Category: Essays

Cutting red tape in health care has unleashed waves of energy and ingenuity to deal with the COVID-19 crisis 

To challenge Donald Trump, Democratic candidates are debating leftist and moderate versions of progressive agendas. But what’s needed most, polls suggest, is a candidate who addresses the main source of voter anger—Washington itself. 

The federal civil service system is broken. This is not a controversial statement. A 1989 report by the Volcker Commission on civil service found a “quiet crisis” in federal civil service, characterized by “an erosion of performance and morale” and the “inability to recruit and retain a talented workforce.” Pride had been replaced by resignation. 

This article originally appeared on TheRegReview.org on 09/12/2019.

The five-week shutdown of the federal government, ending in late January 2019, illustrated a huge gap in the de-regulation versus pro-regulation political debate. 

This article originally appeared on WashingtonExaminer.com on 09/9/2019.

The presidential debates so far have largely ignored the key issue on which the last several elections have turned: a commitment to overhaul Washington. 

This article originally appeared on AmericanInfrastructureMag.com on 09/6/2019.

Infrastructure is the backbone of an economy. National competitiveness and a sustainable environment require it to be kept up to date. 

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com on 07/12/2019.

The cornucopia of policy ideas presented by Democratic presidential hopefuls is remarkable mainly in what’s been omitted: the need to overhaul Washington so that it can deliver public services effectively. 

This article originally appeared on AmericaMagazine.org on 06/14/2019.

Washington has given up on governing. It doesn’t fix programs that everyone knows have long been broken. It doesn’t respond to public anger at Big Brother breathing down our necks in schools, hospitals and the workplace. 

This article originally appeared on TheHill.com on 05/18/2019.

Fixing America’s decrepit infrastructure enjoys rare bipartisan support. But the recent announcement of a $2 trillion plan by President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was quickly doused by reality. 

This article originally appeared on TheHill.com on 04/13/2019.

Centrist politics don’t offer the passion of absolutist solutions. In the words of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.): “Moderate is not a stance. 

This article originally appeared in The Daily Beast on 03/18/2019.

Democrats are understandably fearful that the centrist message of Howard Schultz will appeal to voters. Schultz, they say, will ensure that Donald Trump is re-elected! 

This article originally appeared on RealClearBooks.com on 02/22/2019.

Bad habits are hard to change, and even harder when America no longer has a meaningful public culture. 

This article originally appeared on Newsweek.com on 02/13/2019.

Americans elected Donald Trump in 2016 on his pledge to “drain the swamp.” Two years later, they turned to Democrats to demand what Nancy Pelosi called “a new dawn.”

But fixing Washington requires more than new leaders and new variations on partisan orthodoxies.