It now appears that Mecklenburg County will have to plug at least a $4.1-million gap in its recently approved budget, courtesy of the state withholding lottery revenue from counties. The latest from a memo County Manager Harry Jones sent today to commissioners: Obviously, one of the major questions is the impact of reduced State appropriation […]
As someone who teaches people about economics on a daily (or nightly) basis, I’m always on the lookout for a good object lesson, especially one that demonstrates a fundamental difference of principal between the “collectivist” and the “Free Market” outlook. And it would certainly be hard to pass up on the (Frank-Dodd) “Financial Reform” bill, […]
The first commercial cell phone was the Motorola DynaTAC8000x. Introduced in 1983, it had a retail price of $3,995. It was 10 inches high, not counting its rubber-duck antenna, and weighed almost two pounds. Today Radio Shack will sell you an LG 420G cell phone for $20. Probably more reliable than Motorola’s original, the 420G […]
What do the American financial ‘panics’ of 1785; 1792; 1819; 1837; 1857; 1873; 1893; 1907 and 1929 have in common with the one we are still dealing with today? They all eventually ‘went away’. Didn’t they? We are still here, aren’t we? We have had some real humdingers of financial panics throughout our history, […]
Sometimes, the unfortunate consequence of the indiscriminant use of a shotgun in close quarters is the unintended wounding of one’s friends. Such is the case with Mel Morganstein’s editorial, Presbyterian Church USA Wants to Declare Israel an Occupier of “Palestine.” The nature of Mr. Morganstein’s unfortunate broad brush attack on Presbyterians would be clear and […]
Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 5175, the “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act”, by a vote of 219 to 206. Like most votes on Capitol Hill these days, the vote was highly partisan; of the 219 “aye” votes, only two were Republicans (Mike Castle of […]
In a very bigoted fit of “stonecasting, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) is asking its members to approve a statement next month calling for Israel to withdraw from the “illegal occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza, and for the US to halt all military and economic assistance to Israel. The Church speciously claims that […]
Political opportunism reigns during election years. A candidate need make only one misstep, one errant statement, for an opponent to move in for the kill. Sometimes the blunder is real. Other times it’s a matter of spin and perception. Nevada’s ex-Senate candidate Sue Lowden, a Republican, learned this lesson firsthand. Lowden became a target when […]
Send us your favorite tunes (editor@pundithouse.com) and we’ll work them into the rotation. This is the Beastie Boys. Enjoy.
Politics is a curious study and there are many ways of participation. For those of more than a cursory interest there have always been breakfast and lunch and evening get-togethers where friends discuss issues and people of interest. Today there is the internet with blogs, websites and email, which brings me to my tale. There is […]
