Category National

Federalist Nos. 13 – 14

Federalist No. 13 left me with imagining one of two conclusions based on the following statement: Nothing can be more evident than that the thirteen States will be able to support a national government better than one half, or one…

What Is A Billion

I got a forwarded email about putting some perspective on what “a Billion” is and how easily politicians throw around numbers on that order of magnitude. Here’s a summary from the email that attempts to put some perspective on the…

Federalist Nos. 11 – 12

Federalist Nos. 11 – 12 follow the same overarching argument that many of their predecessors followed. It can be boiled down to the truths concerning economies of scale. A larger union has great advantages over a smaller nation in many…

Fortune 535

Check out the Sunlight Foundation’s Fortune 535. It gives numbers of the net worth of each member of Congress based on congressional reporting requirements. Some of the numbers won’t be very surprising, but others will probably make you take a…

Establish Criteria, Not Quotas

My wife was politically low-key when I first met her. I have enjoyed the fact that she has started to become more interested in political issues and principles of good government. This morning at breakfast, without any warning, she asked…

Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Reports from the CBO that a Universal Health Coverage Bill would be budget neutral are obviously based on the third kind of lie (namely statistics). Could someone please point out to me where this plan gives health care providers an incentive to provide efficient, high-quality care? It seems to me that insuring all our uninsured citizens will never pay for itself in a system that thrives on inefficiency - as the current system does. Adding inefficiency couldn't possibly pay for itself.

A Thin Red Line

I stumbled upon a great statement on the line that separates civilization from anarchy. Timothy Gatto writes this in response the the FLDS situation: While you might not agree with what the FLDS is doing, it doesn’t warrant any civil…