Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Public Policy

July 18, 2005

Up in smoke

Cigar Jack passes along this story (PDF Page2) about “faith leaders” soliciting the government to place tobacco regulation under the auspices of the FDA. The proposed legislation, which has twice been left languishing in the U.S. Continue Reading...
July 15, 2005

Faith makes a difference

“In the first nationwide study that specifically measures how faith relates to the organization and delivery of human service programs, initial results indicate that faith-based or religious charities do indeed conduct their operations in ways that markedly set them apart from secular organizations.” Continue Reading...
July 14, 2005

You know the ONE

“We don’t want you to give your money. We’ll just take it instead.” That commercial, the one where all the celebrities and guys in collars and habits are talking about raising your “voice” for the world’s poor, has been nominated for an Emmy award for best TV commercial. Continue Reading...
July 14, 2005

Scamming society through the courts

The Wall Street Journal editorializes today (subscription required) on a rare bit of good news from the world of tort law: If the criminal investigation of class-action titan Milberg Weiss is anything to go by, prosecutors may finally be starting to hold the trial bar accountable for its legal abuses. Continue Reading...
July 14, 2005

More praise for world population day

Apparently Europe is buying in to the concept. Here are two key paragraphs from today’s Washington Post, in this article from Robert J. Samuelson, “The End of Europe”: It’s hard to be a great power if your population is shriveling. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

The telecom cowboy weeps

Bernie Ebbers got 25 years in the cooler for his role in the demise of WorldCom. If he serves the full sentence, he’ll be 85 years old when they let him out. Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

More government control of charities looms

As public policy debate about the extent of government regulation over charities, Karen Woods argues in favor of a “common sense approach” that “would look to transparency and accountability measures that are already on the books, rather than fashioning yet more regulation and mandated enforcement from public agencies.” Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

The virtues of drink

Some caricatures of Puritans depict them as strict, severe, and stolid. H.L. Mencken’s famous definition of a Puritan is an example of this: “A Puritan is someone who is desperately afraid that, somewhere, someone might be having a good time.” Continue Reading...
July 13, 2005

Fast food down under

The Melbourne Herald Sun reports, “Fast food could be subject to a new tax of up to 50 per cent under a plan to fight Australia’s worsening obesity epidemic. The proposed fat tax would, hopefully, steer consumers away from calorie and sugar-laden foods and force them to choose cheaper, healthier options.” Continue Reading...
July 11, 2005

Tele-competition

Following last month’s Supreme Court decision in No. 04-277, National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services, which denied the use of established cable lines to high-speed ISP competitors, there might be a new addition to the broadband internet market. Continue Reading...