Category: politics
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Federalist Nos. 24 – 25
Federalist No. 24 shows the lack of logic behind the arguments to prohibit the government from having a standing army. It is relatively unremarkable except that I was surprised to discover that the writing style differed so greatly from other papers by the same author. I was amused by the reference to advanced communication coming…
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Federalist No. 23
Federalist No. 23 uses the experience of the Articles of Confederation – specifically the experience related to the arrangement whereby the central government could request men and arms for the defense of the nation but did not have the power to enforce those requests on the citizens of the states – to argue that a…
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Loyalty . . . Right or Wrong
I have been thinking about the sentiment “my country, right or wrong” as well as many potential variations (e.g. “my party, right or wrong,” “my parents, right or wrong,” or “my company, right or wrong”). What I have been thinking is that such a statement of unquestioning loyalty is ripe for abuse and manipulation. I…
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Secretary Clinton
This should be very interesting to see how Hillary Clinton fares as Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Clinton has proven herself to be a very able politician. Despite any clashes during the primaries, she and Obama have never been far apart on their policies and goals for gorvernment so I don’t see any…
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We Can Do Better
It seems that both parties have been parroting this message all through the 2008 campaign. While they are absolutely right that we can do better, I am not talking about 2008, the Bush administration, or any other recent phenomenon. As I have been reading Lies My Teacher Told Me I am seeing a glaringly obvious…
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“Free Market” Health Care
The call for Lawyers to join health-reform efforts was a not so subtle reminder to me about how "free" our health care market is currently. We can’t really pretend that the cost of services or the services rendered are determined by patients and providers. In fact, they are not even determined by a combination of…
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Support But Don’t Trust
I am a strong supporter of our government. I obey the laws (even little ones like speed limits and seat belt laws) and pay my taxes without complaint and without seeking any tricks to minimize those taxes. Supporting the government, however, does not mean that I trust the government when they ask for expanded powers.…
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Post-Election Subjects
There must be something about the conclusion of an election that brings up the subject of term limits. I wrote about it a couple of times a year ago and have said nothing about it since then. Now the Standard Examiner has an article saying that It’s time to reignite the debate over term limits.…
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Laboratories of Democracy
I have been thinking about the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution (FF&C) and how that has played out in some areas of public policy. Specifically I have been thinking about how some areas of policy allow for states to pick and choose what faith and credit they apply to the policies of…
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Legislated Equality
I have been thinking about the “equality” that we equate with the American dream – the one that we want our government to guarantee for us. This has lead me to consider the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcomes. I don’t think that many people would openly argue for equality of outcomes…