TomPaine.com

President George W. Bush has framed his domestic agenda in recent speeches as a response to women's economic security concerns. In fact, in the president's "Ownership Society," women would be less -- not more -- economically secure.

The president's nomination acceptance speech contained a direct appeal to working moms. He offered women a post-"era-of-big-government-is-dead" message about putting government on the side of families: "The times in which we live and work are changing dramatically...Today, workers change jobs, even careers, many times… more

Today's carefully scripted political campaigns may pay lip service to the diverse interests of seniors, but a surprising number of candidates and their doting political strategists still think the senior vote is won or lost on the battlefield of Social Security and Medicare -- the so-called "third rail" of American politics. Of course, no one worth their political salt would say it out loud, but the stereotype of the "greedy geezer" is still an indelible fixture in the campaign… more

They fight over how to fix it and how to fund it, but Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing in this contentious election year: America's troubled foster care system is in dire need of repair. From New Jersey to Texas to California, states are unveiling unprecedented plans to stop the steady stream of child tragedies, including nationally publicized cases of starvation and murder. To expedite the reform process, the Pew Commission on Foster Care recently released its promising… more

In his book, The Paradox of American Democracy, John Judis recounts numerous anecdotes about several of Washington's most prominent think tanks. He asserts that the convergence of think tanks, corporate dollars, rich individuals, and foundations has birthed a new breed of influence peddlers.

This breed is being rapidly cloned and it's adding a toxic element to important national policy debates. It's also changing the fundamental nature of the way think tanks operate.

It used to be that think tanks were… more

Things are looking bleak for the remaining publicly held content websites. San Francisco-based Salon's stock is trading for 43 cents. The grandly titled Salon Media Group is valued at a not-so-grand $6 million. Investors value financial news site theStreet.com, which had $58.5 million in the bank at the end of last quarter, at just $33 million.

Confronted with declining online advertising and shuttered capital markets, these two publications -- to my mind, the two best stand-alone publications on the web… more