Archive for James L. Payne
Contributing editor James Payne has taught political science at Yale,Wesleyan, Johns Hopkins, and Texas A&M. His latest book is Six Political Illusions: A Primer on Government for Idealists Fed Up with History Repeating Itself.
Why the Titanic Is Sinking
The Declaration of Gratitude would destroy the assumption that government spending harms no one.
23Nov2011 | James L. Payne | 18 comments | ContinuedThe Preamble They Should’ve Written
Did the Founding Fathers get it right? Is the Constitution they drafted a secure basis for limited government? Many conservatives suppose so and believe the drift to big government has simply been a case of not reading the directions on the package. Last January these conservatives ordered that the Constitution be read aloud at the [...]
22Jun2011 | James L. Payne | 21 comments | ContinuedThe Preamble They Should’ve Written
If the Founding Fathers had wanted to block the drift toward big government, they should have written a preamble to the Constitution that extolled the virtue of the private sector.
27Apr2011 | James L. Payne | 54 comments | ContinuedCan Government Manage the Economy?
A doctor says he can cure illness by waving birch wands over the patient. We are skeptical, but being open-minded we agree to give him a chance with ailing Uncle George. He waves a red wand and chants something. The patient shows no improvement. “Let me try a green one,” he says. We’re still tolerant. [...]
21Apr2011 | James L. Payne | 2 comments | ContinuedCan Government Manage the Economy?
For 98 years the federal government has been attempting to prevent asset bubbles, recessions, and spasms of unemployment.
1Feb2011 | James L. Payne | 10 comments | ContinuedCan Government Save Us from Manmade Disasters?
Please, folks, can’t we have a little more sophistication about what it takes to prevent environmental disasters? The politicians seem to be stuck on the idea that more government is the solution, and many journalists echo the theme. In discussing the BP spill and several other manmade environmental disasters last summer, Washington Post reporters David [...]
22Oct2010 | James L. Payne | 3 comments | ContinuedCan Government Save Us from Manmade Disasters?
Overcoming environmental abuse is not likely to be achieved by governmental dictation.
16Aug2010 | James L. Payne | 7 comments | ContinuedA Busybody Behind Every Tree
If you happen to be flying into Reagan National Airport in summertime and look out the window, you will see that the suburbs of Washington, D.C, are heavily wooded. In many sections the trees are so thick it’s difficult to believe there are houses, let alone a major city, below. How did this suburban forest [...]
7Jul2010 | James L. Payne | 3 comments | ContinuedA letter*
Dear Lawyer, The following is a letter sent to A. J. De Bartolomeo of the San Francisco law firm of Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo on August 6, 2004, in connection with litigation against PayPal, the Internet payment company. The suit alleged that PayPal’s customers have been injured because PayPal “did not provide account statements [...]
2Jul2010 | James L. Payne | 0 comments | ContinuedAre Welfare State Orphans in Good Hands?
On February 22, 2010, a court in suburban Washington, D.C., passed judgment in one of the most horrendous cases of child abuse in modern times. Renee Bowman, the adopting parent of three girls, had for years starved, neglected, and beaten them, while keeping them locked night and day in their bedroom. She choked two of the [...]
20May2010 | James L. Payne | 4 comments | ContinuedA Health Insurance Criminal Pleads His Case
If mandatory health insurance goes through, it will turn me into a criminal. I don’t have health insurance. I don’t want it. And I will refuse to buy it even though I can afford it. Before they lead me to the cell, perhaps the prisoner may be allowed to say a few words in his [...]
24Mar2010 | James L. Payne | 21 comments | ContinuedThe Welfare State Kills Children
On February 22 a court in suburban Washington, D.C., passed judgment in one of the most horrendous cases of child abuse in modern times.
16Mar2010 | James L. Payne | 7 comments | ContinuedA Health-Insurance Criminal Pleads His Case
If mandatory health insurance goes through, it will turn me into a criminal. I don’t have health insurance. I don’t want it. And I will refuse to buy it even though I can afford it. Before they lead me to the cells, perhaps the prisoner may be allowed to say a few words in his [...]
16Nov2009 | James L. Payne | 8 comments | ContinuedIf You Really Love Volunteers, Mr. Obama . . .
Barack Obama gave volunteerism a big boost early this year, visiting service centers on Martin Luther King Day, greeting volunteers, and working alongside them. “Everybody’s got to be involved,” he said. “If we’re waiting for somebody else to do something, it never gets done. We’re going to have to take responsibility, all of us.” These [...]
23Sep2009 | James L. Payne | 1 comment | ContinuedThe “Watchful Eye” Fallacy
Because they are made of the same human stuff, it is unreasonable to expect government officials to correct errors being made in the marketplace. A look at the market failures Obama alluded to in his speech bears this out. Take the speculative bubble in housing. Did senators see the danger before the rest of us and pass laws to limit the purchase of real estate? Of course not. They participated in the housing boom along with everyone else.
21May2009 | James L. Payne | 4 comments | ContinuedSavoring “Three Cups of Tea”: An Essay on the Future of Politics
How can we make the world a better place? Truly this has been the $64,000 question of the modern age, and politicians and ideologists have bloodied the twentieth century clamoring against each other to offer the world their answer. Yet strangely, these disputing politicians and ideologists have all shared a basic premise. They have assumed [...]
1Apr2008 | James L. Payne | 28 comments | ContinuedVolunteer Railways in Britain
In 21st-century England you don’t expect to find a fireman shoveling coal into a steam locomotive, but that’s what 59-year old Paul Rimmer does. During his shift on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, he heaves two tons of coal from the tender of engine 45212 into its roaring firebox, a tougher job than almost any [...]
1Jan2008 | James L. Payne | 1 comment | Continued-
The Latest
Contraception: Insuring the Uninsurable
Update below. Controversy rages over the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers – including... Read More
The Snow Plowers’ Petition
The following might have happened in a small college town in upstate New York… In a cold and snowy... Read More
Super Bowl versus Education?
In the spirit of Super Bowl weekend I’d like to deconstruct a Facebook status update that a friend... Read More
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet.... Read More
