Lawmakers give a pass to corporate welfare

Posted by:

Just a few weeks before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law last December, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced it was time to reduce the deficit by cutting entitlements. On talk radio, he said, “We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform … it’s the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt …”

Ryan is not alone. The Washington Post reported that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) stated, ...

Continue Reading →
10

Are liberals purveyors of misinformation?

Posted by:

In my last post, I wrote about why it’s hard to debunk misinformation. Two examples of misinformation I cited came from the Trump administration. Some readers suggested I should have been more balanced. One wrote, “Too bad you didn’t offer a couple examples from the other side of the aisle, like the notorious Harry Reid or the ever-panicked Nancy Pelosi. Surely there are others??”

I wasn’t trying to pick on the Trump administration, and I’m not an apologist for either ...

Continue Reading →
20

Why it’s hard to debunk misinformation

Posted by:

Why is it hard to debunk misinformation? Why aren’t people willing to change their minds? Part of the problem lies within our own psyche, and part of the problem is with the news media.

Ezra Klein of Vox interviewed Dartmouth University political scientist Brendan Nyhan about our reticence to accept proven facts. The underlying problem is that we’re slow to update our belief system. No one likes to admit he’s wrong, and admitting you’re wrong becomes even harder when the ...

Continue Reading →
6

What in the world were they thinking?

Posted by:

Ever wonder how people come up with their ideas? Take, for example, the Trump administration’s decision to nominate Matthew Spencer Petersen to be a federal judge for the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.

Nominees must be approved by the Senate, and the questioning by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., last Friday showed how unfit Petersen is to serve as a judge. It’s painful to listen to Senator Kennedy’s questioning. If appointed, Petersen would serve a life-long appointment, but ...

Continue Reading →
7

Trump wrong to criticize judge and jury

Posted by:

Two years ago, Kathryn Steinle was killed by Jose Garcia Zarate, an illegal immigrant who had been deported five times and had a history of drug convictions. On Nov. 30, Zarate was acquitted in Steinle’s murder trial. President Donald Trump called it “a disgraceful verdict.”

It’s a shocking and a horrible result for Steinle’s family, because there’s no doubt Zarate was the shooter. Was Trump right to criticize the verdict and, by implication, the jury?

Trump also took issue with the trial ...

Continue Reading →
7

U.S. should study gun violence as a public health hazard

Posted by:

We’ve been taking two ineffective approaches to gun violence.  The first is to debate whether we need more or fewer guns. Fearing criticism for not supporting the Second Amendment, legislators are easily persuaded we need more guns.

The second approach occurs after a mass shooting. A new gun law is proposed. We argue its merits, and then Second Amendment concerns swallow the process, and nothing changes.

We’ve got things backwards. We need to research and understand gun violence. Only then can we ...

Continue Reading →
2

More guns alone not the answer

Posted by:

 

Are we safer by making it easier for citizens to carry guns? The Ohio General Assembly thinks so. At least six bills seek to expand the rights of gun owners. There’s ample data to suggest that more guns don’t promote safety and that with more guns the number of unintended deaths increases.

Legislators don’t seem to care about data. Then maybe they should take a minute and listen to what fighter pilots have to say about self-defense in the air.

Fighter pilots ...

Continue Reading →
11

Life lessons from a Hatmaker

Posted by:

If you’re struggling with the LGBTQ issue, here’s something to ponder, and it’s especially helpful if you’re trying to reconcile the LGBTQ issue with your religious beliefs—the words of Jen Hatmaker, a Texas pastor and mother of five. Here’s what she had to say in the Aug. 28, 2017, edition of Time magazine when asked if the LGBTQ issue will divide the church: “If we are following Christ literally, then nobody’s humanity is up for grabs. Nobody. That is a ...

Continue Reading →
0

Judges probably influenced by campaign contributions

Posted by:

Do campaign contributions affect how judges decide cases?  Studies indicate the answer is yes. A recent effort by Cleveland attorney Subodh Chandra to disqualify a Summit County judge illustrates how money might drive the public’s thinking on a judge’s impartiality.

First, some background about money and state supreme court elections.

In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. that Chief Justice Brent Benjamin of the West Virginia Supreme Court erred in not recusing himself from a ...

Continue Reading →
2

Why has the state fought compensating Dale Johnston?

Posted by:

[This piece was published in the Columbus Dispatch on July 16, 2017, and is an update of a blog post published in August 2016]

If you believe the court system always renders justice, you’re mistaken. Just ask Dale Johnston. After spending nearly seven years on Death Row for two murders he didn’t commit, Johnston has yet to succeed in a 24-year ordeal to obtain compensation for his wrongful conviction. And the real killer is now behind bars.

Johnston was convicted in 1984 ...

Continue Reading →
0
Page 10 of 23 «...89101112...»