Year: 2009
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Massachusetts Sues Over DOMA
Well, it didn’t take any special insight to know that this would be happening. One look at the similarities between the question of slavery in the 1850’s as related by Lincoln in his House Divided speech and the issue of gay marriage today had me predicting last week that this would be happening. Notice that…
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An Affordable Health Care System
On Sunday, July 5, Paul Krugamn laid out his argument that affordable health care for everyone was an achievable goal.[quote] Many people would be surprised to learn that I agree with him on that. He correctly argues that we already cover the bulk of the most expensive health care patients by covering the elderly under…
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The Paradox of Government
Today I read Paul Krugman writing about the paradox of thrift. As is often the case, I found it interesting to read and to notice the assumptions that Krugman bases his positions on. While anyone can go read what he wrote I’ll give a quick overview of the paradox of thrift – increases in personal…
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Independence Day Observations
I attended the Freedom Festival parade in Provo with my family on Saturday and I found it very interesting to watch. I was proud to notice that there seemed to be more people who actually knew what to do whent he flag passed by. Unlike some years there was no hesitation in the crowd as…
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Economic Recovery
I was listening this morning to a story on NPR about rising unemployment when an interesting thought struck me. The story was talking about the negative feedback loop of rising unemployment leading to lower housing prices and more economic uncertainty. These factors then dampen consumer spending and keep unemployment high and even encourage more unemployment.…
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Lincoln’s House Divided Speech
I had never before read Lincoln’s House Divided Speech. Considering that it came in the very early days of the Republican party it could have been applied to or derived from the split between the Republicans and the Whigs and not simply the nation as a whole. Here is the heart of what most people…
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The Monroe Doctrine
I remember learning about The Monroe Doctrine in history classes – mostly about the interpretation of it called Manifest Destiny. I found it enlightening to review some background surrounding this speech to Congress. In Wikipedia the doctrine is summed up like so: President Monroe claimed the United States of America, although only a fledgling nation…
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News on the Honduran Coup
When I first heard about the military coup in Honduras I noticed some reference to the extra-constitutional activities of the ousted president and the attempts by their legislative and judicial branches to check his actions. Soon however I noticed a shift in the news coverage as a party line began to develop. First Hugo Chavez…
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Political Football
At a time when we have two senators and one senate candidate from our one party state all trying to insert politics into college football (and all three claim to be conservatives – go figure) it seems appropriate to use a football analogy to describe the dangers of having one-party domination within the state or…
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Inside Politics
When I read about the results of the Utah Democratic party chairman’s race I had an interesting thought pop into my head. (Although this article originally ran in the Salt Lake Tribune I am linking to a copy at UtahAmicus because tribune articles eventually expire and disappear.) First, some background. The race for chairman was…