Focus Point – Nanny at Work
Here's what happens when politics gets put in front of science, courtesy of the Capital Research Center.
Reducing the Social Security Benefits Tax
Since 1993, middle- and upper-income Social Security recipients have been subject to income tax on up to 85 percent of their benefits. On July 27, the House of Representatives voted to repeal this provision, leaving up to 50 percent of benefits still subject to taxation. The tax reduction would total $117.4 billion over 10 years. The vote was 265-159, with 213 Republicans and 52 Democrats in favor – a margin not large enough to override a presidential veto. The Senate must now consider the bill.
Focus Point – The Voucher Showdown
Thanks to a growing number of tax-funded and privately-funded vouchers, more children, most of them racial minorities and many of them poor, will have a chance this fall to escape schools that can't teach them how to read, write and do arithmetic.
Focus Point – How much spending is too much?
How much government spending is enough?
Focus Point – The Patriot
Today I want to send you to the movies– specifically to "The Patriot," Mel Gibson's American Revolutionary War epic.
Touching the Angels Who Won't Touch Back
We just witnessed the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. If ever a political convention reflected the city's nickname, this had to be the event. Now, the Democratic National Convention begins in Los Angeles, the City of Angels. If Vice President Al Gore intends to become the next President of the United States, he will need more than a City of Angels to overcome the impressive 11-point post-convention bounce that Republican nominee George W. Bush received earlier this month.
Focus Point – Sprawl
City planners and environmentalists love to use so-called "smart growth" to control "sprawl," that is, stopping suburban development. Here's what happened when Richland County, South Carolina got "smart."
The Private Sector Is Closing the Digital Divide
As computers and the Internet revolutionize society, the need to have the latest and greatest technology is paramount. Since 1995 the U.S. Commerce Department has released three reports stating that certain segments of society have access to advanced technology, while others do not. This "digital divide" is said to be based on ethnicity, income and locale. President Clinton has proposed a $2 billion initiative to close this alleged digital divide. Vice President Gore has made similar proposals. Yet the digital divide that does exist is small and is being rapidly closed, thanks to private markets and charities.
School Choice In The Courts
The need for alternatives to traditional public schools is clear. The alternatives must be able to withstand challenges to their constitutionality.
Focus Point – Rent Control
Washington, D.C., is thinking about dumping one of the dopiest laws ever cooked up by the mind of a regulator: rent controls.
Focus Point – R-Rated Business
Are R-rated movies bad business? A couple of economists, Arthur de Vany and David Walls decided to find out.
Focus Point – Gnats and Sledgehammers
Today, taking a sledgehammer to a gnat, a story courtesy of Georgia Representative Jack Kingston.
Policy And Politics In The Gas Tax Debate
Presidential wannabe Al Gore doesn't want to take credit for current gas prices. Yet of the myriad things he has taken credit for – the Internet, love canal, Love Story and the economy – it's the one thing he genuinely has some responsibility for. After all, in "Earth in the Balance," Gore wrote that higher fossil fuel prices were desirable as a national energy policy and he cast the tie-breaking vote for 1993's gas tax increase.
Focus Point – China's Long March
There was a cautionary story recently in the New York Times regarding China's "march" toward free enterprise. The news is that it's going to be a long march.