In response to the unexpectedly skeptical Supreme Court hearings on ObamaCare, an insolent President Obama declared that “overturning the law would amount to an ‘unprecedented, extraordinary step’ of judicial activism,” reports David Nakamura. Obama questioned the authority of the nine-member panel of unelected justices to reverse legislation that was approved…

At the behest of “fathers’ rights advocates,” New Jersey Assemblyman Gilbert Wilson (D) has “proposed a measure . . . that would require all newborns—and their parents—to undergo genetic testing to create a record should questions arise about whom the father or mother is.” A justifiably angry NJ Star-Ledger columnist,…

In her paper "The Teacher Accountability Debate," Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University, took critical aim at a new Chetty-Friedman-Rockoff public school study. The study, she says, purports to prove a direct correlation between teacher quality and the likelihood of student personal and financial success in…

A criminal trial stemming from a 2010 incident that drew national attention began in New Brunswick, NJ on February 24, 2012. The defendant, Dharun Ravi, allegedly spied on his Rutgers college roommate Tyler Clementi with another man via webcam, and subsequently distributed the recordings via Twitter. The prosecution claims that Ravi…

A recent decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made an end-run around an existing ban on compensation for most bone marrow donations. In light of new technology enabling the extraction of bone marrow cells from blood, the court ruled that “marrow cells taken from a donor's blood were…

Catholics angry at President Obama over the insurance mandate to cover birth control should blame one organization above all others: the Catholic Church. In 1993, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, declaring health care “a basic human right,” released a statement calling for government-imposed universal health care, based upon the…

Following my recent post, Message to Gov. Christie and His Critics: Gay Marriage is a Moral Right, a reader commented: Government should be out of the marriage business; then all contracts between individuals need not be restricted. However, with government involved as it is, and given all the laws that incentivize…

President Obama recently announced an expansion of the Federal Government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). This new initiative seeks to help homeowners who can not refinance their mortgages at today’s low rates because their homes’ values have dropped below their mortgage balances. Obama, who places the blame for the crisis squarely…

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ignited a political furor when he vowed to veto a bill recently introduced in the state legislature legalizing gay marriage because he believed the issue should be decided by popular vote through a public referendum. In so doing, he said "I think people would have…

Michael A. LaFerrara reviews American Individualism—How a New Generation of Conservatives Can Save the Republican Party, by Margaret Hoover.

Michael A. LaFerrara answers a letter about tax credits for education.

Michael A. LaFerrara answers a letter about tax credits for Education.

Distinguishes between school vouchers and tax credits, showing that only one of these can provide a viable road map toward a free market in education.