How War Powers Are Abused to Sell Wars Like Hawking Cereal
War powers are defined in the Constitution’s Article 1, front and center. Today I ask: Should war start because the people want it, or because a few military experts meeting behind closed doors say it’s necessary? Congress builds and funds the military and has the power to declare war. But, the last time Congress actually declared….Read more
Whose Democracy? The 17th Amendment Changed How Senators Get to Congress
American citizens are used to heavily contested Senate races, such as the frenzy set off by Judge Roy Moore’s special election in Alabama. Bleating ads on tv, robo-calls to homes, blizzards of mail. Yet in the original Constitution, Senators were selected by state legislatures, not elected by the people. Why was that? The original Constitution of 1787 included….Read more
Why the Seventh Amendment Is a Game Changer
Ever been ripped off by a company or injured by someone else? Did you have to take that company or person to court? The Constitution says it’s your right to a jury trial when you confront someone for harming you. That’s enshrined in the Seventh Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Alexander Hamilton opposed the….Read more
Social Media Scandal, 19th Century Style
It’s a story many of us know all too well. Someone is slandered behind their back. Excluded from social gatherings. Gossiped about. And then they fight back. The consequences get political. No, we’re not talking about today’s sexual harassment scandals. Peggy O’Neal lived in Andrew Jackson’s time. Jackson emphatically took the side of the common person, a woman looked….Read more
[VIDEO] Soaking the Rich?
Congress passed a tax bill in December 2017 that did several things for you if you have a great deal of taxable wealth. For example, the estate tax now only applies to larger estates of more than $10 million. It used to be $5.6 million. We’ve talked about the idea behind all taxes; here we focus on….Read more
How a Book Saved the World From Nuclear War
…and fire is the Devil’s only friend. American Pie, by Don McLean Guest post by historian Glenn LeBoeuf When John F. Kennedy became president in 1961, he ‘inherited’ a C.I.A. operation, the ill-fated ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion of Cuba. JFK merely had to rubber-stamp the orders to launch and Cuban ex-patriots trained by the CIA….Read more
[VIDEO] What Good Are Report Cards?
When report cards are given is an emotional time for students, parents, and teachers alike. Things like transcripts, Grade Point Averages, and standardized testing means high stakes for everyone. Teaching, and then measuring learning, is a very complex endeavor. A music teacher, gym teacher and an English teacher have such different pedagogical methods that no one type of evaluation….Read more
Battle Lines Being Drawn: The Politics of Gerrymandering
How does a party with a minority of votes get a majority of seats in a legislature? Is that how democracy is supposed to work? The population is counted every ten years and then states re-draw the lines for voting districts. The trouble begins when the state legislature draws lines that favor one political party over another. This….Read more
[VIDEO] What’s Meant By States’ Rights?
It’s one of those terms that gets thrown around so easily: states’ rights. Across the ideological spectrum, the principle has been invoked by many causes in many places for centuries. Don’t worry, we’ll cut to the historical chase. Government in America is like the layers of a cake. The national government is supreme in its areas of responsibility,….Read more