Citizen Leadership

Why is there so much “mistrust” of government and political institutions? The University of Washington’s Graduate School of Public Affairs has been asking this question in a series of provocative public discussions this winter. Many explanations are offered, including lack of sufficiently stringent ethics reforms or, on the contrary, too many misguided reforms; jaundiced media coverage of politics; the expanding Read More ›

Passions over school reform are running high in this state and could wind up splitting the ever wobbly majority of people who support education. Properly channeled, however, the enthusiasm generated by proponents of two initiatives–I-173, the school voucher proposition, and I-177, the public charter schools proposition–could inaugurate a new age of educational progress. The opportunity is in the hands of Read More ›

Thanks to the wisdom of the pundits, one can know the outcome of the 1996 presidential election 10 months early. A preliminary hint: Voters are wasting their time. As the candidates kick off three solid months of primary campaigns—very-early primaries, earlier-than-thou primaries and who’s-on-first party caucuses preceded by highly consequential and rigged party straw votes — followed by five months Read More ›

How much of your income–or anyone’s income–do you think governments from all levels should take? In a recent Reader’s Digest survey, Americans of all backgrounds overwhelmingly selected the figure of 25 percent. In truth, we are far past that amount. Indeed, high taxes have become one of the main reasons that Americans find it so hard to get ahead and Read More ›

Presidential candidate Phil Gramm of Texas already seems set to win the lion’s share of Washington state’s 36 delegates to the Republican National Convention in San Diego next summer. This outcome may not be clear at the time of the state GOP precinct caucuses on March 5, let alone at the state’s presidential primary on March 26. But, despite the Read More ›

The great economic debate of 1996 is already roiled by divergent interpretations of budget plans, but now Jack Kemp and the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Policy, which just reported, are attempting to direct top attention to the still more volatile subject of tax reform. The report arrives in a capital stalemated on economic policy. In 1992 the Read More ›

Most Americans are either bored or disgusted by the failure of Congress and the President to reach agreement on a budget and tax program. But the stakes are enormous and rightly demand more of our attention, not less. The subject ultimately affects not only the stock market, but the whole economy; indeed, the well-being of each American family. Unfortunately, while Read More ›

OAXACA, Mexico–It is a distortion of politics that establishes separate categories for domestic and international affairs. In fact, the categories repeatedly merge. A good example is the current economic plight of Mexico and, concurrently, the legislation before Congress to restrict illegal and legal immigration. The interaction is profound. Mexico, like the United States and Canada (and several other countries, for Read More ›

These are heady times for entrepreneurs, high tech whizzes and international traders. But many people are left out of the boom, including bank tellers and telephone operators, middle managers and others whose jobs are being rendered obsolete by new technologies, corporate down-sizing and international competition. They can get jobs in this economy, but often not at levels commensurate with their Read More ›

By J. Pierpont Pundit* PUNDITTOWN, INSIDE THE BELTWAY–There are great benefits to your reading an insider’s column like this one. Thanks to the wisdom of the pundits, you can now be told the outcome of the 1996 Presidential Election, ten months early. A preliminary hint: You voters are wasting your time. Starting sooner than the January sales are three solid Read More ›

A woman at McDonald’s spills hot coffee in her lap and a jury awards her $2.7 million. Another jury awards a man $4 million from BMW because he wasn’t told that his new car had received a minor paint touch-up before he bought it. Yet another man is awarded $12.3 million, most of it in “punitive” damages,” because he fractured Read More ›