Even the Federal Communications Commission’s timid assertion of rights and protections for consumers on the Internet continues to inspire the wrath of Republicans.The U.S. House of Representatives cleared the way for a resolution disapproving of the FCC’s net-neutrality guidelines adopted in December. Debate and a vote on the resolution, a formal device used by Congress to block actions taken by f

The root canal Americans experienced over the averted government shutdown may seem painless compared with the operation that’s coming: debate over raising the debt ceiling followed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan to overhaul the government.The political fates of President Barack Obama and most of Congress depend on the outcome. While the stakes for the 2011 budget skirmish has

Imagine being a low-income parent in the District of Columbia. As a parent living below the federal poverty line in one of the country’s most expensive cities, the options available for your child’s education are limited.There are the D.C. Public Schools, which rank 51st in the nation on measures of academic achievement, but first in terms of school violence. And there are D.C. Public Charter Scho

Paul Ryan is John McCain, circa 2000, or Barack Obama in the last presidential election or Bob Strauss and Jim Baker for their entire careers: the darling of the Washington commentariat.The chairman of the House Budget Committee, who released a budget last week that calls for dramatic spending cutbacks to politically sensitive programs such as Medicare, has been called a “rebel with a cause” by th

It will soon be one month since the Great East Japan Earthquake struck the nation on March 11. The prevailing atmosphere in Japan is one of serious and sombre jishuku (self-restraint).Various artistic activities, sports events and even traditional festivals have been canceled or postponed.A great many people died in the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. An even larger number are still missing, an

It could have been a historic teaching moment. Instead, President Obama, the most famous mixed-race person in the world, checked off only one race ― black ― last year on his census form. And in so doing, he missed an opportunity to articulate a more nuanced racial vision for the increasingly diverse country he heads.The president also bucked a trend. Last month, the Census Bureau announced that th

In a recent interview with Newsweek magazine, former CIA lawyer John Rizzo spoke with surprising candor about the CIA’s “targeted killing” program. He discussed the scope of the program (about 30 people are on the “hit list” at any given time), the process by which the CIA selects its targets (Rizzo was “the one who signed off”) and the methods the CIA uses to eliminate them (“The Predator is the

The victory of Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly in Sunday’s runoff election for the Haitian presidency brought his supporters into the streets to celebrate what many called a complete change from the last 25 years of rule. At this point, however, that’s more wishful thinking than reality.Many obstacles stand in the way of President-elect Martelly’s supporters realizing the positive change that they s

Last year, when China broke off military-to-military talks after the Obama administration’s long-expected sale of defensive arms to Taiwan, a high American official asked his Chinese counterpart why China reacted so strongly to something it had accepted in the past. The answer: “Because we were weak then and now we are strong.”On a recent visit to Beijing, I asked a Chinese expert what was behind

Tensions are growing between the management and labor of Hyundai Motor Co. over the “time-off” system. The automaker’s trade union is stepping up opposition to the new system as it would drastically cut the number of employer-paid full-time union officials.The time-off system went into effect in July last year. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, as of March this year, about 90 perc