The 10-Year Mistake

by | Mar 31, 2004 | POLITICS

With the Federal Reserve holding official overnight interest rates at 1.00%, the yield on the typical money-market fund is about one half of one percent, after management fees. With yields this low, you’ve got to be tempted to do something — anything!...

Minimum Gasoline Prices

by | Mar 31, 2004 | POLITICS

A couple of weeks ago, heading down to George Mason University, I pulled into my favorite Wawa gasoline station just off the Bel Air, Md., exit on I-95 South. At each of the 20 gasoline pumps, there was a sign posted that Wawa would no longer dispense free coffee to...

Random Thoughts for March 2004

by | Mar 31, 2004 | POLITICS

Random thoughts on the passing scene: The old adage about giving a man a fish versus teaching him to fish has been updated by a reader: Give a man a fish and he will ask for tartar sauce and French fries! Moreover, some politician who wants his vote will declare all...

Capturing Osama Bin Laden

by | Mar 30, 2004 | Terrorism

Osama bin Laden’s capture or death, the focus of renewed American military attention, would greatly help the war on terror — but not in the way you might expect.

The Pledge of Allegiance Revisited: America’s Allegiance Belongs to Individual Rights Not Religion

by | Mar 29, 2004 | Religion

The Pledge of Allegiance’s assertion that America exists Under God is wrong and allowing government schools to promote such notions constitutes the unequivocal establishment of religion. The Founding Fathers fought for the right to not believe in God, the right to not participate in religion, the right to reject faith. In this sense, the phrase ‘under God’ is un-American and it ought to be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Celebrate Individualism, Not Ethnicity

by | Mar 28, 2004 | POLITICS

On St. Patrick’s Day, I wore no buttons that read: “Proud to be Irish.” While I’m of Celtic stock, I’m neither proud or ashamed to be Irish, but indifferent to this fact — as I would be if I were of any other ethnicity or race....

The Government Vs. Your Doctor: A True Story

by | Mar 28, 2004 | POLITICS

Like many doctors in today’s medical profession, I am the victim of a violation of individual rights. While I continue to practice medicine, many others do not. Personally, I can testify: the assault on doctors is real, it matters, and it is getting much worse....

Water Shortages: Subsidies Are All Wet

by | Mar 27, 2004 | POLITICS

For years we have been hearing about a water shortage in the western states. To most people, that might suggest that there just is not enough water for all the people in those states. But, when an economist hears the word “shortage,” it has an entirely...

The U.S. Institute of Peace Stumbles

by | Mar 26, 2004 | POLITICS

Last week, I became a whistleblower. (According to Merriam-Webster, a whistleblower is someone “who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority.”) This is not a role I expected or sought, but I felt...