Ray Kluender

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Campaign finance loopholes threaten electoral process

Obama takes savvy stance on Libyan war

While many of you were partying on the beach, enjoying the weather turn in Madison or elsewhere on your spring break, last Thursday I found myself in the House of Parliament in London, listening to British Foreign Secretary William Hague give a speech and entertain debate on the conflict in Libya. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi's forces steadily gained ground over recent weeks, forcing the hand of the international community to respond to ongoing atrocities against civilians and rebels. The Libyan ruler, who rose to power at the age of 27 following a military coup in 1969, has vowed to ""cleanse Libya house by house"" until the uprising of ""rats"" and ""cockroaches"" has been squashed.

Defense spending cuts need to be on table

In the contentious partisan climate of American politics in 2011, the unsustainability of the federal deficit may be the only major issue on which Republicans and Democrats agree.