Two and a half years into his presidency, President Trump would already have built a hotel and casino on the floor of the Grand Canyon straddling the Colorado River — if he could. No doubt it would be completed with a giant Trump sign, standing atop a towering column that flashed at the eye level of tourists gazing down into
Read moreBy Russell Glass Editor’s Note: This guest post was contributed by Russell Glass, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of the new children’s book “Voting With a Porpoise.” In a previous post, I described how to talk politics to people who disagree with you: 1) tell compelling stories that 2) invoke at least one important morality and 3) talk about existing
Read moreBy Stan Holt Saying you love the U.S. Postal Service today is a little like saying you love taxis in the age of Uber and self-driving cars. Or coal in the age of solar. Who would mourn snail mail? Can’t you get everything worth getting digitally now? Would you — or the earth’s forests — miss the junk mail? But
Read moreSometimes bumper stickers get right to the truth. Case in point, the bumper sticker that reads, “The Labor Movement: The Folks Who Brought You the Weekend.” Unions fought hard for victories that still benefit the overwhelming majority of Americans: safe workplaces, child labor bans, healthcare benefits, pensions, and of course, the 40-hour work week, aka the weekend. Fighting for these
Read moreSuccessful men like Bill Gates, and successful women like Sheryl Sandberg, are commonly thought to have risen to the top of the business world solely because of their own gifts and grit. It’s a concept popularized by Ayn Rand’s novels: captains of industry realize their own greatness completely on their own—in spite of the government (and the mediocre bureaucrats who
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You could be forgiven for thinking the bulk of the federal government’s budget goes to welfare, foreign aid, and supporting illegal immigrants.
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Many Americans look to the 1950s under the Eisenhower Administration as a golden age of government, and wonder what has gone wrong since. These Americans believe today’s federal government consistently does a poor job, as illustrated by the sneer “good enough for government work.” In a capitalist society, we show what we value by what we invest in. And one
Read moreThere’s no debate. In the United States, income and wealth inequality have skyrocketed in the past 40 years, with wealth becoming concentrated in ever fewer hands. Here are some telling statistics: In 1989, the top 10 percent of families in the U.S. controlled 67 percent of the wealth. The bottom 50 percent of families controlled 3 percent of the wealth,
Read moreBy Sean Callahan GoodGovernmentReader.com has many missions: We’re out to show that your taxes aren’t wasted, that government is widely effective, and that elected officials aren’t universally corrupt. We also like to remind people that part of the Constitution’s charter is to “promote the general welfare.” It’s right there in the preamble. Obviously, I’m a believer in the power of
Read moreThis post was contributed by Michael Breen, an energy industry executive. You like your mobile phone, don’t you? In fact, many of you are probably reading this post on your smart phone. The amazing device you hold in your hand is equal parts phone, record player, newspaper, television, wallet, email tool and more, all wrapped up into a single astonishing
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What Has The Government Ever Done for Us? 