Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke’s Blog

  • LaHood's Dilemma And The Difficulties Of Evaluation

    Yesterday Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in response to a question at a congressional hearing, suggested that Toyota owners ought to avoid driving their cars. Specifically, he said: “My advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to the Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it.”…

  • Keeping Track Of The Other Unemployed

    My latest article on my blog at the Washington Times Communities, Public Square Today, is now live: Keeping Track Of The Other Unemployed Yesterday, the government released data by metropolitan region on unemployment. That got me thinking about one of my pet peeves with unemployment data. That number that gets reported? It dramatically understates the…

  • Education Lifting Girls Out Of Slavery

    Some readers know how deeply I care and am energized by the modern Abolitionist movement across the world. There are more slaves now than there ever were at any time in human history. Human trafficking is tied with arms dealing for the second-most lucrative illicit business (after drugs). It is a $32 billion industry worldwide.…

  • Running Ethical — And Winning — Campaigns

    I’m in the middle of a four-day bipartisan candidate training program that is put on by the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. As far as I know, this program is unique. It is relentlessly bipartisan, for one thing. More important, though, is that it is entirely ethics-based. I was one…

  • Many Agencies Miss Obama's Deadline For Openness

    According to Doug Ward’s excellent OpenGovBlog, the first deadline under President Obama’s “Open Government Directive” has come and gone with 26 agencies failing to meet the Directive’s requirements. Here’s what Obama is requiring: “Within 45 days, each agency shall identify and publish online in an open format at least three high-value data sets and register…

  • State Of The Union: In Name Only

    My latest article on my blog at the Washington Times Communities, Public Square Today, is now live: State Of The Union: In Name Only Tonight, Barack Obama delivers his very first State Of The Union message to Congress. As is the custom with newly-inaugurated presidents, President Obama did speak to Congress last year, but that is…

  • Donate Services To A Candidate?

    My latest article on my blog at the Washington Times Communities, Public Square Today, is now live: Donate Services To A Candidate? A good friend asks: In your experience, are most services used by local candidates donated? A candidate for the . . . State House, whose staffer attended my recent social networking class, asked me…

  • Cooking With Brad: Farfalle With Chicken In Dijon Cream Sauce

    Here’s a dish that sounds like it might be complicated but is really, really easy to make. Lots of times I will want to make a cream sauce for pasta, but I get sort of tired of the usual. This has a slight tang to it and it’s tasty. Here’s what you need: 1lb Farfalle…