Political Thought
Unfortunately, the decision at National Review to cease providing access to the online issues of the magazine to print subscribers has left me unable to copy and paste interesting passages from its pages, and inasmuch as I’m not going to pay for two subscriptions and like the portability and markability of actual paper pages, I’m…
I said (somewhere) it back when Republicans were in the minority in the House, and even though the filibuster technique has been helpful to causes that I’ve supported in recent years, I’ll say it again: this sounds reasonable to me: … Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat … proposes that lawmakers be on the floor…
RI Bishop Thomas Tobin asks the key question: Nor should the so-called “separation of church and state” be used as a weapon to silence the faith community, or restrict its robust participation in the debate of important public issues. I’ve found that whenever I’ve spoken out on public issues — e.g., abortion, gay marriage or…
Back in 2007, I argued against non-partisan elections in Tiverton. Those who disagreed took a very community-oriented view: ARGUING AGAINST asking Tiverton voters whether they’d like to return to partisan elections after one cycle of nonpartisanism, Charter Review Commission member Frank “Richard” Joslin made two points that have the ring of Rhode Islandry: First, that…
John Fonte’s review of The New Road to Serfdom, by Daniel Hannan, focuses mainly on international policy — and avoiding Europeanization and submission to anti-democratic supranational bodies. However, given periodic discussion around here about the structure of government and of elections, this is the passage that most caught my eye: Hannan is particularly impressed with…
My, isn’t that totalitarian hand attractive for reasons small and large. From Another RI Blogger: Sheldon Whitehouse was a sponsor of S2847, Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM Act), which has been a long, long time coming. What this bill does is finally requires the television networks to make the volume of the commercial advertising…
Jim Manzi argues that, as conservatives strive to claim a decisive voice in governance, we should see the welfare state not so much as a demolition project, but as remodeling, with a different end-goal in mind: … it would be foolhardy, from a conservative perspective, to eliminate a system so central to day-to-day life and…
In a November article for National Review (yes, I’m a bit behind), Keith Hennessey offers ten methods by which elected officials can begin “moving incrementally in the right direction” when it comes to the economy. Most of the items deal with particular issues and ought to be considered, but his #2 speaks to a general…
It’s always amusing to read such things from an editorial board that has, among other things, advocated for centralization of the healthcare system: One of its themes is how much government policy has been taken over by self-interested individuals who rotate between government and the private sector (including academic) jobs. They use government jobs as…
The Dear Mr. Chafee letter by John Marion, of Common Cause, makes a generally applicable suggestion that might lead to food for thought: … I would suggest that when Gov.-elect Chafee makes most of his decisions, he should use a 25-year time horizon. … The electoral cycle is short because we insist on accountability through…