Politicians love to come up with feel-good ideas that spread more good will than do actual good. A perfect example is a plan that's drawn some favorable attention in Washington to give Americans a one-month holiday from paying payroll taxes. The plan would suspend the 12.4 percent social security payroll tax that's split between employers and employees.
The majority of U.S. students are ranked at basic or below. The DOD schools had a higher percentage of students scoring in the NAEP advanced bracket than any state. In eighth-grade writing, for example, only Connecticut outperformed DOD schools in 1998.
Imagine a world in which peoples' knowledge of their country's history goes no farther back than the beginning of their own lives. That's where we're headed.
The house will soon begin a debate that should be a no-brainer: whether or not to give the president fast track authority on trade pacts.
I'm Pete du Pont. Thanks for listening and I hope our paths cross again, somewhere along the way.
President Bush's Social Security reform commission has completed its work. Rather than putting all its eggs in one basket, the commission has developed the broad strokes of three reform plans and will now leave it up to the administration and Congress to fill in the details.
Turkey has always been a fascinating country, balanced between a Moslem, autocratic past and a mostly democratic, yet still Islamic present. Turkey is a key to our middle eastern policy, a staunch backer of U.S. operations there, and a significant player in NATO.
In a recent op ed piece in the New York Times, Edward Rothstein put the entire quest for the "root causes" of terrorism in focus.
A new report from the small business administration suggests if congress wants to help the economy it should forget the stimulus package, and start whacking away at regulations.
President Bush's social security reform commission will hold one more public hearing, on December 11, before making its recommendations on December 21.
While I infrequently agree with The Washington Post's political mavens, I have to side with their literary critic who said, "Almost no one can imagine a time or place without the fiction of Ray Bradbury. His stories and novels are a part of the American language."
One thing we've learned since September 11 is how precarious our energy supplies from the Middle East could be. One would hope that faced with that realization, congressional doubters, and naysayers would do the right thing and ok oil exploration of the tiny percentage of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.
I know some things are going to fly beneath the radar in Washington these days, but if the numbers in a recent Wall Street Journal story are even close, what's flying under the radar is a whole herd of pigs – pork barreling is alive and well.
The most engaging book came my way lately — a collection of obituaries; 52 of them written by the famous obituary writer of the New York Times, Robert MCG. Thomas. It's called "52 MCGs."
Today, good news from Philadelphia, where the public schools are so awful Governor Mark Schweiker has ordered them privatized.
A change of thinking is needed so that both goals – universal access to affordable health insurance and a high level of patient satisfaction – can be achieved simultaneously.
When Medical Savings Accounts first saw the light of day almost ten years ago, they were shoved off stage by the cure du jour, Managed Care. Ten years later, patients believe managed care costs too much and deprives them of medical care they need. Physicians believe it stops them from doing their jobs.
It's Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for this: the right, guaranteed by the First Amendment, to say whatever I like.
While the Taliban and their allies waste their breath calling us the great Satan we might take a look at their record when it comes to one of the many things we're good at and they detest: Freedom. Several human rights organizations and the state department put a number of Muslim-ruled countries at the bottom of the list when it comes to religious freedom.
Senate switcher Jim Jeffords is at it again, showing that Independents can come up with terrible ideas too.
The senate is debating economic stimulus legislation: Democrat Tom Daschle's bill to spend more and cut taxes a little, and Republican Charles Grassley's bill to cut taxes a lot and edge up spending.
Many American families touched by terrorism will have a difficult time celebrating this Thanksgiving. Yet as the world continues to watch America's reaction to the September 11 attacks, there's cause to celebrate what we Americans have proven of late we're not.
If women behaved in the work place like men, there would be little if any wage gap. And that's not a macho statement. According to latest reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women's earnings are about 76 percent of men's. But according to the N-C-P-A's Women in the Economy project, the issue of why is complex.
These crisp mornings we're having makes it feel like hunting season. Hunting season reminds me that without hunters, we wouldn't have much in the way of conservation.
Should the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution be as broadly interpreted as the first? During the 20th century, courts championed the first amendment…guaranteeing freedoms of speech and assembly. "Congress shall make no law…" the amendment begins, and Justice William O. Douglas used to write one-sentence opinions in free speech cases. !! "No law means no law," Douglas would write-case dismissed!