Executive Director of the National Priorities Project
Executive Director of the National Priorities Project,
a nonprofit research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal
data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars
are spent
The White House Confronts Congress over Domestic Spending Last Friday, President Bush told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he still plans to veto expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program , despite overwhelming approval in Congress and the advice of a lot of conservative allies. Pelosi said she's praying that he'll change his mind, but Democrats are rubbing their hands over what they see as a political opportunity. So many Republican Senators face trouble next year that the upper house gave the bill a veto-proof majority. We hear the pros and cons of extending government coverage to four million uninsured kids for five years. How does it compare to funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this year alone?
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?