Critics of the Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday upholding the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law are right: Money will always find a way into the system. Nonetheless, the decision by a closely divided court is a major victory in the struggle to limit the influence of big money on federal elections.Voting 5-4, the justices approved major revisions […]

AUSTIN, Texas – I do not think it premature to conclude that the entire financial industry of this country is riddled with fraud. As Allan Sloan of Newsweek observed, this is not a case of “a few bad apples,” it’s the Cockroach Theory – you see one, you know there’s a whole nest of the […]

Some American high school students will be taught Chinese language and culture under a $1.4 million program financed by the Beijing government. The Advanced Placement program will be the second of its kind paid for by a foreign government (not counting Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi subsidy of Islamic schools in this country). A similar program underwritten […]

Miranda warnings have become embedded in popular culture, even while the protections they afford have come under attack.Turn on a television any night of the week and pretend cops will be reading pretend suspects their real rights. We’ve all seen it thousands of time, and maybe we know what our rights are – when we’re […]

Don’t be misled by fictitious ads promising quick and painless weight loss.The Federal Trade Commission released a report Tuesday that describes seven claims sometimes made in advertisements that just aren’t true. The idea behind the education campaign was to help people in the media recognize bad advertisements. And while preemptive policing of the media is […]

It is the arrogance that most offends.Yes, the wrongheadedness is troubling, the ignorance irritating. But that damn-you arrogance is what makes you need to count to 10.I refer to the latest insult to free speech in Miami, about which, more in a moment. But first, a little background for those who came in late.Four years […]

The 6-year-old experiment in computer intelligence known as the Bowl Championship Series has short-circuited.The University of Southern California, ranked as the best college football team in the country by both sportswriters and coaches, will not play in the national title game.The top three big-time college teams each have one loss: USC (11-1), Oklahoma (12-1) and […]

Sen. John Kerry has come to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York to deliver a major foreign-policy address, and he looks great. With his cragged face and silvery hair, he is the very picture of a senator.But at a time when Democratic activists are fed up with a party establishment that they think […]

Washington’s nefarious revolving door is spinning at full speed. And the consequences can be terrible for taxpayers.Take a look at two recent cases and the potential for damage done by too-cozy relationships between government officials and private industry is clear.The revolving door in Washington refers to the all-too-common practice of high-ranking government officials and high-ranking […]

In ways that have not been fully appreciated, the Republican triumph in enacting a prescription drug benefit for Medicare is one of those watershed events that will shape American politics for years. Among the central lessons:Republicans are stunningly effective. The White House has always known that adding a drug benefit to Medicare would co-opt an […]