The Ripon Society...The Home of Ideas

A Note From the Chairman Emeritus By Bill Frenzel When George H.W. Bush took office as President in 1989, he inherited a country that stood atop the world stage. Economically, the nation was prosperous. Globally, the fall of the Berlin Wall was less than a year away. Times were good. Yet there was also an undercurrent.....MORE	Service and Sacrifice By Bob Dole Memorial Day is a time to think about the meaning of sacrifice. It is something near and dear to the hearts of all Americans. We wouldn’t be here without it. We understand that with liberty comes responsibility, and that entails sacrifice. No matter what we do.....................MORE
Working to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism By Susan Collins Terrorists have inflicted painful wounds on the American people and have done severe damage to our economy. They could wreak even more terrible and far-reaching damage, however, if they detonated a nuclear weapon in an American city. The grim estimate of experts is that a noontime detonation..........MORE	Meeting America's Energy Needs By Cathy McMorris Rodgers Today, we’re all facing the painful reality of skyrocketing prices at the pump. In the Congressional District I represent, the 5th Congressional District in Eastern Washington, families, farmers and small business owners are struggling to pay to fill up their cars, tractors and trucks. Worldwide the demand.......MORE
A Thousand Points of Light By George H.W. Bush I have always said that public service is a noble calling and that there is no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others. It makes me proud to live in this great country when I hear stories of Americans volunteering all across the nation and around the world, working hard to make life better......MORE	National Service for the 21st Century By David Eisner This May, the national celebration of AmeriCorps Week will kick off amid the majestic sandstone monoliths of Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, a venue developed in part by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. National service today has as little in common with those CCC boys who worked at Red Rocks.....MORE
John McCain and National Service By Christopher Shays The best antidote to terror and hate are acts of kindness and service. In the wake of September 11 and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the effects of this antidote ring truer than ever before. No one understands this better than those who dedicate themselves to national.......MORE	The National Service Illusion By James Bovard National Service is one of the hottest causes of presidential candidates. Both Barack Obama and John McCain are gung-ho for expanding Americorps to hire a quarter million people to perform federally-orchestrated good deeds. Former presidential.......MORE
The Faith-Based Initiative By Stanley Carlson-Thies “Ten years ago, who would have believed we would be researching how faith-based groups serve the community? We hardly even knew they existed!” Two internationally known American scholars of nonprofit organizations were talking. I just happened to be nearby to overhear it, during a break..................MORE	How a Draft would Harm our Military By Robert H. Scales Before 9/11, the draft was a five letter word that no thinking politician would utter in public. Now, fear of a broken Army is causing politicians of all stripes as well as bureaucrats in the Pentagon to rethink the issue. The draft would fill the ranks with cheap and plentiful men and women. No wonder the idea is............MORE
Rounding Out the Ticket By Dan Schnur In many circles, playing "Name the Running Mate" ranks behind only the NCAA college basketball tournament brackets as a perennial parlor game for pundits, fans, and other observers. Usually, it's nothing more than a convenient way to pass the months between the end of the primary season...............MORE	Ike, War and Peace in Korea By Chester Pach On January 20, 2009, our new president will face difficult issues of war and peace similar to those that confronted a popular predecessor whose name has hardly been mentioned during the current campaign. Like President Dwight D. Eisenhower 56 years earlier, the next chief executive will have......MORE
The Ripon Profile: Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele

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