Saturday, March 4, WUSA TV (Channel 9) News (Washington D.C.)

Michael Fauntroy

Eye on Washington

Michael Fauntroy, assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, appeared on the WUSA public affairs show, “Eye on Washington.” Fauntroy and panelists discussed Walter Reed Hospital, Iraq, Afghanistan, civil rights, and presidential campaigns.

To read the transcript click here.

Sunday, March 11, Chicago Tribune
Youth Serves a Central Role

Richard Florida

“As thousands of Chicagoans leave the city each year, a countervailing force is moving in: twentysomethings, whose growing presence in and near the city's center is attracting companies to start or expand operations downtown. ‘Companies are finding that the key asset is no longer the highway interchange, coal vein or port,’ said Richard Florida, a professor of urban policy at George Mason University. ‘Now, it's this educated, skilled, innovative talent. Companies are moving to be near the kind of people that Chicago is attracting in droves.’ Now, companies are chasing the skills and creativity of youthful workers who increasingly are gravitating toward cities replete with clubs, restaurants, museums and natural draws such as Lake Michigan, said Florida.”

Thursday, March 15, WTOP Radio (Washington D.C.)
Some Signs Local Housing Market Recovering

John McClain

“John McClain, a George Mason University analyst, says home sales were up about 2 percent in January and February, and he's cautious about the rest of the year. ‘Price appreciation could be flat and some jurisdictions may actually continue to be negative.’
McClain also says the changes are not uniform. ‘The market's recovering more quickly on the Maryland side of the river than on the Virginia side.… I think that's due to the mix of product. There are more new homes for sale [in Maryland].’"

Saturday, March 17, Richmond Times-Dispatch
States jockey for primary position

"‘There will probably be a clear frontrunner in each party before the candidates come to Virginia,’ Mark Rozell, political scientist at George Mason University, said. ‘It certainly minimizes Virginia's impact.’"

Sunday, March 18, San Diego Union-Tribune
Pressure Musharraf to do more

Op-ed co-written by Adjunct Professor John Gordon IV (a senior policy researcher at RAND Corp. and a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army) with Seth G. Jones. Gordon notes that the piece was based on his trip to Afghanistan to conduct research for the RAND Corp. The piece discusses strategy to combat terrorism. To read the entire op-ed, click here.

Wednesday, March 21, New York Times
The White House and Congress Seem Headed toward a Familiar Collision

“The Bush administration has few equals in its commitment to a broad conception of executive authority, and it has on several occasions argued for an expansive understanding of executive privilege and similar protections. But legal scholars said that President Bill Clinton asserted the doctrine of executive privilege more often and more vigorously, including in the investigation of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. ‘Clinton clearly was more aggressive in using executive privilege than any of the modern presidents since Eisenhower,’ said Mark Rozell, a [public policy] professor at George Mason University and the author of Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability. ‘Bush has been somewhat reluctant to use it.’”

Wednesday, March 21, Time Magazine
A Coming Battle over Bush's Executive Privilege

Mark Rozell

“ Executive Privilege looms as the nuclear option in George W. Bush's battle with Congress over its investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Executive privilege is not actually mentioned in the Constitution and has been called ‘a constitutional myth’ by legal historian Raoul Berger. President Eisenhower was the first to use the phrase and was its firmest proponent, according to Mark Rozell, a professor at George Mason University and the author of two books on executive privilege. ‘Eisenhower took a very strong stand, especially during the McCarthy hearings,’ he explains. When Senator Joseph McCarthy demanded that White House officials testify in 1954 about suspected communists, ‘Eisenhower responded that any man who testifies to Congress about what advice he gave me will not be working for me by nightfall.’ But running in the administration's favor is the uncertain context of Congress' demand for testimony. When Nixon and Clinton invoked the privilege, they had to argue against the strong interests of special prosecutors in obtaining information for a criminal investigation. ‘Here, we're talking about a congressional committee asking for testimony,’ says Rozell. ‘It's a lot murkier.’”

Thursday, March 22, USA Today
Life Quickly Gets a Lot Harder for White House

“President George W. Bush and his defenders contend that requiring White House aides to testify could discourage them from offering their most candid advice. Analysts who have studied executive privilege said that a political accommodation is more likely than a drawn-out court fight. ‘Somebody blinks,’ said Mark Rozell, a [public policy professor] at George Mason University and author of Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy and Accountability.”

Thursday, March 22, Christian Science Monitor
No one blinks, yet, on U.S. attorney firings

“ However, recent presidents—including Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush—in general have used a threat of resorting to a claim of executive privilege as their opening bid in a poker game with Congress over the release of internal information. Some feel this trivializes an important aspect of the American system of the separation of powers of the branches of government. The invocation of executive privilege should be a last resort, says Mark Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. If Bush truly believes that political adviser Karl Rove and other current and former top aides should not give sworn testimony about the firings of U.S. prosecutors, he should not allow them to speak to Congress at all, says Professor Rozell. Yet the administration has already offered to allow aides to speak with lawmakers in private. ‘If he's willing to let them talk, why not under oath?’ says Rozell. ‘It seems to me this is also an opening of negotiations by the president.’"

Thursday, March 22, NPR Morning Edition
Democrats Lay Groundwork for Subpoenas

“The Bush administration has always been careful not to give lawmakers, or the public, too much information about the inner workings of the White House, saying to do so would make staffers reluctant to provide candid advice to the president. In this case, though, the White House may have weakened its own argument, says George Mason University Professor Mark Rozell, author of the book Executive Privilege.”

To read or listen to the entire transcript, please click here.

Saturday, March 24, Washington Post
After a Dismal Year, Condo Market Remains Shaky

“Condos bore the brunt of the housing slump in 2006. But the first two months of 2007 have been promising. Lisa Fowler, a researcher at the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, said the market could start rebounding by the middle of the year. ‘We're kind of at the bottom of things shaking themselves out,’ she said. Fowler said condos took a heavy hit because so many investors bought them, then tried to unload them once the market weakened. At the same time, many developers were too far into the building process to terminate their projects. ‘You go up faster and you have farther to fall,’ Fowler said. Still, Fowler said, condos are less expensive than most single-family houses and will continue to appeal to first-time home buyers and retirees looking to scale down. ‘The condo market is not dead by any means,’ she said.”

Monday, March 26, Washington Post
January Jobless Rate Breaks a Pattern

“The unemployment rate for the Washington area rose to 3.4 percent in January, from 3.1 percent in the same month last year, marking the first rise in joblessness after four years of January-to-January declines. ‘It's probably too early to say this is a trend,’ said John McClain, a senior fellow at George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis. ‘This is probably a more normal rate, because for much of last year, we were around 2.9 percent, which is really stressed.’ McClain said an unemployment rate below 3 percent is abnormal and shows local businesses can't recruit enough people to meet their demands. The unemployment rate is still lower than that of most metropolitan areas around the country and lower than the national rate of 4.6 percent in January, he noted.”

Monday, March 26, History New Network

Professor Mark Rozell had his op-ed, "Bush and the Case for Executive Privilege," published in George Mason's History News Network.

Wednesday, March 28, Washington Post
Webb is Vague about Gun Incident

“U.S. Sen. James Webb expressed support yesterday for a top aide caught with a handgun in a Senate office building but shed little light on his role in what he described as an ‘unfortunate’ situation. ‘Having a gun is not a liability in this state for a politician,’ said Mark Rozell, a [public policy] professor at George Mason University. ‘The fact that he carries a concealed weapon confirms his credentials with gun owners.’”

Friday, March 30, Palm Beach Post
No sign of slowdown in jobs stats

Stephen Fuller

“For months now, the conventional wisdom has been that the housing slowdown would hurt the booming job market in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast…. A continued boom in commercial and public construction has created jobs for workers who once built homes, said Stephen Fuller, a George Mason University economist who’s creating an economic index for Palm Beach County. ‘Non-residential construction has really picked up the slack,’ Fuller said.”

Monday, April 2, Washington Post
Assembly Take on Kaine's Vetoes, Death Penalty, Smoking New Contentions in Va.

“Virginia legislators will meet for a one-day session this week to settle two contentious issues that could alter the state's reputation for swift justice for killers and determine how much the tobacco industry still influences state politics. Much of the debate will probably center on Kaine's decisions to seek a restaurant smoking ban and to veto three proposals to expand the use of the death penalty to include accomplices and the killers of judges and witnesses. The House and Senate would have to approve the smoking ban and could vote to override Kaine's vetoes of the death penalty bills. ‘It is a quite a transformation over the past generation of Virginia politics,’ said Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. ‘If somebody had told me when I moved here in the early 1980s that we would be having a debate about a ban on some forms of the death penalty and a ban on smoking in public places, I would say, 'Not in my lifetime.’”

Tuesday, April 3, Bloomberg News
Romney, Democrats Emerge as Early Winners of 'Money Primary'

“‘Money does not always translate ultimately into success,’ said Mark Rozell, a public policy professor at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia. Having said that, as in life generally, it’s better to have more money than less.’”

Friday, April 6, USA Today
Many presidents have used the recess option

“Bush ranks fourth among modern presidents in granting recess appointments, bypassing the Senate 165 times to get his nominees in place, according to the Senate historian's office. Ronald Reagan holds the record with 243 appointments. The Constitution authorized recess appointments so presidents could fill key vacancies during long periods of congressional inactivity, which was the norm in early U.S. history. ‘The question is whether this is the politically wise thing to do,’ said Mark Rozell, a separation of powers specialist [public policy professor] at George Mason University. ‘It makes for a more difficult relationship with certain members of the Senate,’ he said.”

Monday, April 9, Washington Post
Professor Helps Sell GMU's New Image

“George Mason University's men's basketball team had barely crashed the NCAA Final Four in 2006 when Mason President Alan Merten and his staff went to work to capitalize on their newfound fame. Case in point: the latest BusinessWeek, which serves up a full-page advertisement featuring Mason economist and author Richard Florida, the university's Hirst Professor of Public Policy. It's one of a series of ads the school has been running in national publications in the past year. Florida has made a mini-industry out of his theories that smart, innovative thinkers — such as engineers, writers, entertainers and artists — are crucial to the success of U.S. cities and competitiveness. ‘His thesis is that 20- and 30-year-olds first decide where they want to live, and then they decide what kind of job they want and where they want to work,’ Merten said. ‘They are more interested in location.’ Merten said the ad is meant to emphasize that the Washington region has the kind of cultural, sports, academic and service amenities that are a magnet for the best and brightest young people.”

Monday, April 9, Associated Press
Baghdad ‘Is Not a City Anymore’

Jack Goldstone

“Iraqis wonder: Can a place where men blow themselves up in street markets, cars implode at traffic lights and kidnappings occur in broad daylight ever recover?

There is a way out, say historians and sociologists. ‘It's one of those terrible situations where you are at first aghast that such things could happen,’ said Jack Goldstone, a sociologist [public policy professor] at George Mason University, who specializes in international conflict. ‘And then you realize that people are people and they've been doing this kind of thing forever and it's not the end of the world. People do go on. But, for any [peace] to occur, there has to be a settlement that provides security for the people of Iraq,’ he cautioned. ‘And we're a long way from that.’”