Powell Praises Castro by Jacob G. Hornberger April 2, 2001 The Associated Press reported that in response to questioning at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Fidel Castro has "done some good things for his people." Powell was referring to Castro's two proudest socialist accomplishments -- public schooling and national health care. With Powell's boss, President George W. ...
Welfare State Morality by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2001 AS A COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVE, President Bush wants to give federal aid to faith-based organizations. His plan has drawn attacks from both leaders on the religious Right and civil libertarians on the Left. Religious leaders object to Bush’s plan on the ground that it will lead to governmental interference with religious organizations. The point they make ...
The Clinton Regime’s Final Bosh by James Bovard April 1, 2001 “WE HAVE A NEW SENSE OF optimism in America.... America has come back under his regime,” declared White House press spokesman Jake Siewert at the final White House briefing of Clinton’s presidency. Siewert recognized his gaffe and quickly repeated himself, substituting the word “administration” for “regime.” But actually, the word “regime” is far more accurate, at least insofar as ...
Campaign Donations are Not the Problem by Jacob G. Hornberger March 2, 2001 Yesterday, the U.S. Senate voted to raise the amount that individuals can donate to federal candidates from $1,000 to $2,000. (The old limit was imposed in the post-Watergate period and has never been increased.) As is usually the case with the members of Congress, they're not really addressing the root of the problem. First ...
No Compromise on Campaign Finance Reform by Sheldon Richman March 2, 2001 President Bush’s tone of bipartisan cooperation has its perils. It could lead him to compromise on the uncompromisable. That danger is looming already on so-called campaign finance reform. Sen. John McCain, Bush’s rival in the primaries, is intent on pushing his bill to interfere further with the right of ...
A Libertarian’s Platform by James Bovard March 1, 2001 THE PLATFORM of the libertarian candidate is simple. It has only one plank in it: No special privilege for anyone. He conceives himself with only two methods of achieving this worthy objective: 1. The free market. 2. Government limited to the defense of life and property. There is no way known to man to determine prices of goods or rates of wages or where ...
The Brookings Loony List by James Bovard March 1, 2001 FANS OF LEVIATHAN received a gift a few days before last Christmas from the Brookings Institution, Washington’s most respected liberal think tank. Brookings’s Paul Light polled 450 political scientists and historians to come up with a list of “Government’s Greatest Achievements of the Past Half Century.” Light has done some excellent work in the past but succumbed to his enthusiasm ...
Election Nonsense by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2001 NO ONE WHO SPENT HOURS watching the coverage of the presidential election could have failed to notice the constant, almost desperate, invocation of two ideas: “Every vote counts” and “The will of the people must be respected.” It was almost as if the speakers were trying to convince themselves. I followed the presidential election ...
Don’t Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain by Sheldon Richman January 2, 2001 There has been something disconcerting in most of the commentary throughout the postelection controversy. This became palpable after the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ruled that George W. Bush had won the presidency. I heard desperation in the voices of those who took to the airwaves to counsel Bush and Al Gore ...
Some Real Reaching Out by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2001 With President George W. Bush having now taken office, theres a lot of talk about his reaching out to the opposition. The logic is this: the presidential race was so close that Bush owes some consideration to the people who voted for Al Gore. Naturally, that means embracing major parts ...
The Marc Rich Pardon by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001 "Everybody's upset with former President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, the financier who had been indicted by a New York grand jury under former U.S. Attorney Rudy Guliani for buying and selling oil at the wrong price and with the wrong country and for not paying taxes on the profits. Okay, ...
Your Vote Doesn’t Count by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2000 I have followed the presidential election returns pretty closely, and for the life of me, I cannot find a single state where George W. Bush and Al Gore were tied or where the margin victory was one vote. This is important because everyone from President Clinton to the most obscure news anchorperson has repeated incessantly that this election proves once ...