Category: General
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Abolish Earmarks
photo credit: Skrewtape For some time I have been internally conflicted on the issue of congressional earmarking. Many people, including such diverse characters as President Obama and Congressman Chaffetz, have been vocal about calling for an end to earmarks. Others such as my own Congressman, Rob Bishop, reply that earmarks are not an addition to…
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The Right to be Charitable (or Not)
photo credit: Monjori A couple of days ago I heard Jason Lewis on the radio talking about how socialism does not create wealth (after Obama’s “where opportunity is absent government must create it” comment it’s obvious that some people just don’t understand that fact) and that the only way that socialism can seem to work…
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A New View on the Flag and Pledge of Allegiance
photo credit: eschipul I had some interesting thoughts this morning after reading an article I would normally not bother to read. It was talking about a specific historical flag, but my thoughts were turned to the flag generally and then to the Pledge of Allegiance. Here’s the statement that got my brain moving: The flag…
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Invest in Yourself
photo credit: Cambodia Trust I drove in to work later than usual today and caught a bit of Glenn Beck. Like many conservative talk radio hosts I have heard he was promoting the value of gold as an investment. What caught my attention was the way he started out. I’m going to paraphrase here but…
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Public to Private is a One Way Economic Street
photo credit: taberandrew A post entitled The New Robber Barons got me thinking about what happens when public and private enterprises compete in a marketplace. Thinking about that led to some interesting observations. The first of which is that progressives are right in their assertion that public and private enterprises can compete without eradicating each…
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Term Limits in a Nutshell
I read what must be the most succinct summary of the term limit debate over at Utah Policy. LaVarr Webb said: I am a big fan of congressional term limits if they are applied across the board. It would be foolish, however, for Utah to unilaterally impose term limits. As long as power in Congress…
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A Bit Late But Welcome to 1984
I wanted to gag this morning when I heard the suggestion on the Wall Street Journal This Morning that those who needed health care had the option to go on the internet to purchase it. Since when was Viagra, or even Advil, considered health care? Of course I understand what they meant – those who…
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A Real Christmas Gift
President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and other congressional leaders among the Democrats hailed the passage of the Senate health “reform” bill as a Christmas gift to the American people. That’s about the equivalent of trying to convince the chief income earner(s) in a home that the real gift of Christmas for them is the…
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Your Employer: Competitor or Collaborator?
photo credit: Trypode This question is framed in terms of employer sponsored health care benefits, but it really applies to any employer/employee interaction. Are you working with your employer, or are you competing with your employer? To put it another way, is your employer working with you, or simply working you? I ask this because…
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Questions of Legitimacy
I found Power, Authority, Legitimacy at Electric Politics to be a very interesting article. It talks about these three important elements to effectively government and how they interact with each other. The focus is on legitimacy, but George Kenney also explains how power and authority can be in place without bestowing any legitimacy. As I…