Month: January 2023

354 – Inspector Government

I received an email asking me to “delve into Rental Inspection Programs.” I have to admit, having lived my adult life in rural America and owning my own home for over 30 years, I haven’t had to deal rental inspection programs. While I was researching these programs, I realized they may be just the tip of a truly large iceberg.

353 – Qualified Immunity

Imagine you have immunity for any bad actions you take. You’ve probably heard of diplomatic immunity, where officials of other countries are shielded from prosecution. Then there’s sovereign immunity, when the head of government cannot be charged. But in America, our legal system has come up with the idea of qualified immunity. While the idea of qualified immunity may make sense, like so many other things, it has been badly abused by those in government.
The State of New York is considering legislation that may put the brakes on some of the abuses of qualified immunity. Would this make things better or worse?

352 – How Important is Freedom of Speech?

In 1722, writing as Silence Dogood, Benjamin Franklin wrote:

“Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech;”
Silence Dogood, No. 8, 9 July 1722

Why is freedom of speech so important? As Mr. Franklin stated, there is public liberty without it, but what does that mean. Yes, without freedom of speech people cannot express themselves, but there’s more. Without freedom of speech we would never be exposed to contradictory ideas, and we would never grow. The basis of the scientific method is the testing of contradictory ideas. If freedom of speech is so important, why do people keep tying to shut it down? Take New York State’s “Online Hate Speech Law”. Why is the State of New York attempting to get social media networks to act as government censors for them?

351 – The Intelligence Revenue Service

There are few things more universally feared and hatred than the IRS. When I’m asked about unconstitutional government agencies, and I point out that the IRS does exercise a power delegated to the United States, most people are gravely disappointed. While the IRS may legally exist, that does not mean that everything they do is constitutional.

350 – President or King?

When the Framers were drafting the Constitution, they had several examples both for how to create laws and execute them. Would the President be an executive or a king? Read Article II and you’ll see that we have an executive not a king. But is that how modern Presidents act? Alexander Hamilton discussed this in Federalist Papers #69. Let’s look at The Real Character of the Executive, then decide for ourselves whether the current and recent occupants of the office are worthy of it.