Chicago Daily Observer

Few names are more associated with the University of Chicago than Milton Friedman’s.

But that’s exactly the problem, say some faculty who want to put the brakes on a plan to name a new research center after the Nobel Prize-winning economist.

In a letter to U. of C. President Robert Zimmer, 101 professors—about 8 percent of the university’s full-time faculty—said they feared that having a center named after the conservative, free-market economist could “reinforce among the public a perception that the university’s faculty lacks intellectual and ideological diversity.”

And on the same day that he was extolling the need to shake up the “status quo” in education, Obama also defended his opposition to school vouchers.

“We don’t have enough slots for every child to go into a parochial school or a private school. And what you would see is a huge drain of resources out of the public schools,” Obama said.

McCain advocates giving every parent a voucher to essentially choose which school they’d like to send their child. Obama, whose two daughters attend private school, said that idea would crush the public school system entirely.

“But what I don’t want to do is to see a diminished commitment to the public schools to the point where all we have are the hardest-to-teach kids with the least involved parents with the most disabilities in the public schools,” he said. “That’s going to make things worse, and we’re going ... Read More...

A funny thing happened on the way to the most predicted recession in US history: it didn’t happen.
The theory behind the widespread recession forecast was that the declining value of US homes, the shrinking amount of mortgage equity withdrawal, or a credit squeeze would lead to either a severe slowdown or outright decline in consumer spending. Prominent economists – including one Nobel Prize winner – made comparisons to the Great Depression, predicting a long and deep downturn. Alan Greenspan declared a recession was likely and said this was the worst financial crisis since the end of World War II.
Trouble is, someone forgot to convince consumers they had to stop spending. Despite consumer confidence readings that are downright awful, “core” retail sales are up at a 10.2% annual rate in the past three months. In other words, consumer confidence statistics may express how people feel, but not ... Read More...

Almost everyone I know in the netherworld of political hipsterdom either agonizes or exults or plunges into deep swami-like meditation with every presidential poll that pops up on the internet or TV screen.

My advice to all, on either side of the aisle, is save yourself the agony and forego the ecstasy. Worry about gasoline prices, paying off your mortgage, the state or nonstate of your love-life—anything but the polls.

Forget them.

They have no meaning now whatsoever. Do not permit your shorts to get into a bunch about something so fleeting and ultimately without merit as a poll nearly five months from Election Day.

Remember how far ahead of the pack Hillary Clinton was just five months ago? And how Rudy Guiliani was a shoo-in?

So most of the polls show Barack Obama ahead by four to six points. If this were November 1 that might be meaningful. But ... Read More...

Yesterday Douglas Kmiec, a onetime friend of mine, formerly known as the possessor of an enviable conservative record in the law…dean of the Pepperdine Law School…former law professor at Catholic U…former director of the…get this…Thomas More Law Center-Tommy More-at Notre Dame…an assistant attorney general under Ronald Reagan…definer of constitutional law in support of pro-life…yes, THAT DOUG KMIEC…had an Op Ed in the “Tribune” extolling Barack Obama.

As all the political world knows, Doug, having supported the presidential candidate of Mitt Romney and having defended his overnight conversion from pro-abort to pro-life, was dismayed because Romney was defeated. And there went all of Doug’s hopes for a Supreme Court justiceship which by intellect he truly deserves. He deserved to get named to the high court by George W. Bush but for the fact that Doug’s paper trail in behalf of pro-life was so extensive that nobody thought they ... Read More...