All posts by Michael Kurth »

Growth Of The Federal Bureaucracy

Michael Kurth March 3, 2023 Comments Off on Growth Of The Federal Bureaucracy

My last Lagniappe column was about our federal system of government.  To briefly sum it up, state governments in the U.S. are not under the federal government. Article I of the U.S. constitution lists

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What Is Federalism?

Michael Kurth February 20, 2023 Comments Off on What Is Federalism?

When I was in high school six decades ago, my civics textbook had a graphic depicting American government.  It was a pyramid with the federal government at the top, state government in the middle,

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What Happened To The Great Red Wave?

Michael Kurth December 9, 2022 Comments Off on What Happened To The Great Red Wave?

Many political pundits were predicting that the midterm elections would produce a wave of Republican victories — some even predicted a “Red Tsunami” — in which Trump-endorsed candidates would take control of the both

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The Economics Of Borders

Michael Kurth November 21, 2022 Comments Off on The Economics Of Borders

We are living in uncertain times, with conflicts around the world that could spin out of control.  Most of these conflicts involve disputes over borders: Ukraine and Russia; China and Taiwan; North and South

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Living The Louisiana Life

Michael Kurth October 11, 2022 Comments Off on Living The Louisiana Life

 For the first time in about two weeks, it wasn’t raining and the sun was shining. So I decided to mow my back lawn in the area where the grass was now two feet

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An Evening At The Mad Hot Ballroom

Michael Kurth September 16, 2022 Comments Off on An Evening At The Mad Hot Ballroom

My wife, Cathy, and I recently attended the annual Mad Hot Ballroom competition as guests of our long-time friends Karen and Darrel Drewett.  Cathy was a judge for the first competition in 2010 and

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The Fed’s Dilemma

Michael Kurth July 18, 2022 Comments Off on The Fed’s Dilemma

Fighting Inflation While Maintaining Economic Growth In the second full week of June, the inflation rate hit 8.6 percent, the highest it has been in 40 years; the Federal Reserve announced its biggest interest

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Ukraine’s Struggle For Independence

Michael Kurth May 6, 2022 Comments Off on Ukraine’s Struggle For Independence

To justify his recent invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin claimed “The Ukraine” is historically part of Russia and the Russian and Ukrainian people are one and the same. Most Ukrainians, however, would disagree with

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Putin’s Russian Empire Goals

Michael Kurth March 24, 2022 Comments Off on Putin’s Russian Empire Goals

Many pundits explain Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Putin wanting to restore the Soviet Union. I believe they’re wrong. In a rambling hour-long speech to the Russian people on the eve of the invasion,

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The Cold War Revisited

Michael Kurth March 4, 2022 Comments Off on The Cold War Revisited

With Russian troops massed along the border with Ukraine ready to pounce, some political pundits are suggesting that NATO is provoking the crisis by trying to expand into Ukraine and Putin is just defending

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