It’s time to discuss seriously the means by which President Bush can maintain some sense of order and mission to his remaining time in office or, as Bill Clinton found necessary in his dark days of 1994-95, the pursuit of relevance. Clinton found it in a gift from Newt Gingrich in the budget impasse over […]
Archives for 2007
The Next Major Battle
Get ready for the next major battle, and it will be at least as potentially divisive for the Republicans as the immigration divide. The issue is universal health care, and the forces of this “one size fits all” system are in full stealth mode, with the lead element being the massive expansion (to $75 billion […]
The True Immigration Divide
David Brooks is one of the more talented and perceptive observers on the scene today, but I am disappointed in his analysis of the configuration of the conflict over immigration policy. His take on it in a recent essay is that the conflict begins with the explosion of higher education over the past forty years […]
Pardon Libby Now
Speaking of Bush’s legacy, not to pardon Scooter Libby before he begins his prison term would leave an indelible black stain on his Presidency. He has said that he was “pretty much going to stay out of it” until the appeals have run their course and that he feels “terrible” for the Libby family. Well, […]
The Real Bush Legacy
Talk all you want about Iraq, the Bush Doctrine, “compassionate conservatism”, or other remnants of the Bush Presidency, but its lasting legacy is likely to be the beginning of the reversal of judicial activism led by the John Roberts Supreme Court. There are significant signs in the term just ended that the fifty-year trend in […]
Lessons from the Legislative Wars
Having just completed a brutal round of jousting in the interest of public education reform during the Texas legislative session, I have a renewed appreciation for the obstacles we face in achieving meaningful systemic change in our education delivery system. I am reminded of a recent quote from Rice University President David Leebron, which he […]
An Early Look at Two Critical Issues for the GOP
Let’s talk about two issues that no one wants to discuss in Presidential politics, particularly in the Republican Party—abortion and religion. First, abortion. Rudy Giuliani says that “abortion is morally wrong, but a woman should have the right to choose”, and that he would appoint strict constructionist judges, presumably to render decisions that would ultimately […]
Only Adults Should Apply
I was struck by this statement from a John Edwards campaign advisor, according to OpinionJournal.com, May 24, 2007: “John Edwards has seen the Bush administration use the phrase ‘war on terror’ to justify everything they do. So although he believes that there are terrorists and terrorism, the phrase itself has become a political tool the […]
Misguided College Admissions Policy
As I have previously made pretty clear, Ward Connerly of the American Civil Rights Institute is one of my heroes. His latest victory, in Michigan last November, was the landslide voter approval of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative ending state-sponsored racial preferences (incidentally, no thanks to the White House, from where Attorney General Alberto Gonzales […]
Standards and Accountability vs. Markets
As heavily involved as I am in education reform, and as committed as Texas has been to top-down standards and accountability based reform of education, I was struck (but not surprised) by this passage in Forbes magazine from Andrew Coulson of the Cato Institute, with whom I have spent some time discussing education strategies: “…there […]