When Paul Ryan first introduced his first “Path to Prosperity” budget proposal, he framed it as an attempt to build upon the “successful” welfare reform of the late 1990s. At the time, I wrote that “welfare reform” was a “catastrophic success,” because of its devastating impact on the people reform advocates claimed reform would help. [...]

While meandering the streets of Paris, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman apparently awakened to the fact that the assignment of claims to wealth through patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property is a really big deal. This is good news for those who have been jumping up and down yelling about this fact [...]

The clock is ticking on student loan interest rates. The rates for federally-backed student Stafford loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1. And what has Congress done to help these already struggling students? Absolutely nothing. Student debt now totals $1 trillion, and Congress is still deadlocked when it comes to preventing an increase in the interest rate on student loans.

For an estimated 4 million people, including about 210,000 schoolchildren, the farm bill the House is scheduled to start debating today could mean they will be going hungry a lot more often. That has promoted organizations such as Half in 10 and the Food Research and Action Center to organize a National Call-In Day to [...]

The Farm Bill that is expected to pass the U.S. House this week explains income inequality in America. The Republican-sponsored proposal slashes food stamps for poor children and pads farm subsidies for wealthy agri-businessmen.  This comes just a week after Senate Republicans refused to protect the poorest students from doubled college loan interest rates because [...]

Texas Governor Rick Perry is on a “job-poaching” trip to New York. Let’s say he “attracts” some businesses to move to his low-wage, low-tax state. That means good-paying jobs in one part of our country become low-paying jobs in another and business taxes that supported good schools in one part of our country don’t support [...]

You would think that this poll showing “Americans’ confidence in Congress is not only at its lowest point on record, but also is the worst Gallup has ever found for any institution it has measured since 1973″ would be so embarrassing to those on Capital Hill that they would take immediate steps to change the situation.

You would be especially justified in thinking that it would change congressional behavior on the federal budget. Although the poll doesn’t say it, there’s no doubt in my mind that the constant and highly publicized “I’m-gonna-hold-my-breath-till-I’m-blue-in-the-face” fights over the deficit, debt ceiling, and annual budget resolution haves been the biggest factors in this totally failing grade for the House and Senate.

But it won’t. Particularly when it comes to the budget it’s not likely to change congressional behavior at all.

There are two reasons.

Let’s place private corporations with government contracts under surveillance — to make sure no one is getting rich off our tax dollars.

Congress Turns Its Back on Rural America (via Moyers & Company) For fifteen years in Neodesha, Kansas (population 2,486) there were only two options for early childhood education services in town: a program for at-risk 4-year-olds operated by the school district, and a Head Start Center for children ages 0 through 5 run by the [...]

Today I had the honor of being one of few men to join the panel on WETA’s “To The Contrary,” with Bonnie Erbe, for a Father’s Day edition of the normally all-female news analysis program. (The show will air later this evening, and the video will be available online here.) I was on board for [...]