Politics

Hill Climbers: Aide Sees a Future in Congress

ROLL CALL 10/01/12 By Emily Cahn Michael Shank is driven by his commitment to progressive values. The returning communications director and senior policy adviser in Rep. Mike Honda’s (D-Calif.) office was raised in an Amish-Mennonite community in Kidron, Ohio, where the ideas of helping the downtrodden, sustainable development and nonviolence […]

Democratic Party Looks Like America

THE HILL 09/06/12 By Michael Shank Being here in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, having watched the Republican National Convention religiously on television, one thing that is explicitly different between the two national conventions is the diversity of delegates. Walking the convention hallways, the arena stairways, […]

Political Discourse: A Family Affair

WASHINGTON POST 09/04/12 By Michael Shank In pursuing politics in Washington, and as a senior congressional staffer, I am the odd one out in my extended family: many, if not most, of my relatives are farmers, preachers or teachers. At family reunions, consequently, like the one I recently returned from, […]

What Paul Ryan’s Economic Roadmap Means for America

POLITICO 08/24/12 By Michael Shank Working with one of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s Democratic colleagues on the budget committee, as senior policy advisor to U.S. Congressman Michael Honda (D-Calif.) for several years, I know the economic picture Ryan is trying to paint all too well. It is a grim […]

Questions Must Be About Gun Safety

FINANCIAL TIMES 08/04/12 By Michael Shank Sir, The real problem with the US gun debate is that polling questions are frequently framed as gun rights not as gun safety (“It is plain wrong to see the gun lobby as Svengali”, July 28). Few Americans want their rights stripped, but most […]

Inside the Beltway: Pillars of Liberty

WASHINGTON TIMES 07/25/12 By Jennifer Harper THE COST OF AURORA “Why must the tragic Colorado theater shootings stimulate a debate on more than mere gun control? Not simply because, or however remarkable the fact that, violent mass killings — whether in Columbine, Virginia Tech or now Aurora — tend to […]

In the Wake of the Shooting, Gun Control Debate Re-Emerges

NEWSY 07/20/12 By Matthew Picht and Anchor Jim Flink Debate about gun control has flared up once again after the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Here’s Sky News. “This argument happens every time there is a shooting incident in America. The last significant argument about gun control was after the […]

10 Most Peaceful Cities

MSN 05/21/12 By Bill Briggs America’s tranquility centers appear to be a strange brew of sleepy corners, college hubs and bustling urban swaths, according to new research. The 2012 Metropolitan Peace Index, which the Institute for Economics and Peace published in April, ranks the nation’s 61 largest metropolitan statistical areas […]

Gridlock is Death for Deliberation

FINANCIAL TIMES 05/21/12 By Michael Shank Sir, Edward Luce is spot on regarding Capitol Hill appraisal of partisanship pulling punches on solutions (“Why Washington gridlock is here to stay”, Book Review, May 14). One solution – speaking as a left-leaning voter who once worked for a Republican Congressman – is […]