OPINION MARCH 22, 2010 By JOHN MCCAIN The mood in Baghdad is tense these days. Groups of Iraqis are struggling for control of the country. They are harshly denouncing their rivals. Passions are flaring, and the anger is visceral. But unlike recent years, this Iraqi fight for power is waged not through murder and oppression […]
Iraq’s Democracy Takes Shape Read More »
MARCH 22, 2010 How can fund managers assume an 8% rate of return? By ANDREW G. BIGGS Pension plans for state government employees today report they are underfunded by $450 billion, according to a recent report from the Pew Charitable Trusts. But this vastly underestimates the true shortfall, because public pension accounting wrongly assumes that
Public Pension Deficits Are Worse Than You Think Read More »
MARCH 23, 2010 In Holder’s Woes, a Déjà Vu Same Terror Issues Undermined the Career of Bush Attorney General Gonzales By EVAN PEREZ Eric Holder has spent much of his first year as attorney general trying to reverse a series of Bush administration policies. But the controversies provoked by his decisions threaten to derail his
Eric Holder’s Woes Read More »
MARCH 19, 2010 By MICHAEL SOLON Lose the battle but win the war—that is the redeeming hope congressional leaders offer to their rank-and-file members on the coming votes on the Obama health-care plan. While diehards still insist that a government takeover of health care will be a net winner this fall, more and more Democrats
Redistricting and the Health-Care Vote Read More »
MARCH 19, 2010 By ALLAN H. MELTZER Last year the New York Times ran several articles about the end of capitalism. Others picked up this meme and reinforced it with claims that greedy bankers and deregulated financial markets had brought the world to the brink of another Great Depression. Then— just in the nick of
Market Failure or Government Failure? Read More »
MARCH 19, 2010 By KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL Imagine Jason Altmire bound, at the end of a plank, a band of Democratic pirates behind him, a swarm of constituent sharks circling below. Imagine that, and you understand what Democrats are doing to their members with health care. Mr. Altmire is the Pennsylvania House Democrat who has
Will Altmire Walk the Plank? Read More »
By RACHEL PANNETT CANBERRA—Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned China “the world will be watching” how it conducts the trial of four Rio Tinto Ltd. executives, in a case that has sent chills through foreign businesses. The trial, which opens Monday in Shanghai, comes as foreign firms are saying their relationships with China are suffering
Australia Warns Beijing World Will Watch Rio Trial Read More »
EUROPE NEWS MARCH 19, 2010 Putin Says Russia Will Help Tehran Launch a Reactor, a Blow to U.S. Efforts to Pressure Tehran; Quick Rebuke From U.S. By JAY SOLOMON And RICHARD BOUDREAUX MOSCOW—Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Russia will help Iran launch its first nuclear power plant this summer, delivering a diplomatic slap
Russia Greets Clinton With Gift to Iran Read More »
MARCH 19, 2010 By JEAN SPENCER Census Bureau officials are counting on an advanced postal tracking system to speed up responses and save the government millions of dollars in follow-up letters and visits by census takers. But some privacy advocates and lawmakers are troubled by the tracking system, which they say oversteps privacy bounds. The
U.S. Census Tracks Mail, Raising Fears Among Some Read More »
MARCH 18, 2010 By PETER J. WALLISON Think ObamaCare for the financial system. That’s one way to understand Sen. Chris Dodd’s bill to reform financial regulation. If passed in its current form, the bill would give the government control over the financial system in roughly the same way, and to the same extent, that ObamaCare
If You Liked Fannie and Freddie…. Read More »
