Congress is being held in contempt. That contempt comes from the American people. A poll released last week by Public Policy Polling (PPP) reveals that contempt is deep and broad. Congress got only a 9 percent favorability rating in the PPP study. That's the good news for the institution. The bad news is that Congress was rated considerably less popular than a number of other "distressing" things such as colonoscopies, root canals and being stuck in traffic by the survey respondents. These … [Read more...]
Articles
Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
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Conservative Messengers Need New Ideas
Former Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) who left Congress to head the conservative Heritage Foundation wrote a recent op-ed column for The Washington Post titled, "Conservative ideas need a new message." In our opinion, the conservatives' problem nationally is not a problem of messaging but one of ideas. Conservative messengers need new ideas not new messages. And, we should add, so too do liberal messengers. America is at a pivot point in a number of areas. We don't need tired partisan ideas … [Read more...]
Let’s Make America the Creation Nation Again
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The management consulting firm Arthur D. Little disproved this old adage in 1921 when its chemists created silk from pork byproducts. Those were the good old days of United State's innovation and, as economist Tyler Cowen points out, in the period from 1947 to 1973 because of American creativity and productivity, the inflation adjusted median income here almost doubled. From 1973 to 2004, it rose only 22 percent and has actually declined over … [Read more...]
Delhi Rape and its Cathartic Effects
India exists in many different centuries, it has been said. The brutal rape of a young woman in South Delhi, one of the more cosmopolitan parts of the capital, in mid-December, proves that it is hard to argue against that statement. The victim, a 23-old-old student, lost her nearly two-week long battle for life at a Singapore hospital just two days before the New Year's Eve. The nation reacted to the struggle for survival and the eventual death of the woman with a rare display of collective … [Read more...]
Don’t Fence Me in: The Need for Strategic Immigration Reform
Almost immediately after the national elections were concluded, immigration reform again became a topic for bipartisan political conversation and potential legislation. Illegal immigrants had been at the center of debates and much of the discussion during the Republican presidential primaries. With their hard-line, hard-headed and hard-hearted stances on things like building a fence to keep illegal immigrants out of the United States and deportation of those who are here currently, the … [Read more...]
From Cliff Dwelling to Mountain Climbing
A thumb-nail assessment of the fiscal cliff bill: Much sound. Some fury. Simplifying nothing. Nonetheless, those members of Congress who worked together in a bi-partisan fashion to construct and pass the "cliff deal" are to be commended. The major presenting short-term problem of the expiration of "middle class" tax cuts was addressed. Significantly and appropriately, tax rates for the "wealthy" were increased. In addition, the alternative minimum tax was corrected, expiring jobless benefits … [Read more...]
Save Our Children: A Christmas Wish and Prayer
This is not the time to take Christ out of Christmas but to put the child into Christmas -- not for presents but for prescience. Let us do that by celebrating the innocence of those who will not celebrate Christmas this year because of the Connecticut schoolhouse shootings. Let us do that by learning from this tragedy and dedicating ourselves to making this country a safer place for all of our children. Let us do that by praying to God, no matter what our religious persuasion, for peace and … [Read more...]
The Republicans’ League of Their Own: Reasons, Responses, Recommendations
If the national elections had been contested in the Republican's political version of a fantasy football league, Barack Obama would have received 47-plus percent of the vote. And, they would have picked up five seats in the Senate and eight seats in the House. Just the opposite occurred. This stunned many Republicans whose parallel universe view had them convinced that they would not only win but dominate in the presidential and congressional election battles. Why and how did they get this so … [Read more...]
Attention Deficit Disorder
The Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform ended its work not with a bang or a whimper, but, as Co-Chair Alan Simpson put it, by taking a "big banana and throwing it into the gorilla cage." Let's hope the gorilla doesn't slip on the peel and knock himself out before he can eat it. Seriously, the Commission and many other groups and individuals have brought much needed attention to the nation's budget deficit and debt. They have paid little or no attention, however, to a more important … [Read more...]
The Island States of America: A Threat to Our Representative Democracy
The secessionists have garnered a lot of attention lately with their petitions to leave the union after Barack Obama won the national election. While their appeals may be headline-grabbing and fabulous fodder for talk radio and cable TV, they are substantively and politically unimportant and impotent. The issues of true significance for the future of our representative democracy are (1) the structure of our federal congressional districts and the Senate and House districts within the states; … [Read more...]