FROM THE ARCHIVES.

15 YEARS AGO March 2005

"Boomer self-absorption is finally generating a little movement on the Social Security front, where the need for reform has been clear for 20 years now. Fear that the program might go poof for boomers may spur enough political will to do something other than prop up the Ponzi scheme. Or boomer exceptionalism may demand even more goodies from future generations, along the lines of the new Medicare drug benefit. We're special--pay up."

JEFF TAYLOR

"Boomer or Bust"

"Regardless of how the skirmish is ultimately resolved, the question of whether religious organizations with secular functions will have to sacrifice their traditional moral beliefs to modern anti-discrimination laws will surely remain at the center of the culture wars."

CATHY YOUNG

"God or Mammon"

25 YEARS AGO

March 1995

"Without research, we won't know what--if anything--will prevent kids from abusing drugs. This is the dismal news about drug education: All programs are qualified failures, providing only small gains that soon disappear. For all the tinkering over the years, Project SMART has achieved only modest reductions in drug abuse, primarily by postponing the age at which a child begins to experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs."

JEFF ELLIOTT

"Drug Prevention Placebo"

"In fact, [Rush] Limbaugh is sparking a huge reaction by mimicking the very liberals who decry him: This is Rush's impersonation of the all-powerful network news anchorperson, saying out loud what is the subtext in any of the auspiciously introduced and expensively produced national news shows. Their rectitude, their certainty, their values spark Rush's counter-attitude. He's just as cocksure, and he's actually honest about his edge. It is a spoof, and the spoofees don't get it. Ha, ha, ha!"

THOMAS W. HAZLETT

"Rush to Judgment"

35 YEARS AGO

March 1985

"Perhaps nowhere are the fruits of...regulation more obnoxious than in Chicago. For more than half a century, two interlocking companies have shared a near-monopoly over the taxi business in the Windy City, limiting the number of cabs on the streets, locking out potential competitors, and deciding who gets to work in the business and who doesn't. But a $320-million antitrust lawsuit could change all that by shattering the dominance of the Checker and Yellow fleets over Chicago's taxi industry. The result could be more cabs on the streets, better service for low-income areas, employment for licensed cab drivers who can't now...