Across the U.S., conservative-dominated school boards have sought to manipulate public education curricula by overruling relevant experts in subjects such as history, economics, and science, establishing requirements to teach subjects through a conservative lens, and via outright censorship. In 2010, the Texas Board of Education approved a social studies curriculum that questioned the Founding Fathers’… Continue reading Propagandizing Public Education
Category: Capitalism
What Do Stalin, Mao and Obama Have in Common? Nothing.
Over the past several years, as President Barack Obama has occupied the White House, his detractors have ceaselessly labeled his policies as communist or socialist. Pundits like Glenn Beck often carefully choreographed imagery of the Soviet Union’s hammer and sickle flag, or the Nazi’s swastika when referring to Mr. Obama and his policies. The notion… Continue reading What Do Stalin, Mao and Obama Have in Common? Nothing.
The Food Stamp Surfer
As any viewer of Fox News will tell you, America has become an entitlement nation. This claim is reinforced by example after example of individuals gaming the system or dissected across Fox’s political theater. The right’s fixation on the poor has become so blatant Fox has even come up with a pseudo-correspondent that fuels the… Continue reading The Food Stamp Surfer
The Tyranny of Gross Wealth Inequality
In a 2012 General Conference address, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, expressed concern about “the ever-growing gap between the rich and poor.” Elder Ballard’s concern about gross wealth inequality has been shared by many of his predecessors. Elder Orson Pratt… Continue reading The Tyranny of Gross Wealth Inequality
Stop Subsidizing Walmart: Raise the Minimum Wage
A recent study of Wisconsin’s Medicaid program revealed that Walmart ranked first on state’s list of Medicaid enrollment by employer. In other words, Walmart employees in Wisconsin comprise a plurality of the state’s Medicaid recipients. Altogether, a single Walmart Super Center costs Wisconsin taxpayers about $900,000 per year in poverty subsidies for its employees, such… Continue reading Stop Subsidizing Walmart: Raise the Minimum Wage
No More Oil Subsidies!
I smile every time a pundit tries to link escalating gas prices to our president. Not because I am satisfied with the erroneous connection, but out of amused exasperation at the hypocrisy that continually plagues polarizing talking heads. Gas pricing is a function of market dynamics, meaning that it is driven by supply, demand, and speculation. Any action… Continue reading No More Oil Subsidies!
Republicans are Closet Socialists
Over the last several debates, GOP contenders use the word socialist to describe their warped view of what the Democratic Party stands for. They have leveled such attacks on “socialist” president Barack Obama, and have regularly used “socialist” in a derogatory tone against anything Democratic. Redistribution of wealth is also married to the socialist label,… Continue reading Republicans are Closet Socialists
Did President Obama Double Our National Debt?
Who is the bigger fool….President Obama for doubling our national debt?…or the individual who believes such a canard? Like all political claims, the devil is in the details. More has been added to our national debt under President Obama than all the other presidents combined. Partially true. However, of the $5.1 trillion added to the… Continue reading Did President Obama Double Our National Debt?
Thank Romney for Underscoring Need for “Buffet Rule”
After losing the South Carolina Primary to Newt Gingrich, possibly in part due to his waffling at the pre-Primary debates about releasing his tax returns, Mitt Romney released his tax returns for the past two years, which show that he paid about 14% in federal taxes on income of nearly $43 million. The timing of… Continue reading Thank Romney for Underscoring Need for “Buffet Rule”
Atlas Shrugged Response
(Response challenging my views being opposite the lessons of Atlas Shrugged) I don’t see it that way. I am a pretty pure capitalist. I support Milton Friedman’s ideas about school vouchers to maximize privatized education. I never supported Obama’s plan to control CEO pay. In my MBA classes I was one of the few students… Continue reading Atlas Shrugged Response
Education – Capitalist Style
Written in response to a challenge for privatized education and protection: Public schools would be replaced by private institutions driven by profit. In order to meet the demands of capitalism, the only admitted students would be those who can pay. Obviously the quality of education would be directly tied to the amount one could pay,… Continue reading Education – Capitalist Style
Wake Up Middle Class!
With Obama’s plan to let the Bush Tax cuts expire in 2010, there has been an onslaught of media attention concerning his budgetary decisions. Phrases like “socialism”, “re-distribution of wealth”, and “tax hikes” are being associated with President Obama’s fiscal policies to discredit his approach. Obama has been open and direct concerning who his tax… Continue reading Wake Up Middle Class!
What’s up (or down) with the gas prices?
Could our two oil executives who are running America actually have some impact on gas prices? Recent polls seem to suggest this idea, with the majority of American believing that the recent uncharacteristic dip in gas prices is the basis for some conspiracy theory. And why not? Gas is down a dollar a gallon in… Continue reading What’s up (or down) with the gas prices?
Economics Paper from 2004
Perhaps one of my passions (and an intragal part of politics and policy making) is economics. This paper was written three months before the 2004 election. (First two paragraphs of the article) Perhaps one of the most partisan debates today is the economics of monetary and fiscal policy. Many administrations in the past have implemented… Continue reading Economics Paper from 2004