Your Guide to Understanding Washington's Budget Dysfunction

CRs, shutdowns, and appropriations bills explained in plain English

Oct 16 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

1

Why Democrats Are Winning the Shutdown Argument (For Now)

Analyzing how policy entrepreneurs compete to link problems, policies, and political moments—and why structural advantages shift

Oct 10 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

Three Competing Shutdown Stories—And Why Republicans’ Message Is Winning

Three narratives compete to define the October 2025 government shutdown, but only one is winning—and it’s not the one best supported by evidence.

Oct 2 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

September 2025

When Politicians Break the Thermometer

How information destruction becomes a new form of policy entrepreneurship

Sep 25 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

1

AI Job Losses: Fear, Facts, & Policy Inaction

Predictions swirl about AI’s impact on employment, but without reliable data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, policymakers are flying blind.

Sep 18 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

1

The Medicare Time Bomb Hidden in Trump's Tax Cut

Half a trillion in cuts won't start until 2026—will voters connect the dots?

Sep 11 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

The Martha Griffiths 1970 Playbook Threatens Speaker Johnson's Control

Speaker Mike Johnson faces two discharge petition threats that echo the 1970 ERA breakthrough, forcing votes on popular but politically tricky issues.

Sep 4 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

3

1

August 2025

What's On Congress' Fall Agenda? Human vs. AI Predictions.

The gap between what Congress should tackle and what they can realistically achieve—as seen through human hopes and algorithmic realism.

Aug 28 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

2

The Medicare Cuts Nobody's Talking About (Yet)

Why aren't angry constituents confronting Republicans about half a trillion in Medicare cuts during August recess?

Aug 21 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

1

Who Catches the Wave? Competing House Bills and the Speaker's Stock Trading Dilemma

As reformers paddle out with separate bills for banning stock trades, there may not be room for everyone to ride the same wave. Meanwhile, Mike Johnson…

Aug 7 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

Why I’m Switching to Biweekly Posts (And Adding Discussion Threads)

How do you know when it’s time to experiment with the system you’ve built?

Aug 2 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.

July 2025

Democrats Don't Have an Age Problem. They Have a Strategy Problem.

An op-ed originally published in The Hill on July 10, 2025

Jul 24 • 

Dana Dolan, Ph.D.