By any objective definition, the budget ‘deal’ that ended the government shutdown was no deal at all. A deal implies concessions by both sides. The basic battle was over Obamacare funding. Obama said the law will be funded 100 percent, … Continue reading
Category: Politics & Government
Social Security & Medicare: America’s Downfall?
Dear Dr Hurd: You have written about Social Security a number of times so I am viewing you as a reliable sounding board on the topic. I have spent some time digging around and using SSA stats and a few … Continue reading
Half of Americans Now Want a Third Party
Fifty-two percent of Republicans say that America needs a third party, according to a newly released Gallup poll. Forty-nine percent of Democrats say the same thing. Actually, that’s not quite right. America does not need a third party; it needs … Continue reading
Americans Reject Both Parties: So What Now?
Barack Obama’s approval rating is down to 37 percent, according to a new AP poll. That puts him at the popularity level of miserably failed Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. But a new Gallup poll puts Republicans at … Continue reading
What the Heck is a Debt Ceiling?
We keep hearing about the debt ceiling. Fiscal conservatives in the House of Representatives don’t want to raise it, we’re told—basically because they’re heartless and mean. Raising the debt ceiling, to read or watch the news, is the responsible and … Continue reading
Watching D.C. is Like Watching a Bad Marriage
This whole government “shutdown” fiasco reminds me of a married couple fighting over money. One spouse insists, “You won’t let me buy what I want. You’re mean!” The other replies, “We’re spending more than we bring in. Look at the … Continue reading
Harry Reid’s Conspiracy Theory
On the floor of the U.S. Senate last Friday [9/27/13], Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) said that ‘a very wealthy group of people’ are backing the Tea Party in what Reid described as an ‘effort to destroy our government.’ … Continue reading
The Post-American Economy
During the four years that marked President Barack Obama’s first term in office, the real median income of American households dropped by $2,627 and the number of people in poverty increased by approximately 6,667,000, according to data released Tuesday by … Continue reading
War For the Hell of It
Rep. Kerry Bentivolio of Michigan, a Vietnam War veteran who also served in the last Iraq conflict, gave his reasons for opposing Obama’s proposed military attack on Syria. “What has been happening in Syria is truly a human tragedy. The … Continue reading
Environmentalism Makes the Middle East Matter
The impending war in Syria seems like a good time to revisit environmentalism. Although Obama may be foolish enough to believe America has an obligation to invade Syria in the absence of any threat to American interests, the continuing high … Continue reading
A Narcissist Goes to War
A narcissist is someone who (a) thinks he’s smarter or more skilled than he is; and/or (b) thinks he has power or knowledge that nobody else can have. At the root of narcissism is a false belief that something other … Continue reading
Obama’s Era of Complacency and Stagnation
Bloomberg News reports: President Obama, speaking from the same Washington stage where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a defining speech of the civil rights movement, said that even as the nation has been transformed, work remains in countering growing economic … Continue reading