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Articles by Jill Lawrence
Dolly Parton, Gloria Steinem, & ‘Trump-a-Palooza’ | Journalist Jill Lawrence Joins First Draft
There’s a lot going on this week, so we turn to Jill Lawrence, an award-winning journalist who’s covered politics and culture inside and out for USA Today, National Journal, the Associated Press, and The Daily Beast. She now publishes the Substack newsletter, History Keeps Happening, and can be found at jilllawrence.com. Jill talks to Susan J. Demas about her latest pieces on Dolly Parton and Gloria Steinem, as well as the latest in the midterm elections.
Viewpoint-First year scorecard: ‘The damage HHS secretary Kennedy has done to science and public health is appalling’
GLP Policy & Performance Review, 2024 The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download the report. Global Gene Editing Regulation Tracker Our interactive GLP global map explains the status of each country’s regulations for human and agricultural gene editing and gene drives. GLP 2021 Annual Report The GLP is committed to full transparency. Download our 2021 Annual Report.
Opinion: MAGA has won the war on science
This is the story of two Republican doctor-senators named Bill. One of them, as majority leader from 2003 to 2007, helped a self-described "compassionate conservative" Republican president pass a Medicare prescription drug plan and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), "the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history." The other, as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, voted to send Robert F.
Commentary: MAGA has won the war on science
This is the story of two Republican doctor-senators named Bill. One of them, as majority leader from 2003 to 2007, helped a self-described "compassionate conservative" Republican president pass a Medicare prescription drug plan and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ), "the by any nation to address a single disease in history." The other, as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, voted to send Robert F.
Commentary: MAGA has won the war on science
This is the story of two Republican doctor-senators named Bill. One of them, as majority leader from 2003 to 2007, helped a self-described “compassionate conservative” Republican president pass a Medicare prescription drug plan and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR ), “the by any nation to address a single disease in history.” kAm%96 @E96C[ 2D 2 >6>36C @7 E96 $6?2E6 u:?2?46 r@>>:EE66[ G@E65 E@ D6?5 #@36CE u] z6??65J yC]’D ?@>:?2E:@? 2D D64C6E2CJ @7 w62=E9 2?5 wF>2?
Opinion: Is DC a Canary in a Coal Mine?
Just as miners watch the canary for danger, Washington, DC, signals a warning for the nation. Despite being home to the federal government, DC lacks the political power to defend itself, with no voting representatives in Congress or the Senate. Recently, Congress blocked $1.1 billion of DC’s budget, freezing funds for libraries, schools, parks, and waste management—money raised locally through taxes.
Opinion: Is DC a Canary in a Coal Mine?
Just as miners watch the canary for danger, Washington, DC, signals a warning for the nation. Despite being home to the federal government, DC lacks the political power to defend itself, with no voting representatives in Congress or the Senate. Recently, Congress blocked $1.1 billion of DC’s budget, freezing funds for libraries, schools, parks, and waste management—money raised locally through taxes.
McCarthy speaker spectacle is no joke. It shows the Republican Party will damage America.
If you’re a Republican, last week was a humiliating disgrace . If you’re a Democrat, it was a frustrating farce. For all Americans, this GOP – a motley collection of traditionalists, extremists and chaosmongers failing repeatedly and historically to choose a House speaker – is previewing two years of even worse: incompetence, immaturity and irresponsibility that will hammer the whole country.
McCarthy speaker spectacle is no joke. It shows the Republican Party will damage America. Original
If you’re a Republican, the last few days have been a humiliating disgrace. If you’re a Democrat, they’ve been a frustrating farce. For all Americans, this GOP – a motley collection of traditionalists, extremists and chaosmongers failing repeatedly and historically to choose a House speaker – is previewing two years of even worse: incompetence, immaturity and irresponsibility that will hammer the whole country.
What Joe Biden's memory lapse about the late Jackie Walorski really told us Original
President Joe Biden calling out late congresswoman Jackie Walorski seemed like a memory fail. At White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, he was trying to commend her work, crossing party lines. After a Trump presidency that lacked empathy, let's put this moment in perspective. I shuddered when I learned that President Joe Biden had called out to a crowd in search of a congresswoman who died nearly two months ago in an automobile accident.
GOP says no to helping Americans, coddles Trump. Now the FBI has searched his home.
GOP says no to helping Americans, coddles Trump. Now the FBI has searched his home. The Mar-a-Lago search, the CPAC speech and a terrifying book excerpt – all in the last few days – are flashing red lights. Trump is a danger that keeps growing.
Liz Cheney's anti-Trump crusade will end her career or make her a White House contender
Liz Cheney's anti-Trump crusade will end her career or make her a White House contender I wouldn't want Liz Cheney as my president. But she's an indispensable woman at a time when so many other Republicans are 'willing hostages' to Trump. Jill Lawrence There's no Republican more bold, and no politician more on message, than Rep. Liz Cheney. Her speech Tuesday at a First Amendment event in New Hampshire may have been a feeler into presidential politics.
Biden's speech to Congress: Liberal road to ruin or popular fixes to festering problems?
After 98 days in the White House, President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. USA TODAY Deputy Editorial Page Editor David Mastio and Commentary Editor Jill Lawrence watched the 65-minute speech and had strikingly different reactions to what the president said. David: Donald Trump is gone, but Washington is still stuck on abnormal.
Biden's speech to Congress: Liberal road to ruin or popular fixes to festering problems?
After 98 days in the White House, President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. USA Today Deputy Editorial Page Editor David Mastio and Commentary Editor Jill Lawrence watched the 65-minute speech and had strikingly different reactions to what the president said. Mastio: Donald Trump is gone, but Washington is still stuck on abnormal.
Biden's speech to Congress: Liberal road to ruin or popular fixes to festering problems?
After 98 days in the White House, President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Deputy Editorial Page Editor David Mastio and Commentary Editor Jill Lawrence watched the 65-minute speech and had strikingly different reactions to what the president said. David: Donald Trump is gone, but Washington is still stuck on abnormal.
Biden's speech to Congress: Liberal road to ruin or popular fixes to festering problems?
After 98 days in the White House, President Joe Biden delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Deputy Editorial Page Editor David Mastio and Commentary Editor Jill Lawrence watched the 65-minute speech and had strikingly different reactions to what the president said. David: Donald Trump is gone, but Washington is still stuck on abnormal.
OPINION: Abrams would be a great Democratic Party chair
Jill Lawrence Monday Nov 23, 2020 at 6:57 AM This is an op-ed by Jill Lawrence, commentary editor of USA TODAY and author of "The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock." Stacey Abrams says she founded the New Georgia Project in 2013 to sign people up for health insurance under the "transformative" Affordable Care Act.
Conversation: Get ready for impeachment trial as partisan farce
David Mastio and Jill Lawrence Published 5:00 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2020 JILL: Judgment Day is coming for the Senate, and for the life of me I can’t understand why Republicans don’t see it as an escape hatch — the one time in over 200 years you really might want and need to break the glass because there is in fact an emergency. It’s not that I don’t get the political considerations involved here.
Warren's Choice: 'Medicare for All' Purity or Path to Beat Trump
Elizabeth Warren is increasingly less of a long shot to win the Democratic presidential nomination, as a new Iowa poll shows. She now has a window to either expand her appeal to millions of voters who are uncertain about her candidacy, or make sure they write her off. It all comes down to health care. The Massachusetts senator portrays herself as the candidate of dreaming big and fighting hard.
What Do Voters Owe a Contender of a Certain Age?, by Jill Lawrence
One candidate is an old-timer who offers tradition, history and a wealth of experience. The other, decades younger, argues that it's time for a new generation and new ideas. No, this is not a preview of Hillary Clinton-Marco Rubio 2016. It's playing out right now in a northeast Texas congressional race where a 91-year-old is trying to keep his House seat. First get past your amazement that somebody would want to serve in Congress at age 91. It takes all kinds, and Republican Rep.
U.K., EU leaders talk Brexit, agree only to further discussions
Raf Casert, Lorne Cook and Jill Lawrence, The Associated Press Published Thursday, February 7, 2019 3:36AM EST Last Updated Thursday, February 7, 2019 2:39PM EST BRUSSELS -- Britain and the European Union refused to budge an inch Thursday toward any compromise over Brexit, but at least they are on speaking terms again about their impending divorce.
OPINION: Trump and GOP are the purveyors of crisis
Conservatives from President Donald Trump on down are weaving a fiery, comforting fantasy about Democrats in these final weeks before the midterm elections. They are a party of ardent socialists who would inflict Medicare on everyone and bankrupt the country. Their presidential front-runner for 2020 is Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti. Oh, and giving them power would plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Trump and Republicans have put America in crisis. 'Mob' and 'socialism' won't erase that.
No baseless attacks against 'socialism' and a Democratic 'mob' will erase the reality that Trump and Republicans are inflicting non-stop crises on America. Conservatives from President Donald Trump on down are weaving a fiery, comforting fantasy about Democrats in these final weeks before the midterm elections. They are a party of ardent socialists who would inflict Medicare on everyone and bankrupt the country. Their presidential front-runner for 2020 is Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti.
The Trouble With the Huge Republican Field , by Jill Lawrence
The Republican presidential field is like the broom that keeps endlessly splitting into more brooms in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" section of "Fantasia." By this time next week, there will likely be 10 officially declared candidates — and that doesn't even include the sitting governors of Wisconsin, Ohio, Louisiana and New Jersey, the former governor of Florida, or Donald Trump. Many Democrats would give their eyeteeth for even a fraction of the credible contenders in this crowd.
How to get sicker, die sooner and pay more for it
It is painful that five years after passage of the Affordable Care Act, 19 states still have not taken advantage of its option to expand Medicaid. It becomes more so with each new report on the deeply flawed U.S. health system. The latest, from the National Academy of Sciences, finds that rich people live about 13 years longer than poor people. The researchers note that consequently, rich people end up getting the lion’s share of Social Security benefits.
Would the Founders want our kids to die in school shootings
Amid all we know about the Founding Fathers, two things stand out in the wake of yet another mass shooting that underscores the desperate need for action and the depth of our paralysis. The first is that nearly a third of the 39 delegates who signed the Constitution endured the tragedy of losing children. By one count, 24 sons and daughters born to a dozen signers died before adulthood. The second is that these and the other Founders were among the greatest change-makers in history.
Freakout-Enomics: Trump, GOP Making All the Wrong Choices
Freakout-Enomics: Trump, GOP Making All the Wrong Choices From trade to immigration to debt to income inequality, you'll find Trump, Republicans or both on the wrong side of the facts and the future.Read Full Article »
OPINION: Biggest election winner was Vladimir Putin
President Trump might have disappointed Vladimir Putin in Syria, but don’t be fooled. Putin and Russia have gotten what they paid for — and the deal is good for China as well. The payoff is Trump himself. He is an appalling symbol of American values and his policies are putting the U.S. on a glide path to the past, one that more closely resembles a starkly unequal Gilded Age than a robust 21st-century country where everyone’s on the rise. The upshot is multiple openings for Russia and China.
Could Pope Francis Be Donald Trump's Undoing?
If he hasn't faded from the news in a few weeks, Donald Trump will have some serious competition for headlines from a person who represents everything he does not. That would be Pope Francis, who arrives in Washington Sept. 22 for a six-day visit to America. The pope's schedule — a meeting at the White House, a service at the World Trade Center, addresses to a joint session of Congress and the United Nations General Assembly — is world class, as Trump might put it.
The Michael Flynn Problem Starts at the Top | RealClearPolitics
The Michael Flynn Problem Starts at the Top Trump is his role model. That's the uncomfortable truth at the heart of his abrupt exit.
Obamacare Faces the Abyss. Again.
Once I imagined the Affordable Care Act would generate a mighty political force of Obamacare voters, but that time was long ago. Now I doubt there will ever be a groundswell of grassroots support for this besieged law. Tens of millions of people are benefitting from it, but too many don't make the connection. Too many who do recognize how it's helped them would never consider voting for a Democrat. And since virtually no Republicans support the act, well, you see the problem.
The System Is Rigged....Against Coastal Elites | RealClearPolitics
Our numbers are legion, but where we live has cost us two presidents and a Supreme Court majority.
Are Toxic Phthalates Lurking On Your Skin?
We all know the feeling. It’s been a long day so you treat yourself to a vanilla scented bubble bath. Your face feels a little dry and a cooling cucumber mask is just what the doctor ordered. The hell with it, let’s open the purple body scrub that smells like grapes and slather it all over.
LETTER: The raw reality of Republican racism
The time for denial is over. If you want to quantify the distance Republicans have traveled since its “party of Lincoln” days, look away from Donald Trump long enough to read the federal court ruling that struck down a North Carolina voting law. It’s as damning a document as you will ever encounter. The evidence shows the state party as an institution conspired — OK, schemed — to suppress the votes of one particular race.
Trump leads GOP past ‘party of no’
Of all the Republican pillars smashed to shards by Donald Trump’s wrecking ball, the most fundamental repudiation is this: The presidential nominee for the “party of no” will almost surely be the guy who wrote “The Art of the Deal.” With a big Indiana win behind him, a 34-point lead in the latest poll of California and Ted Cruz out of the race, Trump appears to have lost nothing and perhaps has gained much by talking constantly about the need to make deals.
The Republican Brand Is Tea Party
House Republicans will hold their leadership elections next week and all signs point to them remaining more interested in appeasing a narrow base than governing a diverse country. Consider: The only woman positioned to run for Majority Leader, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, decided not to make a bid. The two men competing for the job are conservatives from the Deep South.
Pope Francis Set To Address Fractious U.S. Congress
By Philip Pullella and Scott Malone WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Fresh off his meeting with President Barack Obama, Pope Francis delivers a speech on Thursday to a U.S. Congress led by Republicans who have opposed Obama on issues of importance to the pontiff including climate change and immigration.
How To Get Sicker, Die Sooner And Pay More For It
It is painful that five years after passage of the Affordable Care Act, 19 states still have not taken advantage of its option to expand Medicaid. It becomes more so with each new report on the deeply flawed U.S. health system. The latest, from the National Academy of Sciences, finds that rich people live about 13 years longer than poor people. The researchers note that consequently, rich people end up getting the lion’s share of Social Security benefits.
Surrender On Guns Is Not An Option
The anguish of Richard Martinez in the wake of the Santa Barbara, California, shootings that killed his 20-year-old son last year was almost unbearable. Now he is an old hand. “You are not alone,” Martinez told Andy Parker, father of slain Virginia journalist Alison Parker, in a recent USA Today column. “Welcome to the heartbreaking club that no one wants to be a part of.” If only we could fix this by keeping better tabs on disturbed young men and erratic co-workers.
Kim Davis And The Iowa-Or-Bust Syndrome
Watching Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz compete to make a martyr out of Kim Davis makes me wonder if it’s finally time to send Iowa toward the back of the line in the presidential nominating process. And while we’re at it, maybe South Carolina should head in that direction, too. Huckabee won the leadoff Iowa caucuses in 2008, the last time he ran. If he doesn’t win them this year, his quest for the Republican presidential nomination will be finished practically before it starts.
The Four-Time Bride Who Won't Let Gays Get Married, by Jill Lawrence
If ever there was an argument to make teenagers take citizenship exams before they can get a high school diploma, it's the Kentucky clerk who won't issue marriage licenses to gay couples, and her all too supportive husband. Make that fourth husband. "They want us to accept their beliefs and their ways. But they won't accept our beliefs and our ways," Joe Davis said of gay protesters at the Rowan County Courthouse, The Associated Press reported.
Could Pope Francis Be Donald Trump's Undoing?
If he hasn’t faded from the news in a few weeks, Donald Trump will have some serious competition for headlines from a person who represents everything he does not. That would be Pope Francis, who arrives in Washington on Sept. 22 for a six-day visit to America. The pope’s schedule — a meeting at the White House, a service at the World Trade Center, addresses to a joint session of Congress and the United Nations General Assembly — is world class, as Trump might put it.
Republicans Aim For Their Own Feet
What do women want? Republicans are trying to answer that question and, as usual, they are getting it wrong. The party has an unerring genius for alienating exactly the demographics it needs to win the White House. Republicans have made it harder for students, urbanites, and minorities to vote. Many of their presidential candidates are competing over who can deport the most immigrants and build the best border wall. Why should the GOP approach to women be any different?
Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, And Ignoring The Past
At least we’d know what to expect from them. That’s the cheeriest way to cast the latest in presidential dynasty news. Hillary Clinton lived up (or should we say down?) to past patterns and current expectations by proposing an ambitious college affordability plan one day, then — after stalling for months — agreeing the next day to give the FBI the private server she used for all her emails while she was Secretary of State.
The 45th President Will Owe Obama Big Time
For more than six years, as conservatives have stewed and raged and taken their spoils in midterm elections, liberals have been living through a relatively golden age. By that I mean they know they will wake up to a president who doesn’t make them want to put their fist through a wall. Most days.
A Roiling Republican Party Is Ready for Its Close-Up
You've got to stay alert these days if you want to keep up with the Republican Party. Actually, make that Republican parties. The GOP is proceeding along two tracks — the headline track and the governing track. Which party will show up Aug. 6 for the first presidential debate? Or will both of them be onstage? The headline track is driven largely by Donald Trump and the 2016 contestants trying to escape his shadow. It's not pretty but from their standpoint it is necessary.
A Roiling Republican Party Is Ready for Its Close-Up
You’ve got to stay alert these days if you want to keep up with the Republican Party. Actually, make that Republican parties. The GOP is proceeding along two tracks — the headline track and the governing track. Which party will show up Aug. 6 for the first presidential debate? Or will both of them be onstage? The headline track is driven largely by Donald Trump and the 2016 contestants trying to escape his shadow. It’s not pretty but from their standpoint it is necessary.
Too Late for the New, Improved Clinton and Perry?
Amid a presidential field so large you’d need 10 fingers, 10 toes, and an extra hand or foot to count them, two contenders stand out as most improved. Hillary Clinton and Rick Perry are better candidates now than they were in their first tries for national office. Unfortunately for them, their paths to the Oval Office are much more complicated now than they would have been, in 2008 for Clinton or 2012 for Perry.
Obama's Best Iran Role Model Is The First President Bush
Richard Nixon won a Senate seat after implying his “pink lady” opponent was a communist, but went on to open relations with “Red China” in the 1970s. Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire,” then negotiated nuclear arms reduction agreements with his Soviet counterpart. President Obama is comparing himself to those two Republican presidents as he seeks support for the new international deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. But he should add at least one more.
What Democrats Should Fear Most About Scott Walker
Before there were public employee unions, there was Tonette. Unintimidated is the title of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s book, the title of his SuperPAC, and the thematic spine of his presidential campaign. It is of course a reference to his knock-down, drag-out fight with state worker unions, and his subsequent triumphs in politics and policy.
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