Doug Smith December 19, 2025 While watching Ken Burns’ new documentary about the Revolutionary War, I was reminded of the great writer Thomas Paine and his inspirational “Common Sense” essays that gave our fledgling country hope in the darkest of times. I had never read them in their entirety, but I looked up the text of his most famous essay “The American Crisis”, published on December 19, 1776, precisely 249 years ago. As I read it, I started to re-imagine what his message could mean to...

Doug Smith November 3, 2025   The government is still shut down, with no end in sight.  Republicans have been very vocal about blaming this on Democrats, but is that true?  No, it’s not.  Republicans were HOPING Democrats would insist on negotiations on the health insurance issue before voting for a debt ceiling bill.  By keeping the government in shut down mode, it gives the president and his minions a free hand to slash and burn parts of the government that they don’t like.  Chief among...

Doug Smith October 11, 2025   As I write this, the US government is still shut down, hurting our fellow citizens in the federal workforce, and hurting us all in reducing services that we need and expect from our government. Why is this happening? Well, it shouldn’t be. When Congress passes a law, it should guarantee that the cost of that law will be paid on time and in full. The “debt ceiling” should not prevent the Treasury from paying the nation’s bills. But back in the 1990’s, Republicans...