Have You Stocked Up on Incandenscents?
This editorial from the Washington Times, suggests that you should unless you want to incur the expense and hazard of what the government has mandated.
The Fiscal Cliff
Originally published in The Oregonian, December 27, 2012 – Political parties are playing dangerous game with fiscal cliff – With the end of the year fast approaching and the so-called fiscal cliff apparently at hand, I’m reminded of the scene in the classic 1955 film “Rebel Without a Cause” in which James Dean agrees to [...]
Knute Buehler on What Ails the GOP
Originally published in The Oregonian, December 19, 2012 – How to reverse the state GOP’s slide into irrelevance – After a month of personal reflection, well-intended advice from many and reading commentary by political insiders, I am compelled to share my insight as to why Oregon has become such a reliably Democratic state. It is [...]
Aren’t Blacks Supposed To Be Liberals?
John Steele Gordon, writing in Commentary, comments on an oped in today’s New York Times. In a nutshell, Gordon argues that the oped, penned by University of Pennsylvania professor Adolph L. Reed, Jr., reflects the racist view that Blacks who are not liberal are not really Blacks. Of course Reed is arguing that the appointment [...]
Kitzhaber’s Nike Bill: Constitutional Questions
Last Friday, Governor John Kitzhaber called a special session of the Oregon Legislative Assembly to enact a single new law. House Bill 4200 authorizes our Governor to enact a contract with an Oregon company that assures the company that its current single sales tax factor will not be changed for thirty years. The bill does [...]
Kneejerk Solutionism vs. Reasoned Reaction
Writing in Commentary, Abe Greenwald argues that conservatives need to provide reasoned solutions, which he believes they have, to counter the demand for immediate government action even when we do not understand what we are reacting to and know from experience that the planned solution will not work.
A Good Idea
Originally published in The Oregonian, December 13, 2012 – Nike gives Oregon an early Christmas present — Christmas came early for the state of Oregon this year with news that Nike is planning a major expansion in jobs and investment right here in its home state. Before diving into any of the details, we should [...]
But Is It Binding?
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 [...]
Does Denial Equal Greed?
Originally published in The Oregonian, December 10, 2012 – Debating climate change: Are all doubters really ‘hapless’ or ‘greedy’? – Oregon State University professors Michael P. Nelson and Kathleen Dean Moore argue in their recent commentary that those who doubt the link between climate change and human activity are either “hapless” or committed to the [...]
Podhoretz on Obama’s Victory
A long, but insightful analysis from Commentary of the presidential election. How to get elected with $1 billion dollars targeted at a single challenger and without any content whatsoever. Well there was the thing about taxing the top 2% a bit more.
Is the Charitable Deduction Fair?
Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor at The Washington Post, argues that it is not because the wealthy, who pay higher tax rates, get proportionately larger deductions for their charitable giving than do ordinary folks. Read Hiatt’s argument published in the Nashua Telegraph.
Trashing Mitt
This story in The Economist suggests that, though unfair, the trashing of Mitt Romney by fellow Republicans may be a good thing for the party as it looks to its future.
Who Benefitted Most from Citizens United?
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the Citizens United case recognizing the free speech rights of corporations, liberals have objected that the decision would corrupt American politics and allow the capitalists to rule. This story by Molly Ball in The Atlantic finds that liberal political interests were the biggest beneficiaries of Citizens United. Maybe [...]
Higher Tax Rates Do Not Equal Higher Revenue
Writing in today’s Washington Examiner, Michael Barone explains why higher tax rates will not yield the significantly higher revenues necessary to support the current entitlement state.
Health Care v. Health Insurance
Originally published in Defining Ideas, December 5, 2012 – The contraception mandate is not a form of insurance; it is a wealth transfer, plain and simple. By demanding that her health insurer pay her monthly birth control expenses, Sandra Fluke earned herself a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. Her speech, and several others [...]
Political IOU’s Are A Sucker’s Bargain
Originally published in The Daily Caller, December 3, 2012 – Congressional Republicans shouldn’t accept IOU’s President Obama wants Republicans to agree to tax rate increases and new stimulus spending now in return for entitlement and tax code reform in the future. Accepting anything resembling that bargain would be bad politics given the fiscal principles on [...]
Closing of the American Mind
If you have a son or daughter in college or heading to college, or if you care about the state of higher education in the United States, or if you believe that free speech and freedom of thought and expression are essential to the American way of life, then would will be distressed by what [...]
“Why does it always have to be cliffs with this president?”
” Why is it always a high-stakes battle? Why doesn’t he shrewdly re-enact Ronald Reagan, meeting, arguing and negotiating in good faith with Speaker Tip O’Neill, who respected very little of what the president stood for and yet, at the end of the day and with the country in mind, could shake hands and get [...]
