Month: January 2008
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Primary Season
The New York Times has a prime example of voters approaching elections the wrong way: Senator John McCain has long aroused almost unanimous opposition from the leaders of the right. Accusing him of crimes against conservative orthodoxy like voting against a big tax cut and opposing a federal ban on same-sex marriage, conservative activists have…
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A Voters Guide
I know everyone has been waiting anxiously for me to offer a voters guide to Utah’s presidential primary next week. Here it is. First and most importantly – go vote. Even if you have no particular interest in politics you should get into the habit of participating in this “government by the people.” Second –…
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And Then There Were Two (Each)
The results of Florida’s primary have functionally whittled the Republican field to two candidates. no longer is there the possibility that Giuliani will suddenly jump back into the front runners circle. No matter what other candidates may hang around there are really only two candidates among the Republicans – Romney and McCain – who have…
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Educational Spectrum
I like the idea behind SB36 which proposes allowing home school and charter school students to participate in extracurricular activities at public schools with what appear to be some reasonable restrictions. (hat tip – Daily Herald) This bills seems to illustrate one common problem that seems to plague any education debate. We treat education as…
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Democratic Primary Done Right
Congratulations to Barack Obama – hands down the best candidate among the Democrats. This is what all the democratic contests should look like.
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Nobody Seems Impressed
I chuckled as I returned to an article from early December by Paul Krugman about how: In past financial crises — the stock market crash of 1987, the aftermath of Russia’s default in 1998 — the Fed has been able to wave its magic wand and make market turmoil disappear. But this time the magic…
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Let It Die
The temporary law allowing warrant-less wiretapping is set to expire on February 1st. Congress is hurriedly trying to devise an appropriate update. If you want to know how government grows, it’s by passing temporary laws and then reauthorizing them forever. Eventually we forget that they were temporary and then we end up with a cabinet…
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Downsize D.C.
KVNU had a post today about a movement to let the Protect America Act (PAA) expire. That caught my attention and led me to DownsizeDC.org. This is the kind of site that would attract any self-proclaimed Constitutionalist, Ron Paul supporter, or advocate for limited government. Among the various things they advocate for is a bill…
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One Party State
Most people are probably not yet aware that the state legislature is in session yet and already our unbalanced government is drawing flack from both sides of the political spectrum. From the left we get complaints about a task force to study merit pay for teachers. I like the idea of merit pay, but the…
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Liberty Or Death
How many people, like me, are only familiar with little more than the final sentence of this speech by Patrick Henry? It contains very little in the way of political policy or ideas, but a very good sketch of the character of the men who built our nation. How many citizens today are too busy…