Doug Bandow - The Japan Times

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Doug Bandow

For Doug Bandow's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

May 28, 2000

U.S. bogged down in Kosovo quagmire

The Clinton administration has ensnared the United States in the irrelevant turmoil of the Balkans. After NATO's nearly yearlong occupation of Kosovo, the General Accounting Office in Washington warns that "many difficult political, social and other issues remain unresolved" in the "volatile" territory. Yet the Republican Congress does nothing.

COMMENTARY

May 18, 2000

Hypocrisy is the only standard

When white Europeans are dying, the Clinton administration acts. When black Africans are dying, Washington talks. Such is the hypocritical cynicism that passes for U.S. foreign policy today.

COMMENTARY

May 5, 2000

Boost Chinese human rights through trade

Business profits vs. human rights. So do critics of trade between America and China frame the debate. But freer trade is likely to advance human rights as well as boost business profits.

COMMENTARY

Apr 22, 2000

Leave Korean diplomacy to the Koreas

The planned summit between President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea and Communist Party head Kim Jong Il of North Korea offers the hope of ending the Korean Peninsula's cold war. Washington should use this opportunity to reduce its involvement in Korean affairs.

COMMENTARY

Apr 3, 2000

No tolls on the e-commerce highway

The electronic superhighway is becoming an ever more important forum for commerce, and states want a piece of the action. But just as American colonists resisted British attempts to tax paper and tea, American citizens should bar states from taxing online transactions.

COMMENTARY

Mar 19, 2000

Traveling for business or for pleasure?

MYANMAR -- As the nurse expounded on the risks of dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and malaria, I realized it was going to be an unusual trip. No five-star hotel this time.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 23, 2000

It's simple: Economic freedom is the key to prosperity

In a world of plenty, want abounds. To blame are big corporations, international trade and open markets, according to demonstrators who have been attacking the World Trade Organization.

COMMENTARY

Feb 20, 2000

Shame's societal role remains intact

In September 1998, Jeremy Strohmeyer admitted murdering 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson in a Nevada casino and was sentenced to life in prison. He was back in court in mid-February, explaining that he couldn't remember committing the crime and wanting to recant his plea.

COMMENTARY / World

Feb 7, 2000

U.S. Taiwan policy adding fuel to the fire

As Taiwan approaches the first presidential election that the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) might lose, tensions between Beijing and Taipei are likely to rise. U.S. policy has, unfortunately, made the situation more flammable.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 27, 2000

Pitting family against freedom

The two grandmothers of Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez made a well-publicized pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. to plead for his return. It was a poignant scene, as Fidel Castro undoubtedly expected. But it does not help resolve the 6-year-old's future.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 20, 2000

Punishing compassion and medical advice

It's hard to think of much positive to say about U.S. presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush. The best case for the latter is that he isn't the former. The best case for the former is that he isn't Bill Clinton.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 1, 2000

Fighting the idea that justice is for sale

Special to The Japan Times

COMMENTARY

Dec 5, 1999

Right to life, liberty and free ATM use

WASHINGTON -- A few years ago, an ATM machine malfunctioned in the elite Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown. Americans lined up to collect $20 bills being handed out in place of $5 notes.

COMMENTARY

Nov 10, 1999

America should cut taxes, not the debt

The standoff over the U.S. budget between the Republican Congress and Democratic president has had a curious byproduct: leaving more money to pay off the national debt. Some analysts are lobbying to devote future surpluses to the same purpose, perhaps eventually paying off the entire $5.6 trillion national debt, or at least the $3.6 trillion in Treasury bonds owned by the public.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 9, 1999

Toward a leaner, meaner defense budget

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Republicans and Democrats alike claim to support fiscal responsibility, but you wouldn't know it from the defense budget. The House-Senate Conference Committee has approved $8 billion in budget authority for next year -- $8.3 billion more than requested by the Clinton administration, whose own proposal was larded with pork.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 12, 1999

Permanent bureaucracy in Washington

WASHINGTON -- There is nothing as permanent in Washington as a federal agency. Once created, government bureaucracies are almost impossible to kill, no matter how outdated. Consider the desperate attempt of the Selective Service System and its allies to reverse the House Appropriation Committee's decision to terminate the agency.

COMMENTARY

Aug 14, 1999

Junk science has U.S. justice on the ropes

WASHINGTON -- Most people expect a justice system to provide justice. In recent years, however, the U.S. tort system has run wild. Plaintiffs eschew responsibility for their own actions, trial lawyers search for deep corporate pockets and experts-for-hire promote fantastic negligence theories. The resulting liability lottery simultaneously subverts the market and imposes a de facto tax. Unfortunately, the United States has begun exporting some of the worst aspects of its system to other nations.

COMMENTARY

Aug 8, 1999

Uncle Sam doesn't need draft registration

WASHINGTON -- The Cold War has been over for a decade, but you wouldn't know it after looking at U.S. security policy. Spending on the military is rising; all 18-year-old men must register for the draft. However, a House appropriations subcommittee has voted to kill the Selective Service System, along with registration. Congress should affirm this decision and cut the agency's funding.

COMMENTARY

Aug 1, 1999

Congress squanders another opportunity

Although Republicans retain the control of the U.S. Congress that they won in in 1994, they have done little good with their power. U.S. President Bill Clinton, despite his endless scandals, continues to aggressively expand government. His administration has enacted 10,866 new regulations since 1997 alone.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 6, 1999

Resist steel industry's call for protection

The U.S. steel industry brought America to the brink of protectionism with its vigorous campaign for tough new restrictions on steel imports. But the U.S. Senate, showing an unusual combination of economic sense and political courage, refused to jump off the policy cliff.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.

The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces

By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

Spotlighting a Niigata castle town through sushi

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