Think Tank West

terrorism [ter-uh-riz-uhm] – noun 1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes. 2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization. 3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government. So, one would think that countering terrorism would involve resisting coercion by resisting [...]

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I just got back from a trip to Argentina, where Peronist President Cristina Kirchner announced a proposal to nationalize private pensions. This is theft on a grand scale—the assets are worth about $30 billion—at a time when government spending has skyrocketed and the possibility of yet another official default next year has increased. There is [...]

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This is the time of the season for being fed up with politics and not least, of course, with the presidential election. (Actually, I reached that point a while ago). Part of my frustration comes from the candidates who appear willing to say anything, no matter how unrealistic, to win the White House. But part [...]

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The Washington Post reports today that the bad economy is forcing budget cuts for the Fairfax County school district. The cuts could include “no cost-of-living raise for teachers, an increase in class size and elimination of such services as busing to centers for gifted and talented students.” Consider the fact that Fairfax spends around $16,000 [...]

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David Friedman will talk about his new book, Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World, at a Cato Book Forum next Thursday, November 6. Speaking at Google and to the San Francisco Chronicle, he describes his thinking this way: “There are no brakes available. … If it can be done, it will be [...]

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With elections a week off, should we be especially worried about an Al Qaeda attack? Writing last week in Slate, Brookings’ Daniel Benjamin says yes, following in the footsteps of other terrorism experts. They could be right, but they have almost no evidence. Like the others, Benjamin supports his claim with a handful of past examples [...]

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New York governor David Paterson’s top aide, Charles J. O’Byrne, has been forced to resign after revelations that he failed to pay his federal and state income taxes for five years. He owed some $300,000. His attorney, Richard Kestenbaum, explained that O’Byrne suffered from “non-filer syndrome,” which “causes them not to be able to file their [...]

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The power of the Colin Powell endorsement is much exaggerated.

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Republicans are up in arms over signs that the Democratic leadership in the House may be considering cutting the defense budget. Last week, Barney Frank told the editorial board of the SouthCoast Standard-Times — a local paper in Massachusetts — that the Pentagon’s budget should be cut by 25%. I didn’t believe this at first. [...]

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Last Friday, Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin offered a federal policy prescription for disabled students: more choice for parents, tens of billions of new spending on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and some unspecified “reforming and refocusing.” The Constitution affords the federal government no authority to determine how children are educated, apart from ensuring [...]

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