I’ve written about Common Core before. It has been sold to the public as a “states based initiative”, but the reality is far from it. In fact, some states that initially signed on to it have pulled out and there more ready to follow suit. Utah blogger, Christel Lane Swasey, recently posted some important talking points about Common Core. She makes an interesting point in that people get caught up in the stated goals of Common Core without understanding what it is. She refers to a recent poll taken in her home state. When asked about the so-called “goals of Common Core”, without even using that term, responses were generally favorable. However, according to an article published by Utah Policy, “But use the words ‘Common Core’ in a poll question, and BAM!, you get very different responses from Utahns”.

As most readers of this column are aware, I believe that the federal government is broken. One tell-tale sign is our national debt. In 2000 it was $5.674 Trillion; it stands at over $18 Trillion today - and that doesn’t include unfunded liabilities. Over the last 15 years it has more than tripled - adding more than twice as much debt in that time span as had accrued throughout the entire prior history of our nation - a span of 224 years.

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” That quote is usually attributed to Mark Twain, but according to Wikipedia the man who originated it was Lawyer, Newspaper Editor and Politician (what a combination!) Gideon J. Tucker in 1866. He was apparently parodying the passage from the Magna Carta, ”No man shall be deprived of the free enjoyment of his life, liberty, or property, unless declared to be forfeited by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.”

These days, it is difficult to find issues on which there is bipartisan agreement - especially with regard to congress. Difficult, but not impossible. One such issue concerns the Federal Reserve. There is a bill that is going to be re-introduced this year in congress called The Federal Reserve Transparency Act, also known as “Audit the Fed”.

Not long ago, economist Robert Reich published an article, “The Myth of the ‘Free Market’ and How to Make the Economy Work for Us”. He never tells us exactly who “us” is - must be some club he belongs to - but he does say, “One of the most deceptive ideas continuously sounded by the Right [not ‘us’] … is that the ‘free market’ is natural and inevitable, existing outside and beyond government”. He goes on to say, “Governments don’t ‘intrude’ on free markets; governments organize and maintain them. Markets aren’t ‘free’ of rules; the rules define them”. I think he needs a reality check.

According to the Irish rock band U2 “nothing changes New Year’s Day”. I’m not a big fan of the group, but I like that song - “New Year’s Day” is its title and it appeared on their third album, “War”. It was released as a single in 1983 - the band’s first to make the charts here in the US. In the last stanza of the song they sing, “And we are told this is the golden age. Gold is the reason for the wars we wage”.