Op-Eds

The conscience of a political moderate

Last Tuesday, the Democratic Party took a “shellacking” from the GOP, which enjoyed the largest House victory since 1948. Most governorships went Republican, too, while the Senate came nail-bitingly close to a 50/50 split. “On fiscal and social policy, polling data shows a major overlap between the Tea Party and the middle class, UR English […]

Child labor and world economic progress

Recently, I’ve been bombarded with endless arguments against free trade, and one popular argument is that it leads to lower labor standards. In most parts of the world where the manufacturing sector has increased in size, child labor is employed to do much of the work in factories.  More often than not, “child labor” brings […]

The uses of an extra-jurisdictional army

A group of teenagers are celebrating a birthday party. They hear a crash, followed by a hail of bullets. The party-goers lay dead in a pool of blood. This was the scene in Ciudad Juárez last month. These were the latest victims of a drug war that has claimed 28,000 lives since 2006. I was […]

The real American Express: the government

This past Saturday, I attended the Republican Rally on campus. The rally was replete with refreshments, American flags  and great candidates. Of those candidates, one really impressed me with his speech. His name was Joe DioGuardi. As a  CPA that had been in Congress during President Reagan’s second term, DioGuardi was our lone, but well-qualified, […]

Separation of federal government and state

Think about it:  Would one federal department be more efficient at telling Americans how to get the best possible education? Or would dealing with education on a state, local or even personal level get the job done just as well, if not substantially better?  How would an all-powerful “mastermind” know what works best for Lorain, […]

The proof is in the pudding: 2010 is not 1934

The Republicans have won back the House of Representatives in this election, and the Democratic majority in the Senate is so narrow that nothing will get done.  It is important to know why this occurred. Conservatives will say it was a referendum on President Obama and a huge rejection of his “big government” philosophy. Many […]

Israel should be seen as a legitimate state

At UR, articles are being written with the intent of promulgating an anti-Israel agenda. The latest example is in an article regarding Israel’s status in the international community. People have freedom of speech, but when the information presented is not factual, others must speak out. The author of  a recent article, “Israel must be held […]

The clash of education reform and profit

At present, anyone hoping to be involved in any substantive way with the latest intellectual currents in educational reform must learn two words above all — charter schools. Despite their youth, charter schools have become the panacea for the troubles with education. Endorsed by everyone from Arne Duncan to the CEOs, chancellors or commissioners of […]

Apathy is not the answer to election troubles

These days in Washington D.C. it seems like the only thing higher than our national deficit is the moral deficit of our politicians. All the information one hears about government candidates seems to come from the unabashedly biased negative ads they throw at each other or from news reports uncovering heinous scandals. It’s no wonder […]

Pakistan can no longer be counted as an ally

I no longer feel that we can honestly call Pakistan an ally. Recently Two truck drivers were burned alive in an attack on fuel tankers heading to Afghanistan. Additionaly NATO forces launched attacks into Pakistan in attempts to eliminate terrorist threats. Taking these two events into consideration, let’s examine Pakistan’s response. Pakistani Ambassador Jalil Abbas […]