Chisago County: Entitlement Program Case Study

I grew up “In the Land of Sky Blue Waters.”  I know those people, my people.  I know how they feel about government, how they feel about compassion and how they feel about responsibility.

I know what it’s like to have a neighbor lose a barn to fire.  I know what it’s like to have the community come together to rebuild that barn, to donate seed and feed, horses and cattle.  I know what it’s like to have a barn raising.

I know what those people in the New York Times article are getting at, hinting at and struggling with.

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Government Mandates

For those of us who support the government intervening in the insurance market only to make things more expensive to make things better for everyone, I have a question:

If you support the government forcing Americans to buy insurance AND you support the government forcing insurance companies to offer free birth control, why don’t you support the government requiring people to purchase fresh fruit AND support the government forcing insurance companies to offer free broccoli?

Barack Obama: Dreams From My Father – Chapter Two

I’m reading Barack Obama’s first book:  Dreams From My Father.  My goal is to try to understand the man from his own perspective, his own words.  There are a lot of people who have a lot of opinions of the man.  I think that I owe it to him and myself to see what he has to say about himself.

Chapter Two:

The very first thing I noticed about chapter two is that the artistry of chapter one is missing.  This isn’t to say that the chapter s hard sledding, it’s just to say that the vivid images that the book initially evoked are missing.  It’s as if Chapter One took months and months of work while the rest of the book was the result of the normal writing process.  Or, maybe someone else wrote that first chapter.

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Cary, NC: Libertarian Mecca

A Chicken Hen

Who knew that Cary, NC of all places would be the rebirth of Libertarianism in North Carolina?  Heck, perhaps in America the rate we’re going these days.

It used to be that you could grow your own food.  Most likely, you HAD to grow your own food.  Then, like minded people got together and said that you could no longer grow your own food.

And now, they are changing their mind.

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Mimi Alford: “Once Upon A Secret”

Long before the 2003 revelation that John F. Kennedy had been shtooping his hot little intern the whole world knew that King Arthur was shtooping just about anyone he wanted.  So, I guess the fact that we are now seeing a book penned by said intern isn’t that big of news.

On the other hand, the tell all tale certainly does offer an interesting insight into the White House during the days of Johnny K.  For example, it took the President all of 4 days to bed his mistress.  Not bad considering.  Then the wonderful news that he told her to make herself available to other men.

Ahh, great stuff.

But more interesting to me than the story, after all, it’s hardly news, right?  Is the review that the NY Times ran Wednesday:

“Once Upon a Secret” can be better appreciated for what it really is: the strangest memoir about secrets and lies since “The Politician,” by Andrew Young, exposed the delusional arrogance behind John Edwards’s presidential campaign. Like Mr. Young, Ms. Alford seems to have little idea how badly her stories reflect on herself.

In one fell swoop the Times takes the time[s] to go after two authors of a book that would dare tell all of the sordid affairs of powerful Democrat men.  I can’t say that I’ll read the book, after all – why -, but man o man is the review is brutal.

Michigan Tax Policy: Reducing Rates Expanding The Base

It doesn’t matter who’s doin’ the takin’.  If your property is being confiscated even as you grow it, you are going to either quit working so hard to make more property, hide that property better or move to a place where that property won’t be confiscated.

The fact that the government is taking that property doesn’t matter; at some point people just reach a limit and slow down.

So what happens when the confiscation stops?  Growth occurs.  Witness Michigan.

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Youth, Labor, Recessions and Minimum Wages

One of the most frustrating aspects of being conservative is that it’s too easy for the other side to fall back on a “you hate X” where X is any group that you are really, in fact, trying to assist.

An easy example to consider is a school child and her homework.

When I was a teacher I could very easily “give” the student an A on her blank homework.  However, I felt that it would do her more good in the short term, the long term and in other character building aspects if she actually worked for and earned that grade.

In today’s liberal dialogue, I would be said to “hate kids”.  Or, if the individual liberal were truly on his game he could claim that I “hate girls”.

Silly example?  Perhaps.  But consider modern day minimum wage laws.

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Federal Workers: Overpaid Compared to Private Employees

It used to be that taking a government job meant that you sacrificed some on the salary side but gained some on the “job for life” side.  Safe career but lower pay.

We’re not seeing that any longer.

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Obama Job Creation: How It Ends

For those of you not gifted with my humor; this is funny.

 

Halftime In America: Another Take

Chrysler built an amazing ad shown during the Superbowl.  First, the ad is well done and carries a powerful message.  The imagery, the script and the actor; all perfect.  Second, the ad is a marketer’s dream come true.  I’m sure the ad itself has been shown and viewed more than a couple of multiples of the views it had during the Superbowl itself.

Brilliant.

But is it accurate?

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