The Light’s Are On But Nobody’s Home

In his work “The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes,” Edward Topsell coined the phrase “penny wise and pound foolish.” Topsell couldn’t have imagined he was describing America’s overcharged consumer culture as he wrote this in 1607, but this observation of average folks’ penchant for penny-pinching at the expense of longer-term savings was right on the money. 
Take [...]

Follow the Money

I would guess that many people in their mid-40s (myself included) learned how our government works not in civics class (who paid attention to that?) or from the inescapable Watergate hearings (which in 1973 dominated every channel—all three of them!) but from watching the Saturday morning Schoolhouse Rock shorts that were featured between favorite cartoons [...]

The People Are Speaking

The Right Wing pundits gleefully proclaim that even though President Bush has an approval rating that seems permanently stuck in the 30% molasses, public opinion of Democratic-controlled Congress is even lower. An ABC/Washington Post poll conducted September 27-30 found the President’s rating holding steady at 33% while Congress polled a mediocre 29% approval.  
The conservative mainstream [...]