Political Thought
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…
It seems as if something has significantly changed in electoral politics — or else, that something that has been changing crossed into a visible field of light. The most striking example may have been in Alaska, where Senator Lisa Murkowski rejected the decision of the Republican Party’s primary voters and ran as a write-in candidate,…
The talk was of political theory and second chances for Michael Vick when I spoke with guest host Tony Cornetta on the Matt Allen Show last night. Stream by clicking here, or download it. I didn’t go into the sales pitch, but please email or call (401-835-7156) me to pledge financial support — as subscriptions,…
Over on the WPRI site, Ted Nesi is running a series of “Dear Mr. Chafee” essays by “five of the state’s smartest citizens.” I’ll admit that I’m a bit suspicious of his claim — inasmuch as I’m on the list — but Tom Sgouros, who penned the first in the series is surely among the…
Roger Simon’s Thanksgiving musings struck me as particularly poignant: My real beef with Barack Obama is that he does not want to acknowledge that [America represents human aspiration to the world] or he doesn’t believe it. I don’t know which. But in any case he rejects it. I saw that most clearly on what was…
One can sense a desire, in the broadly defined Tea Party movement, to repeal something among the many decisions, amendments, and statutes that have diluted the Founders’ experiment of divided government powers. Todd Zywicki marks the introduction of the Seventeenth Amendment to the list of candidates for rethinking: Election of senators by state legislatures was…
Being unemployed for long periods is a terrible experience for those who lack the resources to survive an extended financial drain. Especially when a family is on the line, the hopelessness and fear of joblessness is one of modern life’s greatest anxieties. Still, at a certain point, unemployment benefits begin to become a weapon of…
Robert Whitcomb ruminates over the “psychological” conservatism of New England: New Englanders are in fact more psychologically conservative than most of the rest of the country, whatever the social and economic liberalism ascribed to them by the press. That their rates of divorce, illegitimacy, alcohol and other drug abuse, personal bankruptcy and other signs of…