Patrick Basham (Author at The Cato Institute)

Stephen Harper: One of U.S. (Commentary)

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Stephen Harper's foreign policy has fulfilled the hopes of American conservatives. As prime minister, Mr. Harper has validated my prediction during the last campaign (notoriously referenced in a Liberal attack ad) that he would become George W. Bush's new best friend internationally. Mr. Harper's...

Political Perils of Overregulation (Commentary)

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The big news last week was that Wall Street banks and finance houses are toppling into New York's East River and the financial splash threatens to drown the nation's economy. But the really big news is that economic populism in this country has taken a turn toward less government intervention rather...

Mac's Late Rally with His Money Message (Commentary)

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A week that began so badly for John McCain on economic fundamentals ended on a comparative high. In dueling speeches yesterday, McCain outthought Barack Obama, thanks to a greater, if still clearly limited, awareness of the realities of the Wall Street meltdown. McCain went further in identify...

Cato Scholars Comment on Selection of Sarah Palin for McCain's VP (Scholar Comments)

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

In Denver this week, Democratic strategist James Carville said that, in choosing a running mate, a candidate's goal should be to make the other candidate's campaign manager vomit upon learning the nominee's name. Today, Obama's top strategist, David Axelrod, was still basking in the morning glow of Obama's highly praised acceptance speech when he would have run suddenly from the campaign war room.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate is a political masterstroke. Always an electorally attractive choice, Palin is an even stronger selection following Barack Obama's political punt on Joe Biden. Palin checks a lot of boxes for the McCain campaign: a maverick, anti-establishment profile; a youthful, telegenic, professional woman and devoted mother; and a non-Beltway politician popular among grassroots conservatives.

Most importantly, Palin's selection is about the only story newsworthy enough to suck the political oxygen out of Obama's Invesco Field performance and to energize next week's GOP convention. The Palin selection is the latest illustration that John McCain has refound his political touch.

Barack Obama's nomination is historic as, obviously, would be his election. Now, John McCain has laid down a historic marker of his own. Hands up all those who'd swap places with Joe Biden in the vice-presidential debate?

Should People in Democratic Glass Houses Throw Stones? (Commentary)

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The neoconservative call to ostracise Russia by kicking her out of the G8 and denying her membership in the World Trade Organisation is deeply mistaken. Washington's desire to lash out economically and diplomatically at Russian misbehaviour in the Caucasus is trumping rational thinking on the future...

Up in Smoke (Commentary)

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Two recent events underscore big problems with the way society tries to fight tobacco use. First, a new Harvard study came out alleging that the tobacco industry manipulated menthol levels in cigarettes to hook young smokers in violation of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement, which bans tobacco...

Why Muslims Still Hate Us (Commentary)

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Is Muslim anti-Americanism driven by our culture or our foreign policy? Do they hate us for "who we are," or "what we do?" An analysis of Muslim public opinion since 9/11 finds that, on balance, the "foreign policy trumps culture" argument is correct. This finding has important implications for t...

Fat Risks? Sumo, Some Less (Commentary)

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Recent news dispatches from Tokyo have highlighted a new Japanese law that ranks as the world's most aggressive, and possibly most ill informed, anti-obesity measure. The law requires everyone between 40 and 74 years of age to have their waist measured. The requirement, which will cover almost h...