government

Paul Ryan Is a Very Dangerous Man

Hamilton Nolan · 04/06/16 01:25PM

Paul Ryan has an aw-shucks boy-next-door appeal and talks about poor people and budgets sometimes. Therefore he is widely considered the face of compassionate conservatism. In fact he is a wacko, extremist class warrior. And not the good kind.

The Constitution: Old Bullshit? 

Hamilton Nolan · 08/13/15 10:34AM

Americans tend to think of our Constitution as a hallowed source of wisdom that should be tampered with only in the most extreme circumstances. But what if it’s really just old—and dumb?

Adult Lawmaker Ruins Children's Bill Submission With Anti-Abortion Joke

Andy Cush · 03/20/15 09:51AM

A group of New Hampshire fourth-graders who traveled to the state's capital in Concord to learn about the joys of civic engagement were given a surprisingly realistic picture of the American legislative process after one lawmaker used their bill—a proposal to name the red-tailed hawk the official state raptor—as an opportunity to rail against the evils of abortion.

Adam Weinstein · 08/25/14 09:30AM

A new Pew poll suggests that 14 percent of Americans—mainly male non-black college grads who make $75,000 or more—identify as "libertarian." Nearly a quarter of those self-identified libertarians failed to correctly identify what libertarians believe.

Distracted White People Mistakenly Vote for Slavery Reparations

Adam Weinstein · 06/19/14 10:20AM

Dallas County, population 2.5 million, now officially stands for "monetary and substantial reparations" for black Americans' suffering, after the County Commission summarily approved a resolution by its only black member that the white commissioners never bothered to read.

Sarah Hedgecock · 12/10/13 11:13AM

The Senate has confirmed Patricia Millett's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the first such confirmation to happen after the recent change to rules on filibusters.

That Lady Yelling About Freemasons Is Our New Paul Revere

Ken Layne · 10/17/13 04:03PM

When that brave lady started ranting last night about the Freemasons and a United States controlled from the beginning by satanic money-worshipping pigs, the otherwise dull Congressional proceedings finally got a moment of excitement. Maybe this one lady, working within the House of Representatives all these years, could set off a devastating civil war that would leave the United States in ruins.