Essays on Governance

A proposal to remedy the depredations of poverty on children

A modest proposal for a new U.S. strategy in Iraq

The Crisis in the Middle East: April 2002
A summary of the history, the current situation, and what I would do about it

Faith-Based Social Services
A discussion of the consequences of government funding of faith-based charities to provide social services

How Al Gore misplayed the protest/contest of the Election in Florida
How I think he went wrong.

How an election works and what we can do about it
I recount my experiences as an election precinct officer, express some thoughts about the 2000 presidential election, propose some changes.

Fewer People Should Vote
Why encouraging people to vote allows candidates to buy elections, why we can most effectively stop the sale of elections by not encouraging people to vote rather than reforming campaign financing.

Reforming Social Security
How we can't (and, perhaps, can) change how we invest Social Security funds so as to allow future retirees to live a decent life.

Changing the way we levy taxes
My recommendations for how we can levy taxes more fairly, make the economy more efficient, and build public support for taxes.

Historian laureate
In which I argue that the President should appoint a historian laureate instead of a poet laureate.

Financing health care
My plan for guaranteeing access to health care for everyone.

Curing unemployment
My plan for fixing the economy

Sending Social Security to the states
A letter I wrote to Alice Rivlin encouraging her to follow up on her recommendation that we send Social Security to the states.

Immigration Reform
An opinion about immigration from Mexico spurred by the report of the Binational Study on Immigration.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Using antibiotics for viral illnesses (antibiotics do not affect viruses) and to promote the growth of livestock accelerates the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which may stage their own plague someday. We can not outdate our inventory of antibiotics by wiser use.

Judicial reform
A couple of ideas for changing the way we choose judges.

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© 1998, Russell Bell