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Tag Archives: Opinion
Self-Interest Vs. Selfishness: A case for Capitalistic society emerging from a moralistic foundation
Lately I am hearing lots of statements suggesting the GOP, Tea Party, and conservatives should stay out of social issues or compromise their values to cater to the left, so that we can find a “middle-ground”. Previously when people inquired about my political beliefs, I said that I was “socially liberal and fiscally conservative”. After years of questioning my political opinions, my research led to an awareness of cultural Marxism, the Frankfurt school, and theorists such as Saul Alinsky, who proved that social issues have always been one of the leftists’ key instruments to effect political and fiscal change. I have since decided that my beliefs are more aligned with the “Classical Liberal” ideology.
Government regulation should be as closely limited to preserving the inalienable rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness as possible. Since issues Americans are currently facing, such as a depressed economy, immense national debt, Obamacare, education, and immigration among others that are undeniably infringing upon those rights, it is understandable why popular sentiment even amongst some republicans is that we need to stay focused on these issues and give into or ignore social platforms to find solutions and win elections. Any CEO knows establishing priorities is tantamount to success, however they also know that it’s nearly impossible to achieve growth and prosperity without having a solid foundation. The values embedded in the culture that manifested the United States Constitution lent itself to a society of self-interested individuals who could compete in a free-market that incentivized resourcefulness, ingenuity, and progress fostering the betterment of man.
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California PolitiChick Courtenay Turner is an actress, producer and passionate patriot who aspires to inculcate conservative values into the American culture via entertaining stories.
Should We Bail Out Cities?
By Megan McArdle Nov 26
In the latest City Journal, Steve Malanga writes about an issue that hasn’t yet gotten a lot of attention but is virtually guaranteed to become a serious topic of national debate in the not-so-distant future: Do we bail out cities that have become insolvent?
Malanga quotes a Steve Rattner op-ed from the summer: “The 700,000 remaining residents of the Motor City are no more responsible for Detroit’s problems than were the victims of Hurricane Sandy for theirs, and eventually Congress decided to help them.” Rattner is right, of course; Detroit was largely undone by massive structural changes in the auto industry, which now employs only a small fraction of the people that it used to. And yet, there’s more to the story, isn’t there? Detroit’s biggest problem is the combined burden of its pension funds and retiree health benefits. And the reason that its pensions are in such a state is that they were bizarrely mismanaged by people who apparently didn’t quite get fifth-grade math.
It’s true that it would be easier to deal with these problems if Detroit were more like New York and less like, well, Detroit. But it’s also true that if Detroit had been responsible about its pension contributions instead of underfunding the pensions while simultaneously handing out extra benefits above and beyond what the city already couldn’t afford, its retirees would not now be facing dire straits. New Yorkers did not get to vote for the corrupt Detroit politicians who appointed the terrible Detroit pension managers who made all of Detroit’s problems so much worse than they had to be. Why should they have to pick up the check for all those mistakes?
Read more at Bloomberg
Political Cartoons
Reporter Ben Swann Smeared For Questioning Media’s Sandy Hook Narrative
Christopher McDaniel
Ben Swann is an anchor for Fox 19 in Cincinnati. According to his bio, Swann has been the recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award and two Emmys for his work. He is not a sensationalistic reporter. He is not out to “get clicks” at the expense of his integrity. Swann is, quite possibly, the last bastion of journalistic integrity in America today.
I first started following him last year when I saw one of the segments in his “Reality Check” series during the political primary season. I found Swann to be engaging and honest. He never issued verdicts, but rather always presented the facts as they stood and asked questions to engage the viewer in critical thought.
Salon published a piece on Monday about him, attempting to disguise itself as balanced, but it falters throughout. The author, Alex Seitz-Wald, repeatedly portrays Swann’s commentary with a not-so-subtle amount of sarcasm. It is quite obvious that Ben Swann is striking a nerve with the national media.
His latest piece, via his web-based, “Full Disclosure” series, does not allude to any of the shootings being a “false flag” or a “hoax.” However, it does what we the people should demand of journalists — it asks questions. Swann asks how so many eyewitnesses can claim to see multiple shooters at these events, and somehow all we get is a lone gunman narrative, every single time.
Read more at PolicyMic
The British are going! The British are going! — Branco Cartoon
How the AARP Made $2.8 Billion By Supporting Obamacare’s Cuts to Medicare
(DISCLOSURE: I am an outside adviser to the Romney campaign on health-care issues. The opinions contained herein are mine alone, and do not necessarily correspond to those of the campaign.)
Avik Roy, FORBES—As you know if you’ve been reading this blog, Obamacare cuts $716 billion from Medicare in order to pay for its $1.9 trillion expansion of coverage to low-income Americans. It’s one of the reasons why seniors are more opposed to the new health law than any other age group. So why is it that the group that purports to speak for seniors, the American Association of Retired Persons, so strongly supports a law that most seniors oppose?
According to an explosive new report from Sen. Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), it’s because those very same Medicare cuts will give the AARP a windfall of $1 billion in insurance profits, and preserve another $1.8 billion that AARP already generates from its business interests.
Read more at Forbes.