OP-EDS AND COMMENTARY BY HOOVER FELLOWS

A Turning Point on Education Reform
AOL News, March 11, 2010
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force)

If the nation's education system finally makes a meaningful turn for the better, March 10 may very well mark the turning point. . . .

Ominous Rumblings at the Department of Education
townhall.com, March 11, 2010
by Liam Julian (Research Fellow)

The Department of Education is often misleading, vague and ominous. . . .

The Pandemic That Wasn't
Forbes, March 11, 2010
by Henry I. Miller (Research Fellow )

The incompetence of the World Health Organization. . . .

BLOGS BY HOOVER FELLOWS

Is Tom Hanks Unhinged?
Works and Days, March 11, 2010
by Victor Davis Hanson (Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow)

Much has been written of the recent Tom Hanks remarks to Douglas Brinkley in a Time Magazine interview about his upcoming HBO series on World War II in the Pacific. . . .

Confusing Health Care and Health Insurance
EconLog, March 11, 2010
by David R. Henderson (Research Fellow)

President Obama Walks Into His Own Trap. . . .

Joseph, Pharaoh, and a 20 Percent Flat Tax in Egypt
Flat Tax, March 11, 2010
by Alvin Rabushka (David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow)

Biblical scholars place the story of Joseph and the famine, recounted in Genesis 41 and 47, in the Second Intermediate Period (1674-1553 B.C.). . . .

Smaller Schools, Better Performance
New York Times, March 11, 2010 (Registration Required)
by Herbert J. Walberg (Distinguished Visiting Fellow
member of the K–12 Education Task Force )

A huge amount of research, including my own, in more than 25 states shows that other things being equal, smaller schools produce higher academic achievement than larger schools. . . .

Clever Jersey Devil
Bill Whalen: Politi-Cal, March 11, 2010
by Bill Whalen (Research Fellow)

Wondering what the next governor of California can do to gain the upper hand on the Golden State’s bloated bureaucracy? . . .

Flat Tax Chronology
Flat Tax, March 10, 2010
by Alvin Rabushka (David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow)

A chronology of countries that have adopted a flat tax, indicating the year of adoption, the personal income tax rate, and the corporate income tax rate appears below. . . .

Dollars are Preferred to Euro Banknotes
Thoughtful Ideas, March 9, 2010
by Alvin Rabushka (David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow)

Currency exchange rates are much in the news these days, with concerns over the stability of the euro (given the fiscal problems in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland) and the pound in the United Kingdom. . . .

The National Security Dimension
New York Times, March 9, 2010 (Registration Required)
by Matthew Waxman (member of the Task Force on National Security and Law)

Efforts that are purportedly about transparency of government service and adherence to conflict-of-interest policies are, unfortunately, being used to paint detainee lawyers as disloyal to the country. . . .

Checker Finn's Seven Worries about National Standards
Ed Policy, March 5, 2010
by Williamson M. Evers (Research Fellow) Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force) is quoted.

Checker Finn, one of the nation's leading proponents of national standards, writes in Gadfly today (Mar. 5) that he has accumulated seven worries. . . .

Can we get to national standards, considering the pitfalls?
Education Gadfly, March 5, 2010
by Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force)

My feet aren't frozen, but as the march toward national or "common" academic standards trudges through deepening snow, they're getting chilly. . . .

The Volcker Tax Reform Commission Fades Away
Thoughtful Ideas, March 5, 2010
by Alvin Rabushka (David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow)

On February 6, 2009, just a few weeks after his inauguration as president, Barack Obama issued an Executive Order establishing the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB). . . .

INTERVIEWS WITH HOOVER FELLOWS

The New Normal for Federal Education Spending
Education Next, March 5, 2010
Chester E. Finn Jr. (Senior Fellow
Chair, K–12 Education Task Force) and Paul E. Peterson (Senior Fellow
member of the K–12 Education Task Force ) are interviewed.

Education Next’s Paul Peterson and Chester E. Finn, Jr. talk this week (March 5) about whether the federal share of education spending is likely to remain at 15 percent and whether the $1 billion bonus for reauthorizing ESEA this year is likely to be awarded. . . .

ARTICLES AND QUOTES ABOUT THE HOOVER INSTITUTION AND ITS FELLOWS

Mass Murder
Forbes, March 29, 2010
Henry I. Miller (Research Fellow ) is quoted in this article.

A continuing scandal of environmental barbarism is the widespread existence of malaria, which hits more than 300 million people a year and kills 1 million to 2 million of them. . . .

Time To Depolarize Terror Policy
National Journal, March 13, 2010
Benjamin Wittes (member of the Task Force on National Security and Law) is quoted in this article.

Few Republicans disagreed with the need to close Guantanamo until the issue became a stick with which to beat Obama. . . .

State: No-go on test drive
NewsVirginian, March 12, 2010
Michael J. Petrilli (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.

Virginia won’t jump onboard a push for national K-12 standards if it means dumping the state’s standardized test, the governor and other state officials said. . . .

Stanford award will recognize ex-Fed chair Paul Volcker
San Francisco Business Times, March 11, 2010
Gary S. Becker (Rose-Marie and Jack R. Anderson Senior Fellow
member of the Working Group on Economic Policy
member of the Task Force on Energy Policy) and John Shoven (Buzz and Barbara McCoy Senior Fellow
member of the Working Group on Economic Policy) and George P. Shultz (Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow
Chair, Energy Policy Task Force
member of the Working Group on Economic Policy) are mentioned in this article.

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research will recognize Paul Volcker’s contribution to economic policy at an awards presentation on May 18. . . .

Santa Clara County becomes Red County as optimistic GOP activists arrive in town
San Jose Mercury News, March 11, 2010
Bill Whalen (Research Fellow) is quoted in this article.

With statewide races heating up and Republicans nationwide sensing opportunity for big wins at the polls, the GOP faithful are gathering this weekend in one of the bluest counties in one of the bluest states. . . .

Obama mulls compromise over Gitmo terror trials
Agence France-Presse, March 11, 2010
Benjamin Wittes (member of the Task Force on National Security and Law) is quoted in this article.

Facing stiff Republican opposition, President Barack Obama appears poised to reverse course on trying the accused September 11 plotters in a New York court in a compromise deal to help close Guantanamo. . . .

INTERNET MEDIA

Bellinger '82 & Bobbit '71 protest attacks on DOJ attorneys
Daily Princetonian, March 11, 2010
Philip Bobbitt (member of the Task Force on National Security and Law) and Benjamin Wittes (member of the Task Force on National Security and Law) are quoted.

Former legal advisor to the Secretary of State John Bellinger III `82 and Prof. Philip Bobbitt `71 signed a statement protesting recent attacks against attorneys in the Department of Justice who have represented Guantánamo detainees as private clients before their appointment. . . .