http://commonsensible.blogivists.com This is a discussion blog based on Paul Jacob's Common Sense Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:40:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en We often lament the abuse of eminent domain power that occurs when the property of one private owner is forcibly transferred to another private owner. But this doesn’t mean all grabbing of property for “public use” is honorable or sensible. Government officials too often mindlessly deploy their power, simply because they ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/07/09/too-much-trouble-to-respect-rights/ The blogger Alaskan Librarian has a list of things he’d like done by the next president. I share at least one of his wishes, “to see policy formulated in the open.” Specifically, he wants candidates to sign the Reason Foundation’s “Oath of Presidential Transparency.” The pledge has two parts. The first ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/07/07/a-wish-for-presidential-transparency/ Barack Obama’s record as a maverick, either in the U.S. Senate or his years as an Illinois legislator, is slender at best. Behind the self-avowed reformer’s rhetoric, his policies seem typical, demanding ever-bigger government, ever-more intrusive government. But there’s at least one reform practiced by candidate Obama that could yield some ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/07/03/a-real-reform-for-obama/ Choices. Gotta love 'em. But they can be a kick in the pants, too. A few weeks ago I chose to criticize Subway for a kids' essay contest that didn't allow homeschoolers to participate. And I pointed out two misspellings in its printed rules. And, wouldn't you know it, my readers ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/07/01/mistakes-were-made/ The First Amendment recognizes some very basic rights: * to speak truth to power, personally and through the press; * to practice our religion — or not — as we choose; * to associate with others and peaceably assemble together; ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/07/01/i-second-that-amendment/ Experience counts. For years I've been saying that a person can bring applicable experience to a new job, including a legislative job, and be effective right away. An accountant might get elected and still, as a freshman legislator, look at a state budget and say, "Uh, folks, the government is spending ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/06/27/experience-in-tyranny/ Even in his second term as South Carolina’s governor, Mark Sanford continues to flout the political establishment’s typical way of doing things. A former congressmen who pledged to limit his tenure to three terms max, Sanford was one of a number of self-limiters in the Congress who showed that keeping ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/06/27/still-cage-rattling/ Here’s a story about a government board whose members endlessly dish out taxpayer money. And want endless years in power to keep doing so. Recently, members of the Santa Clara water board approved steep salary hikes for two of their staffers, making them the highest-paid for their jobs in all of ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/06/25/waterboarding-term-limits/ Millionaire entrepreneur Norman Braman, an auto dealer, may not be going as far as I’d like in his campaign against a proposed Miami baseball stadium. But so far as he goes, I’m with him all the way. My question is — Why should any government entity ever be spending taxpayer money ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/06/25/foul-play/ Do you ever get tired of hearing certain words? This election, I’m already sick of “change.” And hey: I want change; demand it. But the only change I can believe in is change with some specifics attached. Put “Change” on hold, politicians, go to a thesaurus and look for another word. For a ... http://commonsensible.blogivists.com/2008/06/23/decrease-your-vocabulary/