Cigarette Smuggling
Diverse state tobacco taxes are a key reason for cigarette smuggling, in which organized crime and terrorist groups increasingly are involved.
Beaver State Bolshevism
When Lenin took control of Russia in 1918, his goal was to replace the market economy with government control of prices, wages and industry. Lenin said he would rather have the people of Russia starve than allow a private market in grain, and of course millions of them did starve for exactly that reason. The Soviet dream came to a disastrous end–famine, shortages, a lack of everything needed for life from food and freedom to employment and opportunity.
Making Sense of Sustainable Development
The idea of sustainable development, the focus of the recent United Nations Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, is both commonsensical and contentious.
Kate O'Beirne
Washington Editor of the "National Review" and host of CNN's "Capital Gang"
Alphonso Jackson
Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Plus Ça Change
In less than two weeks Americans will go to the polls to decide whether to change the political balance of our government. Historically the party controlling the White House usually loses legislative seats in its first midterm election; the political parties of the last six presidents (LBJ through Bill Clinton) have lost an average of 27 House and two Senate seats. In their first midterm elections the three Democratic presidents averaged a loss of 38 House and five Senate seats; the three Republicans averaged minus 15 House seats and plus one Senate seat. In only one of the 14 midterm elections since World War II–in 1998–has the party of an incumbent president gained seats in the House.
Is Medicare Too Stingy?
The fees Medicare pays physicians who treat seniors are not determined in the marketplace. Instead, they are arbitrarily set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), based on a complex formula implemented in 1992.
When Medicare Cuts Fees, Patients Suffer
As Congress debates whether to keep proposed cuts in the fees Medicare pays doctors, a study by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) says that low physicians' fees result in less access to doctors and reduced quality of care for the nation's elderly.
Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve
On November 5, America will be asked to decide whether Members of the 107th Congress should be allowed to continue their careers representing us in the 108th, or be replaced by someone else. As an anonymous collective, it's hard to argue for another term based solely on their accomplishments.
America Commits Itself
Five times in the last century America made substantial international military commitments to rid the world of serious threats to civilization: World War I, World War II, 1947 (when President Truman began to resist communist expansion in southern Europe), Korea and Vietnam. They were long-term commitments.
Consider Other Proposals For Social Security Reform
Late last year, President Bush's Social Security reform commission released its recommendations for fixing Social Security. Even before its final report, the commission was the target of an incessant campaign of attacks, which has only intensified as we near Election Day.
The Right Prescription for Medicare Reform
In an election-year rush to satisfy impatient voters, politicians of both parties are endorsing ill-considered schemes to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Fortunately, with Election Day fast approaching, Congress will not be able to actually enact any of their proposals. While the problems with the program are bad, most of the proposed solutions are worse.
Medicare Reform and Prescription Drugs: Ten Principles
In an election-year rush to satisfy impatient voters, politicians of both parties are endorsing ill-considered schemes to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. While the problems with the program are bad, most of the proposed solutions are worse.
27 Days and Counting
Politics in America is never uninteresting; just look at the past week. The New Jersey Supreme Court creates a candidate selection rule, the Democratic Party gives up on its 30-year-old opposition to military action, and the bellwether of liberal economic thinking offers an old economic plan to help new post-multilateralist Democrats focus the fall campaign on the economy.
Association Health Plans – Part Two: Answering the Critics
A cornerstone of President Bush's approach to health care reform is the introduction of Association Health Plans (AHPs). These plans would enable business and professional associations to offer health benefits to their members.
Association Health Plans – Part One: Lowering Small Group Costs
A cornerstone of President Bush's approach to health care reform is the creation of Association Health Plans (AHPs). Intended to control costs and improve access to coverage for small employers and individuals, AHPs would allow bona fide business and professional associations to offer health benefits to their members.
Better Off Welfare
Welfare rolls nationwide have fallen by more than 50 percent since welfare reform was enacted in 1996. The goal of reform was not simply to reduce the number of welfare cases, but to move families on welfare – the vast majority of which are headed by single women – from dependency to independence through work.
NCPA Study Shows Those Sill On Welfare Are Not The Most Difficult Cases
Welfare rolls have fallen more than 60 percent nationwide during the last 10 years, mostly since reforms were enacted in 1996.
A Reform Campaign
Today a new set of television commercials will begin to run in the first of 20 congressional districts where the race is too close to call and control of the House hangs in the balance.