Why subscribe?

I was a counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee for well over 20 years, where I focused on constitutional history and civil rights and civil liberties issues, among many other things. While helping shepherd dozens of federal bills into law signed by presidents of both political parties, I’ve compiled volumes of fascinating information regarding some of the best means of promoting human flourishing, which I’ll share on this website. Why waste time sorting through bogus clickbait on social and other traditional media when you can come here and get the straight scoop with direct links to the original data sources? I’ll share thoughts and information on issues of the day and also extended commentary summarizing the hundreds of research papers, reports, and books I’ve found over decades that most clearly summarize the Big Picture. If you work on public policy, the information contained here will help you greatly in providing essential background and context for use in your own work. Subjects include K-12 education, higher education, the media, anti-poverty programs, discrimination, income mobility and income inequality, labor force issues, immigration, federal spending, issues regarding the next generation, marriage trends, health care, taxes, the legal system, regulations, religion, politics, and the science of happiness. I’ll cycle through all these issues week by week, supplying more and more data as we go along, and addressing questions like: How does current federal policy affect the next generation’s prospects?  How do marriage and children affect income and poverty?  How do government policies affect personal responsibility?  How does insurance affect health?  How does religion affect well-being, or geography affect politics?  These are just some of the topics I’ll address while drawing a Big Picture for the reader, examining long-term and inter-related trends in subjects like education, income and employment, entitlement programs, federal spending, legal rules, health care, regulation, public opinion, tax policy, and marriage and children and their effects on welfare. Links to original sources, and informative charts and graphs, are provided throughout. Without paid subscribers, I won’t be able to continue posting the free stuff, so please subscribe if you can. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.

Stay up-to-date

You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

Subscribe to Big Picture by Paul Taylor

Public policy, history, philosophy, some science, and occasional humor.

People

Served decades as Chief Counsel at the House Judiciary Committee's Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee. Member of the American Law Institute and occasional cartoonist.