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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

The Problem and the Solution

November 8th, 2014 No comments

The other morning I went to a Starbucks I am well acquainted with and know the flow of customer traffic.  I went at a time when there would be a really good cross section of people: high school and college students, young adults, and older people.  I concentrated at first on high school students; I knew they were just killing a few minutes before hurrying on to school. 

 

I went from table to table, sitting down in a chair, and saying to the somewhat surprised students sitting around the table, “I’m William Bradshaw.  I’m a writer working on an article, and I need your help.  Would you mind answering a few questions?”  The responses were always in the affirmative. Read more…

Working or Fighting: Your Choice

October 30th, 2014 No comments

Leading up to next week’s elections—November 4—the mail, newspapers, radio, and TV are saturated with political ads.  Time and again, Democrats and Republicans say, “I’m going to fight for you.”  That’s the big problem we have on all levels of government—there’s just too much fighting.  I’m looking for the candidate who says, “I’m going to work for you.”   We need politicians who spend time “working”—not “fighting”—with their fellow legislators on the other side of the aisle. 

 

We hear political pundits—both the Democrats and Republicans—saying it is a mistake to compromise: “We must stand up and fight for what we believe in.”  It is important to hold firm on principles that are the very core of who you are, but in most instances, it is possible to reach consensus.  However, it takes “give” and “take”—and that takes work—it doesn’t just happen. Read more…

Wanning Influence of Religion in U.S.A.

October 3rd, 2014 No comments

On Monday of this past week, the Pew Research Center released the results of a poll taken earlier this month about religion, with this heading, “Public Sees Religion’s Influence Waning.”  The survey addressed a wide range of religious topics relating to life in America.  

The first question in the poll was: “At the present time, do you think religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life or losing its influence?”  The answers: 72% answered losing its influence; 22% said increasing its influence; and 6 percent responded the same or don’t know.  “Losing its influence” is up five percentage points from 2010, to the highest level in Pew Research polling.  

Most people who say religion is losing its influence in American life see this as a negative development, Read more…

Ingenious Compromise: Reason for Hope

August 1st, 2014 No comments

Here are some headlines appearing in major newspapers recently:

  • “A Deeply Divided Supreme Court . . .”;
  • “Divided Congress is Deeply Fractionalized . . .”;
  • “The Deep Divide in Congress . . .”;
  • “Obama Warns a Divided Congress . . .”;
  • “The Sharp Political Divide in America . . .”;
  • “The Most Divided Congress Ever . . .” 

These stories all suggest that the United States today is so divided along political lines that the politicians are unable to pass meaningful legislation and that judges (even in the Supreme Court) are unable to make unbiased legal decisions.  But does a sharply divided America necessarily mean that no meaningful legislation can emerge from our political leaders on both sides of the aisle?  I don’t think so!  Read more…

Getting Bids–Yes or No?

July 26th, 2014 2 comments

We frequently hear about the need for governments—local, county, state, and federal—to get competing bids, and too often we learn after the fact that contracts were let without getting bids.  But many people ask, “Does getting competing bids really make any difference?”  I have the evidence for a definitive answer to that question.

 

Before telling you of a personal experience I had this week, let me point out that probably every reader of this blog gets bids for themselves.  For example, when we are in need of an expensive item (such as a new or used car, a new stove or refrigerator, a new washing machine and drier, or a new computer or printer), most of us will shop around, looking at different models and going to at least a couple of stores or dealers before deciding what to buy.  Although we do not usually ask the salesperson for a formal bid, we are, by shopping around, exercising our own process of bid taking. 

 

But sometimes we find it helpful to get formal bids.  That happened to me this week. Read more…

The National Debt

February 24th, 2014 Comments off

Democrats and Republicans are blitzing us with propaganda about the national debt.? My purpose here is not to side with either political party, but to add understating to the subject. ?Contrary to what many people think, China is not our largest creditor.? Our largest creditor is our Social Security Trust Fund.? But, if that?s the case, are we really in debt?? Do we have to pay ourselves back?? To understand all of this, let?s take a very brief look at history.?

Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Treasurer, was also experienced in banking.? Each state had accumulated debt in helping finance the Revolutionary War (1775-1783).? In 1790, Hamilton instituted a program of repaying the war debt to each of the thirteen states.? The payments were from the federal treasury with a certain amount going to each state, earmarking how much was for interest and how much for principal.???

For the next one hundred twenty-five years, the primary debt our nation took on was for fighting wars?the War of 1812, Read more…