Entries

Something To Work For

Arne Duncan said at his confirmation hearing that it’s never been so cool to be smart as it is now that we have a super smart black president. At my school, it is not considered cool to be smart. Last spring was the last time our principal tried to have an awards ceremony for smart and …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Wednesday February 4, 2009

Sending Gitmo Grads To Europe: A Suicidal Proposition

There has been much talk recently of sending Guantánamo detainees to Europe. The measure is supposed to apply to detainees who have been cleared for release, but who cannot be returned to their home countries on account of human rights concerns. It has been pushed, notably, by the Austrian …

Written by John Rosenthal on Wednesday February 4, 2009

What Went Wrong in Iraq - The Definitive Account, Part 4

This is part four of a series. Read part one here , part two here , and part three here . The Iraq war was supposed to pay for itself, as the Gulf War had done a dozen years before. Instead, since 2003, Iraq has become the largest single-nation recipient of US international assistanc…

Written by David Frum on Wednesday February 4, 2009

Mr. Cutler Goes To Washington

span> A Harvard professor moves to Washington !

Written by David Gratzer on Wednesday February 4, 2009

The Show Goes On

I chuckle each day I drive up to my school and see smoke coming out of the chimney and lights on when I walk in the door. No matter what kind of hell the day before brought or how dysfunctional the school system is, we always do manage to put on the show each day. The bell always rings. I have …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Wednesday February 4, 2009

Geithner, Daschle... Obama? Tax Impropriety In Prez's Past

Newly minted Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and former Heath and Human Services contender Tom Daschle aren't the only ones close to the Obama administration with tax improprieties. It seems the problem that has become a rash in the new Democratic regime includes the commander in chief as well. …

Written by Moira Bagley on Tuesday February 3, 2009

Killefer's Out Of The Box Thinking Is What We Need

Whatever one thinks about Nancy Killefer's tax issues, from one perspective, I'm sorry to see her go. She's obviously eminently qualified for the position, and as my post on the AMT last week noted, she supported AMT repeal in her capacity as a member of the IRS Oversight Board. This kind of …

Written by John S. Gardner on Tuesday February 3, 2009

What Verdict Has The Past Year Rendered On Social Security Reform?

It’s hard to remember, but much of 2005 was spent arguing about Social Security reform, an issue that’s been quiet since then. But with President Obama’s statements that he wants to take on Social Security , and his sponsoring of a “fiscal responsibility summit” …

Written by Andrew Biggs on Tuesday February 3, 2009

Hillarycare, On The Installment Plan

Are you a banker? These are tough times. Your shrewd idea to offer subprime mortgages to people who didn’t qualify for a credit card has proven less than stellar and led to your company’s share price dropping 95%. Your golfing buddy even transferred his fourth mansion’s deed …

Written by David Gratzer on Tuesday February 3, 2009

Ethics, First Step To A Gop Comeback

The GOP has lost its old stronghold of New England, while poaching the Democrats’ Dixie redoubt. This is called trading up. New England is in demographic collapse and economic decline and does not set the National tone. There is one aspect of old New England Republicanism that could …

Written by John Vecchione on Tuesday February 3, 2009

A Free Turkey From The Unions

These are dark days for free-market enthusiasts. The gloriously uncomplicated path of more and more deregulation we trumpeted in years past now finds us facing on Wall Street a problem so complicated that our best and brightest (even Rush Limbaugh!) can no longer see their invisible hand in …

Written by Cheves Ligon on Tuesday February 3, 2009

The Un's False News Industry

Over in our RIGHT NOW column, we are featuring a news story from Canada's Globe & Mail carefully debunking allegations that Israeli shelling killed people inside a UN school in Gaza. While it seems to be true that 43 civilians were killed when three Israeli mortar shells landed in a street …

Written by David Frum on Tuesday February 3, 2009

Wetlands - An Environmental Issue for Free Marketeers

Conservatives have good reason to question parts of the environmental movement's wish-list. Proposals for new energy taxes, "green jobs" programs, and restrictions on private property use all ask conservatives to sacrifice long-standing principles in favor of a nebulous desire to save the planet. …

Written by Eli Lehrer on Monday February 2, 2009

"better Not Be Blood On My Car"

A guy got shot across the street one day during my planning period. I was just sitting at my desk typing a lesson plan and listening to Rush Limbaugh when I heard three or four shots in succession. Being on the third floor, I was in no real danger. I crouched down and looked outside the window. …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Monday February 2, 2009

Israel - A First Visitor's View

Just a few days ago, I visited the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. I was part of a week-long trip to Israel organized by my synagogue, in part to tour areas damaged by Hamas rockets, and also to visit with wounded IDF soldiers and Israeli victims of terrorism. This was my first trip to …

Written by Nat Frum on Monday February 2, 2009

Murtha Donors Raided By Feds

A recent FBI raid on a Pennsylvania defense contractor has reopened old questions about the ethics and staying power of Rep. John Murtha. Brothers Ron and Bill Kuchera are top executives with Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems. The offices of these companies were raided late last …

Written by Liz Mair on Monday February 2, 2009

The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop is neither the most famous nor by any definition the greatest of Charles Dickens' novels. But it does however contain one of Dickens' very most famous scenes - a scene famous only slightly more in itself than for the famously bitchy quip it elicited from Oscar Wilde: "One …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 2, 2009

Blogging: Entrepreneurship Trumping Central Planning

When David and I started together at the National Post at the paper’s launch in 1998, both of us approached our job in roughly the same way. In the morning, we would check in with a supervising editor, discuss topics and word count, and then settle on an assignment. We'd work through the day, …

Written by Jonathan Kay on Monday February 2, 2009

Obama's Muscle

Richardson, Geithner, now Daschle – is there a pattern here? In three cases, President Obama’s nominees have encountered potentially nomination-wrecking problems. Richardson withdrew, Geithner brushed past all objections, and to date anyway Daschle is benefiting from senatorial …

Written by David Frum on Monday February 2, 2009

Coaching Success, Teaching Failure

Cross Country running is not an ideal sport for a 250 pound kid with a history of medical problems, including having a stroke as a young boy and a current struggle with epilepsy. Learning what he needs to in a school without the kinds of services he is supposed to have with his severe learning …

Written by Thomas Gibbon on Sunday February 1, 2009