Author: Bob Weeks
-
What’s Good for Gander Not Good For Goose
However, Gander Mountain and its developer, Oppidan Investment Co., argue granting special favors to any one retailer leads down a slippery slope. “If you give [a tax break] to a Wal-Mart, should you give it to Target? If you give it to Home Depot, then should you give it to Lowe’s? And if you give…
-
No more smoking laws, please
There is no doubt in my mind that smoking cigarettes and breathing secondhand smoke are harmful to health. If a young person asked my advice as to whether to smoke cigarettes, I would strongly urge them to avoid smoking. But it doesn’t follow that we should have laws against smoking, or laws that govern how…
-
The advantage of being Warren Buffet
The recent news that Warren Buffet is giving away the bulk of his fortune to charity is good news to me, as I greatly prefer private charity to government spending of taxes. That’s true for me even if Mr. Buffet were to use his philanthropy to support causes that I might not agree with. But…
-
I have nothing to offer
One of the appeals of big government is that is has so much to offer everyone. Those, myself included, who want government to radically reduce its size, intrusiveness, and power have nothing to offer except freedom and liberty. Sadly, those things don’t seem to matter to many people today. Or perhaps people have forgotten what…
-
What to do with others’ money
In a June 20, 2006 Wichita Eagle editorial, Rhonda Holman writes about the WaterWalk project in Wichita. Evidently there is controversy over the public not knowing the name of the “destination restaurant” that is being courted and favored with a gift of $1 million. To me, the controversy is not the identify of the restaurant…
-
The AirTran subsidy and its unseen effects
In a June 16, 2006 column, Wichita Eagle editorial writer Rhonda Holman again congratulates local and state government for its success in renewing the AirTran subsidy, and for getting the entire state of Kansas to help for it.
-
Arts funding in Wichita produces controversy
As local government tries to decide which arts and cultural institutions are to receive government funds, controversy arises. A June 8, 2006 Wichita Eagle article titled “Arts panel biases alleged” tells how some funding applicants are upset that some of the members of the funding committee have ties to organizations that also applied for funds.…
-
Wichita Eagle Editorial Blog not recommended
In June, 2005, the editors of The Wichita Eagle started a blog, the Wichita Eagle Editorial blog, or WE Blog. The way this blog works it that one of the Eagle editors starts a topic, and then the public can add comments.
-
Government harms those it means to help
A column by economist Thomas Sowell Preserving a Vision–at the Expense of the Facts tells just how harmful big-government liberalism is to those it aims to help. In particular, black families have been harmed. “… the black family, which survived centuries of slavery and generations of discrimination, has disintegrated in the wake of the liberal…