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Joanne Butler
Joanne Butler is a senior economics fellow at the Caesar Rodney Institute of Delaware. You can email her at joanne-butler@comcast.net.Bring IKEA to Delaware!
A few weeks ago, my husband and I traveled to the Valley Forge area in search of the IKEA store. Finding that store was like a scavenger hunt – you could see the big blue store from the highway but secondary road access consisted of spaghetti-like loops. Shopping done, we…
By: Joanne ButlerLife After Downton?
Perhaps, as millions of others, you are dreading Sunday night, when this season of Downton Abbey ends. Seeing that yellow lab’s swinging tail was a signal to settle in for a relaxing Sunday evening. But alas, after Sunday, we’ll have to content ourselves with the DVDs. Or do we? Viewers…
By: Joanne ButlerMy Afternoon with Chuck Hagel
From my perch in Delaware, I can only marvel at how faded pols suddenly become white-hot in the blink of an eye. Take former Senator Chuck Hagel, for instance. I met him once back in 1999, early in his first Senate term. I’ve met many politicians in my career, but…
By: Joanne ButlerLilly Ledbetter Act Meaningless to Women Without Jobs
One could assume, after President Barack Obama mentioned the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 during last week’s presidential debate, that it is a magical talisman ensuring women get equal pay for equal work. As women climb up the corporate ladder, the hike doesn’t translate to easing pay discrepancies…
By: Joanne ButlerNational Prescription Drug Take-Back Day: Saturday, 9/29
Has your fall cleanup of your home included your medicine cabinet? If not, it should because removing excess and outdated prescription drugs from your home helps prevent drug-related accidents and problems. But once you’ve gathered up the drugs, then what? Don’t dump them into the toilet (and into our water…
By: Joanne ButlerDisappearing Grad Books
It’s graduation season but something’s changed. There seem to be fewer of those dopey ‘life’s lessons by famous people’ gift books on offer than in years past – and that’s fine with me. Every year, I’d see that predictable crop at the booksellers – smallish tomes with bright covers, lots…
By: Joanne ButlerOn ‘Legal Crits’
The scene-stealer in last week’s Supreme Court hearings on Obamacare has been how the folks who fashioned the White House’s legal arguments (and their chums) were totally gobsmacked by the Court’s questions on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. After watching a parade of obviously literate people with a ‘Martians…
By: Joanne ButlerSweat The Small Stuff
While our presidential candidates grandly speak of transforming America, I have a more prosaic question: Who will pay attention to the small stuff? No, not silly small stuff, such as President Jimmy Carter fussing over the White House tennis court schedule, but stuff like … collecting a billion dollars in…
By: Joanne ButlerDestiny Of The Republic
A current hot popular history book, Destiny of the Republic, has the most unlikely of subjects – President Garfield. Yes, James A. Garfield – remember him? If you don’t, it’s understandable; he was one in a parade of now-obscure late 19th century presidents … such as Rutherford B. Hayes and…
By: Joanne ButlerWhy Christie Won’t Run
This article was originally published in The Daily Caller. As Governor Chris Christie prepared for his speech Tuesday at the Reagan Library, some conservatives hoped (despite Christie’s repeated denials) that he would use the occasion to jump into the presidential race. If those conservatives bothered to look at…
By: Joanne Butler