Posts Tagged: what

Money for Moneyball Government

President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposals actually invest in programs that demonstrate effectiveness, and he invests in generating new knowledge about what works through more evidence and evaluation. While the headlines about the president’s new budget focus on the big numbers, there is a significant back story about what the Office of Management andRead… Read more »

Understanding Your Income Tax Return

Our Schools Need to Teach This Stuff. As Americans tackle the annual tax-filing ritual, millions will panic. It’s confusing. Many don’t understand it. Some are afraid of it. Relax. Just slow down and read the forms, one line at a time. It’s easier than you think. As adults, we are all responsible for managing ourRead… Read more »

Understanding Your Income Tax Return

Our Schools Need to Teach This Stuff. As Americans tackle the annual tax-filing ritual, millions will panic. It’s confusing. Many don’t understand it. Some are afraid of it. Relax. Just slow down and read the forms, one line at a time. It’s easier than you think. As adults, we are all responsible for managing ourRead… Read more »

The United States Congress: Myths and Facts

Too many Americans don’t know what Congress is, or how it works. Congress has most of the political power in the United States. Public support for Congress has reached another all-time low. Our disapproval should be based in reality, not in fantasy, rumor, or ignorance. Our schools don’t bother to teach this stuff. What’s aRead… Read more »

How Non-Profits and Foundations Support Evidence-Based Government

Non-profits, foundations, and universities are enthused by government’s growing interest in the use of evidence and evaluation. They are chiming in with either support for government initiatives or undertaking their own initiatives. Some non-profits and foundations are advocates for the use of evidence-based decision-making in different policy arenas, while others advocate use of different toolsRead… Read more »

State, Local, and International Evidence-Based Government Initiatives

The federal government is not the sole player in the growing movement toward the use of evidence and evaluation in the policy decision-making process. While the federal government is undertaking a number of evidence-based program initiatives, the “moneyball government” movement is broader, encompassing initiatives at the state, local, and even international levels. Examples of State-LevelRead… Read more »

Five Steps to Building an Evidence-Based Culture in Government

OMB’s guidance to agencies on the development of their FY 2015 budgets promises that “OMB will issue a separate memo at a later date that encourages the increased use of evidence and evaluation, including rigorous testing of innovative strategies to build new knowledge of what works.” This encouragement comes on top of a foundation alreadyRead… Read more »

Read the Declaration of Independence

An Act of Treason; Not a Law The Declaration of Independence was more a process than a moment in history. This act of treason against an empire sparked the Revolutionary War and, eventually, the United States of America. It is not, and has never been, a law, but it is worth reading. This week, AmericansRead… Read more »

America at 237: A Guiding Light or A Dimming Beacon?

Having made two trips to Egypt since the Arab Spring to work with current and emerging political leaders, I closely follow its ever-changing political situation. In the past week, the protests that allowed the country to exercise its voice for democracy has turned into ugly battles between the right and left, between those feeling unempoweredRead… Read more »

When Does Obstruction Become Treason?

Why Won’t Americans Just Read the Constitution? Recently, Bill Maher and Michael Moore rightly criticized Congressional Republicans for their relentless obstruction of government. Plenty of liberal bloggers and their followers jumped on the bandwagon. But they all went too far in calling it treason. Republicans have tripped over each other to obstruct every budget proposal,Read… Read more »