No objective observer can think that Obamacare is working the way we were promised it would. It is time for bipartisan reform. John Goodman proposes reforms that would turn the (Obamacare) exchanges into functional markets.
Goodman Institute
Why Did the Europeans Win?
My last post, “Land Grants or Land Grabs,” revealed that most federal land that started land-grant universities had been taken from Indians. I received some constructive pushback. But that feedback reminded me of a question, Why did the Europeans invade the New World in the first place and conquer Native Americans, rather than Native Americans invading Europe and conquering Europeans?
Land Grants or Land Grabs?
You may have seen a statement similar to this one on a university website: “NC State University . . . respectfully acknowledges that the lands within and surrounding present-day Raleigh are the traditional homelands and gathering places of many Indigenous peoples, including eight federally and state-recognized tribes. . . .” Such statements are not purely the result of gracious sentiments. NC State’s acknowledgment and many others were added after a troubling study appeared. It was “Land-Grab Universities,” published in 2020 by High Country News, an environmentally oriented nonprofit newspaper in the West.
Small Gems in State History Lore
If you grew up in the United States, you probably took a course in middle school or junior high about your state’s history. I don’t remember a thing about my class except a frantic late-night scramble to finish my “Missouri Scrapbook,” full of notes, photographs, postcards, mementos, etc. My guess is that you didn’t learn a lot from state history classes, either. Am I wrong?
Wood Wars on the Susquehanna
This is a guest column by Jay Schalin, senior fellow at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Born in Pennsylvania, he responded to my request for “state stories.” The uplands of northern Pennsylvania were a wild and wooly place in the early years of our...
History: Has It Ever Been Predictable?
The American public recently watched a surprising event: After months of saying that he would stay in the presidential race, Joe Biden dropped out. What interested me most was the predictions that preceded it.
Why We Hate Each Other
When we were polarized in the past, there were arguments and (sometimes not so civil) debates over a major public policy issue. What are the major public policy issues that are dividing us today? I suggest that there aren’t any. What is driving a wedge between us today is tribalism – not government policy. More.
Riots over the Bible? Yes. In Philadelphia.
When we think of conflicts between Catholics and Protestants, we think of the wars following the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the 1500s and 1600s. The United States, we assume, has followed a policy of free expression of religion, as promised in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Sad to say, that is not true. I would like to share with you (briefly) the story of the “Philadelphia Riots of 1844.”
Inflation is a Hidden Tax
A new study lays out the toll of lifelong high inflation on consumers. It estimates that permanent 5% inflation would lower household lifetime spending by 3.62%. Permanent 10% inflation would lower lifetime household spending by 6.82%. Even if inflation ran permanently at the Fed’s 2% target, consumers would still feel a pinch, with a 1.5% reduction in lifetime household spending. More.
David Boaz, RIP
David was the executive vice president of the Cato Institute for most of its history. He was the operating officer of the nation’s premier libertarian think tank.
“You learn the essence of libertarianism in kindergarten,” he wrote. “Don’t hit other people, don’t take their stuff, and keep your promises.”