RJ Blog

by Haley Orlofsky It had been a normal day at the Clean Water Network — interns were glued to policy research on their computers, running errands in the Senate office buildings and listening in on conference calls, all while working on the Network’s Twitter campaign to #kickcoalash from the Transportation Bill. Everything was going as planned until something went terribly wrong: The Internet crashed! The other interns and I remained calm at first; however, after countless minutes of trying to repair the situation, we ended up in a tangled mess of wires, forced to come to terms with the alarming [...]

Tuesday night, I had what I like to call a “West Wing moment.” My parents got me hooked on Aaron Sorkin’s iconic TV series (cast pictured below) at the beginning of last summer, and ever since I’ve helplessly seen Washington politics as little more than a real-life iteration of that drama series. West Wing moments, transcend the political sphere. They capture the hopes and desires, the heart and soul, and always the idiosyncrasies of a very real person trying his or her darndest to make a difference in the lives of others. On Tuesday, I found my West Wing character [...]

As two recent college graduates with many friends who are unemployed or working as unpaid interns, we are all too familiar with bleak employment and financial prospects. It’s disheartening to know, though, that even as the economy begins to recover, statistics show that Katharine might still be paid an average of 77 cents on every dollar that Ian makes, simply because she’s a woman. This disparity is widened for minorities. Paying fair wages is a cornerstone of our Jewish tradition. Leviticus 19:13 commands, “You shall not defraud your neighbor, nor rob him; the wages of he who is hired shall [...]

As we were enjoying the long weekend at barbeques or on the beach, I’m sure that many of us also stopped to consider the sacrifices of our troops – both those who currently protect us across the world and those who have served in the armed forces throughout their lifetimes. There are many ways in which U.S. servicemen and women sacrifice, but most Americans are unaware that, beyond sacrificing their lives in the line of duty, servicewomen also sacrifice their own reproductive health in order to serve. The health insurance available to servicewomen differs significantly from every other health insurance [...]

The candidates and pundits engaged in the 2012 presidential campaigns promised that this campaign would feature a serious and laser-focused commitment to the core issues that face America: the economy, jobs, our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So imagine my surprise as the campaigns have spent entirely too much time debating a woman’s right to privacy, a woman’s right to receive contraception as part of her healthcare plan, a couple’s right to decide if, when and how to raise a family, and yes: a woman’s right to decide if an abortion is the right decision for her without interference by [...]

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate passed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with a 68-31 vote. This outcome of this vote proved that at least some issues of national importance are able to overcome the hyper-polarization of Capitol Hill.