Monthly Archive for December, 2010

Please wish me a blessed Christmas/Eid/Passover

by mariefailinger

Steve Smith and I were thinking along the same lines about the conundrum of whether to wish folks a Merry Christmas.  My dilemma was in sorting my holiday/Christmas cards into the right piles, since some new folks have come onto the list, by marriage or otherwise.    The debate over whether Christans have an obligation always to tell [...]

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The Commerce Clause, Libertarianism, and the Good Life

by Perry Dane

I have to admit I just don’t “get” the argument that the mandatory insurance provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are unconstitutional because the Commerce Clauses only empowers Congress to regulate “activity,” not “inactivity.” (For yesterday’s federal district opinion endorsing that argument, see here.  For more detailed critiques, see, for example, the [...]

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Happy Holidays! (or should it be Merry Christmas?)

by stevensmith

At this time of year we hear arguments about how to greet people, in person or on cards and such. Some people find the traditional greeting “Merry Christmas” to be offensive and uncivil– a few years ago, Step Feldman wrote an interesting book with the title Please Don’t Wish Me a Merry Christmas– but others [...]

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Dream Act would align immigration policy with US legal culture

by michaelscaperlanda

In this essay, which appears in the Dec. 19 issue of Our Sunday Visitor, I argue in favor of the Dream Act.

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The virtues of charter school failure

by Mary McConnell

The box office success of the education documentary Waiting for Superman, and the much-publicized resignations of the top education administrators in Washington, D.C. and New York City (Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein) have focused new attention on charter schools. Meanwhile, charter schools have become a new battleground in church/state fights, as dioceses convert inner city [...]

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That holiday in December that falls a week before New Year’s Day

by Perry Dane

The annual battle over Christmas and the separation of Church and State is on. In Philadelphia, the city’s Managing Director ordered the word “Christmas” removed from sign at the entrance to the “German Christmas Village” at City Hall.  The Mayor then countermanded him, and directed that “Christmas” be put back.  See here.  (For one response, [...]

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