Can Technology Transform Local Politics?

Yesterday there were elections in my county. I found some sample ballots on my county’s website, but I couldn’t tell which one was mine and they had to do with school system board of directors and stuff like that. I didn’t know anything about the people running, so I didn’t vote.

It’s ironic that the elections we pay the least attention to are the ones where we could probably have the most impact. I know lots of people living in my county who have expressed opinions about President Obama and various Republican candidates. I know several people who attended our fraudulent caucus last month. But I don’t know a single person who even talked about yesterday’s local elections.

How many people in my county actually voted? Was it just a glorified high school popularity contest where people won if they knew the most people and got them to vote for them or if they got enough people to randomly check their box because of their cool sounding name or some signs they had seen by the road?

Continue reading Can Technology Transform Local Politics?

What Makes Health Insurance Different From Broccoli?

When the Supreme Court heard arguments about Obamacare last week, one of the chief issues was whether or not the federal government has the authority to require people to purchase health insurance. The government believes it has this authority under the Commerce Clause.

But it’s one thing to say the government can regulate people already engaged in economic activities. It’s quite another to say that the government can force people on the sidelines to get involved. If the federal government can make people buy health insurance, what else can it make us buy? From the transcript:

JUSTICE KENNEDY: Well, then your question is whether or not there are any limits on the Commerce Clause. Can you identify for us some limits on the Commerce Clause?

Donald Verrilli and the justices argue this point for awhile, talking about why the government can’t also make you buy cars or cell phones or broccoli. The broccoli argument took center stage, showing up again later:

ANTONIN SCALIA: . . . could you define the market — everybody has to buy food sooner or later, so you define the market as food. Therefore, everybody’s in the market. Therefore, you can make people buy broccoli.

The broccoli argument is such a big deal because 87% of Americans think a broccoli mandate would be unconstitutional (8% Constitutional, 5% Don’t Know/Refused).

Let’s ignore the fact that there are apparently millions of Americans, presumably with the right to vote, who believe that forcing Americans to buy broccoli would actually be constitutional. The vast majority of Americans reject such a notion, so proponents of Obamacare have a vested interest in explaining why broccoli is different from health insurance. Meanwhile, opponents of Obamacare (such as myself) have a vested interested in explaining why they are the same, and that the broccoli argument is just a more obvious example of the underlying reasons that make Obamacare wrong, too.

Continue reading What Makes Health Insurance Different From Broccoli?