Policy Wonks

By Peggy Noonan |3.2.2010

More Boor Than Cure

By Kathleen Someah |12.28.2009

A Mandate to Speak Out: Health Care Reform

It wasn’t long ago that President Obama stated his opposition to an individual mandate in the health care reform debate. During his debate with then Senator Hillary Clinton on February 21, 2008, President Obama laid down the line against penalizing Americans for not buying into health care reform. “Now, Massachusetts has a mandate right now. They ...

By Kathleen Someah |11.5.2009

Getting Their Priorities Right: H1N1 Vaccinations and GITMO Detainees

Since when do prisoners and suspected terrorists receive better treatment than law abiding citizens? That is the question that many Americans are asking after a recent acknowledgement that Guantanamo Bay prisoners may have the option of receiving H1N1 vaccinations, beginning early this month. Earlier this week Army Maj. James Crabtree stated that GITMO prisoners could have ...

By Kathleen Someah |10.30.2009

Room for Improvement: Government Intervention in the H1N1 Pandemic

There is no shortage of swine flu skeptics. You may hear comments about how H1N1 is no more serious than the seasonal flu, how the whole declaration of swine flu as a “national emergency” is simply a Democrat-affiliated political tactic synchronized with their health “Scare” bill. But in a hearing on Tuesday, held by the ...

By Linda Halderman, M.D. |10.4.2009

Abuse of Subsidized Health Care: The View From One Exam Room

By Amanda Carey |9.29.2009

The Road to the End of the Education Bubble

Amidst the debating and pontificating about nationalized health care, cap and trade, and a whole host of issues plaguing the U.S. right now, President Obama is making waves in reforming another major sector of the U.S. economy: education. On September 17, the House passed legislation to overhaul the college loan system. The bill, introduced by Rep. ...

By Jena Baker McNeill |9.23.2009

Is “Homeland Security” the New Miley Cyrus?

When people think about homeland security, the first thought that comes to mind probably involves those little 3.5 ounce travel bottles and a zip lock bag that can tarnish even the most pleasant of airport experiences.  For others it might be taking off your shoes, your belt, or showing your driver’s license more often. To an ...

By Christine Nikol |9.21.2009

Let them in! How highly skilled foreigners are being turned away from the American Dream

As college seniors across America celebrated university commencement last summer, many graduates were holding a very different kind of party. Students from around the world who followed their dream of coming to America for college threw an annual round of “deportation parties.” It is a rite of passage for undergraduates from countries like Malaysia, Poland ...

By Stafford Palmieri |9.8.2009

Education Policy: Popularity contest gone awry?

When President Obama says that charter schools are the fourth pillar of his education platform or “one of the places where much…innovation occurs,” as he did in March, are we all imagining the same school model? According to the 2009 41st Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on the public’s attitudes about education, the answer is ...