Liberal Lens

Columns

Warren many block Biden bid

David Sirota -
As Vice President Joe Biden reportedly mulls a bid for the US presidency, his champions portray him as a credible alternative to Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton, who faces accusations that she is beholden to the financial industry. But...
Columns

Can Jeb Bush be his ‘own man?’

David Sirota -
Jeb Bush’s last name comes with advantages that are difficult to overstate. In a presidential race, he gets, among other things, instant name recognition and a built-in fundraising apparatus from his father and brother. Those assets alone explain why...
Columns

The economics of marijuana

David Sirota -
The convention floor at Denver Airport’s Crowne Plaza on a recent afternoon could have been the trade show for any well-established industry — gray-haired execs in conservative suits mingling with office park dads in polos and fresh-out-of-college types in...
Columns

To Clinton, influence peddling is now OK

David Sirota -
Less than three weeks into her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has already accomplished a stunning feat. She appears to have unified large swaths of the Democratic Party and its activist base to support the core tenets of the Citizens...
Columns

Deep Democratic party divide

David Sirota -
For those pining for a Democratic Party that tries to represent more than the whims of the rich and powerful, these are confusing times. On the presidential campaign trail, Hillary Clinton has been promoting standard pro-middle class rhetoric, yet also...
Columns

From Hillary to Andrew: subterfuge

David Sirota -
In theory, the changeover from paper to email should make government more transparent. The cost of archiving documents should be lower, because data can be housed on relatively small hard drives rather than in spacious warehouses. Likewise, the time...
Columns

Private equity’s private math

David Sirota -
To the casual observer, the investment returns recently announced by the California pension system might seem like cause for celebration. The state’s investments in firms that buy private companies generated a 20% return in 2014. California’s $30 billion worth of...
Columns

Border security not a cure-all

David Sirota -
WITH THE opening of the new Congress, Republican lawmakers have been promising a renewed focus on border security as a supposed cure-all for America’s broken immigration system. Left unaddressed, though, is a simple question: How does border security...
Columns

Rahm Emanuel two-faced on city pensions

David Sirota -
On its face, Chicago’s municipal pension system is an integral part of the Chicago city government. The system is included in the city’s budget, it is directly funded by the city, and its various boards of trustees include city...
Columns

States redistribute the wealth

David Sirota -
IN 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama was lambasted for supposedly endorsing policies of wealth redistribution. The right feared that under an Obama presidency, Washington would use federal power to take money from some Americans and give it to others....
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Latest News

IntermountainSteve Mark -

Professionally Speaking: Eliav Bock, Ramah of the Rockies

It is lunchtime at Ramah in the Rockies, which is considered a sacred time for its camp director. Only a phone call from the supplier of a commercial vacuum cleaner can tear Rabbi Eliav Bock away from his campers. “We just got it, and it’s not the right thing,” says Bock.