I was listening to Hillsdale’s “Progressivism” lecture again and noticed the irony that the more our politicians have embraced the administrative state as a better governing model, the harder it has been for them to convince their constituents that they are doing a good job. The grand bargain for our legislators was that if they gave up their Constitutional responsibilities to the administrative state there would be less chance of corruption, better decisions, and they could safely take credit for the successes without putting much work in. A good example of this short sighted thinking is Ms. Pelosi’s famous remarks, “We Have to Pass the Bill So That You Can Find Out What Is In It“. The problem for our Representatives is that it is hard to get good approval ratings when you are seen as not doing anything. To fully grasp the breakdown in the administrative state you need no further proof than to look at the Administration apologies for the mistakes with the Affordable Care Act, the EPA scandal, the IRS scandal, the VA scandal, the Fast and Furious scandal, or a multitude of foreign policy mishaps like Benghazi, Ukraine, and ISIS. In every case the Administration strenuously denied the decisions were political in nature while at the same time admitted that their decisions were stupid. At some point the voters stopped caring whether the Administration was partisan or just plain stupid since the results were the same. Corruption, cronyism, and incompetence are natural results of an administrative state gone wild. To think that Congress may have to resort to impeaching Mr. Koskinen or Ms. McCarthy in order to rein in the administrative state and re-establish some resemblance of a government of the people and for the people. Considering the popularity of party outsiders in the presidential election polls and Eric Cantor’s embarrassing primary loss, I think that Mr. Boehner decided that it was a good time for him to get out. He was a politician for a different era. Now if we can just find someone to fix the broken administrative state. Federalism is dead! Long live a smarter, less corrupt federalism!
Author: bill
Victory Brewing’s Dirtwolf Double IPA
Ah yes, it is Friday and time for me to get slapped across the face with a double IPA. It is actually quite good if you slow down to enjoy the hops.
Would Pope Francis Ever Pray That The Middle Class Be More Prosperous?
There is nothing that tells me a politician or a pope does not care about the problems facing the middle class than when they start talking about climate change or income inequality. That got me to thinking what would Pope Francis say to Dave Ramsey or the author of Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Much has been given to the United States and regardless of how you parse the poverty numbers the poor in the United States are better off than most of the world. If Pope Francis cares for both the poor and the middle class then a prayer for prosperity is an inclusive way for him to recognize that he is not in Argentina any more and that the stinging criticism of capitalism was not the best way to fill the church pews in a country that is pretty proud of their accomplishments for the poor.
Yesterday I Installed Android Pay And Went To An ATM For Cash
It might seem weird that I installed a fancy new way to pay for things but still felt the need for cash in my pocket. I was going out to dinner with some friends and cash is still the most convenient way for me to pay for drinks at the bar. We had six people trying to pay their bar tab all at once and half of them wanted to use a credit or debit card. Paying your bar tab would seem to be natural fit for applications like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay but that would probably require a special purpose tablet with a NFC credit card reader.
Please Mr. Trump, Stop Saying Stupid Stuff About Women! You Are Costing Me Money!
Every time Mr. Trump lets his mouth move faster than his brain it ends up costing me money. When he said “Look at that face” it made me cringe but my wife’s reaction was she wanted to give more money to the Carly for President campaign. I tried ignoring her but Carly’s campaign came up with one of the best campaign ads of the year, Faces. Now my wife wants to give double the amount, $50. I know when I have lost. Geez louise Donald, get a clue! Watch and learn my apprentice. This is how you look presidential and win over the woman vote.
Fat Head’s Bumbleberry Ale
An ale with a hint of blueberries.
Sweetwater Hop Hash
Enjoying a Hop Hash beer from Sweetwater brewing on Labor Day weekend.
Why Are Planned Parenthood Offices Not In Low Income Areas?
I was reading Sara Rosenbaum‘s article,
Planned Parenthood, Community Health Centers, And Women’s Health: Getting The Facts Right, in which she made this statement.
For the millions of poor women who depend on Planned Parenthood clinics, this scenario would mean the loss of affordable and accessible contraceptive services and counseling, as well as breast and cervical cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The assertion that community health centers could step into a breach of this magnitude is simply wrong and displays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the health care system works.
What bothered me about her statement was that I recently looked up Planned Parenthood locations in the Cincinnati area and was surprised to find that not a single one was located in one of the six highest poverty communities. Since the Planned Parenthood facilities are not in the community they purport to serve, there are several hospitals that are at least as convenient to get to as the Planned Parenthood centers. If you have to get on a bus to see a health care professional then going to a hospital should logically be your first choice. From a policy perspective if our goal is better woman health care then the money going to Planned Parenthood would probably be better spent on improving community health centers which has the advantage of convenience or improving out-patient services at local hospitals which has the advantage of greater medical resources.
Never Ending Spaghetti Sauce
The best use for garden tomatoes is the never ending spaghetti sauce. Saute an onion in a little bit of olive oil. When it gets soft add a couple cloves of garlic and saute for thirty seconds. Then add roughly chopped tomatoes to taste and some bay leaves. At this time of year I cook all of the tomatoes that I picked. Simmer for a long time to intensify the flavor. When you have the tomato flavor where you want it you can add some freshly cut basil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, and salt to taste.
At this time of the year I cook up new batches every week and add the leftover sauce to the new batch. My plan is to freeze a portion if I get too much sauce.
Enjoy!
Is CNN’s Journalistic Integrity At Stake?
It is odd that Ms. Fiorina has not qualified for the main stage at the next Republican debate so I decided to investigate. Here is what CNN said.
“CNN published the criteria for the CNN-Reagan Library debate on May 20,” the spokesperson said. “It will encompass polling data from three weeks prior to the first debate and five weeks following. Federal Election Commission guidelines make it clear that these criteria cannot be changed after they have been published. We believe that our approach is a fair and effective way to deal with the highest number of candidates we have ever encountered.”
Assuming that the polling was occurring at regular intervals then 3/8 of the polls used in the average would be from before the first debate and 5/8 of the polls from after the debate. That sounds like a reasonable way to get a good sample of public sentiment. The problem for CNN as Ms. Flores pointed out in an article on medium.com is that CNN has 11 polls that meet their criteria and 9 are from before the debate and 2 from after the debate. Since CNN made the rules, it is a CNN integrity problem. So if you believe that news organizations like CNN should strive to be reasonable and balanced in presidential debates, CNN owns this problem if they do not get about 15 more polls in the next two weeks. This reminds me of the unforced error CNN’s Candy Crowley made by giving her opinion concerning “acts of terror”. Journalism and CNN took a big hit that night. It is a sign of insanity to keep making the same mistake and expect different results. I guess Fox News is the only fair and balanced news organization out there! 😉