Word: reformer
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...goes to a larger truth. With power distributed between three branches of government, and between Washington and the states, the U.S. has a distinctly fragmented political system, one that has many pressure points available for those with an ax to grind or a proposal to advance. (Think health-care reform.) By comparison with other democracies, that can make for a messy system of government, in which you can never be quite sure how things will get done, or what players hold strong hands. Moreover, because the U.S. is so powerful, its national system of government is to an extent...
...DeLay: he was a 10-term Republican Congressman, at one time considered the most powerful man in the House, nicknamed the Hammer for his ability to unite Republicans and push bills through. Four years ago, he was indicted by a Texas grand jury for conspiring to violate campaign-finance-reform laws. He maintains his innocence; he has not yet been tried. Quick refresher course on DWTS: people wear sparkly outfits and compete to win a mirror ball...
...National Educators Association, the nation's largest teachers' union. "If it's going to be more of the same, more NCLB [No Child Left Behind], more testing and minimal support, then we're not interested." Duncan admits he is tackling the Everest of entrenched interests with this particular reform. "It's pretty controversial," he says of the rule. "But to say that great teaching doesn't matter and should be disconnected from student outcomes, to me, is ludicrous...
Duncan's approach has also scrambled the once predictable politics of educational reform. Republicans typically favor reform. But Duncan's top-down approach, with Washington telling states how to behave, makes some conservatives nervous. "When you're talking about that much money and you're using the language that the Secretary is using, then you get states already starting to change some of their laws before any money has actually been given out," says Representative John Kline, the new ranking Republican member of the House Education Committee. "I'm not completely comfortable with that...
...help shift Japan away from the export-oriented economic growth that served it so well in its golden age of the 1970s and '80s. To accomplish that, Japan needs to boost domestic consumption. But its people will spend only if they feel economically secure, which is why thoroughgoing reform of the pension, health-care and unemployment systems is vital. Japan's current social-security programs hark back to an era of guaranteed jobs for life, which places unsustainable financial burdens on companies and individuals...