Greg Sargent, today reports that it wasn’t only John Adams who supported the notion of government run health care. According to Georgetown University history professor and noted historian of America’s early days, Adam Rothman, Thomas Jefferson –the iconic hero of the Tea Party – also supported the legislation. Sargent reprints the following email he received… Continue reading Thomas Jefferson and Government Run Health Care
Tea Partyers don’t actually care about liberty
The Tea Partyers’ fiery hatred of redistribution and resentment of societal “leeches” is certainly real, but it’s apparent at this late date that most self-identified Tea Party supporters are libertarians in sound bite form only, and certainly no supporters of “liberty” as broadly defined by Reason magazine and the Cato Institute. The Tea Parties believe… Continue reading Tea Partyers don’t actually care about liberty
The difference between big and small government is 4%
Until recently, our great, wrenching, economic debate has been focused on whether a whopping 4.6% increase in tax rates on incomes over $250,000 would undermine the American work ethic, shred the nation’s the moral fiber, and constitute the “Second Coming of Socialism”. Now, with the passage of the tax cut extension, providing us a harrowing,… Continue reading The difference between big and small government is 4%
Meet the Twiblings
How four women (and one man) conspired to make two babies. From Meet the Twiblings – NYTimes.com Read this article assuming it took place in Park Slope.
Mom Sentenced to Jail For Seeking a Better Education For Her Children
US military suicide
For the second year in a row, the U.S. military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. From US military suicide
Adam Winkler: MLK and His Guns
in 1956, after King’s house was bombed, King applied for a concealed carry permit in Alabama. The local police had discretion to determine who was a suitable person to carry firearms. King, a clergyman whose life was threatened daily, surely met the requirements of the law, but he was rejected nevertheless. At the time, the… Continue reading Adam Winkler: MLK and His Guns
Krugman defends our socialist sewer system
Joe Romm has some fun with the Texas Attorney General, who declares himself opposed to regulation of CO2 on the grounds that It is almost the height of insanity of bureaucracy to have the EPA regulating something that is emitted by all living things. As Joe points out, this argument says that we should adopt… Continue reading Krugman defends our socialist sewer system
Myth of the Hero Gunslinger
Back to Tucson. On the day of the shooting, a young man named Joseph Zamudio was leaving a drugstore when he saw the chaos at the Safeway parking lot. Zamudio was armed, carrying his 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol. Heroically, he rushed to the scene, fingering his weapon, ready to fire. … “When everyone is carrying a… Continue reading Myth of the Hero Gunslinger
Economic conservatism as a religion
But beyond the specific facts, it’s the logical structure of the argument that’s insane. Economic growth is a key predicate for an expansive welfare stare. So it’s completely true that if you just started throwing out the key institutional features of modern market economies that you’d strangle big government. But you’d be strangling big government… Continue reading Economic conservatism as a religion