POLITIX 02/26/14 By Michael Shank, Ben Beachy and Justin Talbot Zorn Momentum is quickly building to redefine, restructure, or replace the statistical measure that has long served as the unofficial “headline indicator” of progress in the United States: Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is good news. GDP, as we currently […]
ROLL CALL 02/12/14 By Michael Shank There are several signs in the House of Representatives that indicate that members of Congress are taking seriously the call to create quality employment for Americans. This is a good thing and something of which we need to see more, especially with 50 million […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 12/11/13 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Scott Peters Despite clear warnings of a new climate normal, we still have not made significant progress in Congress to address the root causes. Global climate change has resulted in devastating consequences, but Congress and the president remain […]
HUFFINGTON POST 12/11/13 By Michael Shank and Ed Lazere As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushes for a national minimum wage increase this congressional session — and as SeaTac, Washington, passes the highest minimum wage in the country at $15 an hour — the leaders of the District of Columbia […]
ROLL CALL 12/09/13 By Michael Shank and US Congressman Scott Peters With gridlock gripping Washington, D.C., and preventing action on even simple fronts, it’s hard to see how Congress and the president will agree on good climate action policy. But the need is clear. Examples of extreme weather occurrences seem […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 11/13/13 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, November 13, 2013 — With the Tea Party coming out hard against President Obama’s trade agenda, there may be some synergy among conservatives and progressives in tackling this year’s hottest transnational conflict. Outspoken critic of the Obama trade agenda and Washington Times Communities […]
THE ATLANTIC 10/24/13 By Michael Shank, Ben Beachy, and Justin Talbort Zorn One year ago this week, Hurricane Sandy ravaged much of the eastern seaboard, leaving tens of thousands of families homeless and nearly as many businesses shuttered. Yet, by many estimates, the hurricane was good for the economy. It […]
REUTERS, CHICAGO TRIBUNE 10/22/13 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers This month, more Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles (MRAPs) have found their way from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Main Streets of America. These are just the latest acquisitions in a growing practice by Pentagon that’s militarizing America’s municipal […]
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT 10/15/13 By Michael Shank and Matt Lichtash The government shutdown, even after it ends, will slow much of the president’s second-term agenda items. Obamacare isn’t the only policy on the political chopping block. Despite reports by U.N. scientists and Nature researchers this month that the […]
HUFFINGTON POST 10/10/13 By Michael Shank and Elizabeth Beavers America’s streets are looking more and more like a war zone. Last week, in a small county in upstate New York with a population of roughly 120,000 people, county legislators approved the receipt of a 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) […]