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[ More Commentary ]
"Senate Health Bill May Violate First Amendment"
by Michael F. Cannon
"‘I Keep My Core Beliefs Written on My Palm for Easy Reference.’"
by David Boaz
"NRA Shoots Itself in the Foot"
by Ilya Shapiro
Manipulating Science
Science is increasingly being manipulated by those who try to use it to justify political choices based on their ethical preferences and who are willing to suppress evidence of conflict between those preferences and the underlying reality. In a new study, author George Avery shows how this problem is clearly seen in two policy domains, health care and climate policy. "When we abandon the values and practices of science, or pervert them to support a predetermined agenda," says Avery, "we elevate 'appearances' and subordinate 'facts.'"
TARP as Congressional Failure
The story of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) is a story of congressional failures. In a new study, Cato scholar John Samples explains how, as a result of vague goals and priorities, Congress lost control of the implementation of the law and unconstitutionally delegated its powers to the Treasury secretary. Argues Samples, "The facts of this case suggest that, in a crisis, our republican constitution has given way to unified technocratic power obscured by empty rituals of legislation and oversight."
- "Lawless Policy: TARP as Congressional Failure," by John Samples
Obama's Budget and the $1 Trillion Mistake
President Obama on Monday sent his budget to Congress, with the proposal that the government spend $3.83 trillion in fiscal 2011. Cato scholar Chris Edwards notes that the pricetag is $1.1 trillion more than the federal budget nine years ago had promised, a 41-percent forecasting error. Argues Edwards, "The lesson from all this is that an administration's promised spending beyond the first year is meaningless. ...It scares the hell out of me that federal spending down the road could be 41 percent higher than even the huge increases projected by Obama."
- "Obama's Budget and the $1 Trillion Mistake," by Chris Edwards
- "Obama Can Blame Bush All He Wants, But His Budget Is Even Worse," by Tad DeHaven
- "There Is Some Budget Good News, but It Is Actually Really Bad News," by Daniel J. Mitchell
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GLOBAL THINK TANK RANKINGS
Cato Ranked #5 in the World
The Think Tanks & Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania last week released their updated rankings of the leading global public policy research organizations. The Cato Institute was ranked the #5 think tank in the world (of 6305 contenders).
NEW BOOKS
Gridlock
America's transportation system is on the verge of collapse and Gridlock reveals how we got into this mess and how to fix it by focusing on free market improvements to methods of transportation that pay for themselves and increase everyone's mobility.
Shifting Superpowers
This book aims to energize the debate over the proper direction of U.S. foreign policy in Asia, urging America to adapt to the realities of a changing world in which China is not automatically America's enemy, while India is not consistently America's ally.
Financial Fiasco
An easily accessible work on the economic crisis, the book guides readers through a world of irresponsible behavior, showing how many of the "solutions" being implemented are repeating the mistakes that caused the crisis.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
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