The Manchin-Toomey Amendment, which would have expanded national background checks and closed some gun-show loopholes for gun purchases, was defeated in the U.S. Senate yesterday, likely ending President Obama’s push for new gun laws. There are many political lessons to be learned from, and reasons for, the bill’s defeat. The bill had 54 votes (55 […]

This debate on immigration is a very helpful one.  Dr. Wheeler did catch me in a missatement, that is, my statement that “millions of immigrants wish to come to America with little capital, little skill and, in some cases, little desire to work”.  I remember vividly–and to my regret–that as I was typing this, I […]

Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer.  But I think our understanding of political economy has to include a realization that there is often a disconnect between what we might consider the facts and what is reflected in public opinion and therefore turned into public policy.  For example, why do so many Americans support an […]

I thank my esteemed colleague, Marc Clauson, for his timely response to yesterday’s post on immigration reform. I do look forward to the ongoing debate on this issue as Congress crafts immigration reform legislation. Immigration policy has been problematic for decades with major revisions in the law in 1996 and 1986. Unless our current law […]

This is my short “two cents” worth response to Dr. Wheeler’s post of April 15, 2013 on immigration.  I do agree that from a purely economic standpoint, there is no good reason to keep anyone out–that is, when all we consider is the market value-added of people.  I also agree there ought to be an […]

Whenever we endure a tragedy of the sort in Boston yesterday, there is a constant temptation to politicize the event. After all, attention is focused on one moment for a scant amount of time. Advocates, lobbyists, policy analysts, and politicians all crave this kind of opportunity because they know that triggering events are rare. People […]

The ”gang of eight” (Senators Schumer, McCain, Durbin, Graham, Menendez, Rubio, Bennet, and Flake) is expected to release the long awaited bipartisan framework for comprehensive immigration reform tomorrow, April 16. While the legislation will go through Congress’s meat grinder of debate and approval, the four pillars of the proposal do provide another rung in the […]

At their best, our Presidents can fill a psychic void that opens in the context of national tragedy. When the Challenger disaster shook America, President Reagan began the healing process by declaring the astronauts had “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.” Our leaders can also become a focal point […]

The Kermit Gosnell stories keep piling up. I have nothing to add to this column by Kirsten Powers. It is one of those times when I wish I had written it myself.

The patter of rain upon my window suggests Spring has arrived. The April showers signal renewal, growth, and TAXES. Yes, tax season–when accountants are sexy and when we, for at least a moment, pause to reflect on the often gross nature of our tax burden in the United States. I complain, of course, though I […]