Borepatch has a nice post on progressivism (hat tip to Newbie Shooter). Here’s my current summary of progressive agenda:
1. Guarantee an expansive and virtually unfettered right of individuals to pursue all the meaningless distractions that modern life has to offer.
2. Restrict and regulate the areas of life that actually have real significance (freedom of expression, [...]
New Jersey is a shining example of this. And there is finally some recognition of the fact that NJ is losing many of its wealthiest residents for blindingly obvious reasons: the taxes are too high and the business climate too hostile.
The left, of course, continues to be in denial about a basic fact of the [...]
There is just nothing I can say to prepare you for this. Enjoy.
The Inquirer, like most lefty newspapers, usually makes at least a feeble attempt to make its partisanship seem non-partisan. Today, however, they didn’t cover their tracks very well. They ran a front page story about how former Philadelphia Eagle Jon Runyan receives a tax break (an agricultural exemption) on part of his 20 acre property.
Several [...]
I have seen repeatedly in the healthcare debate an argument from the left along the lines of “someone who is sick and uninsured isn’t really free”. I always thought that was a bizarre assertion. Well I recently read an article on the Progressive giant, John Dewey and that very formulation played a big role in [...]
This is one of those pieces that just leaves me so cynical about the left and the media. Paul Krugman writes that we are shortchanging education in the US. He offers no actual evidence, of course.
Education, as one of the largest components of public spending, has inevitably suffered.
Oh, really? Take a look at this. We’ve [...]
Is it me or is the Obamaphilic left more willing to trust in the benevolent intentions of the likes of Iran, Russia and Venezuela than in American businesses.
When William Beveridge laid out his blueprint for the modern British welfare state in 1942, his goal was the “abolition of want,” to be accomplished by “cooperation between the State and the individual.”
In attempting to insulate the citizenry from the vicissitudes of fate, Sir William has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams: Want has been all [...]
At what point does it become reasonable to describe the left as adhering to an ideology that is not supportive of freedom? I think the time has long since passed but it is difficult to press the case without sounding like a bit of a lunatic.
A couple reminders of this crossed my screen recently. First [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal is a devastating piece on the deadly ideas pushed by Obama’s healthcare advisor, Dr. Zeke Emanuel (Rahm Emanuel’s brother). Zeke is not a fan of the idea that physicians should do everything they can for their patients. He argues that society’s needs have to be factored in. In practical terms [...]
I decline to celebrate the life of a man who wanted to give away my hard earned money and take away my freedom.
I submitted the following letter to the editor, which appears not to be under consideration (maybe I shouldn’t have taunted them for being in bankruptcy…nah). It is in response to this editorial.
The Inquirer recently editorialized that a public healthcare option would be able to charge lower premiums because it would not be “profit-driven”. Setting aside the [...]
As if the media’s integrity wasn’t already in tatters, they continue to repeat the official line from the left that the public option is not a Trojan horse that would lead to nationalized healthcare. Why is it that users of YouTube can find a growing list of leftwing politicians, academics and activists who say that’s [...]
For many you Europeans, Western civilization comprises little more than pop music, soccer, a sexual free-for-all, social security programs and five-week holidays in exotic places: not a strong position from which to face either the economic or the ideological challenges of the day.
Theodore Dalrymple
In reading about the increasingly angry town hall meetings that politicians are facing courtesy of the Obama agenda, I am reminded of an old B.C. cartoon where the king’s advisor says “Sire, the peasants are revolting.” The kings responds “They certainly are”.
Well, the peasants are starting to revolt and I’m sure there’s many leftwing politicians [...]
Bitter was kind enough to include me in a local gun bloggers’ confab today. It was a splendid event. The first of many, I hope.
In thinking about some of the debates I’ve had with leftists, I began to recognize the left doesn’t simply have favored special interest groups that are on equal footing with each other. There is actually a very clear hierarchy of groups worthy of deference and positive consideration in the leftwing worldview.
Interestingly, groups lower on the [...]
I sent the following Senators this afternoon.
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Dear Senator,
I absolutely oppose the healthcare reform bill currently being considered by the Senate (the Affordable Health Choices Act). While I support improvements to our healthcare system, this is fundamentally the wrong approach.
For one thing, the public option combined with the employer mandate or employer fine will clearly drive [...]
As readers of this blog may be aware, I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat. When push comes to shove, however, I am more likely to hold my nose and vote GOP because they are generally less wrong (not exactly a ringing endorsement to be sure). But it’s safe to say I’m no GOP [...]
Things are going to get worse for the U.S. economy in the long run unless our great thinkers in Washington get the message that we already have uncompetitive corporate tax rates and their schemes are only going to exacerbate the problem. You know things are ugly when corporations are moving from the U.S. to Canada [...]