The country needs (a) millions of jobs, even if temporary ones (until the economy picks up more and generates more jobs on its own); (b) these jobs must be generated in short order (to prevent the current bleak outlook from affecting the outcomes of the 2010 elections); (c) the cost...

The Obama Administration is planning to start cutting the deficit soon for economic and political reasons. To now even merely discuss tax raises, expenditure cuts, and increases in interest rates that are entailed will slow the recovery. We know what must be done; it does not require long preparations. And...

The Democrats are caught between the need to set up structures that will prevent future meltdowns and the pressures they face from well-heeled Wall Street-based interest groups. They are under cross-pressure to act in the public interest and to survive in the political system: those who displease groups with deep...

Republicans seek to limit medical malpractice lawsuits. The AMA claims that million-dollar jury awards increase the cost of health care. Actually, for every patient who sues, there are several who should but don't.

A Harvard study that examined the records of 30,000 patients in New York discovered that 280 contained...

Some years back I wrote an essay for Time magazine. When I met with the editor, he told me that he wanted "a forehead slapping piece." When I meekly replied that I did not know what this meant, he explained that he wanted the "reader to exclaim 'Wow, why did...

The media is full of stories critical of the way Israel deals with the Palestinians.
There is indeed a lot to criticize, which, by the way, Israelis often do. However, when Israel does something right -- and in a big way -- that too should be noted. After all,...

In a cynical review of a sensationalistic book, The New York Times featured--front page--the thesis that there is nary a difference between men who must wine and dine women before they fork over sex, and johns who pay for prostitutes. In a discussion that would (or at least should) embarrass...

The looming defeat of a progressive health care bill is a much greater disaster than meets the eye. The right wing will learn, as they already surmised from previous skirmishes, that they can blow the Democrats out of the water. They will use the same smear tactics, emotional lies, and...

The opponents of Obama's Health Insurance for All Americans have given him a gift. They so overplayed their hand that they provided a golden opportunity for the president to show the American people how irrational, irresponsible and false their criticisms are.

Former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey claims...

If this is a victory, I sure don't know what a defeat would look like.

A July 29th New York Times headline states, "In victory for Obama, House panel approves Restraints on Executive Pay." First, you should note that an approval by a panel and a token...

I have a confession to make. I am an avid reader of personal advice columns. When I read those published generations ago, I feel that they provide a great insight what life was really like in those days--and what the prevailing norms were regarding what was considered right and wrong....

In contrast to the thesis -- much promoted by the president himself -- that he is not an ideologue but a pragmatic, Obama has laid out a strong new normative foundation for his foreign policy. He seeks to promote peace and security but leave democratization and liberalization to the people...

Obama is challenged to come up with ways to pay for a health insurance plan that will cover most, if not all, Americans. Many call for cutting services and reducing fees for doctors and for hospitals. Others favor raising taxes one way or another. I say first cut out the...

One particularly attractive fantasy dies hard: Let's send over some of our government officials or volunteers, loaded with good intentions and some money, to turn an illiterate, corrupt regime into an American suburb. Quickly (if only to "drain the swamp in which terrorists thrive"). Cheaply (there is not much tolerance...

As President Obama heads to Russia, our discussions with various American and Russian representatives show that stove-piping is blocking what could be a major multifaceted deal. The main negotiations in preparation for the president's visit are taking place in tightly controlled compartments.

Those who deal with reductions in strategic...

North Korean ships are carrying missiles and materials from which chemical and nuclear weapons can be made -- to other tyrannies, such as the oppressive regimes in Myanmar and in Yemen. The United States leads a group of more than ninety nations that are committed to stopping such traffic, but...

Amitia Etzioni with Dr. Seyyed Ataollah Mohajerani, Iran's Minister of Culture under President Mohammed Khatami.

The Western media projects on the demonstrators in Iran our best hopes and wishes. It sees another "color" revolution, in the wake of which the...

Republicans have been criticizing President Obama for not having been more outspoken in support of the masses in the streets of Iran. They choose to ignore what happened when Republican presidents encouraged the rising of the Shia in southern Iraq in 1991 and, indirectly, of Hungarians in that country in...

Progressive people are for something called a "public plan" if they cannot get a single payer health insurance. It is hard to come up with a more boring label and one that is half as counterproductive. For most people "public plan" means nothing; to others it does sound like some...

Authors these days are in down in the dumps. They have many good reasons. Print media is shriveling. Publishers are doing poorly. Readers' eyeballs wander all over the place. About the only venues that are thriving are digital outlets, like this one. I am hence especially grateful to The New...