Politics Archives

News in Brief

Republicans Agree the CDC Can Research Gun Violence

Rather than a full repeal of the Dickey Amendment, Republicans agree to include a provision in the spending bill to clarify that they never prohibited research on gun violence in the first place.

Kate Wheeling

Gun enthusiasts visit a gun show where thousands of different weapons are displayed for sale on July 10th, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas.

News in Brief

There’s a Good Chance Congress Includes Background Check Legislation in Its Funding Bill

Congressional leaders intend to include a bipartisan measure called Fix National Instant Criminal Background System, which addresses the thoroughness of gun-purchase background checks by encouraging state use of criminal databases.

Candace Butera

The Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., as seen on June 17th, 2002.

Dispatches: ‘Pacific Standard’ Goes to Washington

News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.

Francie Diep

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 13th, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

Social Justice

‘No One Else Was Greeted in Their Ancestral Language’: Ryan Zinke’s Misguided Japanese Greeting

Zinke's Japanese-language gaffe shows his true colors when it comes to who can truly be considered American.

Massoud Hayoun

A horse grazes in a field, in Longvilliers, France.

Environment

How Welfare Ranchers Take Taxpayers for a Ride

Ranchers on BLM land have 94 percent of their grazing costs covered by taxpayers. And they target wild horses for removal in order to preserve the rangeland that makes this financial windfall possible.

James McWilliams

Social Justice

Steven Pinker’s Radical Brand of ‘Contingent Optimism’

The Harvard University psychologist argues humans have the capability to deal with the huge challenges we face. But will we? That's a different question.

Tom Jacobs