Word: merit
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
There is certainly merit in Reagan's argument that previous Democratic Administrations have created the costly entitlement programs that have contributed to the deficit. Yet, despite his 1981 promise to balance the budget within two years, Reagan has sent Congress three budgets so out of balance that not one Republican legislator has been willing to introduce them in committees. In the end, Reagan coaxed Congress to give him much of what he wanted, mainly in tax cuts and military-spending increases, but the debt racked up during his short tenure is fast approaching that of all previous Administrations combined...
...enough. In appealing to pragmatism and rising above the special interests, the neoliberals act as if they were the first to dream up some of their schemes to, for example, reform the military or revive growth; their approach often borders on extreme arrogance. The military reformers talk with some merit, about the necessity for liberals to take defense matters more seriously and they exhort the Army to improve cohesion and morale, never bad advice. But they they ignore the long stream of institutional interests in the subject that has been stymied simply by the normal difficulty of getting something changed...
...Reed is headed after; none of the rest of the songs build and twist his idyllic vision, and Reed provides only one song--the bitter, funny "Turn to Me"--that offsets his "new sensations. As a result, most of the songs on the album remain too thin to merit lasting listening pleasure, instead merely showing a Reed content to rest on a by-now stale formula...
...merit determines Britain's next poet laureate-not necessarily a safe assumption-then Philip Larkin, 61, will get the job. In that event, the Queen's subjects had better brace themselves for a jolt. Larkin can speak for England, but it is the gray, postimperial England of rationed hopes and undercutting humor, the England of Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim, which was dedicated to Larkin and is regarded as his youthful portrait...
...political detriment, is the consummate symbol of Democratic traditionalism. To a large extent, he retains his faith in the efficacy of Government. He often approaches great national issues not with overarching vision, but like a train conductor punching tickets. On education, he heeded the teachers' union opposition to merit pay, and promised instead more pay for all teachers. On foreign trade, he rejected warnings of a trade war and endorsed a protectionist bill backed by the autoworkers' union that would save their jobs but raise prices for consumers. The huge federal deficit-Reagan's federal deficit...