Saturday, November 3, 2018

Current Events Write-Up: 11/3/2018

Time for this week’s Current Events Write-Up.

The Economy

The Federalist: “When Attacking the Federal Reserve, Trump Actually Attacks Anyone with Savings,” by Christopher Jacobs.

Conventional Ron-Paulite wisdom is that an easy money supply leads to inflation. Christopher Jacobs provides evidence that this is happening.

LewRockwell.com: “Hitler’s Economics,” by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Hitler and Keynes.

Health Care

The Federalist: “How an Obscure Regulatory Change Could Transform American Health Insurance,” by Christopher Jacobs.

Can’t say I understood this, but I am saving it for future reference. The outcome of this policy would be portable health insurance. It reminds me somewhat of John McCain’s 2008 plan, and the plan that Republicans were floating during George W. Bush’s second term.

Townhall: “Supreme Court Decision Will Mean Higher Pharmaceutical Prices,” by Andrew Wilford.

A tax that suppresses supply and competition.

Immigration

Townhall: “The True History of Millstone Babies,” by Ann Coulter.

I do not endorse Ann Coulter’s snark, but she does have a way of crystallizing issues. Here, she challenges the idea that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants in the United States.

The Federalist: “Here’s the Key Clause in the Birthright Citizenship Debate, Briefly Explained,” by Elad Hakim.

Basically a polite, more detailed version of the Ann Coulter piece.

Election

Politico: “The Democrats’ Culture Divide,” by David Freedlander.

Here’s the subtitle: “Energized progressives are thrilled with their momentum in the Trump era. But the party’s blue-collar base might not want what the new left is delivering.” The article was a little contradictory: it said that the rich progressives support socially democratic candidates, yet they are reluctant to pay more taxes for government health insurance. The article also presented a disturbing detail about Ocasio-Cortez’s opposition to an affordable housing measure.

The Federalist: “Steve King Isn’t a Nazi, but He Still Shouldn’t Be Re-elected,” by Lyman Stone.

Where Stone thinks Steve King was right, where Stone thinks Steve King was wrong, and where Stone thinks Steve King was just plain tacky.

Other

The Federalist: “No, Pence Did Not Invite a Messianic Jew to Pray at Pittsburgh,” by Chad Felix Greene. 

Presents more nuance to the situation. What I got out of the article was: No, that’s not what happened, but so what if it did? I oppose demonizing Messianic Jews. At the same time, that may not have been an appropriate way to respond to the Pittsburgh tragedy.

“Liberals Seek Ban on Metaphors in Wake of Arizona Shooting,” by Ann Coulter.

This is actually an old column, dated to January 12, 2011. It responds to those who blamed the Arizona shooting on Palin putting bulls-eyes on politicians’ districts. This column came to mind due to the recent attempts to blame Donald Trump for tragedies.