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Power Knowledge

A collection of 32 issues

How to Make Your Voice Heard With Politicians

There is a cat I know who is a relentless self-advocate. Inhumanely early caterwauling for breakfast. Staring the human awake. Pawing at the human's stomach. And the human, who is after all human, breaks. She sets out a bowl of tuna, while muttering about feline entitlement. But the

A Key Policy Power Marker

While it is true that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, it is less true that a House Speaker by any other name would control as much. Legislatures the land over just love their titles. And too often, good folks unwittingly misaddress legislators, an immediate flag

Decoding Policy Jargon

The poets seldom write about short-term CRs. Full committee markups and community directed spending (a spiffed up way of saying earmarks) are also notably absent from the poetic canon. Uninspired though legislative language may be, it can actually have some bearing on us. So let's open wide the

What Quietly Helps Hold Democracy Together

There's a place where you can take stuff home for free and be trusted that you'll bring it back. The stuff isn't grimy or second-rate or chaotically strewn about, but systematically organized, updated, and cared for by professionals. This place also offers other free

The Key Thing the News Barely Covers

And now for a few fun policy questions. Can you... * ...name one component of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law? * ...name one law that was enacted under Trump? * ...ditto Obama (besides Obamacare)? If you could answer any of those, brava! If you were stumped by all of them (but can still

Dispelling One of the Biggest Myths in Modern Politics

The story we get told is that everything is partisan and politicians can agree on nothing across the aisle. But, as a cashier recently said when I offhandedly remarked that it had been raining for years, "I call B.S." Point of fact: It had been raining for

Where, Exactly, Do Our Tax Dollars Go?

Years ago, on a busy city bus, I noticed a sticker the size of a Monopoly card on the corner of a glass pane behind the driver. "Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," the sticker said in nondescript font. Now when most people read that, I&

For When You're Worried About the Election

The other night, I was in the kitchen making cookies and listening to a podcast from earlier in the week. I grated ginger as the hosts - two real smart cookies - forecasted the outcome of a special election for the U.S. House in Long Island. Their confidence was

If You Want to Get a Bill Passed

A seasoned driver in Delhi once told me that to drive in that city, you need three things: A good horn, good breaks, and good luck. Getting a bill passed isn't so different. You need some attention on it (horn), some patience (breaks), and good luck for miles.

All The Policy in Our Food!

My kitchen is absolutely teeming with policy. Probably yours, too! Let's take a spin through the cabinets to find policy's fingerprints all over them. In the lazy Susan, my spaghetti sauce has to tell me it has sugar in it and my rolled oats have to