Paul M. Weyrich is the late Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation. He served as President of the foundation from 1977 to 2002. From 1989 to 1996, Mr. Weyrich served as President of the Kreible Institute of the Free Congress Foundation, responsible for training democracy movements in the states comprising the Former Soviet Empire. He is a founder and past director of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the founding president of the Heritage Foundation, and the current National Chairman of Coalitions for America. A former reporter and radio news director, Mr. Weyrich is a regular guest on daily radio and television talk shows. A sought-after writer, Mr. Weyrich has published policy reports and journals on a variety of conservative issues and has contributed editorials to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He has been described by The Economist as "one of the conservative movement's more vigorous thinkers." Voted three years in a row from 1981 - 1983 by readers of Conservative Digest as one of the top three "most popular conservatives in America not in Congress," Mr. Weyrich has been named by Regardie's Magazine as "one of the 100 most powerful Washingtonians." He has been married since 1963 to the former Joyce Smigun, is the father of five children, and serves as a deacon in his church. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:16:33 GMT Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:16:33 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office a review of his eight years as the Nation's chief executive is in order. While the end of his presidency has been overshadowed by economic problems... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2009/01/13/reflections_upon_a_mixed_bush_legacy 8c3486c9-1cb0-4a58-a173-ca4265b9deb3 Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:16:33 GMT The President-elect appears to have stepped back from some of his campaign promises. That merely is speculation. We shall see. The President-elect did make a dogmatic statement regarding the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/23/abortion_as_a_test_of_conscience_and_of_campaign_commitment d8132a30-07e1-41df-a77b-55f3cbf0fec1 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:01:00 GMT It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It is the worst of times because millions of Americans are unemployed this Christmas. It is the worst of years because we have mortgaged the future of our... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/18/the_next_conservatism,_a_serious_agenda_for_the_future 445cf5f7-dffd-4681-9255-cdfcece363f5 Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:03:23 GMT I am worried that the Minnesota United States Senate race in effect will be run by the United States Senate. When one has been around as long as I have, one has seen things that seem familiar. In the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/17/procedural_uncertainty_in_the_minnesota_senatorial_election 45a27ba0-92f1-4bbf-9571-5342a6a0d5b2 Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:02:27 GMT I received an e-mail from a supporter of President-elect Barack H. Obama congratulating me for having spent so much money that the President-elect is unable to keep his promises to deliver new... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/16/presidential_campaign_promises_and_governing_reality 432b4df1-3b55-4704-a652-1dfa638be844 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:27:24 GMT A good lady is about to leave Washington, D.C. after decades of public service. I refer to Senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole (R-NC), who was defeated in her bid for re-election in the 2008 election. Dole... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/11/a_tribute_to_senator_elizabeth_h_dole 33dc056a-1c5a-4015-b580-89713f71759c Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:28:10 GMT Have you ever heard of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)? If not, you should have. It is among the factors responsible for the worst housing crisis in America since 1932. CRA was enacted during... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/09/the_subprime_causation_fiasco_continues f4ef01b2-2b7e-4581-bee3-023e4ff2ad6e Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:19:06 GMT When pundits are asked to name the best Presidents of the 20th Century Harry S. Truman's name always comes up. That is interesting because when he left office 56 years ago he had lower approval ratings... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/04/iraqi_uranium_and_a_false_charge_against_president_bush 98eadf17-7cf2-46a1-b29c-e755979b747f Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:00:16 GMT Surprise, surprise. President-elect Barack H. Obama has appointed a center-right group of economic advisers. That is center-right in the Democratic context. That does not make them conservative but they... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/02/anticipated_and_unanticipated_president-elect_moves 9cc6fecb-50e0-4aa1-87ce-55ddad6dacde Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:06:50 GMT On December 9 my good friend Ed Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow, will show a documentary at the National Press Club. The film purports to vindicate Russia in its recent war... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/12/01/georgia_v_russia,_a_possible_example_of_the_value_of_thorough_knowledge 215d6421-faad-4d12-a336-e74b11fcc6e9 Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:01:00 GMT As long as I can remember Representative John Dingell (D-MI) was one of the toughest committee chairmen in Congress. His father preceded him in Congress though the Great Depression. I had the pleasure of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/28/a_future_for_the_congressional_blue_dogs c3330612-bd69-49a4-9790-089b0493b16d Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:01:00 GMT The 111th Congress recently passed an authorization bill which provides more money for Amtrak than any bill passed in history. President George W. Bush signed the bill. For the first time Amtrak has... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/25/the_possibility_of_a_better_future_for_amtrak 1b941022-ffe6-4e27-9c87-753d56ffde29 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:27:18 GMT Last Monday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) increased the amount of renewable automobile fuels required to be sold in the United States next year from 7.8% to 10.2% of the 138.5 billion gallons... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/25/feds_get_it_wrong_again_ethanol,_a_troublesome_substitute_for_oil,_natural_gas,_coal,_and_nuclear_power 5a3d9fa1-1f29-40e7-9f60-fe3e65599389 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:01:00 GMT Voters were busy approving in the November 4 elections various transit projects. Twenty-three ballot initiatives, or more than 70% of those up for a vote, were approved. These initiatives will add $75... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/21/voter_affirmation_of_mass_transit 961f2680-cde8-46cb-8d4e-4e67cc7b4069 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:26:29 GMT This past week I sat in on a couple of "where do conservatives go from here" panels. Bear in mind that it was the Republican brand which was in trouble in 2008, not necessarily the conservative brand. Much... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/20/2010_congressional_elections,_unpredictable_and_varied_performance 471b8405-e538-46e4-b3ed-ff819f8ba77f Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:58:20 GMT News reports in the past few days suggest that as a priority after he assumes the Presidency on January 20, 2009, President Barack H. Obama will use the power of the executive order to re-impose the ban... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/13/offshore_drilling,_value_over_liberal_ideology fd7197a8-355a-4113-bf43-da31e1c22221 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:39:15 GMT Now that the election is over, it is time to evaluate what the American public can expect from the 111th Congress and the incoming Presidency. There are several major issues, some mentioned before in this... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/06/a_probable_federal_agenda_for_2009-2010 a654692e-9483-48fb-96bd-7939fe137bbd Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:52:43 GMT As the American economy continues to struggle through a mortgage crisis, credit crisis and job losses, part of the immense worldwide phenomenon, it would be wise for our elected representatives to consider... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/04/us_foreign_aid_out_of_reason acf145e7-64a2-4ed0-a3d4-e4cd88011117 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:59:23 GMT Senator Barack H. Obama has a huge lead. No, Senator John S. McCain, III is closing the gap. The next poll shows Obama running away with the election. With McCain it is a two-point race. No, Obama is... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/11/03/electoral_polls_-_confusion,_contrast_and_unreliability f00a4d62-87e6-42d2-bf10-d79047b6abba Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:29:41 GMT My son Andrew and I were at a museum Saturday, which happened to be Polish Heritage Day. It got me to thinking about the contribution Polish people have made to the United States when I saw a picture of Ronald... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/29/a_polish_contribution_to_our_country 40caea2f-5981-45aa-bbc1-ab57cb6aad4e Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:44:22 GMT Many conservatives agree that since the mid-20th Century the Federal Government has grown too large, its bloated bureaucracies unaccountable to the American people and its oversight too broad vis-à-vis its... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/28/jeopardize_our_military_and_establish_a_department_of_peace_national_suicide_or_a_joke a584010c-43d6-47f3-9c99-22e5d175d27d Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:41:24 GMT Is there growing opposition to re-imposition of the so-called Fairness Doctrine or is there a clever effort - maybe a plot? - to convince opponents of the Doctrine that they need not worry? In this... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/22/illusion_or_actuality_many_prominent_media_figures_and_democrats_oppose_fairness_doctrine_re-imposition 18982660-e64a-4e43-a6f8-a883870b3489 Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:33:55 GMT Forget the election for the moment. We will know the outcome in two weeks. The question one ought to consider seriously is what to do with one's money. Lord knows there is a great deal of advice out there.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/21/joe_the_plumber_-_a_candid_citizen_and_media_victim 726d0715-3f89-4739-845f-43b3b78af291 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:27:04 GMT The debates are concluded. In a few weeks voters will decide who will occupy the Oval Office for the next four years. While Senator John S. McCain, III was impressively aggressive during the last... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/20/final_presidential_debate 528f405a-9a08-4c48-ab2d-5ccaf60fddf8 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:33:06 GMT I have always disliked the "goo-goo" types. That stands for good government, the people who want everybody to vote. I don't want the uninformed to vote because either they will vote the familiar name or they... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/17/a_national_plague_of_unlawful_voting 2890e3da-bb63-4fc8-8279-dc6112c3ddb6 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:27:39 GMT As soon as Congress passed the $700 billion bailout, California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. asking for a $7 billion loan to make up for the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/15/high-speed_rail_v_california_deficit d755c118-3251-42a6-b011-dbfc5a3e9834 Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:57:37 GMT I asked Bill Wichterman, Special Assistant to the President for Public Liaison, if there would be a public ceremony when President George W. Bush signed the Rail Safety Bill, a five-year authorization for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/14/uncertainty_as_to_progress_in_railway_transportation d75b04dc-f0c4-4e80-8674-06bd9b4a8173 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:59:06 GMT One radio listener dubbed the second Presidential debate as a contest between the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Fred Mertz. Talk about boring. I had a difficult time keeping awake. Most pundits claimed the win... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/09/a_boring_debate_and_a_proposal_for_2012 23877a91-af01-4cc9-9225-06b0fd427e88 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:50:21 GMT We are talking about a Super Bowl-size audience as more people than ever turned to the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday. Who won? It apparently depends upon who was asked and how the question was... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/06/uncertainty_and_possible_confusion 7b68673b-18ca-4c0b-a7ff-f1bd4f063e49 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:20:16 GMT An important event occurred this week, though it went largely unnoticed because of the economic turmoil on Wall Street. On September 30 Congress allowed the 27-year-old ban on offshore oil drilling to expire. This... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/03/offshore_drilling_ban 0ad513bd-d314-4ea4-b005-7856c6c77190 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:01:00 GMT Economists, House Republicans led by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and millions of Americans across the country are questioning the prudence of the Federal Government's bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/10/01/to_bailout_or_not_to_bailout,_that_is_the_question 838b92ab-7966-465c-a50a-0d2b11893031 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:40:38 GMT I was among the estimated 80 million who watched the entire debate last Friday evening. Who won? There was no knock-out blow as some debates have produced in the past. I watch these debates with a distinct... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/29/presidential_debates_not_yet_definitive 850683a9-a3e2-45a1-bcc8-86ce27a768af Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:06:25 GMT Messages have poured in asking my opinion of the trillion-dollar bailout announced by President George W. Bush late last week. I hesitate to discuss this topic because I am not an economist nor do I have... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/26/questionable_economics_at_the_presidential_level 60788e61-7bf6-4de1-a3be-2d7c09a27fde Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:29:23 GMT Remember in grade school when we first were introduced to the Pledge of Allegiance? One can picture that scene everywhere in America, no matter if it occurred in a one-room school house or in a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/26/protecting_the_national_anthem,_the_pledge_of_allegiance,_and_our_national_unity 2dcc4c87-5e39-4e2c-8d7a-23a74f8d693b Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:01:00 GMT In Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Republican-controlled Legislature achieved a breakthrough by agreeing to permanent funding of the two largest transit systems in the State,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/24/the_need_for_choice_in_transportation cbd8566d-97f0-4c70-a5c9-8c5a86c91de9 Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:05:50 GMT Judging from what I can tell of the current financial and economic woes of the nation, I am beginning to believe that this Presidential election may be a "no-win" proposition - the loser might very well be... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/22/coming_economic_crisis dbb4743f-aea1-43fd-88b4-4dadbc202791 Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:20:23 GMT For the most part ABC News anchor Charles Gibson's interview with Governor Sarah Palin was fair. As expected, Gibson included a "gotcha" question. He asked her what she thought of the "Bush Doctrine."... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/15/the_illusive_bush_doctrine_definition df544811-204c-4241-8b60-596a5e73eefa Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:06:36 GMT With every indication that the Presidential race will be close, the question that is far from settled is what will happen to the contests for the Congress. Conventional wisdom has been that the Democrats... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/11/electoral_surprises_in_2008 babf3fb9-e186-45f6-93e4-e8b86f8b1997 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:28:54 GMT The year was 1920. A huge crowd gathered downtown to listen to a loud speaker. The city was Pittsburgh. The reason for the crowd? It was election night. Voters heard over KDKA that the Republicans, after... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/10/essentiality_of_freedom_of_the_airwaves c257028d-7cb4-4676-a11f-d7bfefb27374 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:31:24 GMT Having participated in every Presidential election since 1960 as a reporter, commentator, Congressional assistant, delegate or activist, I am in a position to state without contradiction that there has been... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/09/prelude_to_an_unpredictable_election 87253c25-2bf3-49cd-b80d-1e941956bfc4 Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:01:24 GMT The Speaker's war with the Catholic Church has now spilled over to the Congress. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has challenged when life begins. The Roman Catholic Church says life begins at conception. The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/08/the_speakers_unusual_description_of_catholic_dogma cdec35fb-04bd-4c52-9f61-a144ca764c80 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:27:52 GMT Certainly arguments can be raised that no criminal or mentally unbalanced individual should have access to guns. Between 1,500 and 2,000 deaths occur each year through the use of firearms.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/06/gun_control_is_it_to_be_trusted 162eaa9d-0fd0-4ba7-8c13-71aff4b24e37 Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:01:00 GMT One of the arguments which opponents of school choice always make is that it would adversely affect the public school system. Opponents claim that the alternative schools would siphon off the best students,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/05/some_empirically_proven_value_in_school_choice 40a83a22-4453-4774-ad02-d4ce4007821a Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:01:00 GMT A regular reader of this column, Peter Farmer, sent me an e-mail withwhat he said was a small criticism of my piece on Michael Phelps. Hiscorrection was right on the money. It actually was a major point. Yousee, I... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/02/the_real_definition_of_a_hero 8926e86f-987b-495c-a95d-f367c0de140a Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:36:32 GMT Pity poor Minnesota Governor Timothy J. (Tim) Pawlenty. He supposedly was on Senator John S. McCain's short list for Vice President. As the list was whittled down he appeared to be the last man standing. ... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/09/01/governor_palin,_another_reason_for_an_exciting_campaign 91e35ac7-e08d-450d-aafb-70da8c317ddc Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:33:55 GMT At last, after a build-up reminiscent of the Super Bowl, Senator Barack H. Obama has chosen his Vice Presidential nominee. In some ways the selected of Delaware Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was a surprise.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/08/28/some_reflections_upon_the_pragmatics_of_the_biden_candidacy d596be02-a299-4be7-b7d3-4e05be4b0cac Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:15:18 GMT Watching the Fox News Network set up to cover the Democratic National Convention in Denver, with some 400 Fox employees, brought to memory the three times I attended a Democratic Convention. The... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/08/27/national_conventions_as_show_business 952fb1ce-dfb4-4baf-a948-2947a9943530 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:12:04 GMT Is patriotism a thing of the past or is it still kosher to take pride in America? That question was put to basketball great Kobe Bryant at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Sportscaster Cris... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/08/25/kobe_bryant,_a_voice_of_patriotism_and_appreciation 689b7fd2-4aba-4283-8ca8-8502b586b922 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:07:58 GMT Every generation needs heroes. Young people especially need role models. How blessed we are that the role model of these Summer Olympics is Michael Phelps. Here is a young man who embodies... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/08/20/tribute_to_michael_phelps,_an_american_hero 98abc54f-08fd-4f48-a45b-cf1ebff4bdf6 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:18:12 GMT Surveying the wreckage in Georgia where more than 100,000 people are without homes, running water and food, the question remains: what could have been done to divert this disaster? There was a solution... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PaulWeyrich/2008/08/20/russian_relations_with_former_republics,_a_quandry 7b90df59-1307-4532-8e32-1ae36efe6cf0 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT