Paul Ryan Wants to Shape Policy, Not Be President Vox has a slight commentary on Paul Ryan’s decision not to pursue the GOP presidential nomination. Ezra Klein argues that Ryan is making a straightforward choice to use his post as Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee to shape the nation’s fiscal policy, preferably […]

Some Companies Reducing Hours Due to A.C.A. One of the common Republican arguments against the Affordable Care Act was that it would harm employees. How? The law will eventually require employers (of more than 50 employees) to either provide health benefits to full-time workers (defined as working at least 30 hours/week) or pay a fine […]

Hebdo Fallout Continues The White House’s decision not to send a high-level representative to the Paris rallies continues to nag the President. National Review Online has video of White House spokesman Joshua Earnest admitting that the Obama Administration did not pay appropriate respect to the victims in the Hebdo attack last week. Meanwhile, France is […]

Two of the giants of American conservative political thought died at the end of last week.  They both contributed in their own way not only to the advancement of true scholarship in political theory, but also as public intellectuals who were willing and more than capable of coming “out of the bunker” to speak truth […]

Obama a No-Show in Paris Neither President Obama nor his inner-circle attended the Hebdo inspired rallies in France. The Myth of Big Money Republicanism One of the persistent myths of American politics is that big money in America tilts to the right. After all, the argument goes, the wealthy favor lower taxes and smaller government because […]

I came across an interesting quote in a new book by Nobel Prize winner in economics, Edmund Phelps.  This was in his new book entitled Mass Flourishing.  The context is a discussion of the conditions necessary for what he calls “dynamism” in an economy, or innovation and entrepreneurship.  Here it is: “The more opportunity that […]

‘Je Suis Charlie’ In light of the murders of much of the staff of Charlie Hebdo, the magazine that published cartoons of Mohammed, and paid for it, an interesting movement has developed. ‘Je Suis Charlie‘ is growing into a popular hashtag, sign, and symbol, as people from around the world are unifying around the idea […]

Your news links for January 8th are… Terrorism in Paris Islamic terrorists invaded a magazine’s offices in Paris and killed cartoonists, visitors, and two police officers, ostensibly because the magazine, Charlie Hedbo, had previously published cartoons depicting Mohammed in less than flattering positions. Here is the BBC’s description. Also, I wrote a post on the […]

According to early reports, the three gunmen who slaughtered an office full of French cartoonists and two police officers, said, as they departed the scene, “We have avenged the Prophet Mohammed…” Charlie Hebdo, the magazine, is essentially dead at the hands of religious zealotry. For what, you might ask, did Mohammed demand revenge? The publication […]

I just finished reading part of a transcript from an interview on MSNBC this morning of Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, and reliable liberal.  The topic was the massacre of twelve employees of a Paris magazine that had spoofed the prophet Muhammed with a cartoon picture with caption.  All I can say is, “Wow!”  […]