Media

One of the most frustrating aspects of national politics over the past two years is that deficit reduction has become Washington's top priority -- even as economists tell us that austerity only makes economic downturns worse and pollsters tell us that Americans are more worried about job creation than budget shortfalls.

President Obama shares the blame for letting the focus shift away from jobs. Again and again since late 2009, he has accepted and helped legitimize the premise that deficit reduction should be a top national priority.

In the first presidential debate, one of Jim Lehrer’s “hard hitting and incisive” questions was to ask Governor Romney whether he thought any current regulation was “excessive.” In the response, Romney said the following:

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, with the support of the mortgage task force formed by the Obama administration last January and the Justice Department, has commenced the long overdue prosecution of the Big Banks for their role in triggering the financial crisis of 2008. (That is not a typo -- the Justice Department has finally moved against the Big Banks.)

In 2008, young people—particularly those of color—endured more voting restrictions than any other youth voting demographic that came before, yet black youth turnout hit its highest rate in history.

Mitt Romney finally offered up some details yesterday about tax reform, specifically how he would limit tax deductions and broaden the tax base in order to afford the lower tax rates he is proposing. Romney said in Denver:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration are trying to walk a fine line on the future of fracking in the state. A few months ago, word leaked from the Cuomo administration that fracking might be allowed on a limited basis in towns that approved the practice.

If there are any truths to hang your hat on in the ongoing debate about the future of American healthcare, it’s this one: Medicare is really expensive.

Oops, I completely forgot to register

But evidence is mounting that it is the last point — the fact that people move — that is key, and that past assumptions about why tenants don't vote may be incorrect.

Political scientists who have been re-evaluating reams of voting data have found that whether a tenant votes is less about political will and more about the cumbersome and at times elusive process of registering.

We hear so much about polarization these days, that it can be easy to forget that Americans are actually quite unified around certain core values -- most notably, the importance of work, community, and individual responsibility.