The Character of a President

by Burt July 19, 2010

Character often is the act of standing for principle when it is unpopular to do so. The flurry of federal spending in the U. S. during the last decade has shown very little character on display. Therefore we can benefit by revisiting an example of a president showing character under pressure. The day was March [...]

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Burt on Beck

by Burt July 11, 2010

Thank you for all the kind comments and messages about the show. Glenn Beck and his staff are a pleasure to work with, and I hope to do more with them in the future. Below is a bonus clip that was not shown on tv. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com If you are having [...]

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Historians Ranked Who as the Greatest U. S. President?

by Burt July 7, 2010

No surprise. The Siena College presidential poll–a ranking of 44 presidents by 200 historians–put Franklin Roosevelt in first place. In other words, the man who, during his first two terms, gave us nonstop double digit unemployment–and 20 percent unemployment toward the end of his second term, is ranked ahead of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and [...]

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What Works and What Doesn’t Work in the U. S. Economy

by Burt June 29, 2010

Happy news! The economic summit this week rejected President Obama’s idea for a global stimulus. But the notion that a second stimulus in the U. S. will work better than the first is alive and well among the president’s advisors. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others have compared our current economy with that of the [...]

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If We Don’t Understand Our History, Will We Repeat It?

by Burt June 21, 2010

“What bothers me,” President Obama told the graduating class at the University of Michigan last month, “is when I hear people say that all of government is inherently bad.” Only anarchists, however, think “all of government is inherently bad.” Government has a useful constitutional function in protecting contracts and providing for the national defense. We [...]

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How Not to Pay For Damages from the Oil Spill

by Burt June 14, 2010

Yes, the BP oil spill is a disaster. And BP needs to reach in its deep pockets to compensate businesses and restore the Gulf Coast. But should BP set up an “independently administered fund” to cover claims for people and businesses in the Gulf Coast damaged by the oil spill? That is the current proposal [...]

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Meeting Margaret Thatcher

by Burt June 10, 2010

My wife Anita and I, through a cruise we took with the Young America’s Foundation, had the chance to meet Margaret Thatcher at a London restaurant last Monday night. She turns 85 this year and, looking wonderful as she met our cruise members, she talked with us briefly. What did I say to her? I [...]

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Don’t Copy Europe

by Burt June 2, 2010

In 1850, the U. S. was a second-rate power. We were way behind Britain in steel, railroads, and textiles. In fact, it was 1848 before we finished building our first large railroad with American-made rails. Before that we just imported most of our rails from Britain. In the area of science and chemicals, the Germans [...]

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First Principles

by Burt May 25, 2010

We all live in the present moment, and we often see our problems from the limited standpoint of the present moment. One of the advantages of studying history is that we can see problems or issues over a long stretch of time and analyze them from a broader and more learned perspective. For example, during [...]

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Is the VAT an SOB?

by Burt May 18, 2010

The problems with the bankrupt Greeks and the faltering euro are sad to watch. But the key here is to learn from it. Yes, the Greeks had debts that exceeded their revenue. Does that mean they needed higher taxes to cover their spending? No, it means they needed to cut spending and probably cut taxes [...]

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