Category: Commentaries

In March 2009, ailing insurance giant American International Group (AIG) triggered a national outcry when it paid out $165 million in government bailout funds for employee bonus incentives. President Obama called the bonus payments an “outrage” and promised that his administration would “pursue every single legal avenue to block these bonuses and make the taxpayers…

Over the years, the executive branch has seized Nazi loot in various ways. The seizure that launched the modern Holocaust-era art movement was that accompanying the civil forfeiture proceeding filed in federal court in 1999 against Portrait of Wally, a painting by Egon Schiele. The seizure caused an uproar in the art world, which largely was…

As was true across the country, the elections held in Iowa this past November were tough on incumbents. In Iowa, however, it was not just legislative and executive candidates that fell at the hands of an angry and confused electorate — three members of the state supreme court also lost their jobs after a controversial…

To combat corruption and increase the effectiveness of foreign aid, the United States should require that all of its foreign aid distributions, reconstruction projects, and payments for services abroad go through banking channels — that is, the U.S. government should strive to eliminate cash transactions whenever possible. In U.S. operations in many parts of the…

Written in the form of a fictional memo by Elena Kagan to the President of the U.S., this commentary offers a reply to the fictional memo by the President’s Counsel arguing that the President should not allow Justice Kagan to proceed with her remarks. The memo concedes the Counsel’s view that conservatives have succeeded in establishing the…

Written in the form of a fictional memo by Counsel to the President, Ray Politik, this commentary offers a reply to a fictional opening statement for Justice Kagan’s confirmation hearing. The proposal argues that Justice Kagan’s statement is strategically misguided and should not be understood as a “teaching moment”. The commentary argues that conservatives have succeeded…

Written in the form of a fictional memo by Elena Kagan to the President of the U.S., this commentary offers a proposed opening statement for the confirmation hearing of the Supreme Court Justice nominee. The proposal includes a consideration of Justice Kagan’s previous comments concerning confirmation hearings and a disclosure of her views on specific…

Sustainability, an environmentally-friendly term that previously incited political unrest, economic uncertainty, and even emotional outrage, has become quite commonplace. In federal, state, and local agencies, sustainable practices have dominated dialogues relating to indoor air quality, water availability, energy use and production; but also growth planning and development controls, public spaces and aesthetics. Governmental entities are…

On April 30, 2009, after almost twenty years on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice David Hackett Souter announced his retirement. A quiet personality never comfortable in the D.C. spotlight (except, perhaps,during his confirmation hearings), Justice Souter was rarely characterized as a force on the Court. No doubt his legacy will be marked in large part…