Moral Status, Human Identity, and Early Embryos: A Critique of the President''s Approach

Underlying President Bush's view regarding stemcell research and cloning are two assumptions: we originate at conception, and we have full moral status as soon as we originate. I will challenge both assumptions, argue that at least the second is mistaken, and conclude that the President's approach is unsustainable.     

The National Schoolmarm: No Child Left Behind and the New Educational Federalism

The 2002 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law dramatically reshapedthe federal role in K-12 education in the United States. Theimplementation of NCLB has been difficult and contentious, butmuch of the journalistic and scholarly coverage has underestimatedthe source, strength, and stability of the political coalitionthat originally pushed for passage of the law and appears likelyto sustain federal activism in education for the long term.For much of American history, the principle of federalism exerteda powerful restraining influence on the size and character ofthe federal role in education—but that time appears tohave passed. Regardless of whether NCLB ultimately improvesschools or student achievement, the law has created a new educationalfederalism in the United States.     

Small business innovation,research, and development

Historically, small businesses have been the innovation engine of the United States, with significantly more than half of the new technologies and products coming from small enterprises. In 1992, there were more than 21 million small businesses with fewer than 500 employees each in the United States, including 4.5 million small corporations, 1.6 million partnerships, and 15.1 million sole proprietorships. Although most small businesses have considerably fewer than 100 employees, they employ more than half the private U.S. work force, contribute more than half of all sales in the country, and are responsible for over half of the private sector's products. From 1976 to 1990, small firms also generated 65% of the net new jobs. From 1988 to 1990, all of the net new jobs in the U.S. economy were created by small firms. Indeed, small business is really big business in the United States.