The American Enterprise articles from April 2001

The American Enterprise archives from April 2001

The Cloud Over Manhattan.(United States national security issues)
April 1, 2001... I cranked my seat back as soon as we lifted off from Jackson-Sharpton Airport. (Boy, that still sounds funny. But with the one-year anniversary of the Waldorf-Astoria penthouse fire that martyred the two politicos now approaching, anyone using...

Sidelights.
April 1, 2001... Before administering a journalism admissions test to his undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, professor David Brackes gave it to his own children, ages 11 and 17. Both did well, with his 17-year-old daughter scoring...

THE 1980S RETURN.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Looks like we're in an instant replay of the early 1980s: a slowing economy, a new Republican President, proposed tax cuts to re-fuel the economy, and an explosion of divisive rhetoric from the professional class warriors on Capitol Hill. ...

PERFECT TEST OF MEDIA BIAS.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... It's almost a perfect experiment: A President is inaugurated and immediately issues executive orders that reverse several policies of his predecessor. Then the next President is inaugurated and reverses the very same policies back to where they...

BY THEIR ACRONYMS YE SHALL KNOW THEM.(differences between Bill Clinton and George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Remember the acronym in the air in the early days of the Clinton presidency? "FOB"--as in "Friend of Bill"--was a shorthand for the cronies, back-scratching insiders, and Clinton loyalists whose fingerprints ended up on so many of the...

AL, YOU DANGEROUS ZEALOT.(Albert Gore, Jr.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... When President Bush set up an office to offer federal support to religious charities, critics insisted that a long dark night of religious jackbootery was descending. Government grants to Unitarian food shelves are just the beginning. Soon...

SMOKING GUN.(health aspects of carbonless paper)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... "I started having headaches, sinus and allergy problems, skin and eye irritation, sore throats, respiratory infections, bronchitis, sleep disorders, and a deteriorating memory," says Brenda Smith. Having worked as a customer service...

NOT EVERYTHING IS GETTING BETTER.(presidential debates between Al Gore and George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The Princeton Review has scored a number of presidential debates according to the sophistication of their language and concepts. It finds the latest Bush-Gore debate was conducted at a sixth- to seventh-grade level. That compares to a...

I BLAME THE EGYPTIANS.(commentary on how far the blame should go in criminal cases)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... A 14-year-old girl died in my neighborhood--allegedly raped and murdered. In the morning paper, amid flailing accusations about who's to blame, one writer lashed out: "Whoever dumped the couch there, it's their fault. That's where little guys...

BETTER THAN CONDOMS IN A COOKIE JAR.(sexual abstinence programs for teens)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The condoms-in-a-cookie-jar crowd has long insisted there is no effective alternative to their favored method for dealing with teen sex, pregnancy, and disease. "Abstinence" programs presented as an option bring only derisive snorts from...

SWITCH OFF JESSE'S SPOTLIGHT.(Rev. Jesse Jackson)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... On the heels of revelations he fathered a child with his mistress, the Reverend Jesse Jackson has tumbled further from the moral high ground by adding former Chicago Democratic Congressman Mel Reynolds to the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's payroll....

ZERO TOLERANCE, ZERO SENSE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... "Zero tolerance" for weapons has become standard procedure in our schools. The motive is admirable, but in practice the idea is often carried to counterproductive extremes. A young child was suspended for bringing to school a toy soldier...

THE BOOBS TUBE.(sex in television)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2001... Studies show TV continues to become scuzzier. The latest Kaiser Foundation research on 1,114 randomly selected programs finds 68 percent of all shows now contain sexual content--up sharply from 56 percent just two years ago. In certain...

SEPARATION OF MUSEUM AND STATE.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... The Jewish organization Toward Tradition has called for the federal government not to fund the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which currently receives 60 percent of its budget from the government and is run by a presidentially appointed...

SELLING SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2001... Pollsters at a recent Cato Institute conference debated the question, What will it take to get Congress to enact sensible reforms of Social Security? Some polls appear to show support for the status quo. In 1997, for example, Democratic...

Stocks Still Look Good.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2001... Two years ago my AEI colleague Kevin Hassett and I wrote Dow 36,000. Despite its flamboyant title, the book was a serious attempt at formulating a new model for valuing stocks, one that would explain the incredible rise in prices from a Dow...

two views.(US tax policy)
April 1, 2001... PRESIDENT BUSH WANTS TO DOUBLE THE CHILD TAX CREDIT. LIBERALS WOULD RATHER SPEND THE MONEY ON DAY CARE. SOME CONSERVATIVES WOULD RATHER USE IT FOR TAX CUTS THAT STIMULATE THE ECONOMY. How to Help Childraising Families Prosper? Charles...

"Live" with TAE.(The American Enterprise interview with Dick and Lynne Cheney)(Interview)
April 1, 2001... THEY'RE ONE OF WASHINGTON'S MOST ACCOMPLISHED AND VISIBLE POLITICAL COUPLES. YET, AMIDST THE WHIRL, THEY'VE MANAGED TO CARVE OUT BALANCED LIVES AND A DEVOTED MARRIAGE. MEET THE REAL PEOPLE MOVING INTO THE VICE PRESIDENT'S MANSION. Dick and...

New Weapon For A New World Order.
April 1, 2001... How missile defense makes the entire globe safer The question is not whether a ballistic missile with a nuclear or chemical or biological warhead capable of killing hundreds of thousands of Americans will wind up in the hands of a hostile...

No-Nukes Turn Pro-Nuke.
April 1, 2001... Missile defenses are one thing the Left hates more than Armageddon Ladies and gentlemen, for your interest and edification, I'd like to make you sick with fear at the prospect of an attack on America involving missiles armed with nuclear...

We Surrender.(missile defense systems)
April 1, 2001... Gloom and doomers have never wanted missile defense to work When President Reagan first proposed that the United States set itself to building a defense against nuclear missile attack, Democrats and political liberals went ballistic. ...

Politicians Will Build it ...(missile defense systems)
April 1, 2001... ... Because the people want protection President Bush campaigned by promising to build a defense against ballistic missiles as soon as possible. He showed he intended to keep that vow when he appointed Don Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense....

Bomb Blocking.
April 1, 2001... What can we do now? What do we need? George W. Bush campaigned on the issue of missile defense, criticizing his predecessor for leaving America and her allies undefended. He promised that as President he would pursue robust protections...

Dump the ABM Treaty.(Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... What George Washington called our "blessed location" between two vast oceans can no longer protect America from weapons of mass destruction. Contemporary missile technology is evaporating those oceans. And our failure to develop a defense in...

Three Cheers for "Gentrification".
April 1, 2001... These days, whenever more than a handful of middle-income people move into a formerly down-at-the-heels neighborhood, they are accused of committing that newest of social sins: "gentrification." This loaded term--conjuring up images of yuppies...

Sick Sisters.(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2001... How feminist politics is warping medicine We are now on the threshold of politically correct medicine. P.C. health care is powered by the idea that injustice produces disease, and that political empowerment is the cure. It is a false...

Be Not Afraid.(civility in politics)
April 1, 2001... Fighting spirit, not just civility, is wanted in American public life today When I first arrived in Washington, D.C., I thought there would be deep discussions of principles and policies in this city. I expected great debates in the...

Compassionate Conservatism Doesn't Stop at the Water's Edge.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... From a speech to the American Enterprise Institute by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jesse Helms, January 11, 2001: One of our first priorities will be to assist President Bush in implementing his vision of "compassionate...

WEDDING BELL BLUES.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... TARKIO, MISSOURI--I had planned on aging as a sort of gradual process, a graceful slide from the summer of my life through a rewarding fall, with winter somewhere far in the future. No sudden changes, just a slow decline into senescence with,...

Running on Empty: Toward a New Energy Policy.(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2001... With higher gasoline, home heating oil, and utility prices, the prospect of natural gas shortages on the horizon, and rolling electrical brownouts in California, the election of President George W. Bush, former oil driller, and Vice President...

Why Spring Ahead?(history of Daylight Savings Time)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Before visiting slumberland on the evening of March 31, Americans will advance their timepieces by one hour and rewind the familiar ritual of Daylight Savings Time: spring ahead, fall back. An extra hour of daylight on spring and summer...

Hollywood Hucksters Ambushed By Tiger.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Culture and the arts have been "globalizing" for years now. In movies this has usually meant dumb Hollywood blockbusters invading foreign screens on the strength of their world-famous stars, gaudy special effects, and monstrous marketing...

The Jewish Confederates.(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Jewish Confederates By Robert N. Rosen University of South Carolina Press, 517 pages, $39.95 The Jewish Confederates--Charleston, South Carolina attorney Robert Rosen's timely, well-sourced, and accurate record of Southern Jewry's...

This Land Is Your Land: The Geographic Evolution of the United States.(Review)
April 1, 2001... This Land Is Your Land: The Geographic Evolution of the United States By Seymour Schwartz, Foreword by Barber Conable, Jr. Abrams, 304 pages, $75 My home town of Knoxville is named for Henry M. Knox, who also gave his name to Fort Knox,...

The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power.(Review)
April 1, 2001... The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power By Norman Lebrecht, 1990 A substantial portion of the cost of a ticket to a classical music concert goes to pay the orchestra's music director or guest conductor. Top conductors are...

Country Music Conservative.(Mike Curb, politician and music executive)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Mike Curb has one of the more unusual backgrounds of anyone in the music business. At 56, he is one of the most prominent figures in entertainment, presiding over his own independent record label in Nashville with a stable of recording...

International Law vs. America.(effects of international law on America)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... International Law vs. America David B. Rivkin, Jr., and Lee Casey, "The Rocky Shoals of International Law," in The National Interest (Winter 2000/01), 1112 16th Street N.W. #540, Washington, D.C. 20036. Lawyers Rivkin and Casey warn that...

Unsafe Government.(Review)
April 1, 2001... Unsafe Government Robert W. Hahn, Randall W. Lutter, and W. Kip Viscusi. Do Federal Regulations Increase Mortality? AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, 1150 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Many federal regulations...

Don't Blame Joe Camel.(smoking among youth and the advertising campaign of Camel brand cigarettes)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Don't Blame Joe Camel John E. Calfee, "The Historical Significance of Joe Camel" in Journal of Public Policy & Marketing (Fall 2000), American Marketing Association, 311 South Wacker Drive #800, Chicago, Illinois 60606. In the early 1990s,...

Paying Charity CEOs.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Paying Charity CEOs Peter Frumkin, "Are Nonprofit CEOs Overpaid?" in The Public Interest (Winter 2001), 1112 16th Street N.W. #530, Washington, D.C. 20036. Several large nonprofits have suffered scandals recently over the excessive...

Don't Fear the Engineer.(concerns regarding genetically altered crops)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Don't Fear the Engineer Ronald Bailey, "Dr. Strangelunch," in Reason (January 2001), 3415 South Sepulveda Boulevard #400, Los Angeles, California 90034. Environmental activists are campaigning against genetically modified food. Bailey,...

Smart Immigrants Make Wealth.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Smart Immigrants Make Wealth G. Pascal Zachary. The Global Me: New Cosmopolitans and the Competitive Edge. PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street #1321, New York, New York 10107. In the global economy, America has a comparative advantage:...

Defending America.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Seven in ten Americans say that it is important for the United States to be #1 in the world militarily. A near majority think that the military has gotten weaker in the past eight years and only about two in ten think it is becoming better...

Missile Defense.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... About half the public told Harris interviewers last summer that they knew the Pentagon was developing a missile defense system; 48 percent did not. Fully 58 percent believe we already have such a system in place. Given low levels of information...

High On Science.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... Americans' receptivity to building a missile defense system may stem from their confidence in American science. People believe the country's greatest achievements during the 20th century are scientific and technological ones, and they have...

the Mail.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2001... It's unfair to lump foundations that support campaign finance reform into the same category as corporate special interests (SCAN, March). The former are trying to fix the system, the latter to corrupt it. Public Campaign and its funding...