Debating Social Security
In a romantic mood, I was reading “Anna Karenina” flying down here and stumbled across one of Tolstoy’s brilliant insights. At a party at the home of his friend Prince Oblonsky, Konstantin Levin, the philosophical farmer, muses about the futility of...More Social Security Deceit
A fortnight ago, I explained some of the congressional deceit that has become part and parcel of Social Security. One was the 1936 promise of maximum wages subject to Social Security tax of three percent — $3,000 — which, controlling for inflation, comes...Saudi Venom in U.S. Mosques
Those of us following the development of Islam in America have for years worried about the unhealthy influence of Saudi money and ideas on American Muslims. We watched apprehensively as the Saudi government boasted of funding mosques and research centers; as it...AARP Invests in Hypocrisy
The President has made fixing Social Security his number-one domestic objective, but the fight won’t be easy — in part because of fierce opposition by the AARP, the seniors’ lobby, with 35 million members. The AARP is using an old strategy: trying to...New Jersey’s Nutty CO2 Notions
While the entire northeast of the United States was digging out from a huge blizzard–usually a sign of cold weather–a meeting on “the climate challenge” was occurring in London, England and “an independent report” by the Institute...Social Security’s Demographic Tsunami
“Santa Claus. The Tooth Fairy. Social Security. It’s Time for E*Trade.” That’s the message on a San Francisco billboard. It’s saying that stock trading on the Internet provides a better shot at a secure retirement than depending on the...Free Broadband From Socialism
Should municipalities be allowed to build and operate broadband networks in competition with private companies? States around the country are considering laws making it difficult for cities to do so. Informed, honest debate over municipal broadband is rare. Advocates...Oscar Without Glamour
Why Hollywood is losing its luster.
