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Rand Paul goes to Washington
Thu, 03/17/2011 - 10:28am | posted by Jason Pye
While laid up in bed last week recovering from surgery, my coworkers sent me a care package that included Sen. Rand Paul’s new book, The Tea Party Goes to Washington. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to get past the first few pages. But Matt Welch brings us this passage from the book of Sen. Paul slamming George W. Bush:
Imagine this-what if there had never been a President George W. Bush, and when Bill Clinton left office he was immediately replaced with Barack Obama. Now imagine Obama had governed from 2000 to 2008 exactly as Bush did-doubling the size of government, doubling the debt, expanding federal entitlements and education, starting the Iraq war-the whole works. To make matters worse, imagine that for a portion of that time, the Democrats actually controlled all three branches of government. Would Republicans have given Obama and his party a free pass in carrying out the exact same agenda as Bush? It’s hard to imagine this being the case, given the grief Bill Clinton got from Republicans, even though his big government agenda was less ambitious than Bush’s. Yet, the last Republican president got very little criticism from his own party for most of his tenure.
For conservatives, there was no excuse for this.
Welch also notes:
Paul goes on to say stuff like “any self-described conservative who ‘misses’ the last president and his version of the Republican Party should probably quit subscribing to that label,” and “if judgment is based on spending and the budget, then Bill Clinton should be considered preferable to Bush.”
Wow. Agreed.
GOP rolls out Pledge to America, mixed reaction among conservatives
Fri, 09/24/2010 - 9:09am | posted by Jason Pye
House Republicans officially rolled out the Pledge to America (PDF embedded at the bottom of the page or you can download here) yesterday morning at a lumber company in Sterling, Virginia:
The agenda is reminiscent of “The Contract with America” that House Republicans announced on the steps of the Capitol in 1994. That manifesto helped them win control of the House during the second year of Democrat Bill Clinton’s presidency.
While short on specifics, the new Republican plan calls for $100 billion in annual savings by scaling back federal spending to 2008 levels — with exceptions for the elderly and U.S. troops — and ending government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Republican House leaders also vowed to stop “job killing tax hikes” and allow small business owners to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their business income.
[…]
Under pressure from the conservative Tea Party movement to slash the size and cost of government, the Republicans promised to repeal Obama’s landmark overhaul of the healthcare system and eliminate unspent funds from his $814 billion economic stimulus program.
The reaction among Democrats has been predictable as they again try to bring up George W. Bush, a strategy that hasn’t worked thus far:
WWE’s Kane May Primary Sen. Lamar Alexander
Mon, 05/20/2013 - 3:03pm | posted by Jason Pye
Glenn Jacobs, perhaps better known as the wrestler “Kane” from WWE, may be considering a primary challenge to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).
Jacobs, who identifies philosophically as a libertarian and supported both of Ron Paul’s presidential campaigns, has made waves recently by challenging Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican, to a debate over the online sales tax. On Thursday, however, Brian Doherty noted at Reason that Jacobs is weighng a primary bid against Alexander next year:
Still pure rumor mill for now, but sources close to the one-time World Heavyweight Champion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar (among many other wrestling honors) who goes by the name “Kane” tell me that Glenn Jacobs (Kane’s legal name) is “open to the possibility of considering a primary campaign against Sen. Lamar Alexander” for the Tennessee Senate seat Lamar! has held since 2003.
That’s a whole lot of caveats and no announcement from the man himself, but it would be one of the more delightful GOP primary battles for the libertarian-minded to watch.
Jacobs, a resident of Knoxvill, Tennessee, has contributed commentary to LewRockwell.com, a website that frequently promotes paleo-conservative and libertarian economic theories. This free market point-of-view could be appealing to many Republican primary voters.
“Atlas Shrugged Part II” hits theaters on Friday
Tue, 10/09/2012 - 3:02pm | posted by Jason Pye
On Friday, Atlas Shrugged Part II will hit theaters. With an entirely new cast, producers are hoping that they will be able to capitalize on the political and economic angst that has consumed the country over the last several years, which play into many of the themes in Ayn Rand’s most well known book.
From what I’ve read from people who’ve seen it, the film is much better than Part I, which had good moments, but it was largely a disappointment. Writing at Forbes, John Tamny says that the Atlas Shrugged Part II is a “must see film,” explaining, “Atlas Shrugged II is a very interesting movie to watch, and its message about what holds us down in terms of freedom and freedom to achieve couldn’t be timelier.”
The folks from Reason.tv recently caught up with the cast at the Hollywood premier of Atlas Shrugged Part II, asking them what they thought about the film and some of the ideas laid out by Ayn Rand in the book:
The release is much more broad this time around. Make sure you find a theater near you, take a friend and see this movie.
What did C.S. Lewis have in common with Mises and Hayek?
Mon, 10/08/2012 - 1:04pm | posted by Jason Pye
Growing up in a religious home and later dabbling in Christian apologetics, I developed affinity for C.S. Lewis, author of several novels and books — including the Chronicles of Narnia series, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.
Whether call yourself a Christian or an atheist, Lewis was indeed a great writer who didn’t simply ground his beliefs in faith. Unlike many who simply follow their beliefs based on Sunday school teachings, Lewis developed the modern view of Christian apologetics, laying the ground for future thinkers, including William Lane Craig and others.
One of my favorite books by Lewis is Mere Christianity. In this book, Lewis presents a case for Christianity and also breaks down the Christian worldview on society and morality. In the book, Lewis notes that a pure Christian society would closely resemble socialism, a suggestion that isn’t too far off-base if one reads the Book of Acts, which explains that early Christians lived together and “had everything in common.” This was likely due to the persecution endured by early believers at the hands of Jews and Roman rulers. They kept together in what were very unaccepting times for followers of Jesus Christ.
Healthcare scholars react to ObamaCare decision
Mon, 07/02/2012 - 1:10pm | posted by Jason Pye
With the Supreme Court’s decision on ObamaCare in, some of the scholars at the Cato Institute — Roger Pilon, Ilya Shapiro, Michael Cannon, Michael Tanner, and Trevor Burrus — react and offer some insight on the outcome of the case:
And over at Reason, Peter Suderman also offered his thoughts on the case and what it means for the future of the law given the victory states received in being able to opt-out of Medicaid expansion:
Happy birthday, RomneyCare
Mon, 04/16/2012 - 10:50am | posted by Jason Pye
While we’ve been focusing a lot lately on ObamaCare thanks to the recent Supreme Court hearing and new studies from the Congressional Budget Office and Charles Blahous, April is the sixth anniversary of the passage of RomneyCare — the plan pushed by then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, which later became the blueprint for ObamaCare.
Over at Reason on Friday, Peter Suderman marked RomneyCare’s birthday by explaining how the law has been a fiscal nightmare for the Bay State:
