Author: Tom Purcell
-
Failing U.S. Citizenship
“If younger generations don’t know why and how America is such a great nation, we are doomed!” “Ah, you speak of the recent Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation survey that finds only one in three Americans can pass the U.S. Citizenship Tes…
Categories: Columns
-
Jokes Abound, But Political Divide No Laughing Matter
With all the vitriol in our politics – with all the disagreement that is tearing our country apart – we could all use some levity about now. Here’s one joke I think we can all agree with: A man wearing a ski mask jumped into the path of a well-dr…
Categories: Columns
-
Spendthrift Idioms Define Congress
“Republicans like to talk about fiscal discipline, but when they have control of Congress they spend like drunken sailors!” “Ah, yes, you speak of the recent $150 billion spending bill that does some good things for veterans, but is loaded with goo…
Categories: Columns
-
Government Grounds for Gobbledygook
Despite a 2010 law that requires federal agencies to describe rules and regulations in plain language, most government writing is STILL unintelligible. I met with my federal-bureaucrat mole, Deep Gibberish – and his interpreter – for answers. “When …
Categories: Columns
-
Recalling 9/11: We’re Not So Divided After All
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was driving along the Beltway to a Falls Church, Va., office building when a radio announcer said a plane had flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. “What a horrible accident,” I remember thinkin…
Categories: Columns
-
The Higher Tech Gets, the Ruder We Get
Our rapidly growing incivility started with the invention of the telephone-answering machine. Before the answering machine’s widespread adoption, people answered their landline phones with a pleasant “hello,” eager to learn who was calling. To be…
Categories: Columns
-
School Lunch Bell Signals Another Round in Fight
It’s back-to-school week for millions of American children, which means it’s time to debate the federal government’s role in deciding what our kids should eat for lunch. To understand how the federal government got into the nutrition business, a lit…
Categories: Columns
-
Why Homeownership Pressure Is Good
Younger generations buying fewer homes than prior generations is not good for America. A recent Urban Institute study found home ownership among millennials, ages 25 to 34, is about 8 percent lower than it was for prior generations at the same age …
Categories: Columns
-
Americans Too Worried to Vacation
“Here we are in peak vacation season, but I’m afraid to take my paid vacation time off!” “Regrettably, you are not alone. According to the U.S. Travel Association, more than half of American workers aren’t using all of their vacation time. In its Pr…
Categories: Columns
-
Home Alone No Way to Work
Just as more private-sector organizations are calling telecommuting workers back to the office, two politicians in Washington hope to encourage federal agencies to allow more government employees to work from home. As it goes, the Trump administrati…
Categories: Columns
Best Sellings
Latest Posts
