March 05, 2015
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North Korea, under the control of a Mafia-style gangster family utterly ruthless in maintenance of its power, is similarly equipped.
Fifty years ago, communist China, under the autocratic control of a megalomaniac who had just got through watching impassively while his policies caused 30 million of his countrymen to die of starvation, got the bomb, and is now a major nuclear power.
Deterrence has an excellent track record, even with regimes at the furthest extremes of craziness and cruelty. Should Americans be concerned about Iran going nuclear? Why?
NATO. Europe has now recovered from WWII. Why is the U.S.A. still involved in European security?
Healthcare. We live in a welfare state, with federal provision for citizens who are old, disabled, hungry, or destitute. Why should we not take the extra small step to complete federal healthcare coverage”Medicaid for all who want it?
Education. What should be the primary function of the federal Department of Education?
Marriage. Which (if any) of the following types of union should be recognized by the federal government, e.g. for tax purposes and federal partner benefits, supposing the union to be licensed in one or more states?
Race preferences. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) the U.S. Supreme Court gave it as its majority opinion that race preferences in admissions to colleges receiving federal funds would no longer be necessary “25 years from now.”
Today we are nearly halfway through that 25-year span. Does the course of race relations over the past 12 years suggest to you that the court was correct, or not?
The Constitution. If you could use the office of president to help promote one constitutional amendment, what would it be?
The presidency. Given that the president receives a good salary while in office, a handsome pension after stepping down, and expense accounts in both cases, should there be legal restrictions on post-presidential activity?
Do you think it is seemly for the chief executive of our republic to use the prestige of the presidency to accumulate vast wealth after leaving office?
