What Makes an American?

Thousands of people from around the world will raise their right hands, swear allegiance to the United States, and become proud American citizens this weekend. They will become Americans because they choose to do so, they love what we stand for, and they are willing...

Can We Afford Tax Cuts?

When President Bush first announced his plan last January to cut taxes on dividends, capital gains and personal income I sang his praises (first here, here and also here and here). Now Bush’s plan has been law for over two months. While the critics have had no...

The Failure of Middle East Studies

The U.S. Congress broke with a 45-year tradition last week: It permitted a dissident to critique the federal funding for the study of foreign language and cultures – to suggest that the program often serves the very opposite of academia’s goals or the...

Grateful for the Patriot Act

To civil-liberties alarmists, Viet Dinh is a traitor. To me, he is an American hero. Dinh, 35, is widely known — and reviled — as the primary architect of the Patriot Act. Until May, he was an assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Policy in...