Dr. Michael Kurth »
Democracy, corruption and Political Reform
A 2022 opinion poll by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics found 56% of respondents agreed with the statement “the government is corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me,” including 66% of Republican respondents,
Read More »
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
Read More »
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,
Read More »
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
Read More »
Climate Change: A Historical Perspective
The evidence is clear that over the last 150 years, the earth’s climate has become warmer. This has led environmentalists to demand governments take action to halt global warming and “save the planet.” But
Read More »
Lessons From Afghanistan
Many people were shocked at how quickly the Taliban took over the government of Afghanistan once the United States drew down its forces and prepared to pull out and end our 20-year occupation of
Read More »
Federalism And The Federal Debt
Most discussion of our soaring fed-eral debt (now more than $28 trillion) is focused on financial issues such as how much debt is too much for a country (it is now 110 percent of
Read More »
The Case For Proportional Representation
Our nation has become politically polarized. Despite President Biden’s promise to unify the country, millions of voters in the middle of the political spectrum are watching in dismay as extreme elements of both major
Read More »
In Memory Of Vic And Terry Stelly
The day after Christmas, Cathy and I lost two good friends, and Southwest Louisiana lost great citizens, when Vic Stelly and his wife, Terry, passed away from COVID-19 within hours of each other. We
Read More »
Thanksgiving 2020
I’m in my mid-70s, and 2020 has been the worst year I can remember. It started with the impeachment of the president that further divided our already polarized nation. Then came the global pandemic
Read More »
