We are hip-deep in our quadrennial passion for Get out the Vote activities–from politicians to rock musicians, everyone’s reminding us of the importance of casting a ballot. It’s a nice sentiment, but have you ever wondered how things would change if we really believed that everyone should vote?
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Category Archives: Public Policy and Governance
Are We Safer Yet?
Politicians and pundits can and do argue over the proper role of government, but virtually everyone?from conservative to liberal?will agree that public safety is a core state function. Our leaders are supposed to make policies that are most likely to keep Americans safe at home and abroad. So an important question to ask in the wake of the war against Iraq is: are we safer than we were before?
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Style, Substance & Campaigns for Office
Last week, gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels unveiled his economic plan. What caught my eye, however, was not the plan itself, but the final sentence in the press announcement. After promising to populate the government with "new ideas and new people," Mitch reportedly concluded with the following sentence: "The what is not as important as the who." In other words, good people are more important than good programs or ideas.
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Dark Ages
In On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argued that free expression is necessary in order to find truth; that only by contending with the strongest position of one’s opponent can we perfect our own argument. The method of the counter-Enlightenment neo-cons, on the other hand, is to prevent the opposition from speaking at all.
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Diagnoses and Prescriptions
The Bush Administration wants countries holding large amounts of Iraqi debt to consider forgiving much of what is owed. As the President has explained, massive national debt is incompatible with economic growth.
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