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Nullification Provides Needed Check on Federal Power
Tweet Share on Facebook May 7, 2013 CommentIn a May 2 column [Alabama State Senate Embraces Crackpot, Antebellum Legal Theory], Robert Schlesinger relegated the idea of nullification to the historical trash heap. But if James Madison and Thomas Jefferson strolled down the streets of D.C. today, listening to current political discourse, they'd likely declare conventional wisdom holding the federal government supreme in all it does a "crackpot post-antebellum legal theory."
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Paid Sick Leave Costs Jobs
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2013 CommentEileen Applebaum wrote in a recent piece that attitudes are changing on mandatory paid sick leave ("Business Attitudes Toward Paid Sick Leave Are Changing," March 6). She goes on to cite newspaper editors in Philadelphia who no longer oppose the idea and business owners in San Francisco who don't mind a local law forcing them to provide the benefit.
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Gun Bans Aren't the Only Answer to America's Violence Problem
Tweet Share on Facebook January 24, 2013 CommentWith New York State legislature laying down the law on gun control, and with the White House taskforce announcing similar measures, it is clear that the National Rifle Association isn't ruling this roost—at least at the state legislature and executive branch levels. The verdict is still out on Congress, however, given the NRA's heavy financial influence over the years.
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VOA's Broadcasting Board of Governors Is Not Fulfilling Its Duties
Tweet Share on Facebook November 12, 2012 CommentIt pains me to disagree publicly with my colleague, Michael Lynton, whose letter disagrees with the October 19 article by Elizabeth Flock on Voice of America, but the record should state that it reflects his views and not those of a unanimous board. I offer the following information:
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Broadcasting Board of Governors Energetically Engaged in Voice of America
Tweet Share on Facebook October 30, 2012 CommentIn countless ways and on a consistent basis, the Broadcasting Board of Governors oversees the federal agency that operates Voice of America. Your October 19 article ("Voice of America, 70 Years Later, Faces Bureaucratic Troubles") about VOA stated–unattributed–that we are "disinterested." But the six current appointed board members have been energetically engaged for more than two years in helping bring much-needed change to a venerable institution trying to adapt to today's complex media environment. We take our charge seriously.
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We Must Revive the American Dream by Alleviating Poverty
Tweet Share on Facebook September 26, 2012 CommentDavid Francis is right to question "Is the American Dream Dead?" (09/25/12). By all accounts, it is. The question, then, is how to revive it.
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Pepco’s Commitment to Improved Service Remains Strong
Tweet Share on Facebook July 18, 2012 CommentSusan Milligan's recent opinion piece implying that Pepco is insensitive and unresponsive to customer concerns and to the maintenance of its electric infrastructure is an inaccurate portrayal of the facts.
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With Income Inequality Comes Violence
Tweet Share on Facebook July 18, 2012 CommentDavid Rosnick is spot on in "Breaking Down the Causes of Income Inequality" (07/16/12), but what about the effects of income inequality? Our research at the Institute for Economics and Peace shows that America's high income inequality—at its highest level since the early 1900s—also strongly correlates with high rates of violence, which costs our economies even more money in terms of lost economic productivity. But don't just take our word for it. The research of economists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett at the Equality Trust, and authors of The Spirit Level: Why Great Equality Makes Societies Stronger, supports this thinking.
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NRA Conducts a False Campaign Against the UN Arms Trade Treaty
Tweet Share on Facebook July 12, 2012 CommentThe U.S. gun lobby is once again falsely painting the critically important arms trade talks at the United Nations as an effort to undermine gun ownership in the United States ("NRA Takes Aim at Weapons Treaty" 7/9).
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Should God Be Involved in the Gay Marriage Debate?
Tweet Share on Facebook June 8, 2012 CommentA Civil or Religious Union?
Mr. Schlesinger writes "No one on the side of marriage equality is suggesting that, say, the Catholic Church should be forced to perform gay marriages" ["Get God Out of the Gay Marriage Debate," May 25]. For now! There are currently many who are suggesting that, say, the Catholic Church should be forced to fund abortion through health insurance payments by associated service activities. Who would have thought this possible four years ago?
DAVID GRIFFITH Belleville, Ill.
