I’ve been watching the responses to Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Jesus. Note that I said I was following the responses. I haven’t read the book and don’t intend to. I can’t stand listening to its author and I don’t feel any obligation to subject myself to reading his words. My attitude parallels Allan Bevere’s. I…
I found this video enlightening. I like to note that I read von Mises before I met (encountered her writings) Rand. Rand is a cultural phenomenon, but von Mises is a deep thinker. In any case, this is an interesting interview. The more libertarians pay attention to this, the better, in my view. I’m a…
From CBS News: Eighty percent of speech watchers approve of President Obamas plans for dealing with the economic crisis. Before the speech, 63 percent approved. Fifty-one percent of speech watchers think the president’s economic plans will help them personally. Thirty-six thought so before the speech. I have mixed emotions about President Obama’s economic policies, and…
I’ve been following Dr. Reich’s blog ever since I discovered it during the primary season. He was Labor Secretary during the Clinton administration, and I recall not always agreeing with him at the time, though I don’t recall the details. In any case, from the time when TARP was passed through the auto industry bailout,…
The current financial crisis has been cast as a failure of the left by the right, and failure of the right by the left. Did laissez faire capitalism fail or was it excessive taxation or regulation? Perhaps it was a combination. I use “left” and “right” here strictly in the context of capitalism, with “right”…
As an exercise in brevity, some things that occurred to me while watching political TV and reading the blogs: An economic expert is one who provides the arguments that allow me to get what I want. An incompetent economist is one that says I can’t have it. The entire argument is based on need. The…
In an MSNBC story today Senator Jeff Sessions, from our neighboring state of Alabama is quoted: Fellow Alabama Republican Senator Jeff Sessions also opposes helping the auto industry. “Once we cross the divide from financial institutions to individual corporations, truly, where would you draw the line?” Just a second here. Line? What line? Look in…
The more I read Robert Rech’s comments on the current economic crisis, the better I like what I read. He’s been calling for stimulus that involves rebuilding the infrastructure. He’s calling for the same, but also suggesting that the lame duck congress will not be the ones to create a well-crafted stimulus package. He says:…
The senate has passed the bailout bill, and the house is expected it soon. I greet this event with seriously mixed emotions. I do believe that responsible legislators, should there be any, needed to support quick action, and because the action was quick, and because it was in response to a crisis, it is likely…
Up, folks, always up. Those who know me as a moderate (which I prefer) or as a liberal (which I am often called) may be surprised to know that I started my political activism by working in the campaign of Ronald Reagan in 1976 when he ran against Gerald Ford. It was the first presidential…
