October 2011
7 posts
7 tags
6 tags
Obama '12 Like Bush '04? →
At least, that’s the argument made by Richard Stevenson of the New York Times. There are certainly similarities between the re-election campaign of President Bush in 2004 and President Obama in 2012. One sticking point in the analogy is the economy. How much will a bad economy hurt the President in his re-election campaign.
In 2004, Iraq was not nearly as important an issue as the economy...
10 tags
Book Review: Machiavelli
I’ve mentioned before that Niccolo Machiavelli’s works have been tremendously influential in my life, including setting me on the path I currently am, and therefore, I am grateful that Miles Unger has written this new biography of Machiavelli which reveals much about his life, as well as addressing the many mischaracterizations of the man and his work.
Unger shows us, through...
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Lyndon Johnson's Path to Power
No one expected much of this boy from the Hill Country, because of his family’s troubles and his personal foibles, but he rose high and fast. Always ambitious, Lyndon Johnson worked his way up the ladder of power by hook or by crook and devoted all of his energies to fulfill these ambitions. In this first volume, Robert Caro tells us the story of how Lyndon Johnson came from the...
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Populism: Occupy Wall Street vs Tea Party →
In which Media Matters demonstrates they don’t understand that different ideologies have their own version of populism, i.e., the common man vs the elite. Populism is not solely defined as a struggle against corporations and millionaires (unless of course, you’re referring to the Populist movement and the People’s Party & their descendants). Populism, according the definition...
4 tags
Voter ID Laws Disenfranchise 5 Million Voters? →
wontoo3fore:
According to a study done by the Brennan Center For Justice, as many as 5 million voters will be disenfranchised by Voter ID laws passed in Republican states.
I’ve discussed this before (last paragraph), but the guys over at The Monkey Cage have a post about this new study, as well as the previous studies (here). Summary: there have been several studies done on the effect of...
5 tags
Taxing College Athletics? →
In Chicago Life Magazine, Allen R. Sanderson proposes taxing college sports (specifically football and basketball) in the same manner we tax cigarettes and alcohol. The suggestion seems kinda flippant, as he is more supportive of actually paying players, but Mr Sanderson does suggest steep taxes on advertising, merchandising, tickets and broadcasting. Mr Sanderson’s proposal is that this...
