Category Archives: Commentary

Primarily links to other sites but with a bit of commentary on my part.

Death of a Concept – Vermont Republican

December last year I wrote a blog post in which I made the case that in the last several decades Republicans have more and more become pale versions of Democrats. I pointed out that while, during an election season at least, Republicans often use the rhetoric of protecting rights and limited government when it comes time to actually govern their policies are not very different from those of the Democrats. You can check the original post to see my arguments, which I still stand by.

One of the comments read more

Government Created Jobs?

We hear a lot these days about how the government should be working to “create” jobs for Americans. While those in government want people to believe that such jobs will be “good paying” (whatever that means) private sector jobs, the reality is that the government cannot actually create such jobs. Government can indirectly affect private sector jobs only be reducing taxes and regulations on all businesses. Any other methods, such as subsidies for select businesses, cannot read more

Ok, But What About the Federal Government?

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article yesterday regarding changes being proposed for the way that state and local governments account for the cost of retired workers.

The proposals, unveiled Monday by an accounting-standards group, would require state and local governments to add retiree-benefit promises to their balance sheets, making governments’ overall financial position appear worse.

…

The move by the read more

“Apple” Twist?

Apple-Twist

Original “Please, sir, I want some more.” Illustration by George Cruikshank Copied from http://mythopoeicrambling.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

I recently read that in December of last year, 2013, Apple met with the FDA to obtain “guidance” on what they might or might not face regulatory hurdles for in their plans for developing apps and devices related to health. The image of one of the most innovative companies essentially going to the government and begging to be allowed to attempt to innovate brought to mind the scene in Oliver Twist read more

Podcast Roundup: May 19

Each week I try to listen to a couple of podcasts which apply rational principles to issues of everyday life.

Philosophy in Action – This week Diana Hsieh and co-host Greg Perkins answer questions in-depth on whether an egoist should be willing to torture others to benefit himself, whether juries should be present during trials (as opposed to say receiving transcripts of all the accepted testimony), and read more

The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same

One of the great things about studying history, even somewhat casually, is that you begin to see that despite what pundits may want us to believe, there is not much happening that is truly new. We often make the mistake of looking at an event taking place today and thinking that it is unprecedented, and often troubling, without realizing that, while some of the concrete examples may be different, in principle it has all happened before.

We look at such events as the recent government investment read more

Let’s Spread This Principle

Of late I have been trying to keep up with the blog Watts Up With That, which is a very good site for information from and for those who are skeptical of the idea of catastrophic, man-made global warming. The site certainly puts paid to the idea that there is a “consensus” that the world is going to be destroyed, at least for human beings, unless we adopt the policies advocated by various environmental groups.

Today they had a link to an read more

Ah, the Hubris of the Statists

In today’s local paper, the front page contained a story about an upcoming debate about private schools vs public schools taking place next week. Sadly the debate topic is something of a false alternative: Should Vermont school districts use tax money to fund public schools or pay tuition to private schools? Obviously missing is the idea that tax money should not be used at all for education and that government has no legitimate role in education.

What peaked my attention though was a quote read more

Sorry Chris, I’d Rather Have a Speed Boat

Junk car and speed boat with bikini babe.

I’ll take the speed boat Chris.

Last night I happened to catch a very small bit of Chris Matthews on the David Letterman show. In the segment I heard, Chris Matthews made a statement that was something along the lines of, “I’ve always thought of politics as like buying a car. You go in and argue over the price until you come to an agreement and buy the car. The problem in Washington is that they won’t even sit down to ‘argue the price’.”

Sadly he has apparently forgotten, or chooses to ignore, read more