Category: Political

“The problem with debates is that most of the time voters don’t know what a good answer is. “ – Alex Tabarrok

Politifact.com is a fun website that allows you to fact check the statements of politicians you hate, so you can riducle your buddies for supporting them.  I guess you could even read up on the truthfullness of your own favorite politicians – if your into that sort of thing.

Aasif Mandvi of the Daily Show reveals the Republican Party’s election strategy:

From the fake news site scrappleface.

The Democrat National Convention speaker line up will feature a number of “real people” talking about the pain of living in these tough economic times, including an Indiana railroader, a Michigan truck driver, and an ordinary working mother from New York who’s saddled with $24 million in campaign debt.

The woman, who spent that money in an effort to get a better job, saw her hopes and dreams crushed because of sex discrimination in the Democrat party during the Bush administration.

Her husband has no regular paycheck and must often travel hundreds of miles to find work, so the high price of fuel has cut deeply into their monthly budget.

While she has tried to “pull herself up by her own bootstraps” by asking supporters of presidential nominee Barack Obama to pay off her debt, near-recession conditions have kept them from being able to help.

A statement by Providence, Rhode Island, Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin:

“We often ask, ‘What would Jesus do?'” Tobin said in an interview Thursday. “I know for sure what Jesus would not do, would be to sweep into a community, gather up large numbers of people, separate them from one another and deport them to another country. In my own mind, in my own conscience, that’s crystal clear: Jesus would not do that.”

I couldn’t agree more with his statement. I am a strong advocate of immigration reform. America should open its borders to more immigrants, especially if they are highly skilled; it should also minimize efforts pursuing the deportation “illegal” immigrants who are otherwise productive, law-abiding members of society.

“Don’t Steal. The Government Hates Competition.” written on a placard on fellow Libertarian Ron Paul’s desk.

John McCain is currently airing an ad supporting the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. He is correct that free trade enriches Americans and that it will help create more jobs both in America and abroad. He also points out that more and better jobs abroad also helps deter both legal and illegal immigration. The question is why is he making such an unpopular stand right now? Perhaps this is just the most recent destination on the straight talk express.

It should be noted that I am an advocate supporter of free trade (yes even with “communist” China.) I also am a strong advocate of public and private programs to help workers who lose their jobs (by outsourcing or other means) reenter the workplace.

In the peak of the summer blockbuster season, I caught Resolved by channel flipping this afternoon. It focuses two high school debate teams from distinctly different social and economical backgrounds : California’s Long Beach High School and Texas’s Highland Park High School. One of the most interesting things I learned is that these debates are nearly impossible for the average person to comprehend because of a widely used tactic known as “spreading” or speed-reading. Because the debates are subject to a time-limit – participants speed read their arguments at a mind boggling pace. This tactic and format is subject to criticism because the incomprehensible arguments are not at all like the tactics used in actual forums such as congress, court, or even on your favorite news program.

As a sophomore in college, I took a microeconomics class taught by Dr Joseph Horton. The first day’s lecture consisted of the usual happenings such as going over the syllabus and both instructor and student introductions. While introducing myself, I mentioned my aspiration for politics and a possible political career. Dr Horton replied that politics was an honorable career, but that sound economics often disagrees with sound politics. As the semester continued, I began to understand why politics and economics sometimes mesh like water and oil.

Here is a list of unpopular ideas that most economists agree on via an archived blog by one of my favorite economist Dr Greg Mankiw. It should be noted that I strongly support every item on this list and I plan on explaining my stance in future posts.

• 87.5 percent agree that “the U.S. should eliminate remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade.”
• 85.2 percent agree that “the U.S. should eliminate agricultural subsidies.”
• 85.3 percent agree that “the gap between Social Security funds and expenditures will become unsustainably large within the next fifty years if current policies remain unchanged.”
• 77.2 percent agree that “the best way to deal with Social Security’s long-term funding gap is to increase the normal retirement age.”
• 67.1 percent agree that “parents should be given educational vouchers which can be used at government-run or privately-run schools.”
• 65.0 percent agree that “the U.S. should increase energy taxes.”
• 90.1 percent disagree with the position that “the U.S. should restrict employers from outsourcing work to foreign countries
• 46.8 percent want the federal minimum wage eliminated.