Category Archives: General

Federalist Nos. 78 – 79

I had always been taught that the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches were fundamentally equal in power within the federal government (checks and balances etc.) but Federalist No. 78 says otherwise: the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Federalist Nos. 76 – 77

Federalist Nos 76 and 77 discuss the power of the president to nominate people for high government offices. I notice that these papers use some of the very same arguments in defending these powers of the president as were used … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Considering Secession

An intriguing discussion erupted after a recent post by Connor. I was soon asking what history would have looked like if the South had been allowed to secede rather than fight the Civil War. Later another commenter asked an even … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Federalist Nos. 74 – 75

Federalist No. 74 discusses the power of the president to command the military and grant pardons. Federalist No. 75 discusses the power of the president related to the making of treaties. Neither of the papers is particularly remarkable unless you … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Federalist No. 73

Federalist No. 73 demonstrates two instances where the framers of the Constitution designed not for a virtuous system, but for a system riddled with human fallibility. The static nature of executive compensation helps mitigate the human fallibility of the executive. … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Federalist Nos. 71 – 72

In three sentences Federalist No. 71 conveys the primary reason to prefer a republic over a democracy: It is a just observation, that the people commonly INTEND the PUBLIC GOOD. This often applies to their very errors. But their good … Continue reading

Posted in General, National | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Federalist Nos. 69 – 70

In Federalist No. 69 Hamilton argues that the president is not as powerful a position as some have made it out to be while in Federalist No. 70 he argues that having any less power vested in the president would … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Federalist No. 66

Federalist No. 66 has me seeking opinions on a few questions. Specifically it got me asking which of the four elements of our federal government (the Executive, the Judicial, the Senate, and the House) is the most powerful? Which Should … Continue reading

Posted in General, National | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Federalist Nos. 64 – 65

In discussing the powers of the senate related to the making of treaties John Jay outlines a truth that undercuts one of the major arguments against term limits. In Federalist No. 64 he states: providing for the frequent elections of … Continue reading

Posted in General, National | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

A Currency All My Own

I really enjoyed Scott’s introduction to different currency types.  It’s a great introduction to the differences between fiat currency, commodity currency, and representative currency. Coincidentally we have implemented a new representative currency in our household in an effort to teach … Continue reading

Posted in General, life | Tagged , , | Leave a comment