Dan and Mike's Political Feedbag

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91020592024-03-08T11:32:27.310-05:00Dan and Mike's Political Feedbag"Goring the Other Guy's Ox Since 2003"Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-90672203797595754422007-02-17T21:37:00.001-05:002007-02-17T21:37:50.401-05:00Why Climatetologists Shouldn't be Economists (or Political Scientists)

This image was taken from one of the previous issues of The Economist. Basically the graph compares California and other "blue states" (as defined as supporting John Kerry in the previous election), compared to the "red states" as defined by those that voted for George Bush. Now, the Economist, as well as the source for this graph (http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/prometheus/archives/

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1168991255322085682007-01-16T18:47:00.000-05:002007-01-16T18:54:43.190-05:00Quote of the Year (so far)

"Really, we're happy to be rich now," said Majid al-Mansouri, who heads the environment agency serving Abu Dhabi.That is from this journalistic abortion; article by the Associated Press about the United Arab Emirates and their topping of the world index of global footprints, by the World Wildlife Federation (Sorry, whenever I see WWF, I think wrestling).Al-Mansouri's comment pretty much sums up

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1163033173614760002006-11-08T19:43:00.000-05:002006-11-08T19:46:13.663-05:00I'D LIKE TO THANK...

Yes, I know I haven't posted in forever, but I think I'm turning over a new leaf with all of the political shenanigans going on in the past 24 hours. With that, despite the fact that we now have a Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Kennedy, here's some things I'm thankful for with the passing of the election...The good people of South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, South Dakota and

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1142391469303043622006-03-14T21:45:00.000-05:002006-03-14T21:57:49.346-05:00Well, the Media is Just Too Easy a Target to Pass Up

I was standing in line at Chic-Fil-A when I saw this headline on the front page of "The State"Family struggles with baby’s deathAunt says nearby relatives had been trying to help couple raise childThen there was this first paragraph:After giving up her first three children, 25-year-old Kellie King wanted to raise her fourth child, Jeffrey, with the help of her family.She won’t get that chance.So

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1140636856460691502006-02-22T14:25:00.000-05:002006-02-22T14:34:16.530-05:00Google vs. the US vs. China

Apparently when you face a congressional committee set up to get their pound of flesh, you're not going to look good. Google and Yahoo! Take a Beating"Yeah, so what?" you ask. Here's the irony of it all...The Republican chairman of the committee, New Jersey's Chris Smith, then announced his intention to introduce a bill this week which would "formalise the goals of a new State Department task

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1139863982972051262006-02-13T15:42:00.000-05:002006-02-13T15:53:06.726-05:00New Link on the Sidebar

Let's try this again...I've added a new link on the sidebar, from Jane Galt (aka Asymmetric Information). From what I've seen of her front page, she seems like my small (but not stupid) government libertarian (ie she hasn't drunk from the Libertarian Party kool-aid). So I've added her to the trough and that should be all good. I really like what she's written about the deficits, and much more

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1139532981246362852006-02-09T19:20:00.000-05:002006-02-14T13:20:20.836-05:00A Defense of Wal-Mart

This is going to be a response to what someone wrote online. Here's the original post:http://louishopen.livejournal.com/39450.htmlI'm going to do more of a point-by-point refutation of what he says, but considering that alot of his claims are what the general anti Wal-Mart proponents think, this will probably be a good start to addressing most of the concerns that people have against Wal-Mart.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1139516376737383692006-02-09T15:15:00.000-05:002006-02-09T17:12:18.626-05:00Economics at its Finest

If this isn't economics, then I don't know what is:A GAME THEORETIC APPROACH TO THE TOILET SEAT PROBLEMSeriously, if people complain too much about the lack of "serious" theory work, then nobody is going to care about economics. As it is right now, there's TOO much focus on math and theory and not nearly enough done with applying economics to the world around us. If you want to be a data

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1139433906038927422006-02-08T16:14:00.000-05:002006-02-08T16:25:06.076-05:00And They Want Statehood?

Well, the DC council already acts like a shady legislature, but this takes the cake:Dewey Wins!: Council revotes and passes leaseBut the question is whether MLB is going to accept all the codecils that the DC Council has added on. Here's a list:To pay start up costs for a new youth baseball academy;To give 10,000 free tickets a year to low-income D.C. residents;To make community appearances each

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1138919853832564952006-02-02T17:16:00.000-05:002006-02-02T17:37:34.043-05:00Slowly but Surely, the Media Catches On

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a story written about how college loan payments are eating further into graduates' current income. Obviously, the government isn't going to do anything about this, they're making way too much money off it and federal student loans are forever, you have to repay them, even if you're disabled and living off Social Security. Even if you go bankrupt, the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1138654174472091862006-01-30T23:07:00.000-05:002006-01-30T23:07:17.393-05:00Insanely Liberal

Back when I was in high school, my girlfriend's father suggested that I read "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" by Thomas Friedman. So I read it, or got around to reading it freshman year at Georgetown. It was a pretty good book and didn't say too much about policy, more like it was a book about observations in the world today. So Friedman got a Pulitzer for that book and went on to become an

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1137506121570379522006-01-17T08:52:00.000-05:002006-01-17T08:55:21.586-05:00First thoughts from "Stupid in America"

I love it how Inez Tenenbaum was made to look like an idiot. I really love how Democrats in South Carolina were made to look like idiots.Yes, Inez, we know that South Carolina is improving in every category. It's easy to improve when you're starting from zero. Now, if you'd just be able to move past those educational juggernauts like Mississippi and Alabama, then you'd be getting somewhere.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1137183779772831352006-01-13T15:17:00.000-05:002006-01-13T15:22:59.786-05:00TGIF Friday Line Up

No, "Family Matters" and "Full House" aren't coming back to ABC, but John Stossel is. In case you've never read his work (I have), he's a journalist for ABC News and is probably the most unapologetic libertarian journalists out there. So tonight, on 20/20, there will be a presentation called "Stupid in America: How we are cheating our kids". Here's the blurb from the webpage:There are many

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1137170573040756502006-01-13T11:38:00.000-05:002006-01-13T11:42:55.220-05:00While Joe Biden drones on about something

Dan and I (and Luisa) created a religion forum over in LiveJournal called....The Religious FeedbagGet it? Political Feedbag = Religious Feedbag. It's some good stuff. I would've liked to have it held here, but that's alright, the posts are still available for all the public to see, it's just that you can't comment without a LiveJournal account. But that's alright.But as for here, that means

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1134406802585429952005-12-12T11:46:00.000-05:002005-12-12T12:00:02.626-05:00Just in Time for the Holidays

MSN has two articles up on how my generation is in debt to their eyeballs. Right among an article about gadgets from $10 to $1000. College Debts and Broken DreamsA couple of tidbits that struck me personally:"This is the first generation who won't necessarily do better than their parents," says Tamara Draut, director of the economic opportunity program at Demos, a research and advocacy

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1133764679821097042005-12-05T01:20:00.000-05:002005-12-05T01:38:00.313-05:00Random Items to Leave On

Since I'm leaving SC and my internet connection for a temporary paid position in Connecticut, I leave you these few things to ponder:Given the current political and social culture, what would be a realistic first step to pare back government? Would it even be possible? Is this required to be done within the two major parties or another party? Would a new party need to be born or an exisiting "

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1133303724291931802005-11-29T17:34:00.000-05:002005-11-29T17:35:24.356-05:00Why Make Health Insurance Difficult?

Right Plan, Wrong StateI'm not sure what the right policy for health insurance is, but making things more complicated isn't one of them. My, admittedly not-so-well thought out plan is simple.Make everyone buy health insurance. It's no different for using a car, so why should it be any different for using health services.Yes, yes. I know there are big time difference between a person's health

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1132267201892760612005-11-29T16:55:00.000-05:002005-11-29T16:58:19.336-05:00Does Restricting Immigration Reduce Freedom?

Restricting Immigration Reduces FreedomDon Boudreaux is a libertarian economics professor at George Mason. In fact, Cafe Hayek is a libertarian blog that two like-minded professors maintain there. So I don't get why he doesn't understand how immigration restrictions can go hand in hand with liberty.The explaination is rather simple. What happens WITHIN the borders of the United States is

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1133225500925746012005-11-28T19:42:00.000-05:002005-11-28T22:08:14.306-05:0050 Babies a Year are alive after abortion

50 Babies a Year are alive after abortionSweet merciful crap. And that's not even the kicker. Apparently, there's a two year old mentioned in the article who was born after THREE attempted abortions. Needless to say, he's not in very good condition. But if there's 50 screwed up abortions in the UK (and very much possibly more), then I wonder what the statistics are here in the US. But the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1133205539787969862005-11-28T14:18:00.000-05:002005-11-28T14:18:59.860-05:00The Marginal Product of Sports Columnists is Zero

Pardon the Quite FranklyEven though, I'm a sports fan, I'm not a fan of these shows. I could just give a ranking of how each show should be in the pecking order of obnoxiousness, but that would be meaningless.For the most part, the author of this article has it right, although he misses on some points.First off, I'd like to see this "study" that the grad student at Missou put out. Right now,

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1132349793306606012005-11-18T16:34:00.000-05:002005-11-18T16:36:33.320-05:00Email

I've decided that the Feedbag could use an email address. Thus, the Political Feed(Mail)Bag is born. Click the link on the sidebar below the archives to send us hate mail. Or love. Or porn. Because that's what the internet is for.

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1131673085480219302005-11-17T21:01:00.000-05:002005-11-18T12:05:03.330-05:00Pro-family Policy

The Party of Sam's ClubI'm only going to touch this briefly and make a general criticism. You may reply in the comments box if you want me to go futher and deeper into this.The breakdown of the family has been a topic of conversation for more than 20 years now. Divorce rates are up, numbers of single-parent families are up, the nuclear family has been thrown to the dustbin of history. Or

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1132168191023270762005-11-16T14:07:00.000-05:002005-11-16T14:09:51.040-05:00The Moral Problems of Dining and Dashing

Briefly, I want to bring a question to everyone who reads this (yes, all nine of you). I argued last night with Luisa that it was acceptable to not pay for a meal that was of God-awful quality. Basically, I argued that if you got horrible food with horrible service, it would be ok to not pay your tab and just leave the restaurant. (With the obvious intention of never coming back again). Luisa

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1131572694158341532005-11-09T16:42:00.000-05:002005-11-09T16:44:54.160-05:00The Troughs

We all know that you can't get enough of the Feedbag. That is all 11 of you that read this every day. But there are just some days that we don't write. Ok, make that most days. But that doesn't mean that you still can't get enough of your yummy political goodness. And who better than Dan and I to show you what you should be reading. Thus was born... The Troughs. When the Feedbag isn't

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9102059.post-1131059767259047232005-11-07T23:44:00.000-05:002005-11-07T23:44:55.413-05:00A litigious society

Doping, Torts, and Monetary Damages(A moment of full disclosure: I despise lawyers. Society would be a million times better if we just got rid of the lot of them. I lose respect for people who want to be lawyers or are lawyers. I can't stand them. I think the movie "The Devil's Advocate" was a pretty good representation of lawyers, except they didn't show as much greed or lying as would

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09474509066017707326noreply@blogger.com