U.S. High-Speed Rail Plans Stuck at the Station

America’s railroad infrastructure is broken, and we need a massive investment in high-speed rail to fix it.

Rail travel is one area in which Europe is miles ahead of the United States. Passengers can buy a 15-day Eurail pass, which allows them to travel almost anywhere on the continent at any time, for as low as €345, or around $500. That ticket would also give riders access to France’s TGV, a high-speed rail train that travels at average speeds of just under 300 miles per hour. The average person in the United Kingdom travels over 750 kilometers per year by rail; in Germany, that figure rises to close to 1000 km/year, and in Switzerland it is a stunning 2,422 km/year! Meanwhile, in the United States, the average rail passenger travels only 80 kilometers per year.

An Acela Express train, the only existing high-speed rail line in the U.S.

Tim Pawlenty: The Right Candidate at the Wrong Time

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty officially dropped out of the presidential race on Sunday after a disappointing third-place finish at the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa. For the last few months, Pawlenty had been dogged by one piece of bad campaign news after another: he lost considerable ground in polls, both in Iowa and nationally, his fundraising numbers for the second quarter of the year were far below where they needed to be and he chose not to attack former governor Mitt Romney to his face on national television, contributing to the already widespread perception that he was too weak for the race. Still though, for all his political faults, and they were many, there is nothing in Pawlenty’s political biography that disqualified him from being president. Instead, he was a good candidate who was the victim of bad circumstances.

The fact that this gopher was Pawlenty’s #1 fan should have set off some warning bells.

The State of the Presidential Race – August 14, 2011

Well, the first major test of the 2012 GOP primaries is over, and the field today certainly looks different than it did on Friday. With a major candidate out of the race and another one getting in, it's becoming clear that the GOP nominee will be one of three people and yesterday's Ames Straw Poll may have altered the race for all of them. Most of all, though, we learned that this primary contest isn't going to be over quickly; with three strong candidates in the race, don't expect to know who the nominee is going to be until May or June of next year. Get excited.

Really, this is just a gratuitous amount of confetti.

Debate Roundup: August 11th GOP Primary Debate

The second major debate of the GOP primary season just ended and brought a little more clarity to the standings of the Republican presidential candidates. While we will know more about how the race will look going forward after this weekend's Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, the debate provided us with a glimpse at which candidates have a chance to win and which are dead in the water. While a “State of the Race” post will probably be forthcoming early next week, for now I'll just stick to my own post-debate format and rank the winners and losers from the standpoint of what the debate means for their campaigns.

Mitt Romney, lording over everyone else. Just the way he likes it.

Democrats Need to Bite the Bullet

Well, it looks like we may have avoided economic Armageddon. Earlier today, House and Senate GOP leaders negotiated a deal with President Obama to raise the debt ceiling through 2012 and cut approximately $3 trillion of spending from the federal budget. Predictably, House Democrats are furious that the deal includes no new revenues and many are threatening to vote against it: one of the more colorful descriptions of the deal came from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who called it "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich." Some Democratic analysts have predicted that this anger over what they see as capitulation from President Obama will lead to only 50-80 Democratic votes for the plan, which would leave House Speaker John Boehner in the unenviable position of pushing it through his own caucus (something he's had a bit of trouble with of late). Still, as much as it hurts, the deal could still be a win for Democrats, and more importantly it is a desperately-needed win for the country.

Emanuel Cleaver finds your lack of revenues disturbing.

The State of the Presidential Race – July 24, 2011

A lot can change in three weeks... but not much actually has. Despite the fact that I have been neglecting my duties in blogging about the 2012 GOP primaries, the candidates are all pretty close to where I left them last time. Still, though, there have been a few interesting developments: a new candidate is moving closer to entering the race, voters supposedly wish that two more would do the same, Speaker Newt Gingrich shows that he really is incredibly unaware of how people view him, and Governor Tim Pawlenty is still being... well... Tim Pawlenty.

Rick Perry claims God wants him to run. No comment from God.

Eleven Minutes to Midnight

The clock in Washington is ticking, and we still don't have an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. After weeks of on-again-off-again negotiations that have run into every possible roadblock (Eric Cantor, the Tea Party, Eric Cantor, Democratic mutiny and Eric Cantor, to name a few), it still looked like President Obama and Speaker Boehner would have a deal soon—at least, it did until this afternoon, when the Speaker told President Obama that he was withdrawing from negotiations. Two very angry press conferences ensued and here we are: 11 days away from a default on the full faith and credit of the United States and no deal in sight. To be perfectly honest, you can start to panic now.

Yes, you can call this Angry Obama.

Washington: Where Doing Your Job Might Get You Impeached

In less than a month, the United States of America—the most powerful nation in the history of the world and a leader in global affairs for over a century—will default on its debt, a catastrophe that will likely send the domestic (and possibly global) economy into a full-scale meltdown. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said that the country has until August 2nd to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid this fiscal nightmare, and President Obama has gone on record saying that he wants a deal to be cut by July 22nd so that the legislation can safely make its way through Congress. With less than 3 weeks to go until crossing that red line, Congress still seems incapable of solving this problem, even if it wanted to. To make matters worse, if President Obama tries to take the situation into his own hands, he may just get impeached for his troubles.

Any chance TurboTax messed up his calculations with this number, too?

The State of the Presidential Race – July 5, 2011

For about a week now, I've been struggling to write a blog post on recent developments in the 2012 GOP primary contests for several reasons. First of all, there's just too damn much to talk about (for a nerd like me, anyway): Tim Pawlenty's ongoing campaign implosion, Michele Bachmann's stunning rise to the top, Herman Cain's equally surprising struggles after his previously positive headlines, the fact that Jon Huntsman played in a band called Wizard and the entrance into the race of that what's-his-face congressman from Michigan—with choices like these, how could I possibly decide? Seriously, though, it was a struggle. Additionally, while all of these topics are great, none of them really has enough substance to dedicate a whole blog post to. Clearly, this was a problem for all involved.

Solution: today, I'm starting my “State of the Race” series of posts, where I'll provide an update on the most interesting developments of the presidential race. Of course, some things will merit a full post and will still get that attention; the purpose of this post, and others that will follow, however, is to give a brief, cursory explanation of interesting phenomena from the GOP primary campaign (and, if I deem them entertaining enough, other races as well). Hopefully, you will find my synopses just as fun as my in-depth political posts. OK, stop laughing now...seriously, stop it. It's rude.

Tim Pawlenty's campaign is in need of money, so the candidate is cutting back on the finer things.

The Great Civil Rights Battle of Our Time

Last night, the New York Senate passed Senate Bill 5857, better known as the “Marriage Equality Act,” legalizing gay marriage and giving gay couples the same legal rights as heterosexual couples. This, as our wonderful Vice President Joe Biden might say, is a big fucking deal. It shouldn't be, but it is nevertheless. By becoming the sixth state (plus Washington, DC) to legalize gay marriage, New York affirmed that all Americans should be equal, that progress is unstoppable and that Democrats, for the first time in decades, are starting to gain the upper hand when it comes to social issues.

Yes. Yes they do.

Why Afghanistan Still Matters

Tonight, President Obama told the American people that we would begin to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, largely sticking to the schedule that he spelled out in his December 2009 address at West Point. For those who missed it, the President announced that 10,000 troops would return from Afghanistan by the end of this year and that 23,000 more would return by September 2012, returning troop levels to those before 2009's “surge.” Like all presidential decisions, this one already has vocal critics: members of both parties are simultaneously decrying the strategy as being both too precipitous and too slow a withdrawal. Whatever its faults, though, Obama's decision will have repercussions far beyond the end of his presidency—and it may be the beginning of a new era in U.S. foreign policy.

Why doesn't he ever give these speeches from the Oval Office?

Will Brown's Pen be Mightier than Schwarzenegger's Sword?

The fiscal crisis in California took another treacherous turn this week when Democratic Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a budget plan passed by the Democrat-controlled State Assembly and Senate. With the state's voter-imposed deadline for passing a balanced budget expiring earlier this week, California legislators are now working overtime without pay to try and fix the state's massive budget deficit. Brown's veto, though, was not unwarranted, nor was it radical. Rather, Governor Brown is hoping that by vetoing the plan, he can convince state legislators to finally get serious about balancing the budget and creating a sustainable fiscal future for the state.

Someone should tell Governor Brown that there's a grizzly bear eating his head.

Debate Roundup: June 13th GOP Primary Debate

Tonight was the first debate of the 2012 Republican primary season and it provided no shortage of awkward moments, political catchphrases and blatant misunderstandings about how the economy works. Instead of doing an entire recap of the debate, though, I'm going to give my analysis of the winners and losers in tonight's debate and how it may affect the race going forward. So, I may miss some of the better... ahem... “policy” gems of the debate, like Speaker Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis, or Congresswoman Bachmann saying that she thinks there should be both a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and independent state laws governing the issue, but I hope that you'll forgive me.

And so, from biggest loser to biggest winner, here's how the debate played out.

Dear CNN, this stage is so 2008. Step it up.

Gingrich's Loss is Perry's Gain

It's been a bad couple of weeks for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. He started his campaign for president with several high profile missteps, some of which I've already blogged about. Just to review:

• In his first Sunday interview after announcing his candidacy, he attacked Congressman Paul Ryan's budget plan and was subsequently crucified by the right.
• He got glittered.
• It was discovered that his wife has a $250,000 expense account at Tiffany's. So much for portraying himself as blue-collar.

Finally, all of these problems have come back to bite him, as it was announced on Thursday that senior members of the Gingrich campaign had resigned en masse, including his chief strategist, campaign manager and campaign chairman.

Since Gingrich had very little traction in early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire, few candidates already in the race will directly benefit from his campaign's catastrophic implosion. There is one Republican, though, who was probably very happy upon hearing this news: Texas governor Rick Perry.

I wonder if Gingrich realized that this would be the least of his problems.

You've Never Heard of Him, but Herman Cain Wants to be President

In early January, while political heavyweights like former governors Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty were still cautiously laying the groundwork for their highly-expected presidential runs, the first candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination announced the start of his campaign. The only problem was that no one had ever heard of him. Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, is running for president, and may be exactly the dark horse that GOP voters are looking for.

Herman Cain wants YOU

Whose Fault is it, Anyway?

“Gridlock” does not even come close to describing the atmosphere in the U.S. Senate these days. “Obstructionism” comes closer, but that implies that the lack of action on simple measures is the fault of one party or the other. Behind the constant back and forth between Senate Republicans and Democrats about how it’s the other party’s fault, it is clear that there is something very wrong with the Senate today.

The Senate in olden times, or something

The Woman Who Would Not Be President

The recent spate of prospective presidential candidates dropping out of the Republican race and the lack of a true social conservative in the contest has led to rampant speculation of the return of everyone's favorite maverick: former governor Sarah Palin. Several other factors have led some to hope that she may be getting ready to run for the Republican nomination in 2012, but I wouldn't count her in just yet. Most of what we know about Palin points to the inescapable fact that she no longer wants to run for president.

(A fake but hilarious picture of Palin, from NewsPirates)

Get Your Government Hands Off My Medicare... Oh, Wait, That's Not What I Meant

Last night's special election in New York's 26^th Congressional District showed the political world two things: first, that Democrats aren't as hopelessly incompetent at messaging as previously thought, and second, that the Republican Party has a serious Medicare problem.

(Congresswoman-elect Kathy Hochul, from NYT)

To Mandate, or Not to Mandate: Newt Gingrich's Eternal Question

It's been a rough couple days for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Between pulling a Romney when talking about health-care reform and undercutting the GOP's main idea man on Medicare, many party faithful are starting to wonder just whose side he's on (for the record, Democrats are still pretty confident that he's a Republican).

Gingrich's most recent mess started this past weekend when he called Congressman Paul Ryan's budget proposal, in which Medicare becomes a voucher-based system “radical... right wing social engineering” (jeez, Newt, you really don't mince words, do you?). In an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, May 15, Gingrich criticized the Ryan proposal, specifically the fact that it imposes “radical change” on consumers instead of allowing them to choose, somehow, whether or not they want the old-style Medicare or the new vouchers. Of course, Gingrich did not specify how this choice would work, as one would guess that it would be impossible and inefficient to have both the current Medicare system and a voucher-based system—both of which do the same thing—in existence at the same time. We'll assume he was leaving that for later in the campaign.

(from Politico)

And the winner is...

This year's race for the Republican presidential nomination is one of the most wide-open contests in modern history: every frontrunner has fairly significant reasons why they likely won't win, and the whole contest is practically begging for a dark horse to come and steal the nomination. In the past few months, there has been a steady stream of candidates not running or encountering debilitating problems affecting their own chances at winning. So, where does the race stand? To find out, let's take a look at the candidates and where they stand. I'm only going to talk about candidates that I think have a legitimate chance of even making noise in the campaign; sorry if I skip over your favorite candidate, but if there are any incensed Buddy Roemer fans out there, feel free to call me an idiot in the comments section.

Welcome to "How to Win the Future"

Welcome, everyone, to the inaugural post of How to Win the Future, my new political blog. A little about me: I'm a political science student at The George Washington University (don't say “Don't you mean Georgetown?”) and while many people claim to be interested in policy, I take that nerdiness and wonkiness to a new, slightly unhealthy level. I'm interested in everything political, from your obvious presidential and midterm elections to your less well-known battles over education policy and high speed rail. No political topic is sacred. This blog is intended to be a way to share my observations and arguments about anything I've read/seen/heard/thought about, and had something original to say.


The name How to Win the Future comes from my irritation at politicians who tell us that America needs to be great, but are a little short on details. President Obama is not the first to use the phrase “win the future” and will not, I'm sure, be the last. The fact is that most people, both in politics and in the media, dumb down their opinions and speeches to appeal to a greater number of people, and to always be politically correct. Win the future, they tell us, but they always forget to tell us how, aside from generally creating jobs and improving education. That's great, guys, but what does that really mean?

Instead of yelling my opinions at Wolf Blitzer on a TV screen, I've decided to put them online to share with anyone who cares to read them. Full disclosure: I am a registered Democrat, I worked on President Obama's 2008 campaign and I plan to work for his reelection. As such, it's a safe bet that when I do discuss policy, I'll lean toward the liberal argument. However, that doesn't mean you should stop reading, even if you disagree. I promise to always do my best to see both sides, and ignore the attacks and talking points we all hear on TV; just because I have an opinion doesn't mean that's the only one I can understand. And if you think I'm doing a bad job of seeing both sides, that's the beauty of leaving comments. Don't be a troll for the sake of being a troll, but thoughtful comments will get responses as often as I can give them.

Again, welcome to my blog, and I hope you won't be disappointed. My first real post should be up soon, so we can start to understand just how it is that we are supposed to win the future.