What did America’s founders say about economic inequality? Rather than unload statistics about the reality of inequality in America today, which we have done on other occasions, this post considers inequality based on the economic principles on which our republic was founded. These principles remind us why economic inequality is not necessarily an injustice, but rather a necessary component of any prosperous society. Property Rights Far from the notion of merely owning physical property, the founders understood property rights to include “natural rights.” In an essay on property rights in …
Two years ago, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) shocked many Americans by dismissing a question about Obamacare’s constitutionality with the flippant retort: “Are you serious? Are you serious?” So much for the oath she swore to “support and defend” the Constitution. By comparison, the current Speaker of House, John Boehner (R–OH) demonstrates that he takes his oath far more seriously. Raising concerns about Obama’s recent decision to bypass Congress and unilaterally change student loan and mortgage policy, Speaker Boehner pledged that the House will keep “a very close eye on …
What is America? What is this country fundamentally about? By and large, pundits and politicians on the right and the left don’t seem to get it. Some come close, but there is a widespread failure to explain why the Founders established this republic. On this date in history, two of the clearest expressions of the American ideal were first articulated. On October 27, 1787, a young Alexander Hamilton, writing under the pen name Publius, published the first Federalist paper in New York’s Independent Journal. In the very first paragraph, he …
Like an eager kid who desperately wants to be included in his cooler older brother’s activities, America looks to the European Union for cues on sophisticated governance. But what happens when that cooler older brother is middle-aged, unemployed, and still living in your parents’ basement? This is America’s dilemma. Will America learn from Europe’s mistakes? Or, will America continue to be enamored with the European Union, despite its failed policies and unsound philosophical grounding? Practical problems of governance abound in the EU. Great Britain, Germany, Spain, France all agree: multiculturalism …
The future of democracy is at stake in Wisconsin. According to Paul Krugman, “what Mr. Walker and his backers are trying to do is to make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a third-world-style oligarchy.” Thousands stormed the Wisconsin state capitol to protest Scott Walker (the “Mubarak of Madison”) and his proposals for public-sector unions. Over the past few weeks, state Senators hid out in an Illinois Motel 6, protesters littered war memorials with posters and pamphlets, doctors wrote fake notes for …
The House of Representatives is not merely a larger Senate. The Constitution divided the legislative branch into two Houses, with different constituencies, term lengths, sizes, and functions for each house. For example, only the Senate offers advice and consent on treaties and appointments of judges and executive officials. And as Erik M. Jensen explains in his Constitutional Guidance for Lawmakers essay, only the House of Representatives holds the power to raise revenue – an essential element of the power of the purse. Federalist No. 58 described the House’s power over …
Just in time for today’s recognition of Bill of Rights Day, the anonymous scribe within The Heritage Foundation – self-identified only as ”A Conservative” — pushed the send button on a fifth electronic circular under the nameplate “New Common Sense.” The e-circular, which bears the headline “The Constitution Protects Us Too,” reads as follows: On Dec. 15, 1791, the first 10 amendments were added to the Constitution after being ratified by three-quarters of the states. Many Americans have taken to praising these amendments, collectively called the Bill of Rights, as providing the true protection …
