Economic Reality Check
In the raucous debate over how to boost U.S. economic growth and prevent a fiscal tsunami, it is not difficult to find politicians who subscribe to one or more of the following beliefs: (1) The...
View ArticleMexico Agonistes
In May 2005, New York Times correspondent Ginger Thompson filed a harrowing dispatch from the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, “a fast-growing hub of drug smuggling that has been transformed from a tough...
View ArticleShould College Athletes Get Paid?
Maybe it was the annual spectacle of March Madness. Maybe it was the Jim Tressel imbroglio at Ohio State. Maybe it was the lingering aftereffects of the Cam Newton scandal. Maybe it was Ed O’Bannon’s...
View ArticleThe Bad and the Good in El Salvador
Barack Obama’s Latin American tour concluded yesterday in El Salvador, a shockingly violent country that, outside of neighboring Honduras, has the highest murder rate on earth. The figures are just...
View ArticleGordon Gekko, Lou Gehrig, and the NFL
First, a few numbers. The NFL’s annual revenue take stands at approximately $9 billion, which means that Commissioner Roger Goodell presides over far and away the most lucrative sports league on the...
View ArticleColombia Deserves Better
Once upon a time, the United States and Colombia signed a free-trade agreement. The date was Nov. 22, 2006 -- a moment when Don Rumsfeld was still U.S. defense secretary, John Bolton was still U.N....
View ArticleEgypt, Without Illusions
What is the best possible outcome in Egypt? Short term, the ideal scenario is a nonviolent, military-brokered transition led by a reformist government that will spearhead major constitutional changes,...
View ArticleWhy Wall Street Collapsed
At long last, the ten-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) has issued its gargantuan report on the credit meltdown that pulverized Wall Street and triggered the worst U.S. economic slump...
View ArticleThe Egyptian Democracy Dilemma
Stan, Jonah, and Dan: Thanks for the kind words and thoughtful replies. Here’s the fundamental dilemma, as I see it: The vicious repression meted out by Mubarak & Co. has radicalized a hefty chunk...
View ArticleThomas Jefferson, Martin Luther, and the Muslim Brotherhood
Like Reihan and Alex Massie, I’ve been curious to know what Reuel Marc Gerecht -- former CIA officer, Islam expert, and robust supporter of Arab democracy -- thinks about the extraordinary events...
View ArticleThe Way We Weren’t
Back in the first season of Mad Men, while pitching a new ad campaign to the suits from Eastman Kodak, creative whiz Don Draper describes nostalgia as “a twinge in your heart far more powerful than...
View ArticleThe NFL’s Dickensian Moment
In so many ways, these are the best of times for the National Football League. As TV reporter Bill Carter recently affirmed, its games are “by far the most popular form of programming on American...
View ArticleThe Return of the ‘Nuclear Option’
The first “legislative day” of the 112th Senate began at noon, but it will technically extend through January 24, when members return from their two-week recess. Writing in the Washington Post, New...
View ArticleUnemployment Goes Up and Crime Goes Down
Around this time last year, the estimable Heather Mac Donald took to the Wall Street Journal op-ed pages to analyze a curious development: The recession-induced surge in unemployment had been...
View ArticleTom Coburn’s Achievement
No question, the biggest Capitol Hill story of the pre-Christmas week was the Senate’s ratification of the New START treaty. But let’s not overlook the remarkable achievement of Oklahoma senator Tom...
View ArticleIn Praise of Hillary Clinton
At the end of 2009, President Obama was weathering criticism for his excessively deferential approach to China and his shortsighted neglect of India. At the end of 2010, his administration deserves...
View ArticleGOP Senate Aide: ‘The Bill Wasn’t Going to Be Read’
At one point yesterday, according to a Senate Republican leadership aide, Democrats were telling reporters to “watch the floor” for action on the omnibus bill. GOP critics had pushed for all 1,924...
View ArticleWill McCain Support New START?
White House hopes of securing New START ratification during the 111th Congress may ultimately rest with Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential opponent. Yesterday afternoon, John McCain joined 65 other...
View ArticleDesigning a Better Tax System
Tax hikes, in one form or another, are simply unavoidable. That’s the blunt message conveyed by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, chairmen of the Obama deficit commission, in their much-ballyhooed...
View ArticleThem’s the Rules
Amid fierce wrangling over the Obama-GOP tax deal, House Democrats have granted themselves blanket authority to circumvent the standard rules process and expedite floor votes through December 18....
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