Paul Jacob

Paul Jacob

Receive Updates from Paul Jacob

 

Penny for your thoughts

By Paul Jacob (Dec 28, 2008)

A difficult year lies ahead. The country is not only broke, it is deeply mired in debt. Major companies have gone belly-up, and have been bailed out . . . or not. Credit is... more

The Blagojevich of the Iceberg

By Paul Jacob (Dec 21, 2008)

We've had our fun sniping about how corrupt the state of Illinois can be, how Gov. Rod Blagojevich is just the latest from a state noted for its smoke-filled rooms, payola,... more

A day for rights

By Paul Jacob (Dec 14, 2008)

The 217th anniversary of an event cannot warrant an especially big celebration. As far as I know, 217 isn’t a celebratory number. Not like 200, or, perhaps 222 (that’s for... more

Where have you gone, Sheriff Taylor?

By Paul Jacob (Dec 07, 2008)

Some time back I posed a question: “Could the most important thing one does for one’s community be to send a pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution to local politicians and... more

In open contests, voters beat politicians

By Paul Jacob (Nov 30, 2008)

Well, it’s all over but the inauguration. With the political season finished, the ephemeral divisions of society can be downplayed long enough to view the enduring conflict,... more

In need of bankruptcy?

By Paul Jacob (Nov 23, 2008)

Looking for something to be thankful for? How about the fact that you are not too big to fail? There are advantages to not being rich, or all that important. The rules... more

The next crisis, the next choice

By Paul Jacob (Nov 16, 2008)

The federal government has been lurching towards metastatic growth for some time. If recent bailouts provide any indication, that trend is set to continue. Barack Obama?... more

The real agents of change

By Paul Jacob (Nov 09, 2008)

Elections can be good or bad, but they are to some extent clarifying. And that, at least, is good. So, what is clear after this election? Voters like Democrats a lot better... more

The million-dollar question

By Paul Jacob (Nov 02, 2008)

“Change”: the official buzzword of Campaign 2008. Everyone seems to be for change. Barack Obama and his supporters first shouted it as a slogan, but John McCain and his... more

When in doubt, pile on

By Paul Jacob (Oct 26, 2008)

I have to keep reminding myself: The term "reductio ad absurdum" pertains to rhetoric. People use it to try to persuade other people. It's a highfalutin form of mockery. You... more

Whistling past Wahkiakum

By Paul Jacob (Oct 19, 2008)

“Death spiral.” Quite a term for the national economy, eh? For all I know, Tony Lystra, a reporter for The Daily News in Longview, Washington, may be right. Perhaps the... more

Seems like old times

By Paul Jacob (Oct 12, 2008)

In the 14th century, the Black Death hit Italian shores and quickly spread. People panicked, sought causes, tried to find someone to blame. Today, American finance goes... more

This November’s Top 10 Initiatives

By Paul Jacob (Oct 05, 2008)

President Bush and Congress just agreed to borrow $700 billion to bailout insolvent financial firms. Your share in this wager is $2,292.60. For a family of four that comes to... more

What the Sam Adams?

By Paul Jacob (Sep 28, 2008)

It’s hardly a fair contest. You could almost certainly do it better. The “it" is “promote freedom." I’m pretty sure you can do it better than standard-bearers and other... more

The silly seriousness of the also-rans

By Paul Jacob (Sep 21, 2008)

With both major party presidential tickets now boasting "rock stars," how are minor party candidates supposed to get any attention? Turn to yet another political rock star:... more

The unreason season

By Paul Jacob (Sep 14, 2008)

I am very enthusiastic about the future. The future may prove better than we can conceive. It could even outshine our hopes. There's a corollary to this: Many common hopes... more

What comes first?

By Paul Jacob (Sep 07, 2008)

"Is she going to put her country first or her children first?" So asked columnist Sally Quinn last week, at the close of a segment on The O'Reilly Factor. Quinn was making... more

Grandma Got Run Over by the Olympics

By Paul Jacob (Aug 31, 2008)

Just how important is it to you that your grandmother not be sent to a labor camp? As the Beijing Olympics fade in memory, take one last note of the septuagenarian women... more

Appeal to the muddle

By Paul Jacob (Aug 24, 2008)

I’m special. I’ve known this for some time. It was my mother who first brought this to my attention. But now apparently Barack Obama knows it, too. Why am I so special?... more

Meet Sal Grosso

By Paul Jacob (Aug 17, 2008)

Cape Coral, Florida, is a city of over 150,000 people in Lee County. Along with its nearby neighbor, Ft. Myers, it is part of a multi-city region numbering over half a... more

Compensatory discrimination . . . by any means necesssary

By Paul Jacob (Aug 10, 2008)

You may think racial and sexual discrimination is (usually) wrong. But whether you call it "affirmative action" or "reverse discrimination," compensatory racial and sex... more

The Ted Stevens National Monument

By Paul Jacob (Aug 03, 2008)

How do you build a monument to a senator? Well, you whittle away everything that doesn’t look like a senator. Unfortunately, statuary is out of fashion. Today’s trendiest... more

Making the world safe for . . . politicians

By Paul Jacob (Jul 27, 2008)

Doug Guetzloe is a threat. Since threats must be confronted, contained, or extinguished, people like Guetzloe must be locked away from law-abiding folk. That, I guess, is... more

Obama’s leap-of-faith-based charity

By Paul Jacob (Jul 20, 2008)

Is there any governmental goofiness Democrats won’t support? Having abandoned limited government, Democrats are left with mere prejudice as a guide: As long as a program... more

Land of Obama, land of change?

By Paul Jacob (Jul 13, 2008)

I was born in Chicago. The year was 1960, and I no doubt voted for John F. Kennedy for president. When I worked in Illinois thirty years later, the political process was... more

Hitchhiker's guide to gas prices: Don't panic!

By Paul Jacob (Jul 06, 2008)

“Gas prices will never go down.” “The price at the pump can only go higher.” “High prices are here to stay.” This seems to be the current wisdom. I hear it everywhere.... more

Rights roulette

By Paul Jacob (Jun 29, 2008)

Last week, rare cheers were heard for a Supreme Court ruling. The High Court, in D.C. v. Heller, overturned the District of Columbia’s gun ban, upholding the Second... more

Decrease your vocabulary

By Paul Jacob (Jun 22, 2008)

Do you ever tire of hearing certain words? This election season, I've grown pretty sick of “change” — you may have reached that point months ago. That doesn’t mean we don't... more

East Berlin, D. C.

By Paul Jacob (Jun 15, 2008)

I used to wonder what it was like to live in West Berlin during the dark, chill days of the Cold War — so close to the east side of the city, but cordoned off from it by... more

The rule of law vs. the rule of Land

By Paul Jacob (Jun 08, 2008)

When it comes to those serving us ever so humbly in public office, how should they be chosen? It’s a simple question. And I’m not alluding to the Democrats’ presidential... more

Another OK court decision?

By Paul Jacob (Jun 01, 2008)

Sometimes courts make the right decision. Really. It happens. But it didn’t happen this past week in Oklahoma. Oh, we should probably be glad it’s not another petition with... more

Will increasing wealth spur moral progress in China?

By Paul Jacob (May 25, 2008)

The Sichuan earthquake saddens and terrifies. The extent of the devastation is hard to grasp. One aid worker put it this way: "The enormity of it is far bigger than anything... more

A shutout of common sense

By Paul Jacob (May 18, 2008)

Baseball is life. One minute you're up; the next you're down. I know this. You know this. Boy, does Christopher Ratte know it. And we all know that taking your kids to a... more

Earmarked pork, hard and soft

By Paul Jacob (May 11, 2008)

The original metaphor was the pig. You could say, in the beginning was the pig. And the pig was with the politicians. And, boy, did the politicians pig out. I refer, of... more

Political rights, and wrongs

By Paul Jacob (May 04, 2008)

Art imitates life. Then life imitates art. Thus, the emblematic movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, echoes today in Michigan. The movie is about good citizens standing up... more

Naming the cause of medicine's failures

By Paul Jacob (Apr 27, 2008)

The trouble with making government the solution for our medical system’s failures is that government is without a doubt the chief cause of those failures. But I guess... more

The little party that could

By Paul Jacob (Apr 20, 2008)

I like alluding to the classics. When I’m not referencing the great poets and novelists, I try to sneak in books I’m certain actually to have read. Like “The Little Engine... more

Don't go, President Bush, don't go

By Paul Jacob (Apr 13, 2008)

Politics, we’re told, is sneaking its pointed little head into the Olympic Games. Oh, my! Next we’ll discover there is gambling going on in Las Vegas. Last week, when... more

Gypsies, tramps and thieves

By Paul Jacob (Apr 06, 2008)

Voltaire is credited with the statement: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Freedom and democracy necessarily rest upon... more

Term limits and presidential politics

By Paul Jacob (Mar 30, 2008)

Is it possible? Could I have downplayed the benefits of term limits all these years? I have been advocating and defending the term limit idea for such a long time that it... more

Power — 'unlimited and practically absolute'

By Paul Jacob (Mar 23, 2008)

To history's pile of outrageous and incomprehensible court decisions Missouri's Supreme Court just added yet another whopper. Last Tuesday the court handed down a decision so... more

Upskirt Invasions, Urinary Usurpations

By Paul Jacob (Mar 16, 2008)

Privacy. You won’t find the word in the Constitution. But the idea is some how associated with liberty. So Americans have come to expect some degree of freedom from... more

Zero sum, negative sum — some campaign

By Paul Jacob (Mar 09, 2008)

All of John McCain’s Republican competitors have dropped out of the race. Well, Ron Paul will still participate in some sort of low-key way (which may include a non-low-key... more

Ptolemaic Obama

By Paul Jacob (Mar 02, 2008)

We can all support democracy without demanding to “put everything up for a vote.” Our greatest democratic freedoms include the individual’s freedom from being tromped all... more

Nothing to fear but fear of fear itself

By Paul Jacob (Feb 24, 2008)

It’s in the nature of government to want to clamp down on information. You see it clearest in tyrannies. In Burma, for example, the government aims to reduce the number of... more

A parting shot at the people

By Paul Jacob (Feb 17, 2008)

Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek’s 20-year legislative career is nearly over. She feels victimized, no doubt, by the voter-enacted term limits that make this her final... more

A first principle for politicians

By Paul Jacob (Feb 10, 2008)

First, do no harm. It may not be part of the Hippocratic oath, as is often said, but it’s a good maxim anyways. Besides, Hippocrates did write something similar: “make a... more

Shameless in Sacramento

By Paul Jacob (Feb 03, 2008)

Next Tuesday may or may not be super, but it will definitely be important. Not only will Super Tuesday likely offer a decisive advantage to one of the candidates vying for... more

A question of balance

By Paul Jacob (Jan 27, 2008)

A leading candidate for the presidency said recently, and I quote, “I want to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market.” Though I... more

It takes a politician?

By Paul Jacob (Jan 20, 2008)

Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village stirred controversy by highlighting the importance of the community, as opposed to mere parents, in the rearing of children. Recently she... more

Parking pork in the impound lot?

By Paul Jacob (Jan 13, 2008)

The Democrats took over Congress pledging to curb the practice of earmarks. They didn't quite succeed. The omnibus spending bill they produced in December was filled with... more

Voters aren't stupid

By Paul Jacob (Jan 06, 2008)

Isn’t Election Day grand? Caucus Day ’taint bad, neither. That voters can change their representatives at regular intervals is what I like best about government. Now don’t... more