School Choice: A Bad Idea

While the school choice movement has been a popular policy initiative for conservative politicians and parents who are disgusted with the failing and, in many areas, debauched public school system, a closer look at "choice" in education, which includes charter schools, vouchers, and scholarships, may not be the panacea for educational reform as many believe. … Continue reading School Choice: A Bad Idea

The Convention of States Project: A Bad Idea

Similar to Patrick Buchanan’s campaigns, Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America,” the Tea Party, and to some extent Donald Trump’s presidency, the Convention of States Project* will not solve the crises that America faces.  It will, undoubtedly, like most of the previous reform and populist movements be sabotaged by the ruling class if it ever gets … Continue reading The Convention of States Project: A Bad Idea

The Constitution Myth

One reason for the failure of the modern conservative and libertarian movements to scale back, in even a miniscule way, the now gargantuan US welfare/warfare state has been the misinterpretation of the US Constitution.  Many conservatives have a slavish devotion to the document, placing it on a par with the Ten Commandments and New Testament. … Continue reading The Constitution Myth

A Constitutional Anniversary to Forget

While not a jubilee year, last week marked the 230th anniversary of the US Constitution.  Naturally, most of its devotees enthusiastically praised the document which by now is seen on a par with Holy Writ itself.  An editorial from Investor’s Business Daily provides an example of such hagiography: The Constitution’s beauty is that it not … Continue reading A Constitutional Anniversary to Forget

Welcome to Totalitarian America, President Trump!

If there had been any doubt that the land of the free and home of the brave is now a totalitarian society, the revelations that its Chief Executive Officer has been spied upon while campaigning for that office and during his brief tenure as president should now be allayed. President Trump joins the very crowded … Continue reading Welcome to Totalitarian America, President Trump!

California, Nestle and Decentralization

Nestle USA has announced that it will move its headquarters from Glendale, California, to Rosslyn, Virginia, taking with it about 1200 jobs.  The once Golden State has lost some 1600 businesses since 2008 and a net outflow of a million of mostly middle-class people from the state from 2004 to 2013 due to its onerous … Continue reading California, Nestle and Decentralization

On the 225th Anniversary of the United States’ Bill of Rights

This December, 2016, marks the 225th anniversary of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the US Constitution which would become known as the "Bill of Rights."  To secure passage of the Constitution, the framers of the document (the Federalists) had to agree that it would contain explicit language on individual rights. Ever since … Continue reading On the 225th Anniversary of the United States’ Bill of Rights

“A Date Which Will Live in Infamy:” President Nixon’s Decision to Abandon the Gold Standard

Franklin Delano Roosevelt called the Japanese “surprise” attack on the U.S. occupied territory of Hawaii and its naval base Pearl Harbor, “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy.”  Similar words should be used for President Nixon’s draconian decision 45 years ago this month that removed America from the last vestiges of the gold standard. On … Continue reading “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy:” President Nixon’s Decision to Abandon the Gold Standard

Presidential Dictatorship

Executive orders, undeclared wars, drone hits, assassination of citizens and non-citizens alike, the overthrow of foreign regimes, domestic spying, the abetting of known criminal activities through pardons, economic planning, opening borders, monetary manipulations are just some of the nefarious activities that routinely emanate from the most dangerous political office that the world has ever painfully … Continue reading Presidential Dictatorship

Another Constitutional Convention: An Idea Whose Time Has Not Come

In the midst of the seemingly indeterminable presidential electoral campaign, some of the candidates have been asked about the possibility of convening a constitutional convention in the hope of addressing the nation's most pressing issues, most ominously the gargantuan federal deficit now in excess of $18 trillion. Governor John Kasich supports such a notion with … Continue reading Another Constitutional Convention: An Idea Whose Time Has Not Come