We the People
-
A Government by the People
Silly me. I always thought that our government was by the people and for the people. A couple years ago, I wrote to representative Sue Myrick on some issue, and in response received a canned letter saying that she would always vote this way. I don't recall the…
-
Talk About Opressive Taxation
Does it seem odd to anyone that the Internal Revenue Service has a budget of something more than $10 billion? What's worse is that this budget apparently isn't enough to keep the whole thing running, as the organization now plans to reduce the help that they offer to…
-
Time for a Sanity Check
"Let's be clear: Children under the age of 21 cannot procure alcohol; children under the age of 18 cannot vote; children under the age of 15 cannot drive; but a child aged 14 can enter into a legally binding union with another child in North Carolina — if…
-
Checks and Balances
Our country was formed on a series of checks and balances. For good reason, it was decided that each branch of the government would operate independently of the others. In this way, it was assumed, no single branch – or single person – could wield too much power….
-
Social Security Reform
With all the recent talk about reforming Social Security, it is only natural that the plans of three Texas counties will come into the spotlight. I've talked about them before. Over a year ago. Guess that makes me a progressive thinker or something. Regardless, this article has some…
-
Addressing Social Security
I read another article on the Social Security debacle yesterday. This one talks about protecting the income of people over a certain threshold. That's nice, but let's face it – many of us will never meet the threshold anyway. So what do we care? What I don't get…
-
Social Security and You
Social Security may or may not be worth saving. Much as with Girl Scout Cookies, the issue is probably one of framing. To be quite clear: The Social Security program isn't an investment. I think that's the most difficult concept for me to get through my head. I'm…
-
Government Machinations
Let me get this straight. We finally get Iraq to the point where they hold elections. Now, some people (admittedly, a journalist, but it wouldn't surprise me if politicians felt the same) think that the person they are likely to elect is a bad choice? That's it. Give…
-
Why Is It So Hard?
The Problem: Some people want to see a female president, implying that we just ought to put one there, without, say, a vote on the subject. As if it's time for quotas in government. Can't we get over that hump already? My Proposal: You want a woman in…
-
Social Security Silliness
We have been married for very nearly two years, and in that time we had never bothered to update my wife's name on her Social Security card. I'm sure this is probably something that we could be fined for doing, but we just never got around to it….