Focus Point – Myth of the Great War
World War One seems as distant to us now as the Thirty Years War, but it set the stage for the 20th century in everything from politics to literature.
Focus Point – Internet Taxes
Ok, why not tax Internet sales? We tax sales at brick and mortar stores, after all.
Focus Point – Choice Abroad
Well, it's official. School choice is a popular success. Just not in America.
Labor Law Discriminates Against Women
The Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in 1938 to regulate the wages and working conditions of factory workers. It mandated a federal minimum wage and established an eight hour work day with overtime pay for any hours over 40 worked in a week. Overtime pay was set at one and one-half times the rate of regular pay. The law was initially beneficial to workers, but its inflexibility has hindered development of an accommodating workplace. The Fair Labor Standards Act discriminates against lower-income women workers because it has not been adjusted to account for an evolving society. Efforts to reform the FLSA have been made in the past, but opposition from labor unions has prevented improvements. Congress, however, needs to institute specific reforms.
Focus Point – IRS Follies
How bad is IRS information doled out to taxpayers? Worse than you imagined.
Globalization Protesters Also 'Neo-Colonialists'
I respect the devotion of the protesters and their desire to raise living standards in poor countries. But their main lines of argument rely on a condescending, paternalistic view of individuals in poor countries and the choices these individuals make.
Investing Social Security Funds in the Stock Market Less Risky Than Doing Nothing
Now that the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security has issued its interim report exposing a financial crisis in Social Security's future, its time to begin the discussion of how we should solve it.
Focus Point – Tax Cut Baloney
The democrats are peddling so much baloney about the fallout from President' Bush's tax cut, I'm surprised they didn't also include the bread and mayo.
How to Save Social Security
The President's Comission to Strengthen Social Security has concluded that Social Security is in trouble and needs a radical overhaul. The commission is right.
Focus Point – Good English
Good, entertaining books about english usage are always welcome, from Edwin Newman's several books to John Simon's out-of-print-but-worth-finding paradigms lost to Brian Garner's dictionary of American usage. To these I would like to add Barbara Wallraff's "Word Court," which is now out in paperback.