For those that grew up in a “typical” family, it was always comforting to know that “daddy” was always there to protect and support you, and “mommy” was always there to comfort you and heal you. It was a pleasant feeling to know that someone was always there to take ...read more

I got some new material from Air America today. Folks were calling in to the host stating how taxes were “good” (or at least not bad) as they paid for civilization or other such nonsense. They were waxing eloquently on the benefits of taxation and all the “good things” it ...read more

Let’s start with a couple of indisputable and opposite facts. There is literacy and illiteracy. This is an absolute law, just as the law of physics that states every action has an equal and opposite reaction. But unlike physics, the literacy/illiteracy law is not absolute. In fact, it’s more than ...read more

"Why are you writing so much about Gen. Curtis Lemay?" asked one reader. "Really Byron, what does Lemay have to do with investing?" asked another. "It makes for really interesting history," said a third reader, "but where are you going with the Lemay series?" Fair enough. Let's think about why a ...read more

It’s September again and most of the kids are going back to school, or going for the first time. But it isn’t like it used to be. Not by a long shot. When I went to school from the late ‘40s thru the early ‘60s (I know. I’m dating myself.), the ...read more

Dear Senator McCaskill: This is in response to remarks you made yesterday with respect to health care reform on Kansas City's Morning News with EJ & Ellen. First, here’s a bit of context for your consideration. ·    The United States does not have a unitary “health care system.” Instead, there are multiple providers ...read more

I’m calling YOU out, Mr. President. How dare you arrogantly assert that it’s your way or the highway? That Cook County – Chicago trick doesn’t work in the rest of our great country. You railed against what you called scare tactics and misinformation. Yet you then proceeded to misinform your audience ...read more

In many ways it always has been.  Simply put, the economy is at the root of everything we do.  For example, despite President George H.W. Bush’s success with the first Gulf War, he was unseated in 1992 by Bill Clinton’s use of  “It’s The Economy, Stupid!” Did that phrase have any ...read more

Some bubbles are more resilient than others. Some bubbles have a significant amount of yield to them, depending upon how fully they were inflated and how sharp the object poking them is. Some bubbles have thick, yielding coverings and are never inflated to rigidity beyond the point at which little kids sit ...read more

We went to the local Veteran’s Administration Hospital today. As I waited with my husband for his visit with the doctor, I considered that this may well be the new face of health care in the United States. On the surface, the VA is a wonderful institution, doing its very best ...read more