Category Archives: Politics

August 16, 2011

Fannie, Freddie and the House of Cards

Editor’s Note: On August 16, the Washington Post reported that the Obama Administration is considering proposals that would retain a major role for the Federal government in the nation’s mortgage market. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively the two largest … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Politics | 2 Comments
August 9, 2011

Why Gene Patents Are Bad for Patients and Science

“The information contained in our shared [genome] is so fundamental, and requires so much further research to understand its utility, that patenting it at the earliest stage is like putting up a whole lot of unnecessary toll booths on the … Continue reading

Posted in Politics, Science | 6 Comments
May 23, 2011

79 Notes on Obama’s Middle East Speech

As I have done on a few occasions before, I comment here on President Obama’s speech of May 19 by annotating his text. I do this by attaching footnotes to those passages on which I wish to comment. These notes … Continue reading

Posted in Obama, Politics | 3 Comments
May 20, 2011

Podcast: Obama’s Speech on the Middle East

After President Obama’s May 19th address on his Middle East policy, I sat down with AI Editor Adam Garfinkle. In his previous life, Adam was speechwriter for both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice when they served as Secretary of State … Continue reading

Posted in Liberty, Obama, Podcast, Politics | Leave a comment
March 30, 2011

Down the Rabbit Hole, Redux: 43 Notes

On a few occasions in the past, I have commented on President Obama’s speeches by presenting the text above the line and using footnotes for my own text. I did this, for example, back on December 2009 with a comment … Continue reading

Posted in Intervention, Libya, Politics | Leave a comment
March 23, 2011

Against Humanitarian Intervention

The argument one’s been hearing most of all from critics of the intervention in Libya has been over consistency. If we’re so keen on invading Libya for ostensibly humanitarian reasons, why aren’t we fighting a war in Bahrain, Yemen or … Continue reading

Posted in Intervention, Obama, Politics | 5 Comments
October 12, 2010

After the Other Shoe Drops

When the Supreme Court decided Citizens United v. FEC last fall, holding that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend money in candidate elections, analysts were divided over how much the case was going to affect U.S. elections.  Writing … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 2 Comments
September 3, 2010

Glenn Beck’s Rally about Nothing

From the reaction to Glenn Beck’s rally last weekend at the Lincoln Memorial, you’d think the right-wing hordes had marched into Washington to personally storm the White House. But as is usually the case, the truth is much more boring. … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | 5 Comments