Protesters take Democrats to task
Organizers of a Tax Day demonstration in Union Square urged progressives to rally around “key liberal values” — values they said have been forgotten by Democrats. Here's what some of them had to say.
GOP's Tea Party faction and its relation to big business
A front-page story in last Thursday’s New York Times purported to have uncovered an “odd alliance”: a non-profit group affiliated with the Tea Party running a PR campaign closely aligned with the interests of a gigantic Indonesian paper company. This confluence of “seemingly disparate interests,” the Times asserted, was surprising because “the Tea Party movement is as deeply skeptical of big business as it is of big government.” But while the story skillfully followed the money trail, it was an example of something all too common in American political journalism: an impressive display of fact-finding dropped into a confused conceptual frame. A more clear-eyed understanding of the relationship between the Tea Party and business interests points to a host of basic reporting tasks to which the Times and its peers could direct their impressive resources.
Deficit hawks or just a fairy tale?
A poll question featuring constrained choices prompts unsupported press claims, but other surveys suggest that public support for government spending remains strong.
GOP study group: slash catalyst research for industry innovation
Last week’s proposal from a group of Republicans in the House of Representatives to slash federal spending by more than $2 trillion over 10 years includes a proposal that could strip away federal funds for research on an array of energy-related projects, and potentially make it harder for new technologies to reach the marketplace.
We need our own pollster
The way a recent New York Times/CBS News poll framed the issues meant the results invariably stayed within the bounds of a relatively narrow range of policy options, rendering a broader spectrum of policy choices invisible.
What's the cost of the cuts to Congress?
When the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to
cut its own budget last week, the scant coverage in major outlets
represented a missed opportunity to probe what the consequences of the
reduction might be — or how previous staff reductions have affected the
ability of Congress to perform its work.
cut its own budget last week, the scant coverage in major outlets
represented a missed opportunity to probe what the consequences of the
reduction might be — or how previous staff reductions have affected the
ability of Congress to perform its work.
Jacob Hacker: middle class keeps losing out
Remapping Debate continues its conversation with the co-author of "Winner-Take-All Politics."
The Deficit Commission's 21-percent solution
Plan leans heavily on spending cuts to balance the federal budget — a consequence of the decision to propose limits on the size of the government.