The issue of whether money equals speech came to the forefront in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) in which the Supreme Court ruled government could not restrict independent political expenditures. The ruling applied to for-profit corporations, labor unions, non-profit corporations and other associations. While many people believe Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority … Read more
Many of you will remember the picture on the right of NBC News political director Tim Russert and his now-famous, low-tech white board. Early in the evening, Russert predicted the 2000 election would hinge on the outcome in Florida. And after weeks of recounts and legal challenges, everyone was congratulating Russert for his foresight. There’s … Read more
There I go again. A hopefully provocative headline which will entice you into reading this post. And you likely thought the subject matter involved United States foreign policy. If you’re still reading this, it worked. Actually, this post is about philanthropy, a topic which has received considerable attention during the last couple of weeks, … Read more
Imagined transcript for “Weekend Update”: September 17, 2016. All of the material in italics in this post are documented quotes about President Barack Obama’s country of birth. ANCHOR: Like all of you, we miss Gilda Radner. In hopes of recapturing just a smidgen of her comic magic, Saturday Night Live has invited Republican President candidate … Read more
Last February, Donald Trump and his surrogates began making a comparison between Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and the break-in at Democratic Headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the committee to re-elect Richard Nixon president. Fox News commentator Andrew Napolitano suggested the unavailability of every email “was far worse than an 18-and-a-half-minute … Read more