More diversity would make for a better Congress

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If you haven’t noticed, Congress doesn’t represent a cross-section of America. Its members comprise a narrow sector of the nation, and that’s a problem for reasons I’ll discuss in a minute. First, let’s look at the numbers.

Non-Hispanic whites make up 61 percent of our population, but 80 percent of representatives and senators are white. People 60 years old or older make up just 20 percent of the population but the average age of a representative is 57; for a senator ...

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4
NOV
7

Political Issues, Uncategorized

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Would Brett Kavanaugh have survived a job interview in the private sector?

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Brett Kavanaugh succeeded in making it through the Senate confirmation process, but how he would have fared if applying for a job in the private sector? Though both involve a vetting process, the Senate hearings were more concerned about ensuring a conservative voice was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court and less concerned about what kind of man Kavanaugh is.

A private employer, on the other hand, would want to ...

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9
OCT
34

Political Issues

U.S. wage gap is not likely to improve

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The Pew Research Center reports that income inequality is at its highest point since 1928. Will it ever substantially improve? Not without a dramatic paradigm shift.

From 1979 to 2015, annual wages increased for the bottom 90 percent of Americans by 21 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute. For the top 1.0 percent, the increase was 105 percent. For the top 0.1 percent, it was 339 percent.

Our system is based on the paradigm, as Professor Scott R. Sanders of Indiana ...

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30
SEP
5

Political Issues, Social Issues

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Stop the cruelty of separating children from their parents

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Enough already! How much longer should we endure the administration’s new policy of separating children from their immigrant parents? In the last six weeks, the administration has separated about 2000 children from their parents, with no clear plan for reuniting them

Yes, the immigrants are wrong for seeking amnesty by just walking across the border (as opposed to hiring a lawyer and making application through the immigration courts or entering the country through a port of entry) and, yes, we ...

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18
JUN
30

Political Issues, Social Issues

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Lawmakers give a pass to corporate welfare

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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, ...

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2
FEB
10

Political Issues, Social Issues

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Are liberals purveyors of misinformation?

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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 ...

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8
JAN
20

Political Issues, Social Issues

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Why it’s hard to debunk misinformation

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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 ...

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2
JAN
6

Political Issues, Social Issues

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What in the world were they thinking?

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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 ...

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18
DEC
7

Political Issues

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Rwanda could teach U.S. about collaboration

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What a can the United States learn from Rwanda?  It would seem, little. The U.S. is a large, industrialized nation, with nearly 325,000,000 people, a gross domestic product of $18 trillion, and an average life expectancy of 78 years. Rwanda is a tiny, developing country of only 11 million people, with a poor infrastructure and insufficient access to electricity, and an average life expectancy of 64.5 years.

More about what we can learn from Rwanda in a minute. First, let’s review ...

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7
MAY
5

Political Issues

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George Wallace and Donald Trump—two bigots, one repentant

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george-wallaceThe mark of a man is his ability to admit his errors. Former governor of Alabama, George Wallace, after trying his best to prevent integration, publicly apologized for his bigotry. Donald Trump, who has displayed at least the same level of bigotry, doesn’t even know he should.

The photo you see is from the day Wallace stood in front of the doors of a classroom building at the University of Alabama ...

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25
SEP
5

Political Issues

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