POLITICS

As both Democratic and Republican proposals to provide prescription drug benefits for the elderly failed in the Senate, members of both parties vowed to try to reach a compromise and get a bill passed as early as next week. Any such bill, if approved, would be a...

There's an old maxim in moral philosophy that says, "the ends never justify the means." Of course, lots of utilitarians think that is so much moral posturing and nonsense. They proffer hypothetical arguments to debunk that maxim, such as: "If stealing a loaf of bread...

The American Civil Liberties Union recently released a white paper admitting that it is not particularly concerned with defending free speech. But not to worry, this does not make the ACLU purposeless: according to the paper, the leaders in the ACLU derive just as...

Following the horrific events of September 11, President George W. Bush bravely asserted his administration's policy toward terrorism. The United States, from here out, was to hold not only terrorist organizations, but also state sponsors of terrorism, responsible for...

Did you hear the one about the 87-year-old grandmother who had her knitting needles taken away by airport security? They were afraid she was going to knit an Afghan. That is just one of many jibes at the fraudulent airport security measures adopted since September 11....

George W. Bush gave a pretty good speech back in September, and also at the time of the State of the Union in January. In those speeches, he outlined a principled defense against terrorism. The question, of course, was always: Does he mean it? It's not looking good...

Congress has no problem shelling out $6.5 billion for mass-transit systems that fewer and fewer Americans use each year. It manages to fully fund Medicare, despite $23 billion in waste and fraud each year. It pays farmers -- mostly mega-corporations, actually -- $1.3...

We have no less than unadulterated idiots in charge of airport security. You say, "What is it this time, Williams?" Last month, while boarding a Midwest Express flight to Milwaukee, former Vice President Al Gore was pulled aside at the boarding gate. He was frisked...

It has been about seven months since the Marin County Taliban (John Walker Lindh) was apprehended in Mazar-i-Sharif, sporting an AKM rifle in support of the Taliban regime. Having made a plea bargain for a maximum of 20 years without parole, Walker avoided what would...

A proper government defines and protects the individual rights of its citizens. Under such a government, the courts play a crucial role; it is through the courts that men are able to settle disputes peaceably according to predetermined legal rules. It is these legal...

Late last month, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures held a hearing on corporate inversions--the process by which an American company avoids the tax bias against its overseas income by re-incorporating to a tax haven nation. The hearing...

Just as the War on Terrorism dissipates into total inaction -- the latest word is that we will not invade Iraq -- our leaders have launched a new war to replace it: the War on CEOs. In reaction to a few cases in which corporate CEOs allegedly violated existing laws...

Profits are misunderstood, seen as unearned and sometimes condemned as evil. Maybe that's why people often reverently pronounce, with an air of moral superiority, "We're a nonprofit organization." Before people mount their moral high horse, they should remember that...

With all the rage over Wednesday's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in the public schools violates the religious establishment clause of the 1st Amendment, it's pretty clear a lot of people are upset that they no longer have...

"Become a Muslim warrior during the crusades or during an ancient jihad." Thus read the instructions for seventh graders in Islam: A Simulation of Islamic History and Culture, 610-1100, a three-week curriculum produced by Interaction Publishers, Inc. In classrooms...

Q: I sure hope Amtrak will get all the money it needs to keep operating, don't you? I can't believe there are people who would be willing to let the nation's rail system grind to a halt. A: And I can't believe that David Gunn, Amtrak's president, had the gall to...

Last month, members of Congress leapt to the defense of the words "under God." They shouted the phrase on Capitol Hill and in front of every available camera. But what about the two little words in the Pledge of Allegiance that come right before "under God"? Who in...

President Bush said he was "deeply concerned" about some of the accounting practices in corporate America and called "outrageous" the disclosure that WorldCom, which is $32 billion in debt, had hidden $3.8 billion in expenses. The president added, "We will fully...

There are times, George Orwell is reputed to have said, when the first duty of an intelligent man is to restate the obvious. President Bush did his duty this week when he cut through the murk of the past nine years -- the years of the Middle East "peace process" -- to...