“Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” That quotation, often (but probably incorrectly) attributed to Benjamin Franklin, sums up the ethics of democracy. Democratic outcomes are used to justify a majority claiming the right to impose their will on the minority. To prevent the unethical exploitation of...
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg would apparently prefer his storm-ravaged city’s homeless eat nothing at all than benefit from the generosity of private individuals—declaring that only items his food police pass inspection on can be donated to city homeless shelters: Another example of why the government does not belong in the business of charitable relief. If...
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A dozen ballot initiatives in nine states focused on K-12 education issues. Also making news was the surprise defeat of Indiana incumbent and reformer State Superintendent Tony Bennett by Glenda Ritz, a former teacher backed by the union. Charter schools won big in Georgia and Washington. Georgia voters passed an amendment allowing a statewide...
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Go to the website of the Detroit Medical Center and you will learn that its facilities are ranked among the “nation’s best hospitals” by US News & World Report and that they have won other awards. The Detroit Medical Center has some of the “best” heart doctors, it is “tops” in cancer care, and...
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If ever a president had to go, it’s Barack Obama. His progressive fascism has prolonged the recovery for four solid years in a row. From Dodd-Frank and the auto bailouts to stimulus spending and Obamacare, he is easily the most economically interventionist president since the LBJ-Nixon years. In addition to this, he is one...
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The U.S. Defense budget has not received nearly as much media scrutiny during this election cycle as it merits. Leaving such a vital topic almost exclusively in the hands of the usual cast of characters—defense secretaries, current and former; members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees; and retired chairmen of the Joint...
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Who’s the biggest spender? That seems to be the education policy debate in a nutshell this presidential election season—and it misses the point entirely. First, let’s put federal education spending into perspective. Funding for public schools comes from local, state, and federal taxes. Historically, the federal revenue share has stayed below 10 percent of...
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Since the end of the Cold War, Latin America has hardly featured in U.S. presidential campaigns. The waning 2012 campaign has not been an exception. That said, Gov. Mitt Romney made a few references to Latin America in the debates but Obama let them pass without the slightest hint of curiosity. In the foreign...
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This “no surprise here” story in the San Francisco Chronicle shows that Silicon Valley, broadly defined as four Bay Area counties, has now surpassed New York City as the top source for Obama campaign contributions, providing a staggering $14,703,167 to his current reelection campaign, as against New York City’s “mere” $14,529,760. If we, as...
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This blog entry picks up where Part I left off. For more details, please see my book, Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis. Can Government Can Use Its Power as a Single Buyer to Suppress Providers’ Fees? There are five problems with this. First, we don’t buy healthcare in a national market. We buy locally....
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