Policy Resource

By Bob Beauprez, Editor in Chief
The GOP suffered a second consecutive election setback in 2008, and some would suggest that major policy changes are needed to position the party for ballot box victories.  The tea-leaf readers are quick to suggest that the election of Barack Obama and successive gains in the House and Senate are evidence that a philosophical change has occurred in America and that the Democrats are aligned for a long term dominance of the nation’s political center stage.  The traditional center-right politics in America, they profess, have taken a tectonic shift to the left.  To use an old country cliché, “That dog won’t hunt!”

A Narrarated Presentation by Rich Sokol, Contributing Editor
Editor’s Note:  America embraced “change” on Election Day, but it remains to be seen just how Barack Obama and the increased majorities on Capitol Hill will actually govern.  One thing we can be sure of is that we’re in for more government.  More taxes, more spending, more regulation. 

By Bob Beauprez, Editor in Chief
Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States next January.  Proclaiming a message of “hope” and “change” the articulate young Senator fresh from the Illinois state legislature captivated enough voters to claim an overwhelming electoral margin of victory, albeit a far slimmer popular vote margin than might have been anticipated. 

By Mark Hillman, Contributing Editor
As the dust settles after Election Day, it's fair to say that Republicans deserved the thrashing we received.  Unfortunately, some good Republicans (Bob Schaffer, to name one) lost undeservedly, and some embarrassments (Alaska Sen. Ted "7 Felonies and a Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens) won undeservedly.

By Jon Anderson, Editor in Chief
The American people are about to find out just how left the Obama Administration and Democrat controlled Congress will lean over the next two years.  The initial bellwether will likely be card-check legislation.  This legislation would strip employees of their right to decide whether to unionize by a private ballot election and replace it with a system that empowers union organizers to pressure employees to sign a union authorization card in public.  The legislation was introduced in 2005 and 2007 and union organizations have made clear that card-check legislation is their legislative priority with a Democrat controlled Congress and White House.

By Hilary Masell Oswald, Contributing Editor
Advocates of school choice have long argued that parents ought to have the right to choose the best schools for their children, that students shouldn’t be relegated to schools based on arbitrary factors, such as a family’s zip code. If parents have the right to choose, the argument goes, then schools become like other service-providing organizations: they must compete for students (and the dollars that come with those students). Competition yields better performance. Better performance means better education for students. Good schools prosper; bad schools close. The nation produces well-educated men and women prepared for our increasing global economy.

By William Moloney, Contributing Editor
Not for nothing has Economics long been known as the “dismal science”.  Not only is it inherently boring, but hardly anyone truly understands it.  Even among the few with some understanding, rarely are they able to communicate it to others.