The 10 Percent Rule Applied to Municipal Reform
Back in January, I introduced a rule of thumb that I had developed for strategic management decisionmaking I dubbed the "10 percent rule". The idea is that any change that results in 10 percent...
View ArticleThe Wrong Kind of Toyotathon
Tales of runaway cars have a long history. The first sudden acceleration study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was done in 1978 and the agency had conducted more than 100...
View ArticleIs the Cure Worse than the Disease?
A little more than a month after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama's trillion-dollar overhaul of the nation's health care system, the administration has...
View ArticleThe Poet Versus the Prophet
I got to know the poet Allen Ginsberg towards the end of his life. Not very well, just a nodding acquaintance, but after he died I attended a memorial in his honor at the City University Graduate...
View ArticleIntercity Bus Satisfies Customers
Last August, I noted on this blog how intercity bus services such as Megabus and Bolt Bus provide very competitive, cheap, and technologically accessible transportation between major cities. The...
View ArticleCalifornia Governor's Revised Budget Still Lacks Needed Reforms
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the May Revision to his state budget proposal today. The projected deficit dropped slightly to $19.1 billion from the $19.9 billion estimate in...
View ArticleGreen Banks Are Not Infrastructure Banks
On Thursday, May 13th, Congress asked a number of elected officials and experts to provide testimony on the potential and limits of a national infrastructure bank before the U.S. House Ways and Means...
View ArticlePolitical Games With Senate Banking Bill
The Senate continues to debate amendments to the financial services bill this week. With more and more signs pointing to enough votes for the bill, the Democrats have been able to take a bit longer...
View ArticleThe Truth About Gun Sales to Terrorists
Months before he loaded his SUV with propane tanks and fireworks and drove to Times Square, police say, Faisal Shahzad went to a firearms store and bought a rifle. It was found in his other car at...
View ArticleCap and Scam
Were you aware that Americans have a collective obligation to stop kicking challenges to the next generation and join the White House in supporting "sweeping" and "transformative" legislation? I...
View ArticleOh, You Mean Those Quotas
In March, I wrote a column detailing a number of credible accusations made against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for instituting a quota system for arrests and for stop-and-frisk searches....
View ArticleA Libertarian Rebel
The new Ridley Scott film Robin Hood, which has opened to mixed reviews on its merits as entertainment, is also drawing some critics' political ire. In New York's leftist weekly, The Village Voice,...
View ArticleThe Kerry-Lieberman Scheme for Carbon Rationing
Last week, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced a discussion draft of their American Power Act, which aims to address the problem of man-made global warming by...
View ArticleAnnotate Everything
Are you ready to get a warning from the Center for Science in the Public Interest about the evils of high fructose corn syrup every time you buy a Coke? Would you like to share your thoughts on the...
View ArticleFrom Banning Books to Banning Blogs
The Obama administration has announced plans to regulate the Internet through the Federal Communications Commission, extending its authority over broadband providers to police web traffic, enforcing...
View ArticleVat's Next? A Review of Possible Tax Increases
Tracy Mehan does a pretty thorough review of the trail balloons, thought pieces and just plain musings on tax increases and tax reforms percolating around the Beltway.The front runner, at least on the...
View ArticleRough Ride in the Middle East
The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations, by Lee Smith, Doubleday, 256 pages, $26For years the tag line on Lee Smith’s articles said he was writing a book on Arab...
View ArticleSenate Fails Government-Sponsored Rating Agency Reform
Al Franken’s famed Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley was fond of the phrase “trace it, face it, erase it!” In the recurring sketch, Franken’s Smalley would inadvertently mock the self-help...
View ArticleConstitutionally Dangerous
It was bad enough when states began locking people up because of crimes they might commit in the future. Then in 2006 Congress copied the idea, enacting a law that allows the indefinite civil...
View ArticleAnd the Enlightened Tyrants Will Lead Us
In a recent interview with a Spanish newspaper, famed director Woody Allen reportedly declared himself "pleased" with President Barack Obama's presidency."I think he's brilliant. The Republican Party...
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