U.S. welfare policy is based on short-term goals; most welfare programs provide short-term assistance but their ability to support upward movement in the labor market is limited. The reason for this is the way poverty is viewed and understood in the United States. For more effective policy we need a thorough understanding of what poverty is.

Politicians and others in recent weeks have been liberal in invoking the image of a suffering main street when considering the so-called Wall Street bailout plan and its potential effects on the average American. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama each used variations of the term twice during Friday’s debate, and traditional media and bloggers have adopted the imagery with equal zeal. In fact, though the idea may be fast approaching cliché status, main street’s pain does deserve more than just lip service.

“My mother always said democracy is the best revenge,” remarked Bilawal Bhutto Zardari after reading his mother’s will, which declared him Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Like her son, Benazir Bhutto was also appointed chairman of the PPP without elections. It is somehow ironic that these strong advocates of “democracy” were not themselves elected.

Last week, 7 Online Editors were named to the LBJ Journal of Public Affairs.

You might well have heard of public school environments as places of "zero tolerance," authoritarian in nature, and even comparable to jails or correctional facilities in terms of their disciplinary measures. Tardiness results in an entire lesson missed sitting in study hall; disrupting class earns a whole day of detention; rough-housing might lead to suspension, even expulsion. These punishments only further alienate the offender and do not address the needs of the victim or school community.

In 1990, with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and again in 1998 with the passing of the Section 508 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Americans with disabilities won victories toward the better use of technology for all. Like curb-cuts outside office buildings or wheelchair-accessible bathrooms, the purpose of these acts was to enact laws which would (hopefully) guarantee many disabled members of society a more balanced and comfortable way to accomplish day-to-day activities that the majority of Americans take for granted.

Over and over again I hear people discussing the possibility of the United States losing its position of leadership in the world. China, they say, is rising. Russia, they worry, is becoming more belligerent. What is going to happen, they wonder, when America is no longer number one?

The U.S. has a lot of failed policies concerning areas such as economics and foreign affairs, but it seems one place they seem to be able to get it right is with science and technology policy. The most apparent reason for this is that the government has a good policy when it comes to making science and technology policy: Don't make policies.

The deadline is fast approaching...

I’d like to put forward a new candidate. Her name is Hillary McCain-Obama, and she is perfect! She has all the credentials needed to be a great president. She is a wonderful legislator, has great military experience and projects a unifying and inspiring presence that mesmerizes not only people here in the United States, but all over the world. And as an African-American woman who is not trying to hide her grey hair, she is poised to make history.