In case you missed it, here are Progressive Fix’s highlights from the past week:
- PPI Policy Memo, “The Pentagon’s Most Expensive Weapon,” Jim Arkedis
The “guns versus butter” debates between liberals and conservatives miss a key point. It’s not just weapons that drive defense spending through the roof — it’s the people, too. Read more…
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PPI Political Memo, “Follow the Leaderless: Palin and McCarthy,” Ed Kilgore
Palin strikes me as more like another famous conservative “populist,” Joseph R. McCarthy. And I don’t say that in order to invoke an invidious identification of the overall political dangers represented by St. Joan of the Tundra and the famously irresponsible red-hunter. What strikes me as similar is the extent to which both politicians were relatively ordinary people who were suddenly swept into vast celebrity by an almost accidental association with grievances poorly advocated by conventional political leaders. Read more…
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“Obama’s Afghanistan Speech,” Jim Arkedis
For a speech that was sure to please no one entirely, I thought it was a brave attempt at explaining a tough, unpopular, but ultimately correct decision. Read more…
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“An Innovative Way to Improve Teacher Quality,” Kirsten Taylor
A recent report from Education Sector, titled Teachers At Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design, examines a less widely discussed approach to improving teacher quality: school design. The report argues that in order for reform initiatives to be sustainable, we need to “fundamentally overhaul the way the work of teachers is organized within schools.” Read more…
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“Bipartisan Group Urges Cost Containment in Health Care Reform,” Will Marshall
We are a politically diverse group of veteran budget and policy analysts. Our mission is to raise public awareness of America’s fiscal predicament, which threatens to undermine our country’s economic strength and independence, and to propose constructive remedies. Read more…
