Good morning to our 2 Paragraphs Family. At the end of this coming July the Libertarian Party of California will be having its annual convention when I anticipate submitting a proposal for its new party platform. A draft of it is now being submitted to you for your thoughts and comments. All feedback is appreciated! Here is the draft:
A friend and neighbor of mine has a bumper sticker on his car that says: “Trump/Vance 2024 Never Surrender.” Flat out, I have no problem with people publicly supporting their political candidates, and in fact appreciate it when they do. But I have a large problem with saying “Never Surrender,” because it strongly implies that we are at war with each other! And this directly contributes to the polarization
What every successful civilization needs is leaders. “Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual or group to influence and guide others towards achieving shared goals. It involves aligning people in a collective direction and enabling them to work together effectively. Key characteristics of good leaders include vision, communication, integrity and the ability to inspire others.” So what does it take to be a leader?
The “Common Wisdom” is that when a President appoints a Justice to the US Supreme Court that the President can count upon that Justice pursuing the President’s agenda. But a close friend of mine, who is truly aware of realities in today’s world, actually sent me a list of Justices in significant cases since 1940 who voted against the Presidents who had appointed them.
There was an editorial in the May 2, 2024 edition of the Orange County Register about which we all should be concerned. It called attention to the fact that a graduate student at Tufts University who is here on a student visa was recently arrested and taken to a Louisiana jail and is being threatened with deportation for doing nothing more than writing a Pro-Palestinian op-ed piece for a local newspaper. The thrust of her column was to protest American support for the war in Gaza. It did not recommend violence or otherwise taking inappropriate action. But if that is not a violation of our Free Speech Rights under our Constitution, I have trouble thinking about what could be a greater threat. So I believe we all should be concerned about this result.
It really is not so hard. In my view, our nation’s immigration policy should be based upon the following five maxims:
1. It is our decision who comes into our country either to visit or to live, and not the visitor’s;
2. One strong reason our country is Great is because over the years so many people from around the world have immigrated here so they can roll up their sleaves and pursue the American Dream. Those who have shown they are a boon to themselves, their families and our country who have not already become citizens should their paths be streamlined to become citizens;
On Sunday, January 29, 2023 the Orange County Register carried a story that originated in the New York Times entitled “Oil Drilled in Amazon Rainforest Ends Up in California.” The article stated that, due to the Ecuadorian government’s need for revenue, it is now allowing oil to be drilled in its Yasuni National Park, which it used to protect.
As has been written before in this column, the biggest issue facing our country today is the problem of so many of our public schools failing our children. And that is as tragic as it is unnecessary. Why? Because today, particularly in lower economic neighborhoods, there is virtually no competition in education.
Some of the lyrics in singer/songwriter Bob Dylan’s song It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding are “If you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying.” I believe that this is not only true for people, it is also true for countries. And I further believe that the United States of America is still busy being born! Do you agree? Well, if so, our Great Country should not be hesitant to change some of our national approaches.
Page one of the July 24-30, 2024 edition of The Epoch Times featured an article entitled “Mothers Blame China, Cartels” with the subtitle of “Fentanyl is ‘weapon of mass destruction’ destroying families.” Of course there are many people in the world who will try to make easy money by selling contraband. For openers, just remember people like Al Capone who took advantage of our nation’s policy of Alcohol Prohibition.
Here is a lesson from one of my heroes, Dr. Milton Friedman, that I heartily wish all lawmakers would learn: “Incentives Matter!” And he followed that truism up with one more, which is that “You get more of what you subsidize and less of what you tax.” You would think those truisms would be self-evident, but with the laws and government programs existing today it is obvious that they are not.
We have all heard the cry that there is too much money in our political elections. In fact, according to Reason Magazine, in the recent primary election the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) paid $435,000 to fund a 30-second ad promoting a Republican Congressional candidate in Michigan who had been supported by former President Trump because the DCCC determined that this Republican candidate would be easier for them to defeat by the Democratic candidate in the general election?
Probably the most important issue facing our country today is that so many public schools are failing our children. Mostly they are in lower economic areas which, regretfully, are often comprised of African-Americans and Hispanics. So it is not a result of racism, or at least not directly, it is economics. But this is as tragic as it is avoidable. Why is that?
We continue to explore straightforward ways the federal government can reduce its spending and borrowing, which are directly causing inflation and a possible recession. In fact, it would be hard to find a more critically-important topic for us and particularly our children and grandchildren to address! Part II today focuses upon reducing the scope of the work done by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, otherwise known as FEMA.
Our blockade of Cuba has been in place for more than 60 years. That means it has been upheld by 12 presidential administrations, and it is the longest and most leak-proof blockade in modern history. Or course, it certainly has outlasted anyone named Castro being in charge of Cuba’s government, but is still noticeably harming large numbers of everyday Cubans.
Started in 2016, the Jack News provides a pragmatic look at political discussion with some satire. An independent journalistic endeavor, we have no ties to other media outlets or services. We write our own commentary and form our own opinions.
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