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The Devil You Know
Michael Anton City Journal Online, 11-04-09
Conservatives, Manhattan Institute fellows, City Journal readers, and New York City Republicans (these are overlapping constituencies to be sure) all had serious misgivings about the just-concluded New York City mayor's race.
Revolt in Westchester
Walter Olson City Journal Online, 11-04-09
Other issues, especially taxes, no doubt ranked high in the minds of Westchester County voters, who last night in a stunning upset threw out incumbent county executive Andy Spano in favor of Republican challenger Rob Astorino by an impressive 58–42 margin.
Bloomberg at the Warning Track
Nicole Gelinas City Journal Online, 11-04-09
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has won his third term by a slim five-point margin. Many of his voters pulled the lever with resentment, annoyed at his successful push to overturn term limits and at the absence of a credible alternative.
Canadianized Labor Law?
John Endean Forbes.com, 11-04-09
Canada is economically and culturally similar to the U.S., yet its workers are more than twice as likely to belong to unions. Organized labor is well aware of this gap, and that's one reason each major element of the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) closely imitates one of the pro-union elements of Canadian labor law...
Why Rush on Global Warming?
Max Schulz Townhall.com, 11-05-09
The ABC News headline this week said it all: “U.S. Must Lead Way in Clean Energy Technology, Agency Heads Say; Administration Officials Push for the Swift Passing of Kerry-Boxer Climate Change Legislation.”
Iran's Courageous Dissidents Need Our Support
Judith Miller FoxForum.com, 11-04-09
Iran's leadership seems frozen in time. Its rulers are still blaming the United States for their country’s many woes. But today, most Iranians no longer believe them. That's why it's tragic that the country's brave reformers feel utterly abandoned by President Obama.
The Bull's Eye On Business' Back
Steven Malanga RealClearMarkets.com, 11-03-09
. . .With government budgets sharply constrained and likely to be under pressure for years to come, businesses struggling in the recession are now facing intense and rising scrutiny from tax and regulatory authorities.
Mike's New 'Musts'
Nicole Gelinas New York Post, 11-04-09
Mayor Bloomberg appears to have won a third term—albeit by a close margin. His mission now must be to take on the public sector and prevent New York's insatiable special interests from suffocating our chance at a healthy recovery.
Crime-Fighting, Beyond Black and White
Heather Mac Donald City Journal Online, 11-03-09
The most hopeful signs that we may be slowly inching toward a post-racial America are coming from the unlikeliest of places: big-city police departments.
Global finance remains mired in a primitive state
Nicole Gelinas Washington Examiner, 11-04-09 (This article is adapted from the Autumn issue of City Journal)
It's been more than a year since Lehman Brothers Inc. collapsed and leaders of both political parties agreed that we needed to fix financial regulation to avoid future large-scale bailouts and economic peril.
Why Middle Class Tax Hikes Are Coming
Josh Barro Real Clear Markets, 11-03-09
During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama famously pledged not to raise taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 or families making less than $250,000. With this pledge, he offered over 95% of the electorate something for nothing...
Bribing the voters of New Jersey
Steven Malanga New York Post, 11-01-09
With just two days to go, the New Jersey gubernatorial election has turned into a horse race among three candidates, a remarkable development considering that the incumbent, Democrat Jon Corzine, has huge unfavorable ratings. As one radio talk-show host put it: “Who is voting for Corzine?”
Tort-Bar treat
Jim Copland New York Post, 11-03-09
In his Sept. 9 address before Congress, President Obama noted that litigation "may be contributing" to increasing health-care costs and promised to fund "demonstration projects" in the states to improve the liability system and to test "ideas about how to put patient safety first."
Hope's Last Hurrah
Clark Whelton City Journal Online, 11-02-09
Last month, I came across an old file folder labeled “JVL Miracle.” Inside were news clips and notes on Mayor John V. Lindsay’s 1969 reelection campaign, which remains one of the most remarkable triumphs of hope over experience—with some help from luck and baseball—in the history of American politics.
The Golden State isn't worth it
William Voegeli Los Angeles Times, 11-01-09
In America's federal system, some states, such as California, offer residents a "package deal" that bundles numerous and ambitious public benefits with the high taxes needed to pay for them.
What's Wrong With Private Insurance?
Tomas J. Philipson Forbes.com, 10-30-09
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., both announced this week that Democrats' health reform bills will contain a "public option," a government-run insurance plan that will compete with private insurers.
Mayoral wanna-be William Thompson's stop-and-frisk argument undercuts the NYPD's legitimacy
Heather Mac Donald New York Daily News, 11-02-09
Crime has not been an issue in this mayoral race, and for good reason: Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has brought crime down an additional 38% since he took control of the New York Police Department in 2002.
Freeze Wages Now
E.J. McMahon New York Post, 11-02-09
Consider: For the first time in nearly 20 years, New York state is running short of cash to pay its bills. Paterson has called the Legislature back to Albany next week to consider his plan for mopping up more than $3 billion in red ink from this year's budget.
A Scary Bill, Full of Tricks
Paul Howard NRO's Critical Condition, 10-30-09
Health-care reform will not pass this year, but something that calls itself reform likely will. The dysfunctions in the current system (uncontrollable entitlement spending, rapidly rising insurance costs, miles of innovation-killing red tape) will continue to function as usual because the president and his party have prioritized expanding insurance coverage over fundamental reforms, particularly for the government’s Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Feral Detroit
Steven Malanga City Journal Online, 10-30-09
We usually apply the word "feral," which means "reverting to a wild state," to domesticated animals that are abandoned and must survive on their own. But in rapidly shrinking Detroit, where tens of thousands of structures have sat empty for years, people are starting to describe houses and neighborhoods as feral—that is, as places where human activity ceased so long ago that nature has reclaimed them.
Root Causes Uprooted
Heather Mac Donald City Journal Online, 10-29-09
The economic situation is proving challenging to “root cause” theorists—those who argue that social pathologies like crime arise from economic inequality and racism, not cultural dysfunction.
Mayor Bloomberg's green jobs goof
Max Schulz NYDailyNews.com, 10-29-09
Mayor Bloomberg hyped his PlaNYC save-the-planet initiatives again last week, this time announcing an intention to double the city's green-sector workforce by creating 13,000 green jobs. How to do this?
What Mad Men Gets Wrong
Harry Stein City Journal, Autumn 2009
The ongoing frenzy over Mad Men, which recently landed the Emmy for best drama series for the second straight year, has me thinking about my father-in-law and his group of cronies in Monterey, California.
Government Takeovers: Is Charity Next
Howard Husock Townhall.com, 10-29-09
When it comes to government's role in the American economy, we've become accustomed to ideas that seemed incredible not long ago - whether public ownership of General Motors or infusions of cash into major banks. But government takeover of private charity?
Losing Ground
Heather Mac Donald National Review Online, 10-29-09
A forthcoming study on Hispanic children's cognitive skills underlines the challenges the country faces in aspiring to close the achievement gap between these children and their white and Asian counterparts.
The Public Option Opt-Out Is No Panacea
Diana Furchtgott-Roth RealClearMarkets.com, 10-29-09
. . .Why does Mr. Reid choose the public option, even with an opt-out? It was the object of widespread vilification in the noisy August town hall meetings between members of Congress and constituents.
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