Archive for Doug Bandow
Potomac Principles ~ Making Terrorists Pay
If there is one lesson the United States must teach after the September 11 atrocities, it is that terrorism does not pay. Washington should allow, indeed encourage, victims of terrorism to go after the assets of the perpetrators.
A pregnant widow of one of the victims of the World Trade Center attack was the first [...]
Uncle Sams Retirement Scam
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
The legendary third rail of American politics, Social Security, is lighting up. The administration has proposed to move, ever so gently, toward a private system, while a bipartisan congressional coalition is determined [...]
Let Our Allies Defend Themselves
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
When U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Canberra for the annual AUSMIN (Australia-US Ministerial) consultations earlier this year, mutterings of disappointment were heard. Peter Hartcher of [...]
Uncle Sam’s False Fuel Economy
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
A quarter century after the misguided policies of President Jimmy Carter and a Democratic Congress created an “energy crisis,” President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress risk wandering down the same [...]
A Maturing Europe?
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
Although the Bush administration has promised not to withdraw unilaterally from the Balkans, leading Europeans remain nervous about the administration. They recognize his reluctance to continue their continent’s free defense ride, especially [...]
Potomac Principles ~ Demonizing Drug Makers
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
The pharmaceutical industry is under siege. Congress is considering various measures to control drug prices and use. More than 40 states are debating proposals to do the same. Demonstrators around the world [...]
Potomac Principles ~ Letting Competition Reign
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
Postage rates rose at the beginning of the year. It costs another penny for regular first class. And an extra 20 cents to send a letter overseas. Bulk-rate mailing is also a [...]
Balkan Stupidities
Doug Bandow, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the author and editor of several books.
NATO officials are shocked—shocked!—to find ethnic Albanian guerrillas on the march against Serbia and Macedonia. The alliance is considering military action against insurgents who want a greater Albania. Washington should cut and run. [...]
Book Review ~ Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict by William Shawcross
Simon & Schuster • 2000 • 413 pages • $27.50
The end of the Cold War led many people to hope for a new world order in which the United Nations would impose peace around the globe. But that dream died in the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, and in villages across Rwanda. It died [...]
Bombing Without End
We bomb, therefore we bomb,” seems to be Washington’s policy towards Iraq. Ten years of sanctions and military strikes have failed to tame or oust Saddam Hussein. Yet the Bush administration thinks only of doing more of the same.
U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf has long been a pernicious muddle. A half-century ago Washington helped install the Shah of Iran, whose thuggery eventually spawned an Islamic revolution that treated America as the “Great Satan.”
1Jun2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedMaking Environmental Tradeoffs
Wealthy countries have it easy. Their citizens are richer. Their people enjoy healthier and safer environments. Yet Western nations are hindering Third World people from improving their lives—in the name of the environment.
Malaria is seen as a poor nation’s disease, but it once afflicted today’s industrialized states. Decades ago people in the United States and Europe suffered from this, one of history’s most ravaging diseases. But malaria has essentially disappeared in the West.
1May2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Other Political Story
Unfortunately, last year’s presidential election was a mess. Unfortunately, the congressional elections were not.
While it proved difficult to determine who won the presidency, it was not difficult to determine who controlled Congress. Only six House incumbents lost, yielding a re-election rate of 98.5 percent.
1Apr2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Robert Downey Jr. Problem
Drugs can exercise a powerful hold over a human being. What other lesson is possible from the arrest of actor Robert Downey Jr., yet again, on drug charges?
His life is a tragedy: a gifted actor, with access to the sort of money and fame of which most people only dream, succumbs to drugs and ends up in jail. His latest arrest came only three months after being released from prison.
1Mar2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedBudgetary Immortality
America will soon have a new president, and that means a new budget. Successive administrations and congresses routinely claim that they’ve squeezed the last possible unnecessary cent out of their spending proposals. But such claims simply cannot be taken seriously.
1Feb2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedAppeasing China, Backing Taiwan?
One of the powers that governments most jealously guard is that of determining who visits one’s country. Washington is notorious not only for barring people from coming to America permanently, but also for refusing to let people visit who might want to come permanently.
1Jan2001 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedForgotten War in a Forgotten Country
From a distance the jungle looks peaceful. Dense, green plant growth covers hills that march endlessly onward. Primitive villages emerge in simple clearings: wood and bamboo buildings, covered by thatched roofs, sitting on stilts, and open to rain, animals, and mosquitoes.
1Dec2000 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Clinton Regulatory Miasma
It has been a sad spectacle: President Bill Clinton, desperate to salvage his scandal-laced legacy, crisscrossing the nation proposing new spending programs and regulatory initiatives with wild abandon. He seems determined to jettison perhaps his one good bequest to the nation: a less loony left-wing Democratic Party.
1Nov2000 | Doug Bandow | 0 comments | Continued-
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Book Reviews
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
