It's been a full week since the establishment education lobby and Democrats on the House Education Committee teamed up to kill the spending transparency in Colorado's Senate Bill 57. Amazingly, this little bill that (almost) could in our Colorado state legislature is still making national waves. From an essay written by Paul Miller and published today by American Thinker:This past week in Colorado, Senate Bill 57, also called the Public School Financial Transparency Act, which simply require public school districts to put their spending online, died in committee. How could any responsible public official forbid parents from seeing how their tax-dollars are spent educating their children? The answer to that question is simple: … [Read more...]
Rossputin Explains Why The Current Recession is So Uniquely Bad
A few days ago I raised the question based on a provocative American Thinker essay by Randall Hoven: How deep is this recession? Is it really the worst crisis in 70 years? I am not that well versed in - nor closely attuned to - macroeconomic data and the trends they indicate. Something seemed incomplete in the essay. So I'm glad to see that Rossputin has weighed in with a thoughtful and thorough response, disagreeing with Hoven. Whether you are more swayed by Hoven or Rossputin, Rossputin's conclusion is something we all should easily be able to agree with:The Democrats’ medicine will be worse than our current illness, and will turn what should have been a moderately annoying case of the fiscal flu into a devastating economic … [Read more...]
Needed Today: Rossputin’s Explanation of the New Deal’s Ill Economic Effects
Some cliches are just that because they pack so much truth, they become a frequent, handy reference. One of my favorites (originally attributed to conservative thinker George Santayana) is: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." I can't think of anything more relevant to our current national political debate than this thoughtful and well-documented essay posted by Ross Kaminsky at Politics West: "The New Deal was a raw deal for the American economy". These days, the point can't be hammered home enough. As of yet, I've seen little signs that any significant number of our leaders in Washington - many Republicans and nearly all Democrats - have paid attention to this historical lesson. The ramifications may be … [Read more...]
Finding the Common Ties that Bind the Conservative Movement
The Next Right has posted a thoughtful essay that seeks to put the current intra-conservative debates into perspective. The whole thing is a worthwhile read, but the conclusion especially is interesting:Conservatives, thankfully, are nowhere near as afflicted by tunnel-vision, as the current debates on the Right show. However, it is essential that, being conservative, we remember that these debates were not settled in 1964 or 1980 and are not going to be settled in 2008, 2012 or any other year. These debates are timeless elements of the American conservative tradition, and will probably never be resolved completely. However, another timeless element which we must also be careful not to forget is the fact that these debates have always ended … [Read more...]
Do Social Cons and Libertarians Have More in Common Politically?
Lately I feel like I've been doing a lot of refereeing and discussion about the libertarian-social conservative debate. Along those lines, I believe my readers would gain a lot of insights from this American Thinker essay by libertarian Randall Hoven:Social conservatism is taking a beating lately. Not only did it lose in the recent elections, it is being blamed for the Republican losses. If only the religious right would get off the Republican Party's back, the GOP could win like it is supposed to again. I beg to differ. I'm anything but a social conservative. In nine presidential elections, I voted Libertarian in six. I am a hard core "limited government" conservative/libertarian; I want government out of my pocket-book and out of … [Read more...]
ObamaFraud and the Ongoing Motivation of the GOP Ground Game
There is a ton to catch up on heading into the election's final week: Palestra has the latest on vote fraud committed by Barack Obama staffers camping out in Ohio. Naysayers repeat the mantra that this fraud can't possibly affect the election, because it's on such a small scale. Focused so intently on potential direct impacts, they miss the point. The ever expanding, yet unknowable, scale of voter registration fraud has been part of feeding a public perception. Based on what we know about human nature and behavior, it will have some effect - how so, it's too hard to say. To further understand the concern, think instead about what this says: the bare minimum of electronic controls to cover his online donations, allowing for myriad kinds … [Read more...]