Constitutional crises threaten when a single authority can direct all three branches of U.S. government. At present, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell can prevent or promote an appointment to the Supreme Court, stop any legislation, and enforce a party loyalty system that blindly follows the President. Continue reading
Blog Posts and Writings Tagged: polarization
Blog 144. Taxation by Inflation?
Ever think of inflation as a tax on the lower classes, a tax programmed to benefit the wealthy? Continue reading
Blog 140. Liberal ideology versus political reality
Today, the adjectives “conservative” and “liberal” imply an identity group. However, at one time, the term “conservative” implied following authority, applying principles presumed to be tried-and-true. The term “liberal” implied questioning and testing. Continue reading
Blog 139. American Angst Part 7 of 7: Synopsis
The main function of government is to protect the commons—those things that maintain and benefit society as a whole. That’s law and order. Continue reading
Blog 135. American Angst Part 3 of 7: Engineered Inequality
America has greater inequality than any other advanced country.[1]
Among the advanced countries of the world, America has the greatest wealth, but also the greatest inequality in wealth. The U.S. ranks 27th out of 27 high-income countries in median wealth per adult. The top 1% took home 22% of all income in 2015. Continue reading
Blog 122. What’s driving us crazy?
I hear folks complain that the overload of information and change is driving us crazy. A phone call used to be a rare interruption. Now, even robo calls “reach out and touch someone.” Continue reading
Blog 62. Conspiracy theories—making politics crazy.
As reported in Scientific American (Dec. 2014) two political scientists* at the University of Miami find that about one-third of Americans believe Obama is a foreigner, and about as many believe that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an “inside job” by the Bush administration. Continue reading