Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
"Common Sense Dictates"
The Blog of the Thomas Paine Project
An open forum to explore the challenges facing the United States, and to propose practical solutions to address those challenges.
OK folks - this is a consumer protection piece. God knows we love the idea of cleaner energy and energy independence. We just base our strategy in the reality of where we are as opposed to where we can be in a few years. And yes, we can be there in a few years, maybe 8 maybe 12, maybe 20, no one knows when exactly, but it will come. It's just not here now. As Don ...
<< MORE >>So Newt won yet another debate. It's easier to figure that out now since there's not a multitude of candidates on the stage, all trying to fit a coherent answer into 30 seconds. Still, Newt usually walks away with the prize for debating skills. This doesn't minimize the skills of the other candidates - Rick Santorum argued conservatism forcefully and passionately. Rick Perry had his best debate showing yet. Mitt has been doing this for so ...
<< MORE >>We, as a nation have set aside the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr to honor the man and his work. Few men have made so indelible a mark on America as Dr. King. He did so by claiming the moral high ground, and mounting the struggle of his people from there. He gained progress for his people not because of his charisma (which he was blessed with), or his talent in making back room deals (now considered ...
<< MORE >>"It ain't over till the fat lady sings" goes the old saw about how long an opera lasts. We are now in the very first minutes of the GOP soap opera, and half of the punditry is looking for the exits. Most of them are putting a dress on Mitt, though in reality Newt fits the bill better. Seriously - it this over or only just beginning?
Mitt is the ...
<< MORE >>In what has become a yearly tradition, we are going to pack our wishlist time capsule to be opened in fifty years. We're sure that you will have additional suggestions, but we do feel that locking away these particular items will best convey the year 2011 to next generation and beyond.
For convenience, and because they are a pre-boxed set we include Osama Bin Laden, Muammar Gadaffi, and Kim Jong Il. If we act right now, we can get Kim jong ...
<< MORE >>When I was a boy, we were taught to reach for the moon. Literally. I was 10 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the dust of the lunar surface and left footprints that lie undisturbed to this day. A striving for excellence was the norm. We were taught that it required hard work, critical thinking and personal drive. We were competitive by nature, and though the end results for everyone were different, ...
<< MORE >>Well, Herman Cain's candidacy now joins the carnage of the other brief front sprinters. Newt has grabbed the baton for his charge ahead of Mitt, and we're wondering how long that will last. We think it's a good time to do a post-mortem on all of them, and try to get a handle on an extremely fickle electorate. We ask, are the fickle, or just very demanding of their candidate in very demanding times? We think ...
<< MORE >>We're sensing a bit of theater again - this time over the drama enfolding over the Super Committee. In the words of Shakespeare, it is "full of sound and fury", signifying nothing. Remember the last budget deal? We took a hard look in Crunching The Numbers . Our conclusions are being borne out. The debt limit was raised, and there were no real budget cuts achieved in return. ...
<< MORE >>These are tough times. The people in charge of America right now believe that the answer to these tough times is expanding the
role of government. Conservatives believe, as Ronald Reagan so eloquently put it that government is not the solution, it is the problem.
That got us thinking of two great novels that explored government as "the solution"- "1984" by George Orwell, and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Both books were extrapolations of what the authors could glean ...
<< MORE >>We haven't been shy in voicing our opinion that investing in gold at this point is a bad idea for a host of reasons - see Worshipping The Golden Calf . In short, to get the same return on investment as those people holding gold from it's last spike in the 80's (who only showed a profit on that gold in 2006), gold would have to double in price again. The people who really made ...
<< MORE >>We're going to stick with actual issues rather than take part in the media circus sucking all of the air out of the room. There has been little in the way of policy proposals offered by any of the GOP candidates. Two bright and bold dpeartures from the assault of talking points and uninspired sound bites have been in the area of tax reform. Herman Cain has offered 9 9 9, and Rick Perry has offered ...
<< MORE >>Muammar Gadaffi is dead. We all know that, except for the conspiracy theorists who believe him to be alive and well and planning his comeback. We saw the tape, and the pics of him on display in a meatlocker, and don't really think he will be booking Beyonce for a concert again.
The people of Libya have spoken - or more accurately a group of animals turned on one of it's own. As well as 53 Gadaffi loyalists who were ...
<< MORE >>We at TPP are walking away from the Vegas "debate" disappointed. We did the quick analysis last night and called it a breakfast buffet. The quick recap is that Romney was the eggs - lots of him, but not really very satisfying. Cain and Gingrich were the bacon - a guilty pleasure. Santorum was the potatoes - hearty but bland. Bachmann and Perry are toast - literally. And Ron Paul is the salsa - some tasty ...
<< MORE >>Let's get this straight - a dual-national Iranian used car salesman contracts out a Mexican drug cartel hit man to kill the Saudi Ambassador to America by blowing up his favorite DC restaurant. Then, if there's time, blow up the Israeli embassy. All of it is paid for by the Iranian government. That was the announcement made by Eric Holder, on a day when the focus had been on him being subpoenaed by Congress on the ...
<< MORE >>The field is locked up now. Christie and Palin are sitting it out. There's no one left to get in that anyone cares about. Truth be told, it's a good field - no one is perfect, but they all would be doing better than the current pretender-in-chief. Let's do one more once over, and then have fun with a bold suggestion.
Romney is having trouble making the sale, even though he's the smoothest candidate. ...
<< MORE >>Anwar al Awlaki is dead. For those who missed the news, he was a regional commander for Al Qaeda and a terrorist recruiter. He was an Imam who had connections with 3 of the 9/11 hijackers, the underwear bomber and the Ft. Hood shooter. Killed in the same strike was Samir Khan, who ran a flashy Al Qaeda online magazine, also recruiting disaffected Muslims to terrorism. Both were turned into charred hamburger by an unmanned predator ...
<< MORE >>California is once again leading the nation down the toilet. The state recently came to an agreement with Amazon.com where Amazon has "offered" to collect the state sales tax on items shipped to California, bringing it into compliance with a widely unpopular and ignored law. The "agreement" buys Amazon two years to come into compliance, which means that Californians can enjoy the benefit of shopping sales tax free at Amazon until the holiday season of 2013. ...
<< MORE >>In the Sept 19, 2011 edition of American Thinker, it is being reported that a CNN poll taken on August 24 - 25 is finding 27% of polled Democrats would prefer a nominee other than President Obama in 2012. This is not news to those of you who listen to talk radio - the story has been circulating on all of the major shows as a way to underline Obama's vulnerability to the GOP nominee. After ...
<< MORE >>Well, the GOP field is taking shape. The latest debate was high on drama, and the
candidates are starting to shake up the static lock that the media has placed on who gets talked about. The 2 big guns are still getting the most attention, but the second tier is starting to
assert itself, in ways that are both helpful and hurtful. This is what we take away from this latest showcase:
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