Think Tank West

Steve Chapman has another terrific column — this one about gun regulations and the tendency of politicians to exempt themselves from such regulations — for the public good, of course.  Here’s an excerpt: Roland Burris, another Chicagoan, has endorsed a nationwide ban on handguns and, in 1993, organized Chicago’s first Gun Turn-in Day. But the following [...]

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Leaders of the Church of Christ, Scientist, are pushing to get a provision into the health care bill that would mandate equal treatment for “spiritual healing,” such as Christian Science prayer treatments. Sens. John Kerry and Orrin Hatch are trying to get it inserted into the Senate bill, according to the Washington Post. Kerry’s spokeswoman, [...]

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Medical innovation — new discoveries that make medical care better and less expensive — is the most important kind of health care reform. In this new Cato study, Glen Whitman and Ray Raad show that the United States leads the world in medical innovation — and that President Obama’s health plan would likely reduce such [...]

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A computer glitch in the Federal Aviation Administration’s national air traffic control system caused delays and cancelations last Thursday. A spokesperson for the air traffic control employees union called it a “nightmare.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said the nation’s ATC system is “in shambles” and called for more “resources, manpower, and technology” for the FAA. [...]

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This morning, Politico Arena asks: Do you take Glenn Beck’s “new national movement” seriously? Is the GOP establishment letting itinerant celebrities and talk show stars set the party’s agenda? As Winston Churchill understood, democracy is messy (and, as in his case, sometimes ungrateful).  Glenn Beck is no William F. Buckley Jr.  But then, “Joe the [...]

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House Democrats introduced the first complete draft of President Obama’s health plan on June 19. Since then, Congress has spent 157 days considering the Obama health plan without ever laying eyes on a complete cost estimate. The Senate has called up its version for floor consideration without a complete cost estimate.  (Shouldn’t these eight Democratic-caucusing [...]

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The Wall Street Journal reported that Congress likes Fed Chairman Bernanke, but not the institution that he heads. There is growing consensus that the Fed needs to be reformed and restructured.  Most notably, there are calls to strip the Fed of its supervisory authority.  In practice, the new sentiment reflects the failure of the Fed [...]

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Last year, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court confirmed what most scholars and a substantial majority of Americans long believed: that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. Heller led to the current challenge to Chicago’s handgun ban, which raises the question of whether the Fourteenth Amendment [...]

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On the weekend that next year’s Rhodes Scholars are announced, Elliot Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust and executive vice president of the Aspen Institute, writes in the Washington Post that he is greatly disappointed that a few Rhodes Scholars have gone into business. Yes, you read that right. He’s disappointed that even a [...]

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In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Professor Joseph Gyourko, chair of the Wharton School’s Real Estate Department, lists what he sees as the five biggest myths about homeownership. Given the central role of federal housing policy, particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in our recent financial crisis, it is worth following Professor Gyourko’s suggestion and [...]

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