How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity, by Robert Kuttner, Knopf Publishing, 2007, 337 pages, hardcover. In "The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity," author Robert Kuttner offers a new model of managed capitalism that can deliver security and opportunity, while rekindling democracy as a check on concentrated wealth. Kuttner links outsourcing of jobs, declining incomes, layoffs, health care and retirement burdens to the consolidation of political and economic power by a narrow elite, which blocks the ability of government to restore broad prosperity to the majority of citizens. Kuttner, founder and co-editor of the magazine "American Prospect" and a columnist for the "Boston Globe," demonstrates how our economy has fallen hostage to a casino of financial speculation, creating instability as well as inequality. He debunks alarmist claims about supposed economic hazards, such as Social Security and Medicare, and exposes the genuine dangers—hedge funds and private equity run amok, subprime lenders, Wall Street middlemen and America’s dependence on foreign central banks. He describes how globalization of commerce has been used by business less to promote free trade than to escape the balanced regulation that delivered the widespread abundance in the decades after World War II. While our financial security has weakened under the Bush administration, Kuttner also faults many Democrats for failing to offer compelling alternatives. "The Squandering of America" sets out a path for reclaiming our democratic politics and our prosperity.

Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him—and Why Independents Shouldn't, by Cliff Schecter, Polipoint Press, 2008, 187 pages, paperback. "The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him—And Why Independents Shouldn't" by author Cliff Schecter is a hard-hitting profile that explores the gap between the public record of John McCain and his media image. Drawing on a range of sources and adding his own perspective, Schecter guides us through McCain’s long history of expedient flip-flops on the Iraq invasion and occupation, the religious right, campaign finance reform, torture, abortion, gay rights and other issues. Far from a straight-talking maverick, McCain emerges as a temperamental political chameleon who will do or say almost anything to become president of the United States. Schecter successfully paints the real picture of the man behind the funny, happy-go-lucky public persona we've seen on the campaign trail--the often irascible, irritable and utterly unpredictable character who wants to occupy the Oval Office. While the author acknowledges McCain's service in Vietnam, he stresses that what's most crucial to prospective voters is what McCain has done since leaving the military service. Schecter is a senior fellow at Working America, the AFL-CIO's community affiliate, and political commentator who has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NPR and other national media outlets.