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A false “balance” infects the entire mainstream media and makes it puke out nonsense as if it were legitimate news in the public interest. The other day, while listening to that liberal bastion, NPR, the newscaster mentioned that another witness had given testimony that would be damaging to Trump in the House’s impeachment inquiry. In a transition so seamless it was an integral part of the story, the anchor immediately went on to say that Republicans claim the process is flawed, illegitimate, and partisan. Well, yes. But is this news? Of course, they object to the process. Don’t criminals...

By Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation, Columbia University With the 2020 campaign season upon us, “dark money” is again in the news. Yet most voters remain uninformed about what exactly it is and why the shadow funding is considered such a problem. As a law professor who studies campaign finance, I’d like to answer those questions and explain how improved disclosure laws could shed some light on dark money. 1. What is ‘dark money’? Election campaigns run on money. Money pays for salaries, travel – and especially advertising. Candidates who are not personally wealthy depend on...

New Census data released in September contained mixed news relating to national trends in income, poverty and health insurance coverage across the United States. The new data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) show that there were 38.1 million Americans in poverty in 2018. That’s an unacceptably large number, but there are a few positive findings in the new poverty and income data: The official poverty measure fell for the fourth straight year in 2018, dropping to 11.7% from 12.3% in 2017 That change reflects 1.4 million fewer people in poverty last year, compared to 2017, and for the...