December, 2011 | Penn Political Review

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Operation Fast and Furious: A Tale of Bravado, Failed Bureaucracy, and Legislative Neglect
- December 27, 2011
- By Michael Soyfer
- Soapbox Blog
- no comments
Agent Brian Terry died last December. Investigators soon traced the weapons to a little-known ATF operation called “Operation Fast and Furious,” which was part of a larger program called “Project Gunrunner.” ATF describes this initiative as “a comprehensive strategy to reduce…violent crime associated with Mexican criminal organizations…by preventing these organizations from unlawfully acquiring and trafficking firearms and explosives.” They do [...]

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Operation Fast and Furious: A Tale of Bravado, Failed Bureaucracy, and Legislative Neglect (Part 1, the Prelude)
- December 26, 2011
- By Michael Soyfer
- Soapbox Blog
- no comments
On the night of December 14, 2010, four Customs and Border Patrol agents were in pursuit of gangs of bandits along Interstate 19, south of Tucson. Bandits often prey upon illegal immigrants, who may be holding their life savings or carrying drugs on behalf of their smugglers, along this dark and rugged corridor. The four officers pursuing bandits on that [...]

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Going Home for the Holidays: A (Temporary) End to the Payroll Tax Cut Fight
- December 22, 2011
- By Urja Mittal
- Soapbox Blog
- 1 comment
Earlier this evening, Speaker John Boehner announced that House Republicans will support a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts. With a call for a final vote Friday morning, Boehner and the GOP leadership have abandoned their current push for a one-year extension of the cuts in order to pass the stopgap provision and end the political battle in time [...]

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Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security
- December 17, 2011
- By Adam Hersh
- Soapbox Blog
- no comments
Last Thursday was the 220th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. Congress, apparently feeling that 220 years was a nice round number, decided that this would be the perfect time to repudiate most of the basic principles that document embodies. This rather impressive feat was achieved through the National Defense Authorization Act, of which you can get [...]

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Roosevelt the Radical
- December 11, 2011
- By Adam Hersh
- Soapbox Blog
- 3 comments
On August 31, 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt went to Osawatomie, Kansas to give a speech that laid out his vision for America. He called it New Nationalism, and it called for major, striking changes in national policy. President Roosevelt wanted to regulate corporate influence, provide better social services, step up “conservation” and provide safeguards for working people. He promised a [...]

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Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Taser?
- December 8, 2011
- By Michael Soyfer
- Soapbox Blog
- no comments
In an upcoming interview with Laurie Robinson — a former Penn professor and the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs — you’ll read her response to a question about “less lethal weapons.” Her answer is fascinating, but I think that concept deserves some context and explanation. In clearing out the “Occupy” protests and encampments, police [...]

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Going Off the Rails
- December 3, 2011
- By Adam Hersh
- Soapbox Blog
- 1 comment
Herman, we hardly knew ye. But we sure did make fun of ye a lot. As Herman Cain suspends his campaign today amid allegations of infidelity and sexual harassment, I am not convinced the entire thing wasn’t actually cooked up by the writers of The Daily Show to create some fodder for jokes during a slow week. It’s hard to believe [...]

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Unemployment: No Money Mo Problems
- December 2, 2011
- By Danielle Marryshow
- Soapbox Blog
- no comments
The unemployment rate fell to 8.6% in November, the lowest it’s been in 2 ½ years. This is somewhat due to Obama’s policies in terms of job creation and natural healing of the economy. But unfortunately, most of the drop was due to people giving up looking for a job at all—and thus exiting the labor force. These people were [...]

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Poverty through a Clear Lens
- December 1, 2011
- By admin
- National, Online Only
- no comments
By Alexia Nader Edited by Emily Kim The statistics of the U.S. Census Bureau’s new experimental poverty measure are staggering: 16% of the population in the country is living in poverty, about 2.5 million more people than we previously thought. The numbers in the new measure have changed from even two months ago, when the Official Poverty Measure was released, [...]

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Operation Fast and Furious: A Tale of Bravado, Failed Bureaucracy, and Legislative Neglect

Operation Fast and Furious: A Tale of Bravado, Failed Bureaucracy, and Legislative Neglect (Part 1, the Prelude)

Going Home for the Holidays: A (Temporary) End to the Payroll Tax Cut Fight

Those Who Sacrifice Liberty for Security

Roosevelt the Radical

Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Taser?

Going Off the Rails

Unemployment: No Money Mo Problems

Poverty through a Clear Lens

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