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Teachers unions and civil rights groups block school choice for black students
Teachers unions, like the National Education Association (NEA), and many civil-rights organizations inadvertently sabotage the potential of black males by perpetuating failed educational visions. Black males will never achieve academic success until black parents are financially empowered to opt out of failed public school systems.Deficits, debt, and self-deception
It passed almost unnoticed, but in late July the Obama Administration raised the Federal Government’s budget deficit forecast for fiscal year 2011 to $1.4 trillion. That’s up from February’s forecast of $1.267 trillion. In July alone, the Federal Government’s deficit was $165 billion, of which $20 billion was for interest-payments on debt.In the 'green' economy, the poor pay more
When a proposal to improve the environment has negative consequences for our economic and technological ability to steward our resources and care for people created in God’s image, Christianity teaches that we should investigate whether the environmental policy is truly necessary to accomplish its stated goal, and whether it is possible to care for the environment in a way that also enhances human life and productivity.Regaining a sense of taste in political leadership
In our national political diet, we’ve eaten a relatively unseasoned mash of policy for a long time with little variation based on the chef.Lutheran World Federation misses the mark on work and wealth
The eleventh General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation would have been improved if there had been a more substantive integration of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s views on the ecumenical movement, poverty, and work into its proceedings.Finding the balance: Privacy and the civil society
Without privacy, without a door I can close (and the trust that you will respect that closed door) I cannot from time to time withdraw into solitude.Spiritual labor and the big spill
Louisiana fishermen are keenly aware of the passage from John 21, when the resurrected Christ from afar tells the disciples to cast their net on the right side of the boat and they are rewarded in abundance. The passage is a reminder that Christ has an intimate knowledge of and concern for even the creatures under the sea.Europe's choice: Populate or perish
If there is one thing the global economic crisis has highlighted, it’s the need to make choices—sometimes very difficult choices. At the June G-20 summit, for example, several European governments made it clear to the Obama Administration that they do not believe you can spend your way out of recessions. Unlike America, countries such as David Cameron’s Britain and Angela Merkel’s Germany have chosen the politically-risky but economically-brave path of austerity and public-sector spending cuts.Elena Kagan's revealing Commerce Clause evasion
Many Americans have a vague sense that the United States has drifted far from its constitutional origins. Every once in a while, something happens that prods us to recognize just how far we’ve gone.Money, deficits, and the devil: A cautionary tale
Goethe finished writing the second part of Faust in 1832. Modern economics was then only emerging from its infancy. Yet Goethe’s insights go to the heart of some of our most intractable long-term economic problems.
America's destiny must be freedom
Horatio Alge depicted an important spiritual component to his impoverished characters: He gave them dignity and natural rights, just as our founding document did.Evangelicals and global warming
Unfortunately, the public policy response to global warming proposed by some evangelicals makes actually helping the global poor more difficult.