For some months now, President Obama has increasingly been couching his rhetoric in the language of fairness. But in recent weeks, a growing number of conservative elected officials have begun contesting Obama’s claim to be the arbiter of what constitutes fairness and taking the issue of fairness head on in public policy.

In recent months, electoral skirmishes and policy debates have hinged on the meaning of fairness. Defenders of free enterprise have often shied away from moral language, preferring to rely on facts, figures, or constitutional arguments to make their case. AEI president Arthur Brooks highlights free enterprise leaders who are changing, now making the moral case.

Let’s start with the stark reality: Second presidential terms rarely result in major accomplishments. Presidents have few new ideas that have not been posed in their first two years, and already met with success or failure. And second-term presidents face even more obduracy from the opposition, bitter at a second loss of the big prize. 

Unless strong action is taken, federal health spending will continue to outpace the economy for the indefinite future.

Failures in the regulation of large complex financial institutions played an important role in the financial crisis.

Republican senators have failed to step up and support the DISCLOSE Act and nothing is more infuriating than what is happening to the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

The cost of developing drugs is rising at an unsustainable pace, new company formation in the biotech sector has dwindled, and healthcare costs continue to rise. We must craft policies that provide the proper incentives for new technology while making sure that we are getting more value for programs like Medicare.

The variety of international experience suggests that there is every reason to think broadly and openly about the possibilities for developing a better, post-GSE U.S. housing finance system for the future.