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May 28 to June 3 Featured Article In this exclusive book excerpt, Philip Hamburger, a leading scholar on the "deep state," explores the unelected federal bureaucracy that grew last century as elites worried about the rough-and-tumble character of representative politics, and about the tendency of newly enfranchised groups to reject progressive reforms. What the knowledge class preferred was a more elevated mode of governance. From "The Administrative Threat": Some early progressives were quite candid about this. Woodrow Wilson complained that "the reformer is bewildered" by the need to persuade "a voting majority of several million heads." He was particularly worried about the diversity of the nation, which meant that the reformer needed to influence "the mind, not of Americans of the older stocks only, but also of Irishmen, of Germans, of Negroes." Elaborating this point, he observed: "The bulk of mankind is rigidly unphilosophical, and nowadays the bulk of mankind votes." Rather than try to persuade such persons, Wilson welcomed administrative governance. The people could still have their republic, but much legislative power would be shifted out of an elected body and into the hands of the right sort of people. Read Full Article Other Noteworthy Articles and Series The New Online High School Diploma Mills
Slate/Columbia
Los Angeles schools pulled off a miracle during the 2015-16 school year, raising the city's projected graduation rate from 54 to 75 percent. The "divine" intervention: an online credit recovery program, one that may have had less-than-rigorous standards. About 75 percent of districts around the country have adopted similar online courses, as Slate and Columbia University's journalism school report in "The Big Shortcut," an eight-part series. The Billionaire Gadfly Who Stared Down Beijing
New York Times
Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui has been using his Manhattan aerie as a launching pad for Twitter accusations about corruption in China. The charges could upend politics in China, possibly driving a wedge between President Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan, the Wall Street-connected anticorruption czar and focus of Guo's allegations. No one's motives appear pure in this saga, and the stakes couldn't be much higher. House Aides Fear Data Breach Suspects Are Blackmailers
Daily Caller
Congressional technology aides are baffled that data-theft allegations against four former House IT workers have largely been ignored, and they fear the integrity of sensitive information. Why are Democratic members of Congress displaying an intense loyalty toward the suspects? The baffled aides wonder if the suspects are blackmailing representatives based on the contents of their emails and files. EPA Deep-Stater vs. Trump
Wall Street Journal
Columnist Kimberly A. Strassel identifies Francesca Grifo, the Environmental Protection Agency's Scientific Integrity Official, as a "deep state" opponent of the Trump agenda. Enjoying civil service protection, Grifo is handling an investigation of new EPA boss Scott Pruitt at the behest of the Sierra Club. "So now an unelected, unappointed activist could pass judgment on whether the Senate-confirmed EPA chief is too unscientific to run his own agency," Strassel writes. "So much for elections." Nearly $15,000 a Year: What Federal Rules Cost a Family
PJ Media/Competitive Enterprise Institute
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute estimates that the average American family is paying nearly $15,000 per year in a hidden tax: compliance with federal regulations. Out to Lunch? Are You Crazy?
Wall Street Journal
Falling grocery prices, rising restaurant prices and a time-crunched culture are adding up to one thing: a steady decline in the tradition of eating out for lunch. | 
