Letter to the editor, 09.28.09

I wrote the following letter, which appeared in the University of Tennessee student newspaper, The Daily Beacon, on September 28th:
By morally defending universal health care in his Sept. 21 column, Amien Essif displays a level of bravery not shared by many members of Congress, who would rather call their constituents racists than rationally defend their [...]

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s false mandate

In my many college political science courses, I have yet to meet a professor who did not subscribe to the belief that Franklin D. Roosevelt was given a mandate by the people to institute his New Deal reforms.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Like many elected since, President Roosevelt attained office through deception. [...]

Statist dem(on)s scorn sensible reform

Need to solve the health care problem? Easy: allow healthcare providers to deduct from their taxes the costs of treating those who cannot pay.  It’s beautiful: doctors and patients make all the decisions (not insurance companies or the government).  
This proposal helps everyone, but Congress ignores it–won’t consider it, would never allow it–because most politicians [...]

Cash for clunkers: economic retardation

Only government would be so backward as to take functioning used automobiles–objects of great value to many people who cannot afford to buy new ones–and require that they be destroyed.  This decreases the supply of used cars, causing the price of used cars to rise generally, and therefore making it harder for lower income Americans [...]

Jefferson v. Hamilton, federal powers, and the Marshall Court

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were the most prominent representatives of two contrary interpretations of the U.S. Constitution. Two landmark Supreme Court cases, Marbury v. Madison (1803) and McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), show the relative influences of these two interpretations on American political thought.
Jefferson was a strict constructionist. He desired a limited government, [...]

Who are the true patriots?

“Complacency and fear drive our legislation without any serious objection by our elected leaders.  Sadly though, those few who do object to the self-evident trend away from personal liberty and empire building overseas are portrayed as unpatriotic and uncaring.
Though welfare and socialism always fail, opponents of them are said to lack compassion.  Though opposition to [...]

No liquidity problems for Lawson campaign

While every other entity in America is crying about its inability to access cash, BJ Lawson’s Congressional campaign just received a huge injection of liquidity.  Lawson, who is running for a U.S. House seat in North Carolina’s 4th district, raised over $150,000 from thousands of donors on Tuesday alone.
Many citizens across the nation feel betrayed [...]

Open bailout opposition letter to Congress

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.” – Thomas Jefferson
There is a lot of hype in Washington this week, a lot of short-term thinking, but very little honest reflection and philosophically sound governance based on the long term prospects of the American economy.  Jefferson was right: our financial markets [...]

Want some bad debt? Bailing on America.

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” – Presidential Oath of Office in its entirety
“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face!  It’s just a goddamn piece of [...]

Why the surge is a failure

“Never was so much false arithmetic employed on any subject, as that which has been employed to persuade nations that it is their interest to go to war.  Were the money which it has cost to gain, at the close of a long war, a little town, or a little territory, the right to cut [...]