in Congress. That’s a good thing. There’s just one tiny flaw. “…former Senator John Breaux, Democrat of Louisiana, said lobbyists [have]...
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July 28, 2008
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Mr. Rove
“Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.”  — The Washington Post, July 10, 2008 When did we reach a point where the former deputy chief of staff to the president...
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July 11, 2008
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When Perception Becomes Reality
Torture “is basically subject to perception.” Sounds like something said by the bad guy to Clint Eastwood from some 70’s-era “Dirty Harry” movie, doesn’t it? It’s not. This is what CIA counterterrorism lawyer Jonathan Fredman advised U.S. officials at Guantanamo Bay regarding the treatment of detainees in October, 2002.  The statement comes from one of several documents released by a...
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June 19, 2008
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Teddy Roosevelt’s “True Americanism”
“The average citizen must be a good citizen if our republics are to succeed. The stream will not permanently rise higher than the main source; and the main source of national power and national greatness is found in the average citizenship of the nation. Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average...
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June 2, 2008