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September 16, 2010
A full day analysis of the Supreme Court's 2009 and 2010 terms.
"A Debate Between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama"
by Daniel J. Mitchell
"Chávez Introduces ‘Good Life Card’, Better Known as Rationing Card in Cuba"
by Juan Carlos Hidalgo
"Thoughts on Secretary Clinton’s CFR Speech"
by Christopher Preble
Same Old Song and Dance
As part of a larger package of "stimulus measures" to be announced by the administration this week, President Obama on Monday unveiled a new nationwide infrastructure overhaul plan. On Wednesday, Obama is expected to announce two new tax credits, a $100 billion permanent extension of the business tax credit for research and development, and a new $200 billion tax cut giving businesses an incentive to buy new equipment in the short term. Comments Cato scholar Daniel J. Mitchell, "All of these proposals suffer from the same flaw in that they assume growth is sluggish because government is not big enough and not intervening enough."
- "Obama's New Stimulus Schemes: Same Song, Umpteenth Verse," by Daniel J. Mitchell
- "Why Not Private Infrastructure?," by Tad DeHaven
Free Market—Not More Money—Needed to Reform Public Defender Services
Criminal defense systems are in a state of perpetual crisis, routinely described as "scandalous." Public defender offices around the country face crushing caseloads that necessarily compromise the quality of the legal representation they provide. In a new paper, Professors Stephen J. Schulhofer and David Friedman examine the broken criminal defense system and propose free market solutions to better serve indigent defendants.
- "Reforming Indigent Defense: How Free Market Principles Can Help to Fix a Broken System," by Stephen J. Schulhofer and David Friedman
The Reality of the Iraq Transition
President Obama addressed the American people on the evolving role for the U.S. military in Iraq. Obama discussed what the U.S. military draw down in Iraq means for national security efforts and the fight against terrorism. Observes Cato scholar Christopher Preble, "Some people are advising the president to leave a permanent U.S. military presence in Iraq, essentially arguing that the United States is the rightful guarantor of Iraqi sovereignty, and that the Iraqis simply can't be trusted with security matters. The president has wisely turned aside such recommendations in the past, and should do so again."
- "The Iraq Mission Shifts to the Iraqis," by Christopher Preble
- "War in Iraq Not Over," by Christopher Preble
- "Iraq Is Defenseless," by Ted Galen Carpenter
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