There was really no justification for the status quo ante in the federal student loan program. The model was this: Students applied for a loan from a private loan company, which loaned them money guaranteed by the federal government. They pocketed the profits, and all risk was assumed by the federal government. Students who had access to this program’s version [...]
Matthew Yglesias has written an excellent analysis of the relationship between Republican obstructionism and the size and scope of the health care reform bill. He calls Mitch McConnell the “unsung hero of comprehensive reform”: We should also, however, spare a thought for the unsung hero of comprehensive reform, McConnell and his GOP colleagues, who pushed their “no c ompromise” strategy to [...]
Why the politics of immigration must be reconciled with reality
I hope everyone understands that when the Wall Street Journal calls Obama’s “up or down” vote on health care reform an “abuse of power,” they’re lying through their teeth. To be clear: the bill on the floor has already passed a supermajority in the senate and a majority in the house and more — it’s gone through Max Baucus’ bipartisan “Gang [...]
Richard Thaler wrote an extremely important piece in the New York Times this past weekend on wireless spectrum auctions. This may sound like the stuff of fantasy or boredom, take your pick, but selling off archaic TV spectrum could net the US government $100 billion: Professor Hazlett estimates that selling off this spectrum could raise at least $100 billion for [...]
Didn’t want to let this go by without comment. From the Feb. 18 edition (“What’s Wrong With Washington?”): Washington has its faults, some of which could easily be fixed. But much of the current fuss forgets the purpose of American government; and it lets current politicians (Mr Obama in particular) off the hook. America’s political structure was designed to make [...]
In today’s Crimson, Avishai Don argues that, if California’s voter-approved gay marriage ban is upheld in the courts, it will “legitimize the concerns of the segregationists four decades ago.” But the correlation between Perry v. Schwarzenegger and Loving v. Virginia is, legally speaking, less than one-to-one, even though the comparison makes for a compelling emotional argument. Yes, it’s true that [...]
Coakley’s loss was a lot of things — but a repudiation of Obama’s health care reform it was not. Massachusetts is an odd state to be signing the death sentence for Obama’s health care reform because Massachusetts actually enjoys a universal health care program that’s very similar to the one in congress today. And Scott Brown’s an odd angel of [...]
Dr. John Silvanus Wilson on the new administration's approach to supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Politicians' Self-Interest and the Future of Campaign Finance Reform
