I recently finished a book by Jason Brennan entitled Against Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2015) that I found intriguing. It might not sound glamorous but I think the topic is timely in light of our American love of democracy in its various forms, whether direct or representative. I don’t want to leave the impression that […]
Archives
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Democracy: Embrace or Re-think?
11 May 2017
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Trumpian Tax Triumph?
29 Apr 2017
Mr. Trump unveiled his tax plan earlier this week, and there was something for almost every conservative to like. Our current obscene corporate tax rate of 39% is the highest among industrial nations (only exceeded by Chad and the UAE), but doesn’t yield all that much revenue, so Mr. Trump proposes drastically reducing it to […]
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ESPN and Politics
27 Apr 2017
ESPN laid off more than 100 staffers yesterday, ranging from SportsCenter anchors to frontline reporters. Here is a running list of those who lost their jobs. The internet, to put it mildly, was interested. #ESPN was trending on Twitter yesterday. SI.Com ran two stories on the layoffs, including a behind-the-scenes view of what happened and […]
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Mutually Assured Idiocy–March 31, 2017
03 Apr 2017
Welcome back to our VLOG. On this week’s episode, here is what you will find. 0:33 Mike Pence “Scandal” 6:26 California Prosecution of Undercover Recordings 11:53 Health Care Update 16:02 Gorsuch, Filibuster, The Nuclear Option We hope you enjoy!
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The Core Problem of Common Core.
26 Mar 2017
I suppose it is time to write about Common Core again, in light of the recent withdrawal of a former Bush administration pro-Common Core staffer, Hanna Skandera, from consideration as an assistant secretary for the Department of Education. This blog is not about her specifically, though she is a member of one of the Common […]
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Once again a Federal district court judge has issued a nationwide Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) prohibiting enforcement of the president’s new executive (EO) order temporarily suspending entry into the United States of non-citizens living outside the United States for a period of 90-120 days, with waivers possible for defined exceptions. The EO identified six nations […]
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Update on the American Health Care Act
10 Mar 2017
I want to provide a brief update on the American Health Care Act bill in the House. I also want to add a bit more analysis. Currently the bill has been passed out of two House committees. Democrats are trying to slow it down but aren’t likely to be successful. But if it makes it […]
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The Deep State: How Deep Is It?
10 Mar 2017
“The Deep State”–what is it? Is it real? Is it fiction? If it is real, is it dangerous? To what extent is it harmful? This is a fascinating subject, perhaps partly because we all love a conspiracy theory, true or not. I will suggest that this one has a basis in reality. But I also […]
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A New Beginning or Obamacare Lite?
08 Mar 2017
The House of Representatives has now publicly rolled out its “Repeal and Replace” bill for the elimination of Obamacare and a new health care law. President Trump seems to like it, while Democrats, predictably, hate it, though I cannot see how they have had time to read it, and some Republicans, such as Rand Paul, […]
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President Trump’s new immigration Executive Order (EO) was issued. You can read it at the New York Times of March 6, 2017: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/trump-executive-order-immigration-text.html The order is a variation on his earlier January 27 order which was stopped from taking effect by a Federal court and the Federal Ninth Circuit. How is this one different? First, […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach