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Government and freedom of speech

Here is a pop quiz: If the states ratified an amendment to the Constitution repealing the First Amendment, would we still enjoy the freedom of speech? That depends on which value prevails: Are our rights only what lawmakers have written down, or are they personal attributes immune from government reach? When James Madison was crafting the First Amendment, he insisted that the word “the” precede “freedom of speech” in order to manifest the Framers’ belief that the freedom of speech pre-existed the government. The First Amendment is a negative right. It doesn’t grant the ...

Should we blame the budget players or game?

It's common knowledge among budget experts that the budget process is "broken." Anyone who regularly reads this column knows about debt limits, government shutdowns, out-of-control spending and borrowing ... the list goes on. Well, part of the problem is that almost 50 years since the last budget process reform, it needs a serious update. However, when we do that, let's not miss the elephant in the room: Things would work much better if Congress agreed to follow its own rules. This has serious implications for those of us pressing for budget process reform. Indeed, the success of any ...

I hear the train a comin’

I recently had the opportunity to visit a national treasure, and only traveled 35 miles to do so. The East Broad Top Railroad, located in Rockhill Furnace near Orbisonia, is in our backyard. I never thought of myself as a train buff, but I was absolutely enthralled by this well-preserved piece of history. It was as if time stood still, and this railroad complete with railcars, station, and machine shops had been frozen in time. It is quite an experience for all the senses as the old steam engine approaches the station. The black smoke rolls, the whistle blows, and the engine hisses, as ...

Minimal rules make us free to try stuff

Politicians have big plans for us. President Joe Biden repeatedly says, “I have a plan for that.” “I alone can fix it,” shouted President Donald Trump. But most of life, and the best of life, happens when politicians butt out and let us make our own choices. Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou called that “spontaneous order.” Thousands of years later, economist F. A. Hayek added that order comes “not from design, but spontaneously.” Did you eat a banana this morning? No central planner calculates how many bananas should be grown, who will pick them, when they’ll ...

July happens to be the cruelest month for candidates

Perhaps T.S. Elliot was wrong. July, not April, is the cruelest month, at least for GOP presidential contenders trying to supplant Donald Trump. Before July, the campaigns have excuses for why the momentum hasn't kicked in yet. They can say they're just in exploratory-committee mode, or they're just getting the campaign stood up. Hey, we haven't had a chance to meet the voters yet at an Iowa Pizza Ranch or chat with the gang at Manchester's Red Arrow Diner. The ides of July is when the excuses evaporate in the summer heat as campaigns have to reveal their second quarter fundraising ...

Inner cities, and character attacks

This weekend, Tucker Carlson interviewed a bevy of Republican presidential candidates in Iowa. Despite the fact that polls show that nearly zero Americans consider the war in Ukraine to be a top voting priority, Carlson spent a disproportionate share of his time grilling the candidates over their position on Ukraine. He took the position that favoring additional aid to Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia amounted to taking money out of the hands of poverty-stricken Americans in inner cities; as he asked Mike Pence, “Every city in the United States has become much worse over the ...