Patrick W. Gavin

358 days ago - Lobbyists aren’t always received with open arms in Washington, but what if you’re one of the “cool” lobbyists?

529 days ago - Jack Valenti, who served as Hollywood's high-profile lobbyist for 38 years, died Thursday at his Washington home. He was 85 years old.

642 days ago - With the Democrats taking over both the House and Senate this week, Republicans, for the first time in more than a decade, are forced to play the role of Sour-Patch Kids in the Democrats’ Garden Party.

748 days ago - In their new book “The Broken Branch,” The Brookings Institution’s Thomas Mann and The American Enterprise Institute’s Norm Ornstein articulate how the U.S. Congress is failing the American people and they lay out an agenda to help make it the functional legislative branch it was meant to be. The Examiner interviewed Mann and Ornstein to help get a better understanding of Congress’ failures.

775 days ago - In his new book, “Work Over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law”, Ron Haskins, a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and co-director of Brookings’ Center on Children and Families, provides first-hand insight into the history of and political machinations behind the 1996 Welfare Reform Law. Haskins was a key staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee at the time of the bill’s passage and played a large role its creation. The Examiner interviewed Haskins to get his assessment of the bill on its 10-year anniversary.

790 days ago - In his new book, “The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money,” Tim Carney, the Warren T. Brookes Journalism Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, argues that big business and big government have a quiet partnership with each other — and it isn’t good for America. The Examiner interviewed Carney to get an insight into this unhealthy relationship.

796 days ago - In his new book, “10 Steps to Repair American Democracy,” Steven Hill, who directs the New America Foundation’s Political Reform Program, argues that what ails American democracy can be fixed by nothing short of a large overhaul of the United States’ antiquated system of government. Hill lays out 10 ways to improve both our government and the process by which we elect its representatives. Reforms range from having the House of Representatives appoint Supreme Court Justices (currently, the Senate holds that power) to making Election Day a national holiday.