I’m back from my trip to Peru! So all you who have gotten complacent about not respecting the libertarian viewpoint, look out! I’ll post on my observations from South America later when I have more time. For now, a short post in which I ask the leftfielders for advice on how I should vote.
Here’s the three options I’m considering, and why I might vote for each: Continue reading »
Since the GOP nominee is basically decided, I thought it would be an interesting thought experiment to go through the best way that a Democrat can beat McCain in November. I might very well write another one of these next week, or whenever it is that the Democratic nomination is basically settled, although it should come as no shock to anyone that right now I’m rooting against the Republican in a general election.
Continue reading »
Two more down, six remaining. (And remember: there can be only one.) John and Rudy are both expected to drop out today. Rudy is leaving after a disappointing campaign in which he fell in the polls every time he visited a state to campaign there. John is leaving after finishing a respectable third place in the early primaries, and clearing the way for a straight “head-to-head” match up on Super Tuesday. Of candidates who have won delegates, that leaves just Obama and Clinton on the Democratic side, and McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Ron Paul on the GOP side.
At last night’s State of the Union, the biggest news was about earmark reform. The President took on earmark reform with two proposals. First, he told Congress that “if you send me an appropriations bill that does not cut the number and cost of earmarks in half, I’ll send it back to you with my veto.” Second, he announced a new Executive Order, which he signed today, that instructs federal agencies to only consider those earmarks as binding that were actually passed by both Houses of Congress as part of the text of the legislation. At first glance these two things sound like a lot, and in fact most of the criticism I’ve seen has been of the form of “it took you seven years to do this?” Look a little deeper at both of these “reforms”, however, and you’ll find a lot of showmanship and virtually no substance.
In light of the economic stimulus package, I thought it might be useful to have a brief economics refresher course. In particular, there are three basic schools of thought with regards to fiscal policy: Neo-Classical, Keynesian, and Supply Side. And like any good compromise, there is enough in the latest economic stimulus package to upset everybody.
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