Conservatism

Have Religious Conservatives Lost Their Minds?

by Laurence M. Vance August 17, 2023

Although the phrase “separation of church and state” does not appear in the Constitution, the concept is based on the First Amendment, which reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, ...

Republican Déjà Vu

by Laurence M. Vance February 1, 2023

The year was 1994. A Democratic president had been in the White House for two years. The Democrats controlled the Senate and the House of Representatives. House Republicans issued a document detailing the actions they would take if they gained control of the House. Republicans were projected to win big. A midterm election was held. A red wave then swept ...

Two Agendas

by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2022

Although the next U.S. presidential election is not until 2024, this is still an election year. Most candidates are running for state and local offices. On the national level, voters in the 50 states only vote for three offices. They select members of the House of Representatives by district for two-year terms, two senators for six-year terms, and, by ...

7 Ways the Right Has Failed Americans

by Laurence M. Vance July 6, 2022

Earlier this year, Republican members of the House held their three-day annual retreat, the House Republican Issues Conference, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. “Americans are facing the worst inflation crisis in 40 years and struggling to make ends meet,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, chair of the House Republican Conference. She also mentioned “record high gas prices, a ...

Republicans Fail to See the Real Issue with Head Start

by Laurence M. Vance February 14, 2022

President Biden’s “Path out of the Pandemic” mandated that four groups of people be vaccinated against COVID-19: all federal executive branch workers, contractors that do business with the federal government, health care workers at Medicaid- and Medicare-participating hospitals, and employees of private-sector businesses with 100 or more employees. Federal courts have struck down three of these mandates. ...

The State of the Republican Party

by Laurence M. Vance August 25, 2021

Former vice president Richard “Dick” Cheney was one of the architects of the senseless, immoral, and unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—just as he was one of the architects of the foolish first invasion of Iraq (Operation Desert Storm) as secretary of defense under George H. W. Bush. Before this, he served for ten years in the U.S. House ...

The Conservative Hypocrisy on Menthol Cigarette Ban

by Laurence M. Vance June 7, 2021

Many Americans perhaps don’t realize that Congress gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco in 2009.  Nor do they know that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA), enacted that same year, banned the sale of flavored tobacco products, with the exception of menthol-flavored cigarettes and flavored cigars. But by now, I suppose that ...

Would the Republicans Have Saved Us?

by Laurence M. Vance April 1, 2021

If Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) had not gotten sick and resigned his Senate seat, then the title of this article would have been “Will the Republicans Save Us?” After serving in the Georgia state house and senate, Isakson served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was re-elected in ...

Republicans Have Always Dictated What Americans Can Think, Smoke, and Do with Their Money

by Laurence M. Vance March 8, 2021

Democrats may want to censor what Americans can read and watch, but it is comical to hear Republicans complain about it, since they have always dictated what Americans can think, smoke, and do with their money. Late last month, Democratic Representatives Anna Eschoo and Jerry McNerney, both of California, and both senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee ...

The Bankruptcy of Conservative Political Paternalism

by Richard M. Ebeling February 16, 2021

Political paternalism – the belief that those in government possess more knowledge, wisdom, and ability to plan, guide, and direct various aspects of people’s lives better than those people themselves – comes in many forms. The American “progressive” movement is euphoric with being, once again, close to power with the new Biden Administration in the hope of intensifying and ...

The Patriot Party Platform

by Laurence M. Vance February 8, 2021

Within a week after moving out of the White House, Donald Trump announced the creation of the “Office of the Former President.” According to an official statement dated January 25, “The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump’s correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to ...

Conservative Hypocrisy on Foreign Aid

by Laurence M. Vance January 5, 2021

After initially threatening to veto it, Donald Trump signed into law a $2.3 trillion, 5,593-page spending bill that no member of Congress had read. The “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021” (H.R.133), which is a combination of twelve annual funding bills, COVID-19 relief, and pounds and pounds of pork, passed the House in two separate votes ...