government

February 13, 2017 (Fault Lines) – By February 13th of his presidency, Bush had only managed three executive orders. Obama, clearly determined to show Bush how to rule by decree, cranked out fourteen in the same...

January 31, 2017 (Fault Lines) — When I wrote in November that the president likely had the constitutional power to exclude Muslims from coming to the U.S., I included a number of caveats, describing circumstances where...

January 31, 2017 (Fault Lines) – The weekend headlines were awash with hyperbole. A U.S. Senator was brought to tears. Over the weekend, the ACLU raised $24 million, which is six times its yearly average. Foreign...

January 24, 2017 (Fault Lines) — Oral contracts, as the saying goes, aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Oral contracts involving an exchange of money to stop allegations of sexual assault reaching the media are...

January 23, 2017 (Fault Lines) – Donald Trump’s inauguration has prompted a great wailing and gnashing of teeth over the many ways the United States is about to become less great. Now, with Jeff Session’s confirmation...

January 18, 2017 (Fault Lines) — The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the original 13 federal judicial districts and called for appointment of a Marshal for each district. The Senate confirmed President Washington’s nomination of the first...

January 16, 2017 (Fault Lines) — The Obama Administration released a new set of rules on how electronic surveillance data relating to United States citizens and residents can be shared between the National Security Agency (the...

January 12, 2017 (Fault Lines) — There are two versions of a joke that goes: In America, there are two political parties, the Stupid Party and the Evil Party. When the Stupid Party is in power,...

January 10, 2017 (Fault Lines) – Every four years when the Presidential election rolls around, Ohio gets pegged as a swing state, which for the Presidential election it often is. But that disguises the difficulty that...

January 5, 2017 (Fault Lines) – There is an old saying in politics, “To the victor belongs the spoils.” While it can refer to the patronage system of trading jobs for political favors, it can refer...