Political Thought
Aesthetically, it’s hard to disagree with Arthur Blaustein’s argument for the value of literature to civic health: Novels offer genuine hope for learning how to handle our daily personal problems—and those political issues of our communities and our country—in a moral and humane way. They can help us to understand the relationship between our inner…
Returning home from the Johnston, a couple of weeks ago, I floated along in the fast lane of 195, my mind flitting through political thoughts, and it took me a moment to register the fact that traffic in both of the other lanes had come to a crawl. A sign explained the reason: “Left two…
Could it all be as simple as getting folks to think through their arguments? That’s an encouraging thought, but probably overly optimistic. Consider (emphasis added): In Amsterdam, where I spend part of the year, every time I go the pharmacy and take out cash to pay for a prescription, the pharmacist and all the well-insured…
Matt Allen and I touched on the legislative process on last night’sMatt Allen Show and the way in which it wears the public out as legislation moves toward law. After all this heat and energy, we still have multiple versions in the Senate over which to argue, likely with various provisions, all of which have…
The reader really must sympathize with Froma Harrop’s frustration and ire, and I’m truly sorry for the loss of her husband. The conclusions to which she comes, from that point of view, are, however, plain wishful thinking based on an idealization of an alternative straw to grasp: An economic note: In 2006, William “Dollar Bill”…
Lee Drutman reminds readers of a point that Milton Friedman made often: And yet, start reading the actual legislation, and you quickly realize the U.S. health-care system is a dizzying jumble of a thousand and one interconnected pieces, which means a lot of little rules and incentives to get right if any reform is going…
It doesn’t take a stethoscope to hear the reckless “what could it hurt” beat behind the creation of a “pay czar“: Q: So what happens Thursday? A: Thursday is the last day the companies can submit proposed pay packages for the 25 highest earners at each one. At least one company, General Motors, said Tuesday…
With the return of producer Maverick from vacation, Friday night’s Violent Roundtable is now up on Matt Allen’s PodCast page. Somebody commented, after the show, that it was interesting to hear me respond to news from the Democrat representative from Cranston, Peter Palumbo, of a possible “Traditional Values Caucus” in the State House with the…
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I responded to Michael Morgenstern’s offer to grant me access to a digital copy of his movie, Castle on High, which is currently part of the Rhode Island Film Festival, with a screening tomorrow at the Columbus Theater. It was definitely more engrossing than I’d expected. The documentary…
Alright, there wasn’t really a fire, but since we’re talking radio, I like to imagine that there was one. Dan Yorke and I had that sort of conversation, yesterday, on 630AM/99.7FM WPRO. Those who missed it or who would like to revisit something (for kind or scurrilous reasons) can stream the whole segment (about an…
