Credit goes to James Hamilton for what may be the best takedown of the gold bugs over at the National Review I’ve seen yet: What’s behind the ongoing run-up in gold prices? One popular interpretation is that investors fear a resurgence of U.S. inflation. But that story just doesn’t square with the facts … I […]

CNN reports: The hearing began with a sudden and sharp partisan dispute when Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter ruled that Gonzales did not have to be sworn in to testify. After Democrats strongly objected and demanded a roll-call vote, Republicans prevailed and the attorney general did not testify under oath. Before one asks why […]

Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times argues that it can and it should: “There is a general agreement about the fact that citizenship in this country should not be bestowed on people who are the children of folks who come into this country illegally,” said Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican, who is participating in the […]

Secretary Snow Answers My Question #2 CBS Marketwatch was kind enough to try to get an answer to question #2 from the seven in my “California Questions” post that followed Arnie’s coup in CA. They went right to the top (almost), and asked Treasury Secretary John Snow. NEW YORK (CBS.MW) — If Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger […]

Veto Proof F.C.C. Media Rule Blocked in House in a 400-to-21 Vote WASHINGTON, July 23 — The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation today to block a new rule supported by the Bush administration that would permit the nation’s largest television networks to grow bigger by owning more stations. The vote, which was 400 to […]

Liberalism and Growth Recently, I said I would try to make the case that liberalism causes growth. Certainly, correlations suggest that this is the case. For instance, income is substantially higher in Blue states than Red states. The inability of the Soviet Union to match the productive output of the United States is another example. […]

Affirmative Action CalPundit has a post that largely echoes a conversation I had last night on the subject of whether Affirmative Action leads to promotion and hiring of less qualified people. I said, “sure, you can find instances of it, but you can find instances of hirings of unqualified people for a variety of reasons”. […]

Has Anyone Read this Book? In 1998, Chief Justice Rehnquist published a book, All the Laws But One, on the subject of civil liberties and the writ of habeas corpus. I hadn’t heard of this book until I came across this: Chief Justice Rehnquist talked about his latest book on U.S. Supreme Court history, All […]