Focus Point – South African MSAs
It only seems like yesterday we equated South Africans with Genghis Kahn and Ivan the Terrible. Now, should be learning from them.
Comparing Prescription Drug Proposals: Bush v. Gore
The two major presidential candidates, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush, are offering competing proposals to deal with the gap in prescription drug coverage.
Crime and Punishment in Texas in the 1990s
Texas' criminal justice system has been undeservedly criticized, partly for political reasons and partly by those who oppose the state's whole approach to crime and punishment, particularly on such issues as the death penalty and the right of qualified citizens to carry concealed weapons. Although many of these critics maintain that Texas has the wrong approach to criminal justice, crime fell sharply in Texas during the 1990s.
Focus Point – Presidential Rankings
Everybody loves lists. A survey by the Federalist Society and the Wall Street Journal polled 78 scholars to rank the 39 presidents who served more than a few months in office. It's billed as the most politically balanced ranking available.
Focus Point – A Bad Election Idea
William F. Buckley once said he'd rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard University faculty. I thought of that when I read Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe's New York Times article which offered this solution to the Florida vote dispute: A *corrective election.* People who voted on Election Day would sign affadavits for a second election promising to vote for *whichever candidate they had intended to vote for on Election Day.*
Focus Point – Two-Party System
Turned off by two-party politics? Some voters complain the sameness of the Republicans and Democrats causes lack of interest and low voter turnout.
Focus Point – Keeping the Electoral College
There's a clamor to do away with the electoral college, but I want to argue in favor of keeping it.
Focus Point – Thanksgiving
I've done general Thanksgiving essays before. This one's more specific.
Focus Point – The Debt
Earlier this year, Bill Clinton announced the National Debt had been reduced by $360 billion over three years, and $223 billion over the last year alone. But according to the Bureau of the Public Debt, the total debt at the end of FY 2000 was up about $261 billion over three years.
Focus Point – Election Wrap
Today, a final election wrap, courtesy of a voters poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and the Mellman Group.
Focus Point – Florida Voting
The Florida presidential voting showed us who was willing to play by the rules and who wasn't.
Focus Point – Deregulating the Inner City
We typically think of deregulation as applying to business, but a new report, "Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival," by Paul S. Grogan and Tony Proscio from the Westview Press, shows it works in urban policy too.
Focus Point – Fixing Crime
U.S. prison populations fell in the '60s and early '70s. Americans got fed up with crime and criminals, and government started incarcerating more people. By the early '90s, the prison population was up nine percent, and crime was down: Potential criminals were deterred by the prospect of prison.
Focus Point – Free Economies
The Index of Economic Freedom', Seventh Edition is out. The Heritage Foundation report shows the number of free or mostly free economies has increased, but unfree economies still outnumber them, 81 to 74.
Focus Point – OSHA Strikes
Remember I mentioned a few weeks ago the sweeping regulations proposed by the Clinton Occupational Health and Safety Administration? The so-called repetitive stress injury, or ergonomic, regulations were run through and presented for Clinton's signature in record time. Now, we know why.
Focus Point – Hidden Election Results
A little noticed statistic buried in the election drama in Florida was that exit pollsters found about half of senior citizens voted for George Bush, and a majority of people favored Bush's plan to partially privatize social security.
Focus Point – Teachers and Charters
The American Federation of Teachers doesn't like the for-profit Edison schools, saying they aren't educating poor and minority students any better than public schools. But according to a story in Usa Today, the Miami Chapter of the Aft doesn't buy it. They, in fact, run ten schools jointly with Edison. Why?
Focus Point – Shrinking Government
Today, one of the biggest problems facing the new Congress: Bigness.
Focus Point – Explaining the Uninsured
Today and tomorrow, major questions for the new congress.
Focus Point – The Other Presidents
While you're voting for President today, I'd like to recommend a new book that mixes scholarship and accessibility in telling the stories of the other Presidents.
NCPA Experts Available To Discuss Public Policy Implications Of Election Results
On Tuesday the nation will finally decide who the next occupant of the White House will be, as well as which party will control the House and Senate.
Focus Point – Bush Wins
said about this time last year George W. Bush would be elected president. I still think so for lots of reasons and here are three.
NCPA: Finding A Winner In The Great Drug Benefit Debate
As the presidential election heads for the final stretch, both candidates are crisscrossing the country pitching their version of a prescription drug benefit to senior voters.
Social Security Made Simple
Social Security reform has become the number one issue of the final days of the 2000 presidential campaign. With all the talk about lockboxes, trust fund solvency and trillion dollar promises, it is very easy to get bogged down by what is unarguably a complex issue. But it doesn't have to be. When you break it down, Social Security is not really all that complicated.
Notes on Freedom: Individual Liberty vs. Government Tyranny, 18th Century and Today
The principles of the American political process were slowly being fonnulated in the decades before the American Revolution and the writing of the Constitution of the United States of America. The sources were largely English and had a profound impact on Americans of the 18th century. The Framers left us with an intellectual heritage in which rights flow from one's nature as a human being. By adherence to the rule of law, private property and individuals are protected from the potential tyranny of the many (democracy) and the totalitarianism or authoritarianism of the few (central control, collectivism). To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, Liberty requires continuous diligence to preserve freedom.