By Jim Edgar and John Shaw American politics is as contentious now as it has been in any recent period in our history. As a response to this acrimony and conflict, it is tempting to turn off the TV, stop reading the newspaper, put down the phone, and forget about
By Jim Edgar and John Shaw As we all know, the United States is in the midst of a bitterly contentious political campaign in which the presidency and control of Congress are in question. Analysts say that the United States faces graver threats to its national security than it has
By Jim Edgar and John Shaw Less than five years ago, Illinois was moving aggressively in the wrong direction, careening toward the fiscal precipice, lurching toward junk bond status. A brutal and counterproductive two-year budget stalemate had tarnished Illinois’ reputation, damaged our schools, battered our credit rating, and led to
By Jim Edgar and John Shaw We announced last Fall that we established the Paul Simon-Jim Edgar Award to celebrate statesmanship in Illinois. Although we have no formula to offer that magically ends partisanship in Illinois, quiets rancor, and forges a sense of shared destiny, we believe this award will
As the director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, I don’t pay an undue amount of attention to the weather. However, Monday, January 28, 2019, was different. I woke up to a heavy snowstorm barreling across Illinois and was concerned because the Institute
