The Week: Most Recent News & Opinion:Bullpen

What HBO's Girls can teach Obama and Romney

The Week — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:20:00 -0400

What, exactly, is the popular new HBO show Girls about? At face value, a bright idealist named Hannah (played by the show's creator Lena Dunham) who's unprepared to deal with a crappy job market, and who also might be seen as a spoiled, smart WASP who can't relate to 99 percent of America.

But my view? Girls is about the 2012 presidential election.

Of course, it's hard to imagine President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney watching a TV show about twenty-something girls discussing their sex lives in New York City. So let's make it easier...

How to avoid another GSA boondoggle

The Week — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:25:00 -0400

In the age of the iPhone, does anyone still believe that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Apparently certain officials from the General Services Administration (GSA) did, until the photos came back to haunt them. By now, the outrageous facts of the GSA scandal are old news: A lavish 2010 conference held by the agency in Las Vegas cost the government $823,000. The money was spent on extravagances like a clown, a mind reader, and a loft suite party. And all taxpayers got was this lousy photo of a boozy GSA commissioner beaming from a hot tub.

After news of the scandal broke, GSA chief Martha...

Why the Mitt-Bibi bromance won't affect world affairs

The Week — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:10:00 -0400

The New York Times recently published an article on a "quirk of history" — the warm friendship that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed when they worked together at Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s. The "Mitt and Bibi" story has made quite a few waves: Some are even likening the friendship to the famed chumminess between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

It's easy to understand the story's appeal. History is made up of personalities, and nothing can get a historian hopping like the idea of two political figures sharing...

How to clean up K Street

The Week — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:00:00 -0400

You know when it's really time for a campaigning president to commit to cleaning up K Street? When Jack Abramoff, the convicted felon and former lobbying heavyweight, starts demanding lobbying reform. No, this isn't a lame "when pigs fly" joke. Abramoff has been making stops around the country, recommending ways that the government can place controls on the problematic revolving door between the lobbying industry and the White House.

"I believe that those who engage in public service, those who work on Capitol Hill, those who are elected to federal office and the administration, should not be...

How indefinite detention snuck into Obama's defense bill

The Week — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:30:00 -0400

In December, President Obama angered politicians of all stripes by signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a broad defense bill that included a controversial provision about indefinite detention. Specifically, the provision gave the president expansive power to seize suspected terrorists and keep them in detention without charge or trial, even on U.S. soil.

According to critics, this part of the bill essentially put the controversial policies of the George W. Bush administration into hard law, shattering Obama's previous promise to stop indefinite detention and adhere to the...

How to open up the Obama administration

The Week — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:15:00 -0400

Happy Sunshine Week! No, it's not about the weather or good spirits. Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote open government, transparency, and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In other words, advocacy groups and journalists are honoring the policies that keep the public in the know on everything from drinking water to 401(k)s.

So of course, this is the perfect week to examine the open government policies of President Obama, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. Bring some sunglasses for Obama — although you won't need as high a UV protection as the administration might...

Obama and the case of the missing watchdogs

The Week — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:40:00 -0500

If Sherlock Holmes worked in Washington, I would hire him immediately to investigate a troubling phenomenon in the federal government. Let's call it the case of the disappearing watchdogs, also known as inspectors general (IGs).

IGs oversee an army of talented auditors and investigators who independently bust waste, fraud, and misconduct within government agencies. In the past, IG-led investigations have exposed torture supported by the Bush administration, misuse of the controversial Patriot Act, and Humvee "death traps" in Iraq. These watchdogs are vital to keeping federal agencies honest...

The problem with outsourcing the military

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:25:00 -0500

It's not every day that a senator gets "god-damn mad," at least in public. But that's exactly what happened a few months ago, when a federal commission released a report that was so alarming, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Contracting Oversight, dropped a "god-damn" in a congressional hearing. What worried her? The final findings of the Commission on Wartime Contracting, a bipartisan coalition formed in the spirit of the legendary Truman Committee, which exposed massive waste in World War II-era defense contracting. The modern commission found that these problems...