Oppression

Prompt: “We think that any progressive effort must do its darnedest to fight for equality in politics and policy, and fight against the various forms of oppression that prevent our democracy from serving everyone.” Response: If one believes that oppression exists in American society, then one must necessarily believe that there are certain persons who [...]

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Tax Reform: A Pro-Growth VAT Proposal

For my final project in a course on the federal budget–taught by Professor Joshua Bolten–I prepared a VAT proposal as part of a tax reform plan to promote and sustain economic growth. THE PLAN Require states to convert sales taxes to VAT.  Localities can keep sales taxes if preferred. Phase out all corporate income taxes. [...]

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A Midterm Meltdown: Next Steps

Questions of the Day 1) What does Obama do to ensure re-election? 2) Who changes positions at the White House? 3) Speaker Boehner? And is Mike Pence considering a presidential run? 4) What happens in the lame-duck? Anything exciting? 5) Who runs in 2012?

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Legislation I Want to See

1) “Big bank” reform. The financial regulations bill goes a long way towards curbing the excesses in the banking and finance industries. However, while the bill provides for an orderly way to close down a failing big bank (thus, no more “too large to fail” situations), the bill does not change the fact that we [...]

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Some Advice for the President

About one year ago I posted a list of the top-10 officials I had hoped that Obama would nominate to his Cabinet. At the time, I was only slightly disappointed in Obama’s safe and pedestrian choices. I was sure that the Administration had a bright future ahead of it. But the safe and plodding Obama [...]

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Some More Picks

5) Attorney General: Neal Katyal. The law-school professor who successfully prosecuted the case Hamdan v. Rumsfield would be the most obvious choice to signal a break with the previous administration. 6) Secretary of Health and Human Services: Paul Farmer. This medical visionary would signal a new front in America’s healthcare system: only my understanding the [...]

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Some Picks for the Cabinet

Barack Obama is still getting high marks from the American public, but his stimulus bill has stalled in Congress and the economy is still in intensive care. One of the most disappointing events so far was Obama’s appointment of a whole slew of political hacks to his Cabinet–instead of emptying out the Senate to find [...]

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Twiddling While the Barn Burns

We know how it works. The constant refrain of terror attacks over the past few years has made Americans desensitized. While one death is a tragedy, a hundred dead is just a number. Indians have been no different on this account. Bombings in Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Bangalore in just the last few years have [...]

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Hillary Clinton and the World of Women

I’ve just finished writing up a new “By the Numbers” segment for the American Foreign Policy magazine at Princeton.  AFP is a student publication that publishes articles that analyze foreign affairs and frames their impacts to the United States.  Check out the AFP website by clicking on the link in the Blogroll (to the right). [...]

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Bye Bye Bayh

No, please don’t do it.  Caroline Kennedy, I have faith in you.  You can look through the hype and see the substance.  Yes, he’s got a great haircut and two wonderful boys.  And yes, unlike somebody (*cough* *cough* *Biden*), he actually takes a moment to think before opening his mouth.  But Bayh is not the [...]

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