Was Alexander Hamilton a Great Man? (essay by William Murchison) https://t.co/egIOgSWnM5

— ImaginativeConservat (@imaginativecons) September 2, 2020

Which Narrative?

Arthur Bloom:

An Evangelical hero from 18th century Virginia actually resembles a modern-day radical left activist. There might be a bigger point there. https://t.co/yBUI3fD5kA

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) August 4, 2020

Versus something more along the lines of a paleo or Southern conservative narrative.

NEW William Murchison on today's Puritans in black Ts and tats: their moral-political fanaticism belies the same centuries old, self-righteous desire to purify. https://t.co/SdqBhb4tdt

— The American Conservative (@amconmag) August 4, 2020

Who are the real progenitors of the Yankees?

William Murchison on Forrest McDonald's Biography of Alexander Hamilton

From 2015:

Was Alexander Hamilton a Great Man? (essay by William Murchison) https://t.co/5WDaowgeQQ

— ImaginativeConservat (@imaginativecons) July 11, 2020

Reactions to SCOTUS on the Westboro Baptist Church Decision

Free Speech or Federal Tyranny? by Thomas Fleming

The Limits of Free Speech: Whatever Happened to Common Sense? by William Murchison
Russell Arben Fox, Alito Gets it Right about Free Speech
MOJ: Military Funerals and the Failure of Chief Justice Roberts and The Good and Evil of Speech
Volokh Conspiracy
Scotus Blog

Snyder v. Phelps
Time

William Murchison on Paul Ryan

Another fan, in addition to Daniel Larison. Paul Ryan and the Perils of Realism.

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin’s First District, one of the smartest men in politics insofar as I can tell, goes around touting his brilliantly conceived free-market, limited-government approach called Roadmap for America’s Future. Whose main defect appears to be that in facilitating economic recovery it would change the ways Americans interface with federal social programs and the tax system that supports them. The prospect of that seems to disturb colleagues; thus … well, hear out Bacon: “[M]any Republican colleagues … even as they praise Ryan for his doggedness, privately consider the Roadmap a path to electoral disaster.”

His website. His campaign site.

The Unfairness of Income Tax by William Murchison

The whole theory of the income tax is that those best able to pay it, pay it. It sounds halfway sensible until one starts to reckon with human notions of justice (”to each his own”) and the disruptive implications of upsetting those notions by government edict. A nation, half of whose citizens don’t pay income taxes, is in a bad position to say fewer and fewer should toil for the support of more and more.

It seems that the income tax is related to distributive justice, rather than commutative justice. But does the Federal tax code pay sufficient attention to the differences in the standard of living that exist between states? Do deductions sufficiently allow for middle- and lower-class families to take care of necessary expenses? (In general, should an income tax be levied on what is truly surplus, rather than what is reckoned by the Federal government to be net income?)

On a related note:
Social Security and Medicare Funding Issues: Even Worse when One Considers Resource Constraints

Gail Tverberg, The Oil Drum

When we think about the taxes and the federal deficit, we don't usually think of Social Security and Medicare, because in government lingo, the payments we make for these programs aren't taxes, they are contributions, and the funding deficit for these programs is not taken into account in determining the federal deficit.

(original)