Clearing the Tabs December 15, 2021

Here are some things I've read so far this month or will be reading soon. A lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, expect a post on December 31 as well to round out the year. Also, just because I post something here does not mean I agree with it, it simply means it made me think and I think my readers might enjoy it.

December 1

Own Nothing and Love It
An unholy alliance of planners, financiers, and leftists wants everyone to live in mass social housing developments.

December 2
The great nudge
Government, Big Tech and the media are all trying to nudge us into adopting the ‘right’ behaviour.

When You Can’t Change the World, Change Your Feelings
Adjusting your attitude is easier than you think.

December 3
Do Sidewalks Make Us More Social?

December 4
IRS data prove 2017 tax cuts benefited middle class the most

December 5
3 Questions about Regeneration

Horses, bourbon and a lot of luck

December 6
Work or Welfare?

Divesting in Crude Oil Guarantees Shortages and Inflation

December 7
A Conflict of Visions within Conservatism

Manchin and Sinema Hold the Key for Democrats: Respecting Regional Difference

December 10
The Way Out

Unicorns Can Grow Here, But Are There Enough Tech Workers?

December 11
This small town likes it that way

December 12
What Are the Real Third Places?
Civil society depends on places that are neither workplaces nor homes. New research on how they’ve fared during the pandemic shows which ones matter most to people.

December 13
Our Neo-Feudal Future

December 15
The new Dark Ages
The woke assault on Western civilisation is taking us backwards.

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Clearing the Tabs September 30, 2021

September 16
Political Alchemy, Part II: Turning Spending Increases into Tax Cuts

September 17
Critical Race Theory Distracts from Widespread Academic Underachievement

September 19
Reagan, Biden, and the Facts on Government Spending

Survival of the City: The Need to Reopen the Metropolitan Frontier (Review)

September 20
Building on Jacobs: The City Emergent; Beyond Streets and Buildings
A science of cities reveals the way cities grow, and why.

September 21
What Happens When a Country Depends on Russia for Natural Gas?

Who Bears The Burden Of Taxes on Business?

Robert Woodson retires after 40 years of empowering communities

September 22
Eliminating crude oil is like jumping out of a plane without a chute

September 23
Even With Climate Change, the World Isn’t Doomed
Humanity has overcome far greater problems before and can do so again.

September 24
Congress can’t keep spending without consequences
Modern monetary theory says government overspending doesn’t matter. That’s wrong. The debt ceiling vote is an opportunity to address this problem.

September 25
The Enduring Relevance of Mises and Hayek’s Critique of Socialism

September 26
Here’s The List Of 317 Wind Energy Rejections The Sierra Club Doesn’t Want You To See

September 27
Never Going Back
What if they opened the office and nobody came?

September 30
A Profession Is Not a Personality
Reducing yourself to any single characteristic, whether it be your title or your job performance, is a deeply damaging act.

Joe Biden, Nowhere Man

Clearing the Tabs June 15, 2020

Some things I've read so far this month or will be reading soon. It appears the month will be a long one, and a lot of people are staying at home looking for things to read, so I've broken this month into two parts again, expect a post on June 30 as well.

June 1
If We Want Better Policing, Eliminate Qualified Immunity

Neo-Feudalism in California

June 2
Pandemics and Pandemonium

June 4
The Best Way to Handle Your Decline Is to Confront It Head On
Much like contemplating death can neutralize the fear of it, it can help to acclimate yourself to the idea of losing professional skills before it happens.

June 5
Should Government Subsidize Unemployment?

June 7
From tragedy to opportunity: We could live better when today's mayhem ends

June 8
The Unfortunate Decline of Federalism in the United States


If you want more accountability, rein in police unions

The Rebellion of America’s New Underclass

June 9
Absolute Economic Liberty, Relative Economic Liberty, and the Never-Answered Question

How Inattention Is Killing Democracy

June 10
Did the Trump Tax Cuts 'Work'?

June 11
WHO's deadly incompetence

June 12
The “Broken Window Fallacy” of Keynesian Economics

June 13
Enough subsidies for electric vehicles

June 15
Racism and the Working Class

Five Years Without Jack Kemp

It's hard to believe it's been five years. I remember hearing late in the evening on May 2, 2009 that Jack Kemp had passed away. I was out of town that weekend.

On Monday, May 4, I awoke to hear Bill Bennett Mornings playing loud and clear on my radio. I listened to guest after guest join Mr. Bennett to pay tribute to Jack Kemp as the week began. I was still somewhat groggy when Congressman Paul Ryan was on the show to remember Jack Kemp. I can remember that interview like it was yesterday. I remember Bill Bennett pointing out that Jack Kemp would note that Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations, not The Poverty of Nations. Kemp wanted the focus to be on what worked, not on what failed. Solutions oriented folks operate that way.

Jack Kemp has been in my thoughts a lot lately. As I have gotten a little older and have started to realize that in politics many of the arguments never find resolution, I have been looking closely at some of the work Kemp did to improve the lives of the less fortunate.

Jack Kemp was compassionate, a bleeding heart conservative, and this may have been his greatest gift. Kemp was able to apply a humanitarian view to many of the problems that ailed society simply by showing up. Kemp spent countless hours in places modern Republicans rarely tread. Kemp believed in the American Dream, the belief that in America, every single person had the capacity to reach for the stars, and get there, if they simply wanted it and worked toward it. Kemp wanted a level playing field, rather than viewing America as red or blue and taking a "every man for himself" approach, Kemp wanted to make sure that being trapped was an option, not a predetermination.

I've written recently about Congressman Paul Ryan and Robert Woodson, founder of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. I won't rehash that work here, you can read it on your own if you like, but it's worth noting that Bob Woodson worked closely with Kemp, and in turn some twenty years later is working with Congressman Ryan as they both look to address some of the same issues on which Kemp had begun to work. Kemp is no longer with us, but that certainly does not mean his work does not continue.

Finally, Jack Kemp wanted economic growth. Serious, unlimited, no-holds-barred, through-the-roof, economic growth. He figured cutting taxes would spur entrepreneurs and development. Sure, he wasn't as worried about the deficit side of things, the logic of the day was, if you cut taxes and more people went to work, there would be more people paying in to the government till, and deficits would go down just by their nature. And we have to remember, Jack Kemp helped introduce tax cuts to the Republican platform, tax cuts were not always part of the Republican mantra. If you read a little history from the late 1970's, you'll see that Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp had some pretty fierce arguments about tax cuts. Kemp ultimately won the debate, Reagan adopted Kemponomics as Reaganomics, and the 1980's saw a great economic recovery. The rest is history.

Anyway, on the five year anniversary of Jack Kemp's passing, I wanted to add my two cents. It may be closer to fifteen cents, and you loyalists will get that and laugh. It's a hodgepodge of thoughts, but that's rather the point.

It's hard to believe it's been five years...