When he was director of central intelligence, Leon Panetta earned a reputation as an energetic advocate for his agency. When he replaced Robert Gates at the Pentagon, it was reasonable to hope that Panetta would continue to play the role of a senior statesman.

The use of social criteria may be fine for affluent investorswho assume the extra risk to achieve their perceived political goals and the Gates Foundation has set a higher standard.

With Warren Buffett"s largesse added to his own, Bill Gates has about $60 billion to spend on health and development. How should he spend it?

If education philanthropists want to influence policy, then they must open themselves to more public debate about their  plans and goals.

Normally, we expect to get thanked when giving a few bucks to a good cause. When it comes to K-12 schooling, though, folks giving away millions have been slammed for their trouble.

President Obama’s reelection largely hinges on his ability to play young voters for suckers — again — and whether Mitt Romney will let him.In 2008, Obama won the youth vote by better than a 2–1 margin, 66 percent to 32 percent. Even more impressive, he actually expanded the...

Rep. Paul Ryan calls his budget plan the “Path to Prosperity,” but it could be termed as well a “Path to Security.” In reclaiming more than $200 billion of the nearly $500 billion in military cuts made in last year’s Budget Control Act (BCA), the House Budget Committee chairman takes national security more seriously than does our commander in chief.

The fact is, the government had been deferring “recapitalizing” its military for more than a decade and a half and that bill came due precisely when the economy went into recession, government revenues declined precipitously and the deficit exploded.