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Bad for the Economy and Society
Nicole Gelinas NYT Room for Debate, 11-19-09
Goldman Sachs’s new initiative — $500 million for small businesses, with some funding to come from its charitable
arm — is the investment firm’s latest attempt to show the world that it’s a hero, not a villain, of the economic
crisis. But Goldman is neither one. It’s a financial company with a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.
'Sick Leave' Mandates We Can Ill Afford
Diana Furchtgott-Roth RealClearMarkets.com, 11-19-09
Never let a good crisis go to waste," said President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanual. For Democrats, the H1N1
pandemic is as good a crisis as they come.
'Jobs Saved' Stats Are Worse Than Meaningless
Josh Barro RealClearMarkets.com, 11-19-09
Say what you will about the stimulus package, but it certainly has created one kind of job: a reporter who writes
about how stimulus job creation numbers are bogus.
Jury Rejects Prosecutor's Rigged Game
Marie Gryphon Washington Examiner, 11-19-09
Far too often, federal prosecutors use ambiguous laws to punish regular businesspeople for their mistakes in judgment.
Fortunately, getting actual convictions requires persuading a jury.
Leave It to the Generals
Stephanie Hessler NRO, 11-18-09 (This article is also linked on RealClearPolitics.com, 11-18-09)
As the debate over whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan intensifies, our war efforts could be hindered
by an unlikely source: the U.S. judicial branch.
And Now, On to Immigration Reform
Steven Malanga RealClearMarkets.com, 11-18-09 (This article is also linked on RealClearPolitics.com, 11-18-09)
Even with everything else on its agenda, the Obama administration has declared itself ready to plunge forward
on an issue likely to be as contentious and exhausting to the nation as health care reform, namely a new effort
to restructure our immigration laws.
Give Up Abortion for Nationalized Health Care?
Josh Barro Washington Examiner, 11-18-09
Throughout the health care debate, Democrats and President Obama have insisted that Americans who want to maintain
their current health care coverage will be able do so. Reform, Democrats argued, would be a win-win, extending
coverage to millions of uninsured Americans while depriving nobody of existing coverage they like.
Willful Misunderstanding
James Piereson The Weekly Standard, 11-23-09
Not the event itself, but the official reaction to the shootings at Fort Hood last week, invites troublesome
parallels with the assassination 46 years ago this month of John F. Kennedy.
Anthraxing New York
Peter Huber RealClearMarkets.com, 11-16-09 (This article is originally from the Autumn 2009 issue of City Journal)
Socialized medicine’s finest hour arrived on October 16, 1975, by the marshes of Bhola Island off the coast of
Bangladesh. There, in the frame of three-year-old Rahima Banu, the World Health Organization finally cornered
smallpox, the most dreadful killer on the planet.
The Empire State and Eminent Domain
Nicole Gelinas Wall Street Journal, 11-16-09
In September, Dan Goldstein received a letter from New York State informing him and his wife that the government
was about to seize their Brooklyn apartment "In furtherance of the Atlantic Yards Arena and Redevelopment Project."
`Political correctness' obscures lessons of Fort Hood
Judith Miller and David Samuels The News Journal, 11-16-09 (This article first appeared in the Los Angeles Times on 11-12-2009)
Faced with a man reportedly yelling “Allahu Akbar!” and mowing down dozens of soldiers on a U.S. military base in
Texas, journalists at mainstream news organizations and left-wing bloggers were nearly unanimous in promoting
explanations that allowed them to ignore the suspect’s religious and political beliefs.
Who Needs Mathematicians for Math, Anyway?
Sandra Stotsky City Journal Online, 11-16-09
American eighth-graders ranked 25th out of 30 countries in mathematics achievement on the 2006 Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA), which claims to assess application of the mathematical knowledge and
skills needed in adult life through problem-solving test items.
Why Tragedy Will Be Result of Dems Rush to Victory on Health Reform
Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Paul Howard Fox Forum, 11-13-09
Last Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi begged, cajoled, and threatened health care legislation to a successful
vote in her chamber, albeit by a razor thin margin of 220-215.
Phony Fixes for the Wall St. Mess
Nicole Gelinas New York Post, 11-13-09 (This article is linked on RealClearPolitics.com, 11-13-09)
Fixing the financial sys tem so that it doesn't blow up the economy again isn't hard. But complex solutions help Washington and the "too-big-to-fail" financial firms maintain the status quo -- and make future problems worse.
Congress' Shoe Problem
David Gratzer Townhall.com, 11-13-09
The basic problem with ObamaCare – the core problem – is buried deep in the 1,994 page bill passed by the House of Representatives. More unsettling than the full price tag – $3 trillion over ten years, when fully implemented, according to the CBO – and more ridiculous than the many bureaucracies it establishes – including, no kidding, an Office of Administrative Simplification – is the commitment of Congress to better your feet.
The Bear Truth
Nicole Gelinas RealClearMarkets.com, 11-13-09 (This article is linked from City Journal Online, 11-11-09)
Yesterday, U.S. prosecutors in Brooklyn lost their criminal case against two former managers of Bear Stearns’s internal hedge funds. But the acquittals aren’t a setback for financial markets’ health; they’re a step forward.
Tu Quoque
Ibn Warraq City Journal, Autumn 2009
Often, when I am criticizing crimes inspired by Islamic extremism, I am interrupted by the remark that Christianity was once culpable of similar abuses. That Christianity may have been intolerant in the past, however, does not make criticisms of Islam’s present-day intolerance any less valid.
Health Reform and Job Destruction
Diana Furchtgott-Roth RealClearMarkets.com, 11-12-09
As the Senate turns to passage of its version of health care "reform," members must consider how to avoid the misguided job-killing provisions of the House's Affordable Care for America "guaranteed unemployment" bill.
Congress just raised your health insurance premiums
David Gratzer Washington Examiner, 11-12-09
On Saturday, the House of Representatives voted 220 to 215 for the ObamaCare bill. President Obama called it "our moment to deliver." And deliver they did: The final bill is on track to deliver higher premiums for your health insurance, just as critics of the bill predicted when the first draft was tabled. The cause—insurance mandates.
Your Health Care May Change: Please Stand By
David Gratzer Forbes.com, 11-12-09
On Nov. 7, in the dead of night, the House of Representatives voted 220-215 to pass the ObamaCare health bill. It's a staggering 1,994 pages long—almost twice the size of versions tabled this summer.
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On Thursday, November 19th, the Manhattan Institute awarded Amity Shlaes, author of The Forgotten Man, with
its fifth annual Hayek Prize. This award recognizes the book published within the past two years that
best reflects Frederick Von Hayek's vision of economic and individual liberty.
Manhattan Institute senior fellow David Gratzer's new broadside, 
