There can be little doubt that one of the greatest political and economic problems in the US is the way that our Congress “earmarks” billions of dollars for special projects that benefit lawmakers in their bid for personal security and re-election.

The system works in a very straightforward way. Congress can pass massive spending bills and all the while representatives can add “earmarks” that benefit projects and people in their district or state. It is a form, quite often, of legal payback for favors rendered to the elected official. President Bush asked Congress, in his last State of the Union address, to give him a line-item veto. Don’t expect it to happen soon. The idea makes perfect sense really, and it has been done in several states, so why am I so pessimistic about the prospects? The simple answer is plain to see—both parties have found that it pays to spend money in this less accountable way. Incumbents use it to gain favor and to stay in power. Everyone knows that over 95% of the incumbents in the US House are re-elected every […]

Critics of the United States and Israel often attack these two countries for their political inconsistencies and international mistakes. Mistakes do abound and can be rather easily cited by foes of all sorts. After all a democracy allows such open criticism, which is one of its truest marks. But those in our countries who seem to hate the U.S. and Israel ought to at least concede more than they are generally willing to do. It is one thing to play the prophet’s role, and thus point out the mistakes of these great nations. It is another to tell the world that these democracies still beat all the alternatives. I wish the "Hate America First" crowd would acknowledge, at least now and then, that this is still a great nation even with its numerous faults.

Consider the fact that yesterday Israel’s highest court ruled that Palestinians can sue in Israeli courts over damages done by the Israeli army in the territories. Where else could such a ruling happen in the Middle East? And at the same time Iran’s Ahmadinejab once again denounced the […]

Jeanne Kirkpatrick will be missed. Many of my generation will remember her as both a public intellectual and a figure of great courage. She will best be remembered as Ronald Reagan’s first appointment to be ambassador to the United Nations in 1981. She was a breath of fresh air after the dark days of the Carter years.

It was Jeanne Kirkpatrick who coined the phrase "Blame America First." She understood, as a Democrat at the time, that something had shifted radically in her party since World War II. She became one of a number of intellectuals who understood this shift and spoke openly against it. This is why she, and others, helped to form the anti-Soviet Committee for the Present Danger. She said that she was concerned about "the weakening of Western will." This became the track upon which the rising neo-conservative movement developed.

Kirkpatrick was committed to speaking truth to power. Soviet dissidents loved her. She spent her last ten years on the board of the Center for a Free Cuba. As the Wall Street Journal noted over the weekend, […]