The Postal Service needs to be converted into a regular business, facing market competition and disciplined by active, focused shareholders. It must be permitted to reduce its high and rigid costs, and to adjust to the realities of a new communications marketplace. This should be done through de-monopolization, corporatization, and eventual privatization, as has been done in many other countries.

Many of the critics of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and other legislation seeking to combat intellectual property violations on the Internet, say they are fighting efforts to “censor” the web. SOPA is many things, but if words still have meaning it cannot be fruitfully described as censorship.

Capital markets should be able to benefit from the vast improvements in information use that the Internet has made possible.

What does the rapid rise of the tea party movement mean for civic life?

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

In this age of ballooning U.S. debt, it’s hardly surprising that many Democrats and Republicans are pushing to reduce American military spending. But a closer examination of what’s at stake reveals just how troubling the embrace of defense austerity will prove to be.

Newt Gingrich had a great 24 hours going into the debate, getting the endorsement of Rick Perry and leading in three South Carolina polls released today, but I think both Romney and Santorum did much better in the debate and may have recovered significant ground. 

It is not surprising that, in tough times, Americans would be inclined to believe the absolute worst about their elected officials. But at least let the criticism be fair and based on facts instead of persistent urban legends.