I biked to the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28 to observe the crowd outside. The justices had just heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, a case to decide if state bans on same-sex marriage violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Whatever the court decides, it will be a landmark ruling. The Supreme… Read more →
In the U.S., federal government spending is split into two categories: mandatory spending and discretionary spending. These terms are misleading since all mandatory spending can be changed by statute and some discretionary spending is mandated by the Constitution. Mandatory spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of all federal spending, covers federally funded social insurance and welfare programs like Social Security,… Read more →