You say “Really? Are you just an anti-Fed nut case?” Well, I’m certainly anti-Fed, and my wife won’t confirm or deny #2. But let me make my case. As economist Russ Roberts likes to say, economists often tell “stories” that we think reflect reality. These stories are backed by a particular theory and often have […]
Archives
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The Day After in DC: Random Thoughts
02 Oct 2013
The old saying is “Another day, another dollar” and it certainly applies to the Federal workforce here in DC, only without any official work (some would say, there is no difference between now and before). I have gained some interesting insights (maybe just observations–I need to be modest here) about the Federal government, including Congress, […]
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Quinnipiac University’s most recent polling results suggest Republicans will struggle to convince the American people the government shutdown is a good idea. Key findings include: Americans oppose, 72-22%, the government shutdown in order to de-fund or delay Obamacare Republican voters support the shutdown narrowly (49-44%), while Democrats (90-6%) and Independents (74-19%) oppose it overwhelmingly In a […]
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There is something viscerally satisfying about the possibility of a government shut down. Consider the stated and implied conservative motivations: We need to show people they can survive without their daily suckling from the federal teat We need to inculcate a new sense of independence, a re-emergence of the homesteading spirit that once defined our […]
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Newtonian Echos–the Cruz Phenomenon
30 Sep 2013
Much is being made of Ted Cruz’s quixotic pursuit of killing Obamacare. Even those that generally are supportive of economic liberty and hostile to Obamacare did not support the Cruz effort, such as the editorial page of the WSJ. The conventional wisdom by these elites is that Obamacare can’t be stopped this way, but there […]
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Changing Perceptions of Government’s Power?
24 Sep 2013
Gallup recently released polling data that suggests Americans are becoming more concerned with government’s power. The figure above shows the steady increase in the percent of respondents who see a problem and a similar decline in those who see government as having just the right amount of power. Notice, also, the relatively unchanged number of […]
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David Barton’s Influence
19 Sep 2013
Politico ran a story recently attesting to David Barton’s controversial influence within the Republican Party and the Christian community. For those who may not know, Barton is a famous figure among conservative Christians, primarily for his persistent belief that America was founded as a Christian nation. Barton’s influence is beyond argument. He is the most prominent and […]
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Explaining the Christian World(View) of Politics
15 Sep 2013
Our Bereans@thegate blog has as its aim the engagement of Christian thought with the spheres of politics, economics and culture. But it has occurred that perhaps the readers of the blog may not have a full sense of why and how we write what we do. In other words, many of the posts are about […]
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During President Obama’s two campaigns, Republican critics suggested his signature health care law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was socialism, since the government was trying to centrally plan 1/7 of the economy. Naturally Democrats reject that characterization, and accuse the Republicans of demonizing the president. Rather than focus on the question […]
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The Winds of Change?
13 Sep 2013
From today’s Wall Street Journal: Poll Finds Republicans Gain Favor on Key Issues.
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach