News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Ian Underwood 
Wait, isn’t that backwards? Didn’t Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously say that ‘Taxes are the price we pay for civilization’? He did, but he had it backwards. Taxes are, as Tommy Shelby said of politics in general, a way of deliberately making things better for some people by deliberately making them worse for others. … Read more
Judy Aron’s regular posts about what is going on in the House are informative, insightful, well-written, and worth reading. Near the beginning of a recent post, she started out with this comment: We knew the 23 bills we had before us were going to yield some very good wins. I don’t think that’s an unusual … Read more
Now that Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii is holding up all of Trump’s nominations , it seems appropriate to re-post a recommendation I made a while back: Okay, if this is the way things are going to go, here’s what I think Trump should do. He should tell the Senate: “You just pick whoever you … Read more
Although many people resist acknowledging this, we use a kind of Marxism to fund our schools: The Accidental Marxist The Accidental Marxist, Part 2 That is, by taxing each property owner in a school district a flat rate on the assessed value of his property, we take more from people who have more. So that’s … Read more
One of the many problems with universal EFAs is that they take money from people who don’t have it, to give to people who don’t need it. Let’s ask a straightforward question: Under what conditions should we give tax money to, or spend tax money on, people who can afford to get along without it? … Read more
One of the many problems with EFAs is that they simply continue the Pay-and-Pray paradigm that is at the root of our failing school system. Let’s ask a straightforward question: Under what conditions should we spend tax money on something for which we have no specific, agreed-upon goals (and therefore no way to judge whether … Read more
Let’s ask a straightforward question: Why should we spend tax money on education? The New Hampshire Constitution gives one possible answer: Education is essential to the preservation of a free government. The New Hampshire Supreme Court gave an expanded version of this answer: Every educable child should have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge … Read more
All these last-minute pardons may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. You don’t have to accept a pardon. It’s offered to you. Some people have rejected the offer of a pardon, because a pardon carries with it an admission of guilt. So the first thing that needs to happen is to get the … Read more
Suppose we ask a very basic question: Under what conditions should we give tax money to, or spend tax money on, people who can afford to get along without it? We don’t give LIHEAP subsidies to people who can already afford to heat their homes. We don’t give Section 8 subsidies to people … Read more
On his way out the door, President* Biden keeps issuing executive orders. One of the most controversial is the recent order that ‘permanently’ prohibits exploring or drilling for oil along most of the US coastline. This is being reported as something that will be difficult or impossible for Trump to reverse, because doing so would … Read more
[This was written in response to an editorial at the New Hampshire Bulletin, about Education Freedom Accounts. I sent it to the Bulletin, but the editor, who is also the author of the piece, said that it was ‘just not the kind of opinion pieces we run’. So I’m publishing it at Grok instead.] Confucius … Read more
Armed rebels in Syria have driven their former dictator out of the country. Armed rebels. The people of Syria, not the Syrian army. So, in case anyone is still confused: Ruth Ward et Rick Ladd removenda est.
In the comments of a recent post on attempts to ban guns at polling places, a reader asked what seems like a pretty simple question: How can one ban something that is constitutional? Here’s the short answer to that: You ban it, let people bitch while they get used to it, and then move on … Read more
Canada has declared another 300 models of guns (mostly the scary kind) to be illegal (bringing the total number to more than 2000). The government will ‘buy them back’ (most likely at a small fraction of their actual values). Then that same government will donate the guns to Ukraine. What will they be used for … Read more
Currently, there is a delay of about 11 weeks between the time a Presidential election is concluded, and the time a new President is inaugurated. If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that this interval is at least nine weeks too long. Eleven weeks, apparently, is enough time for a lame duck President (or … Read more
So, Pam Bondi is Trump’s new nominee for Attorney General of the United States. Advocates for RKBA point out that she defended Red Flag laws while she was Attorney General of Florida. Others defend her by saying that, as Attorney General, it was her job to defend the laws of the state, regardless of her … Read more
Okay, if this is the way things are going to go, here’s what I think Trump should do. He should tell the Senate: “You just pick whoever you want for whatever positions require your consent. I don’t even care who they are. You can just pick names out of the phone book. “Because here’s what’s … Read more
[Updated 11/25/2025, to reflect new information that has been brought to my attention. Although Sen. Ruth Ward sponsored the bill, the requirement that schools actually teach all kids to read and do math was deleted in an amendment offered by Rep. Rick Ladd. I can find no indication that Sen. Ward voted against, or objected … Read more
As we slouch towards the end of the world as we know it, it’s worth remembering that Democrats could have pretty much everything they want if they would only handle it themselves and leave everyone else out of it. There are more Democrats in America than there are people in many European countries. If every … Read more
So, Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania is concerned that Elon Musk may be violating federal law by offering people a chance at $1 million if they sign a petition supporting the 1st and 2nd Amendments, and limiting the offer to registered voters in certain states. This kind of thing — Shapiro’s concern about legality, not Musk’s … Read more