Author Archives: Michael Golden

I recently had a wide-ranging conversation with Aristotle. The fascinating part was that all of his answers tracked verbatim with thoughts he expressed 2,300 years ago.  MG: It’s an honor to meet you, Aristotle. I really appreciate your taking the time.  A: Even in adversity, nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility but from g

Heading into the Nevada caucuses, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are the two frontrunners out of a Democratic field that once claimed 25 horses. So how did a 37-year-old mayor of South Bend and a 78-year-old Democratic Socialist from Vermont get to the head of that pack? Of course, there’s more than one factor. But the biggest reason, in a word, is raw charisma. Both of these candidates possess a special qual

There is but one firewall left when it comes to Donald Trump. Americans who passionately reject this lawless, morally bankrupt president did not have the power last week to pressure GOP Senators into doing what they all knew was the right thing. The game was rigged from the jump. Soon it’ll be officially over, and the focus will turn to November. The good news is that data indicate that no matter which candid

In the 1999 movie Payback, the main character is a criminal who's hellbent on recovering the $70,000 that was boosted from him during another heist. "Porter," played by Mel Gibson, quickly learns that the money was turned over to a powerful crime syndicate. Now he has to climb through its ranks, demanding what he's due from lieutenant after lieutenant. There's a great exchange between Porter and one of the syndica

As politically split as our country was going into the 2016 election, there is no question that we have become even more divided during the course of the Trump presidency.   Yet some of the measure of that division can be found in the emotional intensity of the partisans on opposing sides. It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that there are discerning Americans that sit along a middle range of our political s

The president was inaugurated three years ago today... 4.7 trillion dollars to be added to the national debt by 2029 2.8 trillion dollars added to the national debt since inauguration 400 million dollars inherited from father 391 million dollars withheld from Ukraine 2.86 million fewer votes earned than 2016 opponent 1.9 fewer Americans with healthcare since inauguration 487,000 manufacturing jobs added sinc

On July 4, 1826, in Washington, D.C., the United States celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On that same day, two of America’s revered founding fathers – men who had been dear friends, successive U.S. presidents and worthy adversaries for more than five decades – both passed away within five hours of each other. At the age of 90, John Adams died of heart failure in the late afte

  (Excerpt from Chapter 5 of Unlock Congress: THE PROBLEM) The lead-off defect in the D.C. 4-3 is the power of the almighty political dollar. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul described money as “a root to all kinds of evil.” In the campaign world, it is often referred to as “the mother’s milk of politics.” While the other three defects are harmful to either the House o

  The failure of the U.S. Congress to pass any meaningful gun-safety legislation in the wake of mass shootings is driven by far more than the heavily covered left-right ideological split in both our country and our U.S. House and Senate. This unremitting failure to legislate is also the result of rules that allow for structural defects to exist in Congress - defects that thwart the will of an overwhelming maj

  Two debates down, and just look at those Outsiders go. Look at the Doc and the Face and the Narcissist increase their gains on the 13 other GOP candidates who have all previously held positions in elective office. One of these Outsiders will fix everything once they become president - just ask ‘em. The wisdom of inexperience. All they’ll need to do is bring their brilliant Outsider perspective and skill

  We know it will happen at some point. The option to make adjustments to our Constitution is part of our civic warranty as U.S. citizens, and we’ve been doing it for more than two centuries. Yet whenever someone debating campaign finance reform goes so far as to suggest ratifying a constitutional amendment to reduce the flood of money in our political system, the idea is typically dismissed as nearly im

  The professor shuffled into the classroom on the first day of his economics course looking the part: bespectacled, bearded, wearing a dark sports jacket with a button-down sneaking out of a crew neck sweater. But it didn’t take long to realize that Woods Bowman was anything but your typical professor. This was back in 2001, when I was enrolled in DePaul University’s Public Service Master’

This week, for the 114th time in our country’s history, a new U.S. House of Representatives will take the oath of office. But the play clock has already started ticking down on the re-election campaigns of all 435 members. There’s plenty of debate about the problems clogging up Congress. But there is no mistaking that tiny two-year House terms are harmful anachronisms in the 21st century. As far back as 1787,

It’s a phrase that goes through my mind whenever I see the latest depressing story about political corruption or malfeasance in my home state: “Ill-Annoy” – a real time documentary about scandal that’s been playing out in front of the eyes of Illinoisans for decades. But I must say, I’m particularly Ill-Annoyed today, as this afternoon former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will be arraigned in feder

  With tax day looming, Americans are once again questioning if they are getting their money’s worth from the most unpopular branch of government: the U.S. Congress. For most, the answer is no. It cost $4 billion last year to operate an institution that managed to spend another $3.5 trillion on our behalf. Meanwhile, the two previous sessions of Congress set unproductivity records (total laws passed), beati

  Clay Hunt was a 28-year-old U.S. Marine veteran who served his country in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In Anbar province, under ambush, Hunt watched more than one of his friends die on the battlefield – images that would replay over and over in his mind’s eye through countless sleepless nights. In 2007, a sniper’s gunshot narrowly missed Hunt's head, wounding him in the wrist instead. He was treated for