The Idea Lobby Archives

Education

Budget Idea: Divert Money From Prisons to Schools

With a quarter of the world's prisoners in American lockups, an unlikely coalition ranging from the NAACP to Americans for Tax Reform wonders if we might be smarter to divert some of that prison money to schools.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Breast Cancer Court Case Pits Patients’ Genes vs. Gene Patents

A court case surrounding gene patents for high-risk forms of breast cancer puts two viewpoints of "products of nature" on the stand.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

What Does a U.S. Government Shutdown Mean?

Passports, park admissions and poo are among Pacific Standard's list of 10 things that will be affected if the budget-less U.S. government shuts down this weekend.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Federal Budget Cuts May Cloud Government Transparency Websites

Efforts to roll back the federal budget to 2008 levels may have the unintended consequence of gutting spending aimed at fostering government transparency.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Can Transparency, Academic Freedom Coexist?

A request for historian William Cronon's emails creates a contest between two cherished American values — seeing inside government's guts and untrammeled inquiry by academics.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Will a New Federal Bank Guarantee Loans for U.S. Infrastructure Projects?

A national infrastructure bank for the United States would offer a way to fund projects that improve competitiveness and economic vitality and not just please local constituents.

Emily Badger

Social Justice

Military Questions Mount in Wake of DADT

Years of operating under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy created a backlog of questions to answer as the U.S. military works to integrate openly gay troops into the ranks.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Nuclear Disasters: Do Plans Trump Actions?

In a report planned before Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Union of Concerned Scientists suggests that U.S. nuclear regulators are way too complacent about the possibility of a catastrophe.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Senate Reform Founders on Whether It’s Even Needed

Americans widely perceive the U.S Senate to be a pretty dysfunctional place. But a handful of observers with firsthand experience of the chamber wonder if that’s the case.

Emily Badger

News in Brief

Chipping at Monumental Egos

A Texas representative wants to lay off naming taxpayer-funded programs or projects for sitting members of Congress until after they leave the Hill.

Emily Badger