Media

A longstanding rap against Barack Obama, going back to his Senate years, is that he confuses making speeches with making change. Of course, though, moving the public is often a crucial pre-condition for moving a policy agenda. And speeches can help do that. 

On July 24, President Obama delivered a speech in Galesburg, IL, to lay out his vision for an economy that works for everyone and what he hopes to do to get us there. During his speech, he acknowledged that gridlock in Washington will likely prevent Congress from providing sensible solutions, but he said, “Whatever executive authority I have to help the middle class, I’ll use it." I hope the President keeps his word because he has the power to lift two million working Americans out of poverty.  He just has to choose to use it. I work at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Much like the back catalog of our favorite bands, the Obama administration has a collection of policy proposals that have never gotten much attention, much less become legislative greatest hits. As he embarks on a series of economic speeches over the next few months, Obama would do well to examine his own policy back catalog. 

After the D.C. Council approved a bill that requires large retailers to pay their workers a "living wage" of $12.50 -- and Walmart retreated from the capital in protest -- we thought it'd be worth considering what that requirement could do for the economy.

The mainstream media have decided that the IRS scandal wasn’t a scandal after all. News outlets are calling the dwindling accusations of Tea Party Republicans empty, and saying that the only disaster is that the IRS is disorganized.

Crime is a component of poverty, opportunity, & proximity, not a racial pathology.

The North Carolina legislature has had a remarkable session. In fact, the amount they have been able to accomplish is almost jaw-dropping—not because it was particularly productive but because it was so bold and unabashed it its attack on low and middle income families and basic elements of democracy. Among the legislative lowlights:

When Congress reconsiders the Voting Rights Act this session, they should consider the few pages of history conspicuously missing from Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion—an opinion that relies not only on bad logic but also bad history.

Picking a new chairman of the Federal Reserve may be the most important nomination a president can make. The next Fed chair will play an instrumental role in determining the future trajectory of America’s straggling recovery, and determining how financial regulation gets implemented.