| Will 'Amnesty' Sink McCain?
The perennial controversy over what to call McCain's amnesty is silly. Every program in the world that has allowed illegal immigrants to stay has been called an "amnesty." McCain himself called it "amnesty" as recently as May 2003, when he told the Tucson Citizen "I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible … Amnesty has to be an important part ..." But once the focus-group results were in, "amnesty" became a four-letter word. ...[snip] Real Straight Talk would be to say "Sure, it's an amnesty, but we don't really have any choice" ... P.S.: The McCain, post-focus-group argument is that it can't be "amnesty" if it has some requirements--e.g., to pay a fine, learn English, etc. But it turns out that Ronald Reagan's 1986 "comprehensive" reform, which he and everyone else called an "amnesty," had requirements too, including payment of fees.
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Most NATO members want U.S., Britain, Canada to do heavy lifting
The ongoing Afghan war against al-Qaida and the Taliban now provides a second, more demanding test case that demonstrates how much the alliance's capabilities and solidarity have withered. In Afghanistan, NATO is failing. Nominally, all 26 alliance members contribute to the war effort, with some 43,000 total troops deployed. But stripping away the forces provided by the United States, Britain and Canada, the alliance has fielded barely 20,000 soldiers this to pacify a country 50 percent larger than Iraq. Many national contingents, Germany's being the most prominent, operate under restrictions that make them unusable except in areas where relative security exists. EUROPE LACKS TROOPS, POLITICAL WILL U.S. officials call for the allies to do more more troops with fewer strings attached. But Europe lacks trained soldiers, adequate stores of equipment and, above all, political will.
January 2004 - December 2004
Howard Dean's position on abortion, he argues, makes it obvious why Catholics should support someone else
Liars! Liars! Green pants on fire!: Alan Caruba has had it up to here when it comes to the press, some scientists and the environmentalist movement over the issue of global warming and predictions about the future
They say Trevor made a mockery of MLK Day: Every year at Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska a student is picked to win the Distinguished African American Student Award. David M. Huntwork wonders why it's wrong to award a white student who happens to be a native of Africa
Homage to the Count: P. David Hornik has been listening to the great William "Count" Basie for decades but it was only recently that it struck him why the jazzman was one of the greatest ever in his field
Privatize the space program: Rather than spend hundreds of billions of dollars putting humans on Mars, writes Robert Garmong, George W.
'Prudent' federal budget could include surplus surprises
The federal Conservative government is set to unveil a balanced budget on Tuesday, one without major new tax cuts or spending plans, but possibly a surplus at least $1 billion higher than expected. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty promised "one or two" surprises, but hinted his third financial blueprint will be a cautious and prudent one for uncertain financial times. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty laces up his newly resoled shoes during a traditional pre-budget photo op at a shoe repair store in Ottawa Monday. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press) "We are doing spending, but we're doing spending in a controlled way, given the economic circumstances this year and next year." "People ought not to expect any big spending items because we have to stay within our means and be prudent and fiscally responsible." As for tax cuts, the government has already knocked two points off the GST and reduced personal and business taxes in its fall economic update.
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