Host intro: With a new autobiography and a movie about his exploits, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt has been hailed as the new First Amendment poster boy. It doesn't sit well with commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis, and at least one unusual ally.
Host intro: The natural antipathy that politicians have for reporters is often reciprocated. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says it's bad for the country. But he says a recent story holds a glimmer of hope.
There are easy ways to make health insurance less expensive, and easy ways to make it more expensive. Unfortunately, Congress appears determined to look only at the latter.
Host intro: This month the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether there is a constitutional right to assisted suicide. We'll have to wait until summer to hear their opinion. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis has his today.
Why is there so much juvenile crime? Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says there are two reasons.
Host intro: President Clinton's biggest setback in his first term was over nationalizing health insurance. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says a different version of that fight could crop up again this year.
Host intro: President Clinton promised that the era of big government is over. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says he's still waiting.
Host intro: Commentator Pete du Pont edits Intellectual Capital, an online magazine of Policy Opinion. In it, former newsman Marvin Kalb recently wrote about the negative impact of television on politics. Du Pont concurs.
Host intro: The biggest fight of Bill Clinton's first administration was over health care. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says the fight goes on, and the bad guys are winning.
Earlier this month President Clinton's Social Security Council made a startling recommendation: that individuals be allowed to put a portion of their payroll taxes into some kind of personal savings account like an Individual Retirement Account, with Social Security benefits being reduced accordingly.
Host intro: A piece in Newsweek magazine's year in review issue speculated why Americans have such a passion for conspiracy theories. Commentator Pete du Pont has his own ideas.
Host intro: If you were to comb the movies over the past couple of years, it would be easy to spot the number one script writer. Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says Tinseltown is onto something.
Host intro: 1996 saw the stock market move to new highs almost weekly. Will 1997 be as successful? Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis tapped an expert's opinion to find out.
Host intro: Before he was a governor and presidential candidate, commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Today, he has some suggestions for the new 105th Congress.
Host intro: The Oakland, California, School Board has decided to treat Ebonics, or black English as a second language that teachers would have to recognize in their overall English curriculum. Commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis is speechless in any language.
Version #1
Host intro: House speaker Newt Gingrich has been re-elected to his post by the 105th Congress. That suits commentator Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis just fine.
Version #2
Host intro: By all accounts, Newt Gingrich will retain his post as House Speaker in the 105th Congress. That suits commentator Pete du Pont just fine.
During the 1980s, Ronald Reagan constantly complained about being presented with vast catch-all spending bills. These bills would often contain mountains of pork-barrel spending on dams, roads, and other projects of dubious value. But Reagan only had the option of either signing the bill including the pork or vetoing the whole thing. He did not have the power, that as Governor of California he had used often, of vetoing only specific portions of a spending bill. Although Reagan repeatedly asked for legislation to give him such line-item veto authority, the Democrats in Congress refused in order to keep the pork-barrel express going.
Host intro: Much was made of the gender gap during the elections. But Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says a new study from the American Enterprise Institute shows there's another gender gap to take note of.
Host intro: The 105th Congress will be sworn in tomorrow. Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis has been looking at a scorecard on the last Congress. He says the incoming group has a hard act to follow.
Host intro: A just-released survey reports that American students rank 28th out of 41 nations in math skills and 17th in science. The results are consistent with other major studies. Pete du Pont f the National Center for Policy Analysis fingers the culprits.
A recent Wall Street Journal opinion poll finds that 57 percent of the public ranks crime and education as the top policy concerns. Education is a newcomer to the top ranking, reflecting growing concern over the dumbing down of America, but the durability of crime's top billing continues to amaze the intelligentsia.
Host intro: Last summer's outcry over high gas prices led briefly to calls for repealing a 4.3 percent gasoline tax. But Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says few people discussed reforming a government policy that could save up to 40 percent on gas costs.
Host intro: Who says small government doesn't work? Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis reports on a former Soviet satellite that in just five years has taken to the free market with a vengeance.
Host intro: Wednesday is the first day of 1997. Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis has a few thoughts today for the turn of the calendar.
Host intro: Recent revelations that the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall may have been an FBI informant have been met with suspicion. But Pete du Pont of the National Center for Policy Analysis says they're not that hard to believe.