Tag / congress

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  • Engaging With Big Pharma: An Interview With Suerie Moon

    The pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced recently that they would be selling Humalog, their most popular fast-acting insulin, at half price—a reduction that still leaves the drug at $137.35 a vial. This decision comes in the face of intensifying criticism over consistent increases in the drug’s price: according to the Healthcare Cost Institute, the cost…

  • AOC: From Resolutions To Red Lipstick

    A few weeks ago, I was sitting at the counter of a small kitchen in the Bronx while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made black bean soup in an Instant Pot and told me about her transition into office. Well, it didn’t exactly happen like that. But Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did go on Instagram Live to talk…

  • Sorting, Polarization, And Gridlock: Policy Finds A Way

    [su_pullquote align=”right”]Legislative gridlock hasn’t stopped policy from being made, it’s now just being made outside of the normal channels in ways strain our constitutional and political system.[/su_pullquote]American government is broken. Supermajoritarian institutions in the United States, most notably the Senate, have created legislative gridlock and frustrated majorities. The Senate effectively requires 60 votes to pass…

  • Fixing Constitutional Amendments: A Cure Worse Than The Disease

    It is easy to look at our chaotic political situation and say that we wish substantive, enduring change could be enacted more quickly. Legislation can get passed one year and repealed the next, so it is easy to see why the idea of making constitutional amendments simpler to pass is appealing. What’s more, when a…

  • Mr. Modi’s India

    In 2014, Narendra Modi, leader of India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), became Prime Minister of India by winning the largest democratic election in history. He handily defeated the Congress Party’s candidate, and assumed office with a powerful mandate to reform. Modi’s decisive electoral victory proved the health and dynamism of India’s democracy. His opponent,…

  • Red Tape Blues: The Need For More Bureaucratic Independence

    We often use ‘bureaucracy’ as a dirty word. Everyone has a horror story about waiting in line for hours at the DMV or spending ages trying to file their taxes correctly. Dealing with red tape has become part of Americans’ day-to-day life. [su_pullquote align=”right”]The legislative branch makes policy, but bureaucracy is how policy actually happens.[/su_pullquote]Since most…

  • Eviction Notice: The GOP House Member Most Likely To Lose This November

    With the 2018 midterms only months away, Democrats are in a decent position to take back the House of Representatives from the GOP for the first time since 2010. Democrats’ chances of winning the lower chamber are boosted by the redistricting in Pennsylvania (after the state Supreme Court ruled their congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered…