Quote of the Day

"To the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the Govornment the Government should not support the people.  The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune.  This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated.  Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."                                                             
                                                                                                   -Grover Cleveland

Government Stimulus and Artificial Value, Part 2

Good morning, dear readers.  Please enjoy Part 2 of Wednesday's article.  Keep in mind when reading this that the administration recently reported that a good part (more than half) of the recent GDP growth was attributable to the "Cash for Clunkers" program and other initiatives funded exclusively by the government (when I or anyone else says "funded by the government," at all times read "funded by the tax payers").  For some reason we are supposed to consider this cause for celebration.

Quote of the Day

"While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill - little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago." 
                                                   
                                                                                            -John Adams

Introducing the Quote of the Day

Good evening, dear readers.  We are going to begin posting quotes daily by people whose economic and political views have been founded on sound principles, and who we believe have been instrumental in shaping the country and the American economy constructively.  Granted, this is often done in forums of opinion, but Weave and I feel very strongly that the wisdom of the past, which produced the principles upon which the most amazing experiment in statesmanship in the history of the world was founded, is being in large part drowned out by newer voices advocating the implementation of principles (political and economic) that have proven time and time again not to work.

You can still read our articles Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but now you may look forward daily to the words of history.  We urge you to judge based on these words, keeping in mind the track records and prominence of the men and women who uttered them, what was truly intended by the founders of our country and economic system, and whether those intentions led to positive results.  I think it appropriate to begin with some words from our first president.

"There is no practice more dangerous than that of borrowing money; for when money can be had in this way, repayment is seldom thought of in time, the interest becomes a loss, exertions to raise it by dent of industry cease, it comes easy and is spent freely, and many things indulged in that would never be thought of if [they were] to be purchased by the sweat of the brow."


                                                                                                                                   -George Washington

Government Stimulus and Artificial Value, Part 1

Good morning, dear readers.  This is a piece I wrote about two months ago in response to claims that economic stimulus initiatives were working as intended.  Though Christina Romer, the chair of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, has claimed recently that stimulus has done the bulk of its work, there are rumblings in the halls of Congress that yet more stimulus money may be in order.  Those who know me best will tell you I have been against every stimulus attempt the government has made from the beginning, for the very simple reason that it counteracts all logical understanding of how economic forces work.  Economic advancement is propelled by the exact same forces from the individual citizen to the government, and those forces rely at all times on perceptions of value.  It is my belief that stimulus skews those perceptions, and so counteracts itself.  As an illustration, I have used the example with which I am most familiar: the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.  Please enjoy.

Introducing the Funhouse

Good evening, dear readers.  This is just a quick post for the evening (not replacing tomorrow's piece) to introduce everyone to the Funhouse, a blog run by Eric Morris.  Eric was kind enough to give Mens Dexter a boost on his blog, so we're doing the same.  I took the time to look over the Funhouse, and here's what I can tell you that you can expect:

1.  A conservative viewpoint, backed up constantly by video from news agencies (even the real ones) to support the argument put forth.

2.  A lot of fun stuff to break up the politics, as well as some uplifting and thoughtful material that transcends political lines.

Anyway, check it out, and remember to return to Mens Dexter tomorrow when we're going to be looking at value and some ways it affects the economy.  To Eric and anyone else affiliated with the Funhouse, thank you once more for the endorsement.

Parties in the United States

Hello all. This is my first post, and I hope to have many more like it. So, I assume a quick introduction is in order. I will be posting under the name of Weave as I do on all websites. Maybe you’ve seen me around, but most likely not seeing as how the internet is expansive. I’m currently a Junior in college and am deeply involved in political science. Over the course of many posts you will see where I stand on most issues and why I have such stances. But enough about me: let’s talk politics.

Today I would like to bring to attention a theory I’ve been working on for quite some time. There are more than two parties in the American political system. To clarify, I’m not talking about single issue parties such as the Abortion Party or the Light Party. Yes, I know that when a voter walks into the voting booth they have a choice of Democrat or Republican, but do those candidates truly represent what members of those parties believe in or are they members of smaller parties who feel that they need to have an R or a D stamped next to their name to stand a chance on the political battlefield? From what I have observed, the latter is nearer the truth. To further demonstrate this we're going to examine a list of what I believe are the political parties of America.