URLs du Jour

2019-08-20

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  • George F. Will spells it out for you: ‘National conservatism’ is ‘Elizabeth Warren conservatism’.

    Regimes, however intellectually disreputable, rarely are unable to attract intellectuals eager to rationalize the regimes’ behavior. America’s current administration has “national conservatives.” They advocate unprecedented expansion of government in order to purge America of excessive respect for market forces, and to affirm robust confidence in government as a social engineer allocating wealth and opportunity. They call themselves conservatives, perhaps because they loathe progressives, although they seem not to remember why.

    The Manhattan Institute’s Oren Cass advocates “industrial policy” — what other socialists call “economic planning” — because “market economies do not automatically allocate resources well across sectors.” So, government, he says, must create the proper “composition” of the economy by rescuing “vital sectors” from “underinvestment.” By allocating resources “well,” Cass does not mean efficiently — to their most economically productive uses. He especially means subsidizing manufacturing, which he says is the “primary” form of production because innovation and manufacturing production are not easily “disaggregated.”

    Also in Mr. Will's crosshairs: Tucker Carlson ("who, like the president he reveres, is a talented entertainer"). What should be done, besides perhaps sending copies of The Road to Serfdom to anyone claiming to be a "national conservative"?


  • At National Review, Mairead McArdle covered another recent big lie. Specifically, Kamala Harris to Big Donors: 'I Believe in Capitalism'. This was a "fundraiser in the Hamptons", meaning that probably everyone there was a person to which capitalism had been very, very good.

    But also interesting is her attempt to weasel out of positions she once firmly held, specifically on Bernie's Medicare for All scheme:

    “I have not been comfortable with Bernie’s plan,” Harris said in the Hamptons, referring to Senator Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All plan, which she cosponsored and which would eliminate private health-insurance plans. She originally said she was on board with eliminating private plans should she become president, but she has since backtracked, saying that while she is “committed to reining in the private insurance companies,” it “has to happen over a period of time.”

    Amusingly, Mairead also reported on the blowback: Bernie Sanders Attacks Kamala Harris after she Criticizes Medicare for All. Via this tweet:

    Don't worry, Bernie. Kamala will be back again into your arms on this issue if and when she gets appropriate polling.


  • Everyone's favorite New Age Loon has a vow. Specifically (according to Paul Bois, Daily Wire): Marianne Williamson Vows To Remove Andrew Jackson’s Portrait As ‘Atonement’ For Native American Treatment.

    Keeping in line with her spiritualist approach to politics, 2020 longshot Marianne Williamson has vowed to remove the portrait of President Andrew Jackson from the Oval Office as part of her "atonement" plan for the U.S. treatment of Native Americans.

    I only mention this because it's so progressive-typical: "I plan to make a meaningless symbolic gesture that will do absolutely nothing to relieve the woes of Native Americans."


  • At the Free Beacon, Stephen Gutowski and Charles Fain Lehman perform the unenviable task of digging through the horse manure: Democrats’ Gun-Policy Plans, Explained.

    Jockeying for attention in a packed primary, Democrats running for their party's 2020 nomination have rolled out expansive gun-control proposals. The Washington Free Beacon tallied which candidates support which plans and examined the evidence for and against the measures supported by the most candidates.

    Gun control has been a major feature of the 2020 primary discussion. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) ran his failed campaign on his proposal to ban and confiscate certain guns. Other contenders, like Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.), released comprehensive proposals months ago. The conversation has only gotten more heated since the mass shootings in El Paso, Tex., and Dayton, Ohio, with major candidates like senators Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) dropping new proposals.

    But who's advocated what, as of late August 2019? Stephen and Charles do their best to nail that jelly to the tree.

    Quibble: they use the term "buyback" for government compensation for turned-in guns. Dudes, it's not "buyback" unless you sold the gun in the first place. Eschew euphemism.


  • And the Google LFOD News Alert sent us to the [Kenya!] Standard. With the happy news: Devolution should bring community pride. A puzzling beginning:

    The aftermath of devolution was supposed to be community pride. With each county making economic strides, leading to higher standards of living, citizens in the regions should be as proud of their counties and communities as Nairobians, who are treated as better citizens.

    Nairobians are very proud of themselves, perhaps because they are treated with awe by rural folk who do not know enough of the reality of living in the city. To the rural folk, Nairobi is full of fun and money is plenty. The truth is that only a few make enough money in the city and the skyscrapers do not signify money.

    Wha?… OK, "devolution" is explained, sort of, here. (By the World Bank, so allegedly kosher.) It's (more or less) decentralization.

    But LFOD? Ah, there it is. The author looks to the US for inspiration on pride-instilling.

    Whether in the Deep South of vibrant California or dynamic New York, every community has some pride. They will talk of something they have that others do not have. They take pride in firms started by their sons and their economic mainstay, whether industrial or service. Kentucky and Illinois haggle over where Abraham Lincoln was born because of the pride that goes with that.

    The mottos of the States espouse this pride. New Hampshire is “live free or die”, California is “Eureka”, Florida has “In God We Trus”t, just like the national motto. Check other state mottos and see the trend in pride.

    OK. Glad to be of help. Hope that devolution thing works out for you. But you might also want to work on improving your Economic Freedom score.


Last Modified 2024-01-24 5:49 AM EDT