There’s 50 states in the USA. And 49 of them have something horribly wrong with their state governments. The sole exception? Nebraska. And what does Nebraska do right? They have a unicameral state legislature. Uni-what? Instead of having a senate and a house of representatives (or whatever the equivalent names are in various states), they have just a single chamber.
Some background: the US has a Senate and a House of Representatives. As you may or may not remember from your 10th-grade American History class, this was a compromise between the states with small populations (who favored an equal number of seats for each state) and the large states (who favored seats based on population). Eventually Roger Sherman masterminded the Connecticut Compromise, which led to our bicameral federal legislature.* Continue reading ‘bicameral state legislatures’
Before we begin, a semi-related cartoon for your education and entertainment:
I usually try to steer clear of politics, but given the out of control spending of the Bush and Obama administrations, I simply can’t stay silent. In the name of “economic recovery” or “stimulus” (since those sound better than “bailouts” and “corporate welfare” and “giving money to idiotic companies so that they can give huge bonuses to their executives”) the federal government has been on an out-of-control spending spree, one that could very well bankrupt future generations (read: “people my age”). Yet this stimulus spending is only a small part of the problem. We find ourselves in a demographic crunch in which a massive redistribution of wealth from workers to retirees may sink our country in a morass of debt from which we cannot escape. At the heart of this problem is Social Security, which was a bad idea when it began and is an even worse idea now. Continue reading ‘social security’
I hate smoking with a passion. It disgusts me tremendously. I don’t like the smell, I don’t like seeing other people harm their own health, I don’t like anything about it. If you smoke, you should quit right now. I especially hate it when I meet an attractive young woman and then see her light up a cigarette. So unappealing.
That being said, I’m also not a fan of the smoking bans that have been sweeping the country. Sure, smoking should be outlawed in government buildings, schools, and the like.* But restaurants, bars, casinos, or any other type of business? No way. Continue reading ‘smoking—and smoking bans’