A Chicago Blog

We should embrace free speech in this country, even when it is offensive. Unerringly. But whenever a certain “speech” touches on our personal or national symbology it is very natural to be outraged. The millions of men and women who have served this country in the military, who have risked their lives, and who have [...]

I picked up a copy of David From’s Comeback and will be be posting a series of blogs over the coming weeks with my thoughts on the book. The short version of From’s argument is that Republicans have to get over Ronald Reagan. According to From “Reagan Republicanism offers solutions to the problems of forty [...]

Here’s an interesting survey released last week by Rasmussen. Unfortunately, they won’t give me direct access to the data, without pay … and I’m too cheap to pay.:
Forty-one percent (41%) of American voters say they are conservative when it comes to “fiscal issues such as taxes, government spending, and business regulation.” A Rasmussen Reports national [...]

Jim Harper at Cato is arguing against mandated product labeling for fast-food restaurants. He writes:
If consumers had unlimited attention, the surfeit of notices would be an unqualified good thing. But consumer attention is not unlimited. Consumers quickly learn to ignore notices that don’t interest them. Notices can easily confuse consumers. Mandated notices often provide information [...]

TIME published an article this week entitled “Libertarians Rising.” In it, Michael Kinsley attempts to flatter the movement by suggesting they are a growing force in American politics. He writes:
The chance of the two political parties realigning so conveniently is slim. But the party that does well in the future will be the one that [...]

I’m probably one of two or three people who actually thinks this is funny … but I just can’t help myself.

So here’s a study:
Keysar and his colleagues arranged two blocks on a table so participants could see both. However, a piece of cardboard obstructed the view of one block so a “director,” sitting across from the participant, could only see one block.
When the director asked 20 American participants (none of Asian descent) to move a [...]

Barry Schwartz has written a fascinating commentary for The New York Times questioning whether or not the city should be offering its public school children cash rewards for good behavior.
To paraphrase Schwartz’s (accurately I hope), financial incentives undermine the intrinsic value of education. That is, entering self-interest into the education equation will diminish the more [...]

I spend most of my time (when I’m not doing productive things) trying to figure out what the heck the immigration debate is about. But at least part of it is about tax dollars. From the Trib:
Cook County will pay private nursing homes to care for undocumented immigrants who are currently staying at county-owned [...]

Harold Henderson links an interesting question from HNN … why do we as a nation remember Plymouth Rock more than Jamestown. I can’t even begin to talk intelligently about this … but I thought Jamestown flirted with rationing and “communism” (for lack of better terminology) and almost failed as a result? That would seem to [...]