Originally published in the May issue of Northwest Connection — Light Rail Returns to Clackamas County Ballot – Another in a series of culminating moments will take place on May 21, when Clackamas County voters will again weigh the fate of Portland Milwaukie Light Rail. But even if the vote on Measure 3-424 is numerically [...]
Originally published in National Review Online, April 11, 2013 – by Paul Rahe One hundred years ago today, Woodrow Wilson brought Jim Crow to the North. He had been inaugurated on March 4, 1913. At a cabinet meeting on April 11, his postmaster general, Albert S. Burleson, suggested that the new administration segregate the railway [...]
Steven Stanek of The Heartland Institute interviews [here] Jim Huffman on the subject of Huffman’s article “The Disenfranchisement of Rural America” that appeared in Defining Ideas (reprinted here at Northwest Free Press).
Originally published in Defining Ideas, February 13, 2013 – Small-town Americans are losing the right to govern themselves and their own communities. Anyone who pays even passing attention to American politics is familiar with the map (Figure 1) of the United States showing states in which a majority of voters favored President Obama (colored blue) [...]
Originally published in the Hillsboro Tribune, January 11, 2013 – by Representative Shawn Lindsay – Remember when presidential candidates actually campaigned in Oregon? Now they simply treat Oregon as an ATM. In 2004, both President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry drew huge crowds for public campaign rallies. But in 2012, both President Obama [...]
Originally published in The Statesman Journal, December 13, 2012 — Nike pact might not be binding – Gov. John Kitzhaber has called the Oregon Legislature into special session tomorrow to pass the Qualifying Investment Incentive and Safe Harbor Act. If enacted by the legislature and signed by the governor, the bill will be an expression [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller, October 27, 2012 – There was a time when the admonition “vote early” was accompanied with “and often.” No doubt many who used the expression had Chicago in mind, so photos of President Obama voting early in his hometown surely reminded old timers of the days when people really [...]
Originally published at The Daily Caller, September 17, 2012 – The Constitution is down, but not out — Title 36, Chapter 1, Section 106 of the United States Code declares that September 17 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. It’s right in there with Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day (§104 — just a week [...]
“To what extent should intolerance be tolerated and how can a commitment to pluralism and a unified civic culture be reconciled? These questions are at the heart of the challenge of civics education according to Rita Koganzon of the American Enterprise Institute. Read Koganzon’s essay on civics education here.
Writing in today’s Oregonian, Rich Lowry says Roberts overreached by effectively amending what Congress enacted (a view expressed by Jim Huffman on this site earlier this week here). David Brooks says that Roberts did the right thing in deferring to the democratic process. Lowry has the better position. It is not for the courts to [...]
Originally published in The Daily Caller — June 28, 2012 – Obamacare ruling is judicial activism of the most pernicious sort – The Supreme Court’s validation of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate will be celebrated as a product of appropriate judicial restraint. To the contrary, it is judicial activism of the most pernicious [...]
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, reprinted here at aei.org, Jonah Goldberg takes on those who are suggesting that voting should be mandatory. As Goldberg notes, such proposals usually come from those who think they are losing, which is really the only reason you would want uninformed and disinterested people voting.
$2.5 Million Debt for Systems Development Fees has City on Ropes — From the Northwest Connection – By Mark Ellis Imagine waking up one morning to find out that the city you live in has secretly amassed a debt of $2.5 million. Such a wake-up call was delivered to the Molalla City Council in April [...]
One thing on which most everyone agrees is that the political system, particularly in Washington, is broken. Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, writing in The Washington Post, think the challenge is big but that there are things we can do to reduce the partisanship. In this commentary they detail five things they think will not [...]
If you missed it in Monday’s Oregonian, take a look at Robert J. Samuelson’s commentary on the myth and reality of Washington. Here is what Samuelson says: “The Washington of conventional wisdom and the real Washington are two entirely different places. The Washington of conventional wisdom is overrun by well-paid insiders — lobbyists, lawyers, publicists [...]
John Fund reports on National Review Online that a man who did not identify himself and presented no ID was offered Attorney General Eric Holder’s ballot in the recent Washington, D.C., primary election. Here’s betting Holder remains opposed to voter ID laws. Read Fund’s account here.
Originally published in The Oregonian — 03-29-12 – Suburbanites trip up Meetro’s regional light-rail, development vision – In response to the signature-gathering in Clackamas County to refer the county’s funding of the Milwaukie light-rail line to the voters, Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette, who represents part of that county, was quoted as saying, “We work hard [...]
With liberals dominating the academy, particularly in the social sciences, James Q. Wilson was a breath of fresh air, even at 80 years of age. His passing is a great loss for all freedom loving people. Today’s Wall Street Journal includes an editorial testament to Wilson [here], and a collection of some of Wilson’s many [...]
