I have asked to become a member of Club Wagner. I cannot be both that and a California Republican, that has been made abundantly clear. Related: “Club Wagner” by Douglas Holtz-Eakin at NYTimes.com Blogs Related: “Conservatives for Higher Taxes” by […]
Politics
The Triumph of Politics Over Economics
In this article, David Stockman, although both a hard-money man and a social liberal, comes out against continuing the G. W. Bush tax cuts! Read it to find out why. Related: “The Triumph of Politics Over Economics” by Nick Gillespie at Reason.com
Taxes and the Schadenfreude of the Rich
It is unwise for a state to be too dependent on the fluctuating incomes of the rich – or, for that matter, in my view, any organization. Instead of this being made an argument for “lower taxes on the rich,” […]
Tort Reform and Avoiding Lawyers: Good and Bad Ways To Do It
One of the features of our legal system is that if an organization or business rips you off for $3 million, it’s pretty easy to get justice, but if it rips you off for $30, you’re out of luck unless […]
California Republicans Are Crazy. Like a Fox.
David Atkins of Calitics on the left suggests that for the Republican Establishment, the magic 34% in one house of the legislature is enough, under the California Constitution, to achieve their purposes. Warning: Calitics is too far to the left […]
The Courage Factor
The Economist on Obama’s general lack of courage. He campaigned on ‘audacity’ and ‘we can’ but it looks like we don’t. Remember you heard it first here on Blue Kennel. I hadn’t quite thought of ‘allergy to antithesis’ in terms of […]
Obama’s Oxymoron: Government Innovation
A former Oxy student’s oxymoron. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that. (For the uninformed reader: Oxy is the common abbreviation for Occidental College, which both our current President and I attended at different times.) Related: “Obama’s Oxymoron: Government Innovation” by Debra […]
What I Fear
The poll shows that, while Americans do not greatly love labor unions overall, they seem to want to defend the collective bargaining rights of the public sector. What is frightening about this is that the public is very cynical nowadays […]
Dishwasher Detergent
The interesting thing about the impulse to give us dishwasher detergent that doesn’t actually clean dishes is that it comes from the Spokane area, an area traditionally regarded as conservative. They did not like the idea of phosphorus in their […]
For and Against the Negative Income Tax
Two different perspectives on the negative income tax, a less bureaucratic substitute for the Earned Income Tax Credit. Guy Sorman is for, Jim Manzi is against. I’m not sure where I stand. (Don’t you welcome a little ambiguity for a […]