Many posts have discussed volunteering and charitable giving. Here is an infographic from AEI:
Bessette/Pitney’s AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: DELIBERATION, DEMOCRACY AND CITIZENSHIP reviews the idea of "deliberative democracy." Building on the book, this blog offers insights, analysis, and facts about recent events.
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Digital Natives
"Digital natives" -- news organizations that started online -- are increasingly important in journalism. From Pew's State of the News Media 2014:
- At some of the digital natives, the rate of hiring has been explosive. Two years ago, BuzzFeed had about a half dozen editorial employees. Now it has at least 170.2 Three years ago, Bleacher Report had no paid writers; now there are about 50. The rapidly expanding global Vice Media operation has already hired 48 more staffers in the U.S. this year alone. Henry Blodget has plans to increase the Business Insider editorial staff of 70 by 33% this year. And startups like First Look Media, Project X and the new FiveThirtyEight blog have thus far hired a total of about 60 editorial staffers in the last few months.
- Many of the native digital news organizations are small, nonprofit and young. Of the 438 smaller sites examined, more than half (241) have three full-time staffers or less. It is also clear that the nonprofit business model is an attractive option for many of these outlets. In our sample, slightly more than half of the 402 organizations where we could identify a business status were nonprofits (204.) And many of them are very new. Nearly 30% (120) of the smaller outlets for which we have starting dates have come into existence since 2010. Fully 85% were started since 2005.
- Many of the smaller digital organizations focus on filling reporting gaps in local news and investigative journalism. Among the smaller organizations studied, more than half (231) identify themselves as primarily local or hyperlocal outlets—often covering events at the neighborhood level. Nearly four dozen (45) identify themselves as investigative in nature. In addition, several of the largest nonprofits—ProPublica, the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Investigative Reporting—produce investigative journalism, often in collaboration with legacy news organizations.
- Among the larger digital outlets, a number are investing substantially in global coverage. The editorial focus of the 30 larger sites ranges from sports (Bleacher Report) to tech (Re/Code) to investigative (ProPublica.) But some of the general interest outlets are expanding overseas in a significant way: The Huffington Post wants to grow its reach to 15 countries from 11 this year; Vice has 35 overseas bureaus; BuzzFeed hired a foreign editor to oversee its expansion into such places as Mumbai, Mexico City, Berlin and Tokyo. The two-year old business-oriented Quartz has reporters in London, Bangkok and Hong Kong and its editorial staff speaks 19 languages.
- Digital news organizations are hiring a mix of legacy and non-legacy journalists, with a clear emphasis on new storytelling skills. One area where legacy skills are in demand is investigative work. The Investigative News Network estimates that at least 80% of the journalists working at its 92 outlets are from legacy jobs. At ProPublica, 25 of its 41 staffers are legacy transfers. But increasingly, editors of digital natives say they are hiring younger staffers with better digital instincts and skills. “The training of traditional journalism is not perfectly suited to what digital audiences are looking to read,” says Quartz editor-in-chief Kevin Delaney.
- The loss of legacy media jobs in recent years has been concentrated in the print sector. The American Society of Newspaper Editors counted 38,000 full-time newsroom jobs in 2012, down from more than 54,000 a decade earlier. And in 2013, there were hundreds of new layoffs at such companies as Gannett and Tribune. The Ad Age Data Bank, which tracks all magazine industry jobs, said 26% of magazine jobs were lost in the past decade. That does not include more recent layoffs such as the 500 overall Time Inc. cuts recently announced as part of a corporate restructuring.
- For all the expansion, it is far from clear there is a digital news business model to sustain these outlets. First Look Media founder and funder Pierre Omidyar has acknowledged that solvency is at least five years away. The Huffington Post has 575 editorial employees, but is still only “flirting with profitability” according to analyst Ken Doctor. Global Post, which recently signed NBC as a content partner, has never operated in the black. Asked if the explosion of hiring suggests that digital news has figured out a successful business model to sustain those jobs, one veteran industry observer responded simply: “No. That’s the irony.”
Labels:
government,
Internet,
journalism,
news media,
political science,
politics,
social media
Sunday, March 30, 2014
The Comeback Kids
As Reid Wilson reported in The Washington Post a few months ago, lots of governors have been touting their states' "comebacks." See the list below, which is not exhaustive. In most cases, they are claiming credit for these comebacks. But they are pursuing different, if not contrary, policies (e.g., tax increases in California, tax cuts in Ohio). So maybe something else is at work. During the Great Recession, constitutional balanced-budget requirements and the demands of the bond market forced states to cut way back. Now a modest national economic recovery is reducing unemployment and easing fiscal pressure. Perhaps the governors' policies have no more responsibility for these "comebacks" than a rooster has for the sunrise.
- Sean Parnell (Alaska): ""With these polices in hand, the Great Alaska Comeback is underway."
- Jan Brewer (Arizona): "Today, I am proud of the progress we've made in the past 5 years to bring about the Arizona Comeback."
- Jerry Brown (California): "It occurred to me that these critics – who have long recited our state’s decline – perhaps have nothing to say in the face of California’s comeback – except, “please, don’t report it.” Well, I’m going to report it, and what a comeback it is: A million new jobs since 2010, a budgetary surplus in the billions and a minimum wage rising to $10 an hour!"
- Pat Quinn (Illinois): "Illinois is making a comeback."
- Terry Branstad (Iowa): "Four years ago, I saw the future of our state getting bleaker. I love this state. I was sick of the direction we were going. I knew we could do better and four years ago, I came back to lead the Iowa comeback. And we’ve done it."
- Deval Patrick (Massachusetts): "Because we are making more of the things we invent in the commonwealth, manufacturing is making a comeback."
- Rick Snyder (Michigan): "Michigan is the comeback state."
- Jay Nixon (Missouri): "Today, Missouri’s automotive comeback continues to make headlines."
- Brian Sandoval (Nevada): "While our efforts to grow and diversify the State’s economy remains one of our biggest priorities, these results give me great confidence as we work together to continue Nevada's comeback."
- Chris Christie (New Jersey): "Today, I am proud to report that the New Jersey Comeback has begun."
- Andrew Cuomo (New York): "We had to reverse decades of decline in economic communities all across the state, especially upstate New York, and we had to start a New York comeback."
- Pat McCrory (North Carolina): "This collaborative, problem-solving, focused leadership transformed Charlotte from a regional hub into a leading national metropolitan center. This focus on pragmatic problem-solving is now fueling North Carolina’s comeback to prosperity as well."
- John Kasich (Ohio): "I’m proud of the tax cuts because I think it’s another installment in Ohio’s comeback."
- Mary Fallin (Oklahoma): "We’re in the middle of what I call an Oklahoma comeback."
- Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania): "So, right up front, let’s give credit for Pennsylvania’s comeback where it belongs, to the people of Pennsylvania."
- Peter Shumlin (Vermont): "Our downtowns are on the comeback as vibrant centers for jobs, retail, and residential life, from Brattleboro to Barre, Newport to St. Albans and Rutland. Visitors from around the globe continue to come to Vermont to ski and hike our mountains, stay at our inns and resorts, and enjoy our state’s beautiful outdoors."
Labels:
economic policy,
federalism,
government,
governor,
political science,
politics
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Yee, the Law, and Stings
At The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko examines the law that the FBI used to nail state senator Leland Yee:
Of the seven felony charges unveiled Wednesday against the San Francisco Democrat, six - each punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison - were for scheming to deprive his constituents of his "honest services."
The 1988 law that established the crime was worded broadly, and it could have encompassed such commonplace political actions as failing to keep a campaign promise or disclose a conflict of interest, or even a private-sector employee's personal use of the company's e-mail system. But the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 2010 ruling that narrowed the fraud convictions of former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling, said the law must be interpreted to apply only to bribes and kickbacks - specific exchanges of favors for benefits.
...
In each case, an FBI affidavit said, the transactions involved interstate phone calls or electronic messages relayed across state lines, a prerequisite for charging Yee under the federal honest-services law rather than California's bribery law.
If charged under state law, Yee might claim he had been entrapped - which, in California, means that the officers' conduct would have induced a normally law-abiding person to commit a crime.
Under federal law, a defendant must also show that, regardless of the officers' actions, he or she wasn't predisposed to break the law before being approached, a virtually insurmountable burden in most cases.
"You have no chance on entrapment," said Robert Weisberg, a Stanford University criminal law professor. The only viable defenses, he said, are "I didn't do it" or "I was misunderstood."
Weisberg said such charges often involve government sting operations, like the FBI's "shrimp scam" investigation of the late 1980s, which netted several California lawmakers for agreeing to do favors for a fictitious shrimp company created by federal agents. In such cases, he said, law enforcement agencies usually "have information that the guy has already solicited or accepted a bribe."At KQED, Scott Detrow notes another FBI case:
FBI raids are on their way to becoming a state Capitol ritual. On Wednesday morning, FBI agents carted boxes of documents out of state Sen. Leland Yee’s offices. Hours later, the San Francisco Democrat sat in federal court, hearing the seven corruption and weapons-trafficking charges he faces. (Click here to read an annotated copy of the federal charges.)
Last month, federal prosecutors announced charges against Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat from the Los Angeles area. The FBI raided his office last June.
“When public officials choose to callously betray the trust of the people they serve, and selfishly line their pockets, then it’s up to us to take the steps responsible to make sure we hold these individuals accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte when he announced Calderon’s indictment.
And federal agents have certainly been taking a lot of those steps lately. The two cases feature numerous agents going undercover, posing as shady businessmen and movie producers and bribing lawmakers for official favors. Yee allegedly delivered Senate proclamations, set up meetings with other legislators and made calls to state agencies on behalf of the undercover agents — in addition to allegedly participating in a scheme to help an undercover agent buy weapons. Calderon allegedly pushed to lower a film tax credit threshold he thought would help an agent posing as an independent film producer.
The day agents raided Calderon’s office, Yee warned an associate to “be really, real careful. Got to double check, triple check everything.” Unfortunately for Yee, federal agents were listening in on that conversation.
According to court documents, the FBI spent nearly $70,000 bribing Yee. And the FBI says it delivered nearly $90,000 to Calderon.
Labels:
California,
crime,
federalism,
government,
political science,
politics,
scandal
Denton and Torture
The New York Times reports:
The prisoner of war had been tortured for 10 months and beaten repeatedly by his North Vietnamese captors in recent days, and there were threats of more if he did not respond properly when the propaganda broadcast began. Haggard but gritty, Cmdr. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. slumped in a chair before the television cameras.
Pretending to be blinded by the spotlights, he began blinking — seemingly random spasms and tics. He answered interrogators’ questions with a trace of defiance, knowing he would be beaten again and again, but hoping that America would detect his secret message in Morse code.
To a question about American “war atrocities,” the captured pilot said: “I don’t know what is happening in Vietnam because the only news sources I have are North Vietnamese. But whatever the position of my government is, I believe in it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live.”
The North Vietnamese, who lost face, were even more outraged when they learned that Commander Denton, in the Japanese-taped interview broadcast on American television on May 17, 1966, had blinked out “T-O-R-T-U-R-E.” It was the first confirmation that American prisoners of war were being subjected to atrocities during the Vietnam War.
The commander was beaten all night.
Mr. Denton, who returned home after seven years as a prisoner and became a rear admiral and a United States senator from Alabama, died on Friday at Sentara Hospice House in Virginia Beach, his son, Jeremiah A. Denton 3rd, said. He was 89.
Friday, March 28, 2014
California, Corruption, and the Media
Leland Yee, a reformist California state senator, is under arrest for arms trafficking. How did such a thing happen? There are many potential explanations, but one may lie with the mass media.
As previous posts explained, there is evidence that corruption goes with having a capital city that lies beyond the main centers of population. News organizations provide less coverage of state politics when their audiences are less concentrated around the capital. Less press scrutiny means greater opportunities for getting away with corrupt activity.
This problem has always plagued California and its capital of Sacramento. It has grown more acute in recent years. as news organizations have closed or shrunk their capital bureaus. The Sacramento Bee remains an important force in state journalism, and other organizations have first-rate reporters covering California politics. But they are stretched thin.
Long-form investigative journalism suffers. Such reporting is not only costly and time-consuming, but it has uncertain payoffs. (In a classic episode of Mary Tyler Moore, WJM-TV investigates a city councilman only to find that he is a saintly figure whose sole offense is a parking ticket that he got while delivering Easter baskets to an orphanage.) Facing tough financial pressures, many news organizations will hesitate to invest in such efforts.
With so few people looking, a scandal usually has to grow very large -- and involve the FBI -- before it finally breaks into the news. The same is true at the local level. The vast corruption in the City of Bell was able to fester for years in part because the community had no newspaper of its own. Organizations such as Patch have tried to fill the void, but their economic survival is in serious doubt.
And so it is quite possible that even nastier stories lurk in the California shadows, unknown and uncovered.
As previous posts explained, there is evidence that corruption goes with having a capital city that lies beyond the main centers of population. News organizations provide less coverage of state politics when their audiences are less concentrated around the capital. Less press scrutiny means greater opportunities for getting away with corrupt activity.
This problem has always plagued California and its capital of Sacramento. It has grown more acute in recent years. as news organizations have closed or shrunk their capital bureaus. The Sacramento Bee remains an important force in state journalism, and other organizations have first-rate reporters covering California politics. But they are stretched thin.
Long-form investigative journalism suffers. Such reporting is not only costly and time-consuming, but it has uncertain payoffs. (In a classic episode of Mary Tyler Moore, WJM-TV investigates a city councilman only to find that he is a saintly figure whose sole offense is a parking ticket that he got while delivering Easter baskets to an orphanage.) Facing tough financial pressures, many news organizations will hesitate to invest in such efforts.
With so few people looking, a scandal usually has to grow very large -- and involve the FBI -- before it finally breaks into the news. The same is true at the local level. The vast corruption in the City of Bell was able to fester for years in part because the community had no newspaper of its own. Organizations such as Patch have tried to fill the void, but their economic survival is in serious doubt.
And so it is quite possible that even nastier stories lurk in the California shadows, unknown and uncovered.
Labels:
California,
government,
journalism,
mass media,
news media,
political science,
politics,
scandal
Obamacare Opinion
AP reports:
Public support for President Barack Obama's health care law is languishing at its lowest level since passage of the landmark legislation four years ago, according to a new poll.
The Associated Press-GfK survey finds that 26 percent of Americans support the Affordable Care Act. Yet even fewer — 13 percent — think it will be completely repealed. A narrow majority expects the law to be further implemented with minor changes, or as passed.
...
The poll was taken before Thursday's announcement by the White House that new health insurance markets have surpassed the goal of 6 million sign-ups, so it did not register any of the potential impact of that news on public opinion. Open enrollment season began with a dysfunctional HealthCare.gov website last Oct. 1 but will end Monday on what looks to be a more positive note.
...
The poll found that much of the slippage for the health care law over the last four years has come from a drop in support, not an increase in opposition.
In April of 2010, soon after the law passed, 50 percent of Americans said they were opposed to it, while 39 percent were in favor. Ten percent were on the fence.
Now, just 26 percent say they are in favor, a drop of 13 percentage points. Forty-three percent say they are opposed, a drop of 7 percentage points since that poll four years ago. But the number who neither support nor oppose the law has tripled, to 30 percent.
The 26 percent in favor in the AP-GfK poll is not significantly different from the 27 percent registered in January and December.Democrats note that relatively few Americans support mere repeal. Jonathan Bernstein writes at Bloomberg View:
Does that mean Obamacare as a whole will soon be popular? No. For one, fewer than one in five believes the ACA has helped them personally and, as I’ve argued, we’re probably at peak awareness of the law's benefits right now. Even if the ACA works as well as supporters hope, many benefits will be either invisible to consumers or difficult for them to trace to the law. For example, many people won't realize that before the ACA they would have been excluded from insurance because of a pre-existing condition -- even a minor one. Meanwhile, anyone who has anything go wrong with their health insurance will find it easy to blame Obamacare.This analysis is sensible, except for the assertion that supporters "aren't mainly interested in making Obamacare popular." That is nonsense: consider the years of intense Democratic messaging on the subject.
There is also political asymmetry at work. Opponents of the ACA are dedicated (quite sensibly) to highlighting flaws and problems. Their goal is to make the law unpopular. But supporters aren’t mainly interested in making Obamacare popular; their goal is to make the law work well. Likewise, opponents target all voters, arguing the law is bad. Supporters have a different audience and message, targeting a small chunk of the population (the uninsured, mainly) and urging them to buy insurance.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Charge Against a Gun-Control Advocate
Allen Martin reports on KPIX:
Before he was arrested and indicted on numerous federal charges Wednesday, including allegations of gun running, State Sen. Leland Yee was a major advocate for gun control and pushed to ban a device called a “bullet button.”
In 2012, KPIX 5 reported on what gun control advocates called a huge loophole in California’s ban on assault weapons. The reports focused on the bullet button, a device that gun manufacturers designed in order to legally sell guns such as the AR-15 in California.
The bullet button enables the magazine of a semi-automatic rifle to be removed quickly, with the tip of a bullet. Removable magazines in combination with other features like a pistol grip and telescoping stock are banned under California law. But the bullet button is legal because it doesn’t work with one’s finger, so the magazine is considered “fixed.”
The report prompted Yee to introduce SB 249, which would have banned the bullet button. ...
Yee’s bill was eventually merged with other gun control bills, but in the end Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the legislation.
According to Wednesday’s indictment, Yee is charged with conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, along with conspiracy to illegally transport firearms. He is also accused of running a scheme to defraud citizens on his services and wire fraud.
The government’s affidavit said that in August of 2013, at the same time Yee was pushing gun control laws, an undercover agent was being told the senator “had a contact who deals in arms trafficking.”
In January of this year, the affidavit said Yee told that same agent that the arms dealer “Has things that you guys want.”
The affidavit also said Yee claimed to know a weapons trafficker who he had known for years, who was supplying “cargo containers” of heavy weapons to Muslim rebels in the Philippines.
Labels:
California,
crime,
government,
gun control,
political science,
politics,
scandal,
Second Amendment
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Social Media and News
From the 2014 State of the News Media:
New survey data released here find that half (50%) of social network users share or repost news stories, images or videos while nearly as many (46%) discuss news issues or events on social network sites. And with broader mobile adoption, citizens are playing important eyewitness roles around news events such as the Boston bombing and the Ukrainian uprising. Roughly one-in-ten social network users have posted news videos they took themselves, according to the data. And 11% of all online news consumers have submitted their own content (including videos, photos, articles or opinion pieces) to news websites or blogs. Just as powerful, though, are the shifts in how news functions in these spaces. On social sites and even many of the new digital-only sites, news is mixed in with all other kinds of content – people bump into it when they are there doing other things. This bumping into means there may be opportunity for news to reach people who might otherwise have missed it, but less of that may be in the hands of news organizations. Only about a third of people who get news on Facebook follow a news organization or individual journalist. Instead, stories get shared from friends in their networks. And few Facebook visitors, according to a separate Pew Research study of traffic to top news sites, end up also coming to a site directly. For news providers, this means that a single digital strategy – both in terms of capturing audience and building a viable revenue base – will not be enough.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Inequality and Smoking
The New York Times reports:
Smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the country, is now increasingly a habit of the poor and the working class.
While previous data established that pattern, a new analysis of federal smoking data released on Monday shows that the disparity is increasing. The national smoking rate has declined steadily, but there is a deep geographic divide. In the affluent suburbs of Washington, only about one in 10 people smoke, according to the analysis, by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. But in impoverished places like this — Clay County, in eastern Kentucky — nearly four in 10 do.
"The Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom"
Andrew Beaujon reports at Poynter about a conference called Sources and Secrets that included journalist Jeffrey Toobin.
New York Times reporter James Risen, who is fighting an order that he testify in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer accused of leaking information to him, opened the conference earlier by saying the Obama administration is “the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation.” The administration wants to “narrow the field of national security reporting,” Risen said, to “create a path for accepted reporting.” Anyone journalist who exceeds those parameters, Risen said, “will be punished.”
The administration’s aggressive prosecutions have created “a de facto Official Secrets Act,” Risen said, and the media has been “too timid” in responding.
Toobin appeared on a panel that followed, moderated by Times Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak, who announced that if he weren’t a paragon of journalistic detachment, he’d say “the persecution of James Risen is a scandal.” The attorney Laura Handman noted that the U.S. Department of Justice’s new guidelines for accessing journalists’ records carve out a big space for the government to decide what constitutes “ordinary newsgathering.”
Monday, March 24, 2014
Age and Taxes
Previous posts have discussed the distribution of the tax burden. CNN Money reports:
American society may be youth-obsessed. But when it comes to funding what Americans expect their government to do for them, props go to people who are middle aged and older.
Nearly half of all tax filers are over 45. And they are paying the lion's share of federal income tax revenue -- 74% in 2011. That's up from 61% in 1997, according to an analysis of IRS data by the Tax Foundation.
Labels:
demographics,
economic policy,
government,
political science,
politics,
taxation
Sunday, March 23, 2014
The Rural-Urban Divide
At The Wall Street Journal, Laura Meckler and Dante Chinni write of the divide between urban and rural America:
Polling, consumer data and demographic profiles paint a picture of two Americas—not just with differing proclivities but different life experiences. People in cities are more likely to be tethered to a smartphone, buy a foreign-made car and read a fashion magazine. Those in small towns are more likely to go to church, own a gun, support the military and value community ties.
In many ways, the split between red Republican regions and blue Democratic ones—and their opposing views about the role of government—is an extension of the cultural divide between rural Americans and those living in cities and suburbs.
As Democrats have come to dominate U.S. cities, it is Republican strength in rural areas that allows the party to hold control of the House and remain competitive in presidential elections.
"The difference in this country is not red versus blue," said Neil Levesque, director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. "It's urban versus rural."
...
The U.S. divide wasn't always this stark. For decades, rural America was part of the Democratic base, and as recently as 1993, just over half of rural Americans were represented by a House Democrat, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. Conservative Democrats often represented rural districts, including [Rep. Vicky] Hartzler's predecessor, Ike Skelton, who held the seat for 34 years before she ousted him in 2010.
That parity eventually gave way to GOP dominance. In 2013, 77% of rural Americans were represented by a House Republican. But in urban areas—which by the government's definition includes both cities and suburbs—slightly less than half of residents were represented by congressional Republicans, despite the GOP's 30-seat majority in the House.
The urban-rural divide has also grown in presidential contests. In 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton beat Republican George Bush in the 50 densest counties—the most urban in the country—by 25 percentage points. By 2012, Democrat Barack Obama's advantage in those urban counties had shot up to 38 points, according to a Journal analysis of Census and election data.
Today, almost all big cities, even those in red states such as Missouri, Indiana and Texas, favor Democrats for president.
The shift in rural areas has been even more dramatic. In 1992, Mr. Bush won the 50 least-dense counties—the most rural in the country—by 18 points. In 2012, Mr. Romney's advantage there had roughly tripled, to 53 points.Much of the change reflects the realignment of the rural South from Democrat to Republican.
RT and the Occupy Movement
Liz Wahl, who resigned from RT-America rather than assist in a whitewash of the Russian invasion of Crimea, writes in Politico of her experiences at the network:
The first few days were … interesting. The top guys were all Russian, but most of my co-workers were American. Some colleagues warned me that I’d need to let go of any preconceived notions and journalistic principles. I wasn’t exactly sure what they meant.
It was during this first week that the Occupy Wall Street movement began with a group of protesters in New York’s Zuccotti Park. The day after the demonstration started, the Russian news director announced at our morning meeting that this was the top story and we would take it on with full force. It was Occupy all day, every day, from coast to coast.
I spent a lot of time interviewing Occupy protestors in D.C.’s McPherson Square. Some had legitimate grievances: the rising role of money in politics, frustration over taxpayers footing the bill for bailing out big banks and crippling student-loan debt. But others were just hippies who were camping out, barefoot and beating drums, and had jumped at the opportunity to come together in solidarity against The Man.
Of course the coverage made the United States look terrible. Video of outraged protesters, heavy-handed police and tents pitched in parks portrayed America as a country in the midst of a popular uprising—it was the beginning of the inevitable decline of a capitalistic world power.
Occupy was our lead story for weeks and then months, even as the number of protesters dwindled and tents cleared out. We sucked that story completely dry.
Eventually, it was accepted that a revolution was not upon us.
Meanwhile, in Moscow thousands of demonstrators took to the streets protesting alleged election fraud and corruption, with most of their outrage directed at Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who announced his intention to run for president for a third term. There was little, if any, talk in our newsroom or on our newscasts of the dissent in Russia.
Labels:
bias,
government,
journalism,
mass media,
news media,
Occupy Wall Street,
political science,
politics,
Russia
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Transparency and Sunshine Week
On Monday, Josh Hicks wrote at The Washington Post about Sunshine Week.
In recent years, most agencies have not fully complied with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements.
This year’s reports show improvement in some areas, but still much to be desired by news organizations and open-government groups such as the Center for Effective Government and the National Security Archive.
An Associated Press analysis of federal data found that the Obama administration has grown more secretive over time, last year censoring or outright denying FOIA access to government files more than ever since Obama took office.
...
A separate report this week from the National Security Archives found that 54 percent of all agencies have ignored directives that Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder issued in 2009 calling for a “presumption of disclosure” with FOIA requests. The good news: That number is down from about 70 percent of agencies last year.
...
In a third analysis, the Center for Effective Government released its annual government-transparency report card on Monday, handing out failing grades to seven of the 15 agencies it reviewed. The scores are based on three metrics: processing requests for information, establishing rules for answering requests and creating user-friendly Web sites.
Labels:
Barack Obama,
bureaucracy,
government,
political science,
politics,
transparency
Friday, March 21, 2014
Obamacare in California
The Los Angeles Times reports:
Nearly half of callers to California's health insurance exchange in February and March couldn't get through and abandoned their call, state figures show.
Those service woes could worsen as more people try to beat the March 31 deadline to get Obamacare coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Also Thursday, the Covered California exchange reported progress on another front: low enrollment among the state's large Latino population.
At its monthly board meeting, the exchange said 32% of health plan enrollees in the first two weeks of March described themselves as Latino. That was up from 18% during the first three months of enrollment that ended in December.
"That is a very substantial increase," said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California.
Robert Ross, an exchange board member, applauded those gains with Latinos, but he expressed disappointment at the low sign-up rate among African Americans. It stood at less than 3% of health plan enrollment through mid-March.
California has led the nation with more than 1 million people enrolled in health plans through March 17, and it's a bellwether state for the national rollout of the healthcare law.
An additional 1.5 million Californians have enrolled or been deemed eligible for an expansion of Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for the poor.
On the service front, Lee said the exchange has been able to reduce wait times on the phone from about 50 minutes to 30 minutes. The state has hired more call-center workers and added phone capacity in preparation for a last-minute rush.
Still, less than 5% of calls are answered within 30 seconds and about a third of callers get a busy signal, state data show. Overall, 40% of exchange customers surveyed said they found the enrollment process difficult.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
How the President Makes a Phone Call
Oliver Knox writes at Yahoo News:
Before Obama calls another world leader, an aide brings him a specially prepared National Security Council dossier. The package includes a closely held American intelligence portrait of the person he’s going to call — including highly personal information about their personality, their health and their loved ones. “Are they cool-headed? Or the opposite? Do they like to joke?” said one source familiar with the contents of the dossier.
“The world leader profiles include basic intel, idiosyncrasies, personal political pressures, whether any close relatives are seriously ill, girl- or boyfriend problems, personal health issues,” said another official.
...
If the president chooses to make contact through a secure videoconference — a system called Secure Video TeleConference, but known by its acronym SVTC, pronounced "CIV-its" — he can do so from the Situation Room. Another option is the Roosevelt Room, a large windowless rectangular meeting room on the ground floor of the White House. Most visitors note the painting of Teddy Roosevelt on horseback, but they ignore the large cabinet on the opposite wall that houses the necessary equipment to get presidents face to face with people halfway around the world. The Camp David retreat nestled in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains can also host secure videoconferences.
Secure video has a few advantages over the traditional phone call. “You can really read the body language,” one source said. And because several people can be seen and heard, videoconferences are useful for conducting long-distance meetings.
But just a handful of world leaders have that capability (and most of them only thanks to help from the U.S., which set it up for them).
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Unlobbyists
A number of posts have discussed a phenomenon called shadow lobbying, nonlobbying lobbying, or unlobbying. Open Secrets provides some data:
As of early 2014, 45 percent of lobbyists who were active in 2012 but not 2013 were still working for the same employer for whom they lobbied in 2012. In 2013, we performed asimilar analysis of lobbyists who deactivated in 2012 and found that about 46 percent were still with the same employer. The deactivated lobbyists who stayed were again the largest category in 2014. About a third of deactivated lobbyists moved to a different organization, with 14 percent staying in a similar industry and 19 percent going to a different industry. A small handful exited the job market altogether, either through retirement or death. We were unable to find information on 14 percent of the lobbyists who deactivated during 2013.
Labels:
government,
interest groups,
lobbying,
lobbyists,
political science,
politics
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Unlawful Reentry
Pew reports:
Dramatic growth over the past two decades in the number of offenders sentenced in federal courts has been driven primarily by enforcement of a particular immigration offense—unlawful reentry into the United States—according to an analysis of data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) by the Pew Research Center.
Between 1992 and 2012, the number of offenders sentenced in federal courts more than doubled, rising from 36,564 cases to 75,867.1 At the same time, the number of unlawful reentry convictions increased 28-fold, from 690 cases in 1992 to 19,463 in 2012.2 The increase in unlawful reentry convictions alone accounts for nearly half (48%) of the growth in the total number of offenders sentenced in federal courts over the period. By contrast, the second fastest growing type of conviction—for drug offenses—accounted for 22% of the growth.
Labels:
citizenship,
crime,
deportation,
drugs,
government,
immigration,
political science,
politics
Monday, March 17, 2014
Irish Americans
From the Census:
Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration for all things Irish. The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military. This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995, and the President issues a proclamation commemorating the occasion each year. ...
24.1%: Percentage of the Boston metropolitan area population that claims Irish ancestry, one of the highest percentages for the top 50 metro areas by population. Boston is home of the Celtics of the National Basketball Association. Source: 2012 American Community Survey ;http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/12_1YR/DP02/310M100US14460
...
34.1 million: Number of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2012. This number was more than seven times the population of Ireland itself (4.6 million). Irish was the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German. Sources: 2012 American Community Survey http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/12_1YR/S0201/0100000US/popgroup~541 and Ireland Central Statistics Office http://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/statisticalyearbook/2013/c1population.pdf
22.6%: Percentage of the population in Massachusetts that claims Irish ancestry, which is among the highest in the nation. New York has 2.5 million people claiming Irish ancestry, which is among the most of any state. Source: 2012 American Community Survey;http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/12_1YR/DP02/0100000US.04000
153,248: Number of people with Irish ancestry who were naturalized citizens in 2012 Source: 2012 American Community Survey http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/12_1YR/S0201/0100000US/popgroup~541
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Orange Inequality
The Los Angeles Times reports on a study showing increasing inequality in California's Orange County. Housing affordability is one major culprit.
Labels:
California,
government,
housing,
inequality,
political science,
politics
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Religion and Morality: International Views and the American Difference
Pew reports:
Many people around the world think it is necessary to believe in God to be a moral person, according to surveys in 40 countries by the Pew Research Center. However, this view is more common in poorer countries than in wealthier ones.
In 22 of the 40 countries surveyed, clear majorities say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values.
...
In North America and Europe, more people agree that it is possible to be non-religious and still be an upright person. At least half in nearly every country surveyed take this view, including roughly eight-in-ten or more in France, Spain, the Czech Republic and Britain. In these two regions, Americans are unique – 53% say belief in God is necessary to be moral.
These are among the main findings of Pew Research Center surveys conducted among 40,080 people in 40 countries between 2011 and 2013 (see “Survey Methods” for more details). The survey also finds that publics in richer nations tend to place less emphasis on the need to believe in God to have good values than people in poorer countries do. Two countries, however, stand out as clear exceptions to this pattern: the U.S. and China. Americans are much more likely than their economic counterparts to say belief in God is essential to morality, while the Chinese are much less likely to do so.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Affirmative Action in California
The San Jose Mercury News reports:
A legislative push to permit California's public universities to once again consider race and ethnicity in admissions appears to be on life support after an intense backlash from Asian-American parents who fear it will make it harder for their children to get into good schools.
A planned referendum sailed through the state Senate in January without fanfare on a party-line vote, but three Asian-American Democrats who initially backed the measure are now calling for it to be "tabled" before the state Assembly has a chance to vote on it -- a highly unusual move. And it seems unlikely to get the two-thirds majority in the Assembly without the support of the five Asian-Americans in the lower house.
Over the last several weeks, the three senators who have had second thoughts about the referendum -- Leland Yee, D-San Francisco; Ted Lieu, D-Torrance; and Carol Liu, D- La Cañada/Flintridge -- said they have received thousands of calls and emails from fearful constituents who believe that any move to favor other ethnic groups could hurt Asian-Americans, who attend many of the state's best schools in large numbers. A Change.org petition to kill the referendum now has more than 100,000 signatures, and email listservs for Chinese-American parents have been flooded with angry posts.At Slate, Richard D. Kahlenberg explains why liberals should want Proposition 209 (California's ban on racial preference) to stand:
First, under Prop. 209 California has adopted a whole host of terrific measures to boost racial diversity indirectly, mostly by looking at socioeconomic status. Schools have reduced their reliance on standardized test scores for admissions, banned legacy preferences for the children of alumni, encouraged more community-college transfers to four-year institutions, and created new outreach programs to high-poverty high schools. In part because of these efforts, UCLA and UC–Berkeley are far more socioeconomically diverse than most selective colleges. In 2011–12, theproportion of students eligible for Pell grants (federal financial aid for lower-income students) at UCLA was 38 percent and at Berkeley 37 percent, compared with just 13 percent at another top public institution, the University of Virginia.
These steps helped accomplish what education is supposed to do—promote social mobility. But they are likely to disappear if universities can go back to recruiting by race. Prestige-conscious universities receive no points from the U.S. News & World Report rankings for admitting low-income students. They’re actually “diverting” funding from things that will boost rankings.
That helps explain why most universities create racial diversity by recruiting fairly advantaged students of all colors. Indeed, one study found that 86 percent of African-Americans at selective colleges were middle- or upper-class, while the white students were even richer. To their credit, universities care about racial diversity, perhaps because the lack of it is visible. But they generally do not aggressively pursuesocioeconomic diversity except where race has been taken off the table and recruiting low-income students is the next best way to achieve racial diversity.
The second major reason that liberals should be concerned about a return of racial preferences is the one raised by the Chinese-American protesters: The shift would hurt Asian-Americans, who have suffered their own history of discrimination. Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders constituted 14 percent of California high-school graduates in 2011–12, but 42 percent of UC freshmen and 49 percent of freshmen at UC–Berkeley in 2012. One Asian-American group has compared the proposed repeal of 209 to “a ‘Yellow Peril Act,’ a 21st century version of the ‘Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.’” This rhetoric seems overheated, as the principal goal is to expand access to black and Latino students. Still, restoring racial preferences would undoubtedly drive down Asian numbers. (White students made up 31 percent of California’s high-school graduates in 2011–12, but only 24 percent of students in the UC system and 25 percent at UC–Berkeley in 2012.)
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Sheila Jackson Lee
Sahil Kapur reports at Talking Points Memo:
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) says the Constitution is 400 years old.
"Frankly, maybe I should offer a good thanks to the distinguished members of the majority, the Republicans, my chairman, and others for giving us an opportunity to have a deliberative constitutional discussion that reinforces the sanctity of this nation and how well it is that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a Constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not," she said Wednesday on the House floor.
In fact, the U.S. Constitution is closer to 225 years old. It was adopted in 1787 and ratified by the necessary number of states in 1789.
The congresswoman has represented the Houston area since 1995.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat from Texas, raised some eyebrows yesterday with remarks she made referring to "two Vietnams."
"I stand here asking us to do what we did not in do in Vietnam, was to recognize the valiant and outstanding service of our men and women," Jackson Lee said on the House floor yesterday, "and to understand that victory had been achieved."
She continued, "Today, we have two Vietnams, side by side, North and South, exchanging and working. We may not agree with all that North Vietnam is doing, but they are living in peace. I would look for a better human rights record for North Vietnam, but they are living side by side."
Not Worrying About the Environment
Twenty-eight U.S. senators held an all-night "talkathon" Monday to call attention to climate change, an issue that only 24% of Americans say they worry about a great deal. This puts climate change, along with the quality of the environment, near the bottom of a list of 15 issues Americans rated in Gallup's March 6-9 survey. The economy, federal spending, and healthcare dominate Americans' worries.
And overall worry about the environment is also at a low:
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The CIA and the Separation of Powers
Reuters reports:
A bitter dispute between the CIA and the U.S. Senate committee that oversees it burst into the open on Tuesday when the committee chairwoman accused the agency of spying on Congress and possibly breaking the law.
Veteran Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said the CIA had searched computers used by committee staffers examining CIA documents when researching the agency's counter-terrorism operations and its use of harsh interrogation methods such as simulated drowning or "waterboarding."
Speaking on the Senate floor, Feinstein condemned how the CIA had handled the committee's investigation into the agency's detention and interrogation program started under President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Human rights advocates condemn the interrogation practices as torture.The CIA has crossed this line before. Back in 2005, Lee Edwards wrote at NRO:
"I have grave concerns that the CIA's search (of committee computers) may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied in the Constitution," said Feinstein, who is normally a strong ally of U.S. intelligence agencies
In the fall of 1964, the White House turned to the CIA to get advance inside information about the Goldwater campaign, although the senator could hardly be described as a "domestic enemy" (the only valid excuse for agency action). E. Howard Hunt, later convicted for his part in the Watergate break-in, told a congressional committee a decade later that he was ordered to spy on Goldwater's headquarters. He said that President Johnson "had ordered this activity" and that White House aide Chester L. Cooper "would be the recipient of the information."
CIA Director William Colby admitted that Cooper prepared campaign material for Johnson and obtained advance texts of Goldwater speeches through a "woman secretary," clearly suggesting that the agency planted someone inside the Goldwater campaign organization.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
President Obama and Polarization
Josh Kraushaar writes at National Journal:
Pew Research Center Founding Director Andrew Kohut wrote an important Washington Post column last month highlighting the Democratic drift leftward during the Obama administration. Backed by decades of Pew data, Kohut concluded that Democrats have grown just as liberal as Republicans have become more conservative in recent years. "They are much more socially liberal than they were even a decade ago, more supportive of an activist government, more in favor of increased regulation of business," Kohut writes.
It's a useful corrective to the notion, fueled by the White House, that the Republican Party alone is responsible for gridlock in Washington. But Kohut downplays one significant factor that has expedited the Democratic polarization: President Obama himself.
In the piece, Kohut instinctively labels the Obama administration as centrist. But on all five major issues that divide the Democratic Party's liberals and moderates—the budget deficit, income inequality, the environment, social issues, and America's role in the world—Obama is on the leftward side.
...
Kohut's analysis avoids the biggest factor expediting Democratic polarization: the president's health care law. Obama entered office with a near-filibuster-proof Democratic supermajority in the Senate and his party holding 59 percent of seats in the House. Despite widespread opposition, he spent immense political capital to pass health care reform, which depleted his party's moderate Congressional wing. The Democrats who retired or lost reelection in the 2010 cycle disproportionately hailed from the party's middle. In just four years, the number of moderate Blue Dogs shrank from 54 to 19 members—with three more retiring this year, and at least five others facing tough reelection campaigns.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Millennials and Patriotism
A previous post discussed a Pew poll of millennials. Lloyd Green writes at The Daily Beast:
Of course, regaining the youth vote is a hard sell for the GOP, regardless of who its 2016 nominee will be. The last time younger voters went Republican was in 1988. Since 1992, voters under 30 have cast their ballots for Democrats in six consecutive elections.
Then there’s the diversity thing—younger Americans are ethnically more diverse, and socially more tolerant. Non-Hispanic whites are only 61 percent of the “selfie-generation,” whose members are more likely to describe themselves as supporters of gay rights than as patriotic, religious, or even as environmentally sympathetic.
All of that poses a problem for the Republican Party, but it is also a problem for the U.S. Yes, the U.S.Younger Americans expect activist government, but less than half of them consider themselves patriotic—in stark contrast to baby-boomers (75 percent), older seniors (81 percent) and even Generation X (64 percent). And that’s a far cry from the late John F. Kennedy’s “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Expect the culture wars to continue.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Political Influence on a Think Tank
Many posts have discussed the political role of think tanks, as well as the ways in which political figures try to influence media coverage. Zaid Jilani, who used to blog for the Center for American Progress, addresses both issues, recalling what happened when he criticized the Obama administration's Afghanistan policy.
The post was one of the most successful things I had ever written to that point. It was featured by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and the Congressional Progressive Caucus used it in their briefings to criticize Obama’s plan. I felt great — like I was actually doing the right thing about Afghanistan for once at an institution that had remained quiet or supportive of Obama’s policy there, which in my view was accomplishing little but more bloodshed.
But then phone calls from the White House started pouring in, berating my bosses for being critical of Obama on this policy. Obama’s advisor Ben Rhodes — speaking of a staffer who follows policy set by others for his career path — even made a post on the White House blog more or less attacking my chart by fudging the numbers and including both the Iraq and Afghan troop levels in a single chart to make it seem as if the surge never happened (the marvels of things you can do in Excel!).
Soon afterwards all of us ThinkProgress national security bloggers were called into a meeting with CAP senior staff and basically berated for opposing the Afghan war and creating daylight between us and Obama. It confused me a lot because on the one hand, CAP was advertising to donors that it opposed the Afghan war — in our “Progressive Party,” the annual fundraising party we do with both Big Name Progressive Donors and corporate lobbyists (in the same room!) we even advertised that we wanted to end the war in Afghanistan.
But what that meeting with CAP senior staff showed me was that they viewed being closer to Obama and aligning with his policy as more important than demonstrating progressive principle, if that meant breaking with Obama. Essentially, they were doing the same thing to us RT America is telling its American producers to do now — align with your boss, who is the president of the country.
Labels:
Barack Obama,
blogs,
government,
interest groups,
mass media,
political science,
politics,
think tanks
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Millennials
Pew reports:
The Millennial generation is forging a distinctive path into adulthood. Now ranging in age from 18 to 331, they are relatively unattached to organized politics and religion, linked by social media, burdened by debt, distrustful of people, in no rush to marry— and optimistic about the future.
They are also America’s most racially diverse generation. In all of these dimensions, they are different from today’s older generations. And in many, they are also different from older adults back when they were the age Millennials are now.
Pew Research Center surveys show that half of Millennials (50%) now describe themselves as political independents and about three-in-ten (29%) say they are not affiliated with any religion. These are at or near the highest levels of political and religious disaffiliation recorded for any generation in the quarter-century that the Pew Research Center has been polling on these topics.
...
These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 14-23, 2014 among 1,821 adults nationwide, including 617 Millennial adults, and analysis of other Pew Research Center surveys conducted between 1990 and 2014.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Governors and Credit-Claiming
At The New York Times, Timothy Egan says that California is doing well.
This article overlooks some important things. By one measure, California has the highest poverty rate in the United States. By another, it has one of the highest levels of inequality. The roads are bad and the schools are mediocre. As the governor has acknowledged, unfunded liabilities are a big threat, and some cities have already gone bankrupt.
True, the state did not have a budget crisis last year. But if Brown deserves the "lion's share" of credit, why are so many other states -- pursuing very different policies -- doing just as well?
It’s unfair to give all credit for the Golden State revival to Jerry Brown. But the man, who will be 76 next month and was both the youngest and oldest governor of California, and who just announced a plan to run for a fourth term with an approval rating approaching 60 percent, deserves the lion’s share.
Jerry Brown, Chris Christie and many of their fellow
governors across the country are taking credit for the effects of a national
economic recovery.
A few years ago, the effects of the Great Recession were
causing huge fiscal problems for the states. Demands for spending were up
and revenues were down.
After several years of growth (albeit modest), the money iscoming into state coffers and the fiscal pressures are not as great.
In California, Brown sees an improved fiscal situation and
says his policies are responsible. In Wisconsin, Scott Walker sees an
improved fiscal situation and says his policies are responsible – even
though his agenda is different from Brown’s. (See his book Unintimidated.)
Ditto Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and Andrew Cuomo in New York. Some
states are in trouble (e.g., Illinois), but most governors of both parties are
in good shape.
Of course, if there is a downturn, these same governors will
morph from heroes to goats, even though they aren’t any more responsible for
recessions than for recoveries.
Labels:
budget,
California,
economic policy,
federalism,
government,
governor,
michigan,
New Jersey,
political science,
politics,
Wisconsin
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Lobbying the Ukraine Crisis
CNBC reports:
In Washington, Vladimir Putin's Russian government has all the usual tools of statecraft at its disposal—an enormous embassy compound on Wisconsin Avenue, a stately Beaux-Arts ambassador's residence on 16th Street, and even a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter account: @mfa_russia.
But the Putin government also has less visible tools of influence in Washington: a battery of well-paid American public affairs experts and lobbyists, each helping to push the Russian government's line in the U.S. capital.
...
According to records maintained by the Justice Department, the Putin government exerts most of its behind-the-scenes influence in the U.S. through the public relations firm Ketchum, which documents show was paid more than $1.5 million in the most recent six-month reporting period for its work on behalf of Russia.
What does Ketchum do for that cash? Mostly distribute press releases, the documents say ... Ketchum is also charged with managing the Twitter account. One day after Russian forces apparently seized control of key sites in Crimea, that Twitter account instead focused on the Olympics, which had ended a week earlier. The account included this tweet: "If you could have attended any #Sochi2014 event, which would you chose?"
...
Ketchum has also hired high-powered subcontractors to work on the Russian account, including the law firm of Alston & Bird, which is the professional home of former senator and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole and former Democratic congressman Earl Pomeroy, among others.
...Ukraine is also lobbying, as Bloomberg reports:
Another law and lobbying firm, Venable, has been hired by Ketchum to work on the Gazprom Export account. Venable is the professional home to former Democratic congressman Bart Stupak, among others. According to a 2010 engagement letter on file with the Department of Justice, Venable expected to be paid $28,000 per month plus any travel expenses incurred by the firm.
Democrat Jim Slattery and Republican Vin Weber represented opposing parties for a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, the two former members of Congress are aligned in advocating for a western-leaning Ukraine.
The two ex-lawmakers were among the lobbyists paid more than $1 million last year to represent partisans in the Ukrainian conflict, Senate records show. It’s a familiar tactical move as a number of countries undergoing political upheaval, including Egypt and Libya, are turning to former elected and government officials to make their case in Washington.
National Sunshine Week
At The Washington Post, Kolby Itkowitz notes that National Sunshine Week begins on March 16.
So, to get us in the holiday spirit, let’s go back to 2009 when, for those of us who joust regularly with government officials for a morsel of information, hope and change still felt fresh and within reach, and the new Obama White House pledged unprecedented transparency.
...
Some agencies have taken transparency to heart. For others, it’s enemy territory. At the end of the year, the Sunlight Foundation called out the Departments of Commerce and Defense and Veterans Affairs as top offenders. (Education and EPA were the good guys in their review.)
So the White House is putting agencies on notice – publicly.
Todd Park, the administration’s chief technology officer, last week sent agencies a guidance memo (for the first time since 2009) that made public new metrics to use when writing their 2014 Open Government Plans — the third round of action plans intended to build a “presumption of openness” into everyday operations.
By April 1, around 100 departments must submit an outline that includes a “flagship initiative” described in the guidance as “at least one specific new transparency, participation or collaboration initiative that your agency is currently implementing.”
The notice also continues the White House missive that agencies reduce its FOIA backlog by 10 percent annually, a figure the Department of Justice boasts in its annual report that the overall government exceeded in 2012.
But one skeptical open government observer tells the Loop that some success on that front is because “agencies are playing fast and loose with the statistics.” Denying a FOIA request counts toward reducing backlog.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
"I am proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and that is why after this newscast I’m resigning.”
James Kirchick writes at The Daily Beast:
American journalist Liz Wahl just made Vladimir Putin’s enemies list.
Wahl, an American anchor for RT-America, a cable news network funded by the Russian government, stunned viewers Wednesday, when, at the end of her 5 PM broadcast, she announced her resignation from the channel.
...
“As a reporter on this network I face many ethical and moral challenges especially me personally coming from a family whose grandparents came here as refugees during the Hungarian revolution, ironically to escape the Soviet forces,” she told network viewers, immediately following a report claiming that the new Ukrainian government, which ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, is composed mainly of fascists and neo-Nazis. “I’m very lucky to have grown up here in the United States. I’m the daughter of a veteran. My partner is a physician at a military base where he sees every day the first-hand accounts of the ultimate prices that people pay for this country. And that is why personally I cannot be part of a network that whitewashes the actions of Putin. I am proud to be an American and believe in disseminating the truth and that is why after this newscast I’m resigning.”
Labels:
government,
journalism,
mass media,
patriotism,
political science,
politics,
Russia
Rejecting a Nominee
Byron York reports at The Washington Examiner:
Casey represents Pennsylvania, an Obama state. But it was also the state of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, who died at the hands of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Adegbile worked on a legal brief in Abu-Jamal's defense. Delaware is in the Philadelphia media market, which may also explain Coons's vote.
Senate Democrats killed the filibuster for nominations because they wanted to be able to confirm the president's choices for top administration positions even if Republicans were united in opposition. From now on, Democrats ruled, nominations would be confirmed by a simple majority vote. With 55 Democrats in the Senate, and as few as 51 required for confirmation, the change virtually guaranteed success for the president's nominees.
But even a rule change was not enough to save the nomination of Debo Adegbile, the former NAACP Legal Defense Fund official who was the president's choice to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Seven Democrats -- Bob Casey, Joe Donnelly, Heidi Heitkamp, Chris Coons, Joe Manchin, Mark Pryor, and John Walsh -- abandoned Abegdile Wednesday in a vote to move forward with the nomination. (Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to 'no' at the end, but that was just a procedural maneuver to allow for possible future reconsideration of the matter.) The final vote on Adegbile, including Reid's switch, was 52-47.Five of the seven Democrats -- Donnelly (Indiana), Manchin (West Virginia), Pryor (Arkansas), Heitkamp (North Dakota), and Walsh (Montana) come from states that Mitt Romney carried.
Casey represents Pennsylvania, an Obama state. But it was also the state of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, who died at the hands of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Adegbile worked on a legal brief in Abu-Jamal's defense. Delaware is in the Philadelphia media market, which may also explain Coons's vote.
Labels:
civil rights,
filibuster,
government,
Pennsylvania,
police,
political science,
politics,
presidency,
Senate
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