“Every person ought to have the awareness that purchasing is always a moral – and not simply an economic – act,” Pope Francis announced early this year. How can we spend our money as if our values matter? In some sectors and for some values this is fairly easy. Food is an obvious example. Those who … Read More
“Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me.” A fine sentiment, but any child subjected to cyber bullying knows that words do indeed matter. Language evolves. Sometimes a word that once was negative becomes positive, like “terrific” which originally meant terrifying. Sometimes a word that was once positive becomes negative, as … Read More
The catalyst for a recent column by David Brooks was a speech delivered by his New York Times colleague Anand Giridharadas at the Aspen Action Forum. (Giridharadas writes the Letter from America column for the Global Edition of the Times) Giridharadas questioned the “Aspen Consensus” that the wealthy and powerful, the benefactors of the Aspen Institute, could be … Read More
In its policies toward Greece, the “Troika” — a new shorthand for the combined will of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund — has actively and enthusiastically embraced Maggie Thatcher’s social and political philosophy, memorably captured in her chilling assertion, “There is no such thing as society.” That philosophy has found its … Read More
On May 8th at Nike’s headquarters, President Obama denounced opponents of the hotly contested Trans-Pacific Partnership as ill informed. “(C)ritics warn that parts of this deal would undermine American regulation….They’re making this stuff up. This is just not true. No trade agreement is going to force us to change our laws.” On May 18th the World … Read More
Under what has become known as the “dark store” method, big-box retailers are declaring their busy stores to be functionally obsolescent and therefore nearly worthless for tax purposes —and they’re winning big judgments for back taxes. It’s the latest example of the way that, even as local governments continue to bend over backwards to attract big-box development, these stores are consistently a bad deal for communities. … Read More
For much of our history, trade agreements were considered treaties. According to the Constitution they had to be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The House does not participate in ratification of treaties (Article II, Section 2). By the late 19th century Congress realized it was far too cumbersome to require a Congressional vote … Read More
Welcome to the Archive of the American Voice 2004 Project. The bedrock of good government is an informed citizenry. American Voice 2004 was launched in mid 2004 to fill a need to go beyond 15 second soundbites and attack ads and one-sided perspectives. We aspired to fill the need for reasoned debate leading up to the … Read More
American Voice 2004 was a project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance launched during the presidential election campaign of 2004. Strong communities depend on an active and involved population. And that calls for easy access to credible and pertinent information. American Voice 2004 strove to provide such information on national policy and national issues. Ask Dr. … Read More
