Baker had me from the preface…Writing for the layman, he puts the last 25 years of economic policy into a framework that cleverly repositions the terms of debate. Once one can point out that the so-called free market does not exist, and in fact is being warped and twisted by the right far more than by the left, one becomes much more potent on the ideological battlefield. So next time you feel like picking a bar fight on the topic of inflation, read a chapter or two of "The Conservative Nanny State" first. You'll be well armed.

-- Andrew Leonard, Salon

I would urge everyone to read this book -- it's not all directly related to environmental causes, but some of it is. More broadly, there's an obvious moral: The system we live in is, to an enormous extent, determined by government policies. Understanding that, and understanding how the apparatus of the state is tilted towards the already-wealthy, is crucial to any progressive cause.

-- John McGrath, Gristmill

It would be a wonderful thing to start getting attention to some of the issues he raises. At the end of the day, the current Democratic agenda of raising the minimum wage and re-establishing pay-as-you-go budget rules is a bit unambitious.

-- Matthew Yglesias, The American Prospect

Here is the brutal truth, exposed systematically, methodically, unsparingly. Forget the pork rinds and the hokey Texas twang: Conservative government is government by and for the upper class.

-- Thomas Frank, author of What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America