Tag Archives: politics

There is no ‘compromise’ to end the issue of abortion – but there may be a ‘least worst’ modus vivendi  – by New Deal democrat I have written before that the typical divide between “economic” and “social” issues isn’t quite correct. Most “social” issues, it turns out, are really “moral” issues, where some people are opposed because they believe the activity to be allowed is immoral. While it is usually not too difficult to find a compromise...

It began the day of the leaking of the draft, maybe even in anticipation thereof. Legal scholars, bright law students, and informed journalists began the shredding process. In the days since and for far into the future they have and will point out the many fallacies in logic; the disregard for unintended consequences; the disregard for reality, personal rights, females, and human life; the intent of the founders; the need for the Constitution to...

Independence Day, 2022  – by New Deal democrat The opening paragraph of the Declaration of Independence: “ When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires...

SCOTUS is moving to limit the power of congressionally legislated Agencies to write Regulations and Rules as delegated by Acts of Congress. The decision forces actions normally taken by empowered legislative Agencies back into Congress where they can be challenged. SCOTUS is picking on the EPA, restricting various regulations and rules it dislikes using the “major questions doctrine.” Process Congress writes Acts and passes them. These Acts...

“Ending Roe is a pure exercise of Republican power, wielded to reduce women’s freedom and equality” – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com), Erwin Chemerinsky Freedom and equality have expanded enormously over the course of American history, which makes the ending of a constitutional right virtually unprecedented. In Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court overruled a half-century of decisions protecting a constitutional right of...

A Break On The JCPOA Iran Nuclear Deal?  Maybe. It is now reported that “talks are to resume,” although most observers are not optimistic. But then today there is a report of a shakeup in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards hierarchy who seem to control the most serious of these things. Head of their intel, Taeb, has been removed, although it is unclear what this will lead to, despite noises he was too hardline and maybe a deal can be cut with...

What does this make you think? .@JakeMGrumbach and I looked at public opinion on abortion in today's @monkeycageblog. We find that a majority of the public in about 40 states support legal abortion rights. (1/2)https://t.co/aTB76HGayc pic.twitter.com/IT4Sd2y0aa— Chris Warshaw (@cwarshaw) June 25, 2022Option 1:  This is a moral outrage! Option 2:  We need to figure out how to win elections! Politics is not a morality play, folks!  If you...

The silver standard, one hundred and Thirty pieces of Silver’s thought “In evaluating fundraising for congressional candidates, the model now places more emphasis on contributions received within the candidate’s state. Fundraising is a highly nationalized activity these days; Democrats in California and New York regularly contribute to Senate campaigns like that of Democrat Jaime Harrison of South Carolina, who raised a record amount of money in...

The Democrats seem to be a bit uncertain about how to respond to the Dobbs ruling overturning Roe.  This isn’t surprising.  They face enormous pressure from their voters to “do something”, but there is, in fact, little they can do that will materially improve the situation of pregnant women in the short term.  Despite the moral urgency of the situation, they are forced to (mostly) play a long game, hardly an enviable position to be in.  Let’s take a...

I have a post up at Science-Based Medicine about the pitfalls and dangers of moralistic political thinking. The focus is on COVID, but the lessons are much more broadly relevant. Here’s the lede: The American policy response to COVID left a great deal to be desired. Figuring out what went wrong and how to do better next time should be at the top of our list going forward. But getting reform right will be difficult if we succumb to the temptation...