[ Posted Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 – 13:06 UTC ]
Representative Bruce Braley recently announced the formation of a new congressional caucus dedicated to the economic concerns of the middle class. The Iowa Democrat (as reported in The Huffington Post) unveiled the new Populist Caucus last month, and as its chair immediately set to work addressing their concerns in the stimulus package in the House. But since the term "populism" has been used for a variety of movements throughout American history, I thought I'd ask Representative Braley himself what the caucus is all about, and what they're trying to achieve. The interview below is a transcript of our conversation.
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[ Posted Monday, October 27th, 2008 – 14:29 UTC ]
You know, I don't necessarily believe so, and that's a sad reflection, isn't it? It's a sad reflection on how little stock we seem to put into character in politics. It's going to be a tight race, but Stevens could still win this thing. Stevens has been around so long, and we do have a very partisan situation up here in Alaska, where evidently some are willing to accept representation irrespective of a conviction. I think some people will se
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[ Posted Monday, October 13th, 2008 – 16:11 UTC ]
For those interested in the backstory of the octopus-like reach of the VECO corruption investigation, there is currently no better inside look at the entire mess than the amazing new book Last Bridge To Nowhere, by author Frank Prewitt. Prewitt has a unique perspective on the entire mess, since he was the F.B.I.'s "Confidential Source #1" throughout the evidence-gathering phase of the long-running investigation. Codenamed "Patient," Prewitt spent countless hours documenting sleazy deals, payoffs, bribes, and other shenanigans; often wearing a wire and taping encounters to provide court evidence.
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[ Posted Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 – 13:53 UTC ]
I had the chance recently to interview two professors in the field of statistics (from Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who have jointly come up with an interesting plan for replacing the Electoral College. Their plan would retain the electoral advantages small states currently have, but would remove the winner-take-all system we have now.
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[ Posted Friday, June 6th, 2008 – 01:40 UTC ]
Although the (as he puts it) "Is He Serious?" headlines have mostly come and gone, Al Franken is still Al Franken, and his humorous style is evident throughout the interview. But for all the people who scoffed at the idea of a former comedian running for such a high public office, it can now be strongly stated that Al Franken's campaign is definitely no joke.
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[ Posted Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 – 14:30 UTC ]
Since we are about at the halfway point in the 2008 elections -- with the last dust settling from the nomination race and the general election campaign gearing up -- I thought it would be a good time to talk to Janda again. I am not professionally trained in political science (I just pretend to be, on the internet), so I thought it would be interesting to hear from someone who is.
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