Politics

Why Politics Breeds Divisive Fears and Angers

by Richard M. Ebeling November 11, 2020

The recent presidential election confirms and reinforces what many political observers and common citizens have increasingly known and noted: Americans are seriously divided over the problems they see facing society, and the means and methods to solve or reduce their impact on all of us. This division of views is, of course, partly shown in the number of votes cast ...

Government Policies Have Worsened the Coronavirus Crisis

by Richard M. Ebeling October 22, 2020

Few would disagree that we have been and are living through some unprecedented times in 2020. A global pandemic, government-imposed and mandated lockdowns and shutdowns of much of the world’s economic activities and social interactions, and total government debts that cumulatively are almost equal to the global economy’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But while comparisons are being made between the ...

The Political Circus and the Court

by Richard M. Ebeling October 16, 2020

Much of the news and social media chatter following the vice-presidential debate on October 7, 2020 seemed to focus on two events during the 90-minute exchange: Kamala Harris’s unwillingness to say whether she and Joe Biden would or would not try to “pack” the Supreme Court with justices to assure voting majorities for “their side,” and the dark colored ...

What Do Republicans Stand For?

by Laurence M. Vance September 11, 2020

Since this is a presidential election year, and the Republican Party wants Americans’ votes, it is fitting to ask the question: What do Republicans stand for? Writing in Politico Magazine, chief political correspondent Tim Alberta hit the nail on the head: “The supposed canons of GOP orthodoxy — limited government, free enterprise, ...

Why Do Democrats Hate Donald Trump So Much?

by Laurence M. Vance June 1, 2020

Democrats didn’t much care for presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, or George W. Bush — mainly because they were Republican presidents. Just as Republicans weren’t too fond of presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama — mainly because they were Democratic presidents. But it is no secret that Democrats, whether they call themselves liberals, leftists, progressives, Democratic ...

Be Equally Aware of Government Scams

by Laurence M. Vance April 9, 2020

During this time of national crisis over the coronavirus, scammers, fraudsters, hucksters, and assorted con men have come out of the woodwork. According to the article “4 Coronavirus Scams That Could Cost You,” Because so many people are feeling vulnerable right now, it’s a prime time for scammers to strike. These fraudsters take advantage of the fear ...

Inessential Government Workers

by Laurence M. Vance November 12, 2019

Government “shutdowns” in the United States occur when Congress and the president cannot agree on appropriations bills to fund the federal government before the previous ones expire. Since the current budget and appropriations process began in 1976, the federal government “shut down” three times during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, once under George H.W. Bush, twice under Bill Clinton, once ...

Max Weber on Politics as a Vocation

by Richard M. Ebeling October 31, 2019

Political election seasons are always interesting times. An array of candidates offer themselves to the voters, each one promising a bundle of policy programs targeting what government will do for those who elect them, as well as all those who did not vote for them. They are all about how much they want to “give back” and to do ...

Asking the Wrong Questions

by Laurence M. Vance May 1, 2019

In the 1968 presidential election that pitted Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey against Republican Richard M. Nixon, American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace famously quipped that there was not a dime’s worth of difference between the two major political parties. Since Wallace made that observation, we have had every conceivable combination of Democrats and Republicans in the ...

Term Limits Are Not the Answer

by Laurence M. Vance March 4, 2019

Franklin D. Roosevelt has the distinction of being the only man to be elected to the office of the presidency four times (1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944). The nation’s first president, George Washington, after serving two terms as president (1789–1797), famously declined to seek a third term as president. (If he had done so, and won, he would have ...

Truth Is an Outlaw in Washington

by James Bovard January 1, 2019

“Truth isn’t truth,” declared Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, on Meet the Press last August. Giuliani’s comment was the “Trump era’s epitaph,” according to a Washington Post columnist. But truth really is defined differently inside the Beltway — when it is not in total hiding. Trump could face a “perjury trap” from Special Counsel Robert Mueller because of the ...

John McCain’s Disastrous Militaristic Legacy

by James Bovard December 1, 2018

When Sen. John McCain passed away in August, he was lauded far and wide for his long career of public service. Rep. John Lewis, the famous civil-rights activist, hailed McCain as a “warrior for peace.” In reality, McCain embodied a toxic mix of moralism and militarism that worked out disastrously for America and the world. In his funeral eulogies, McCain ...