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Showing posts from December 2, 2023

GOVERNMENT NUDGES

  As a retired pastor, I remember well watching from the pulpit the playful interaction between spouses when one would “elbow” the other if I said something in the sermon that one spouse wanted the other to listen to.  We call that a “nudge.”  Those of you with household pets also know the meaning of the word nudge when the dog comes to your bedside too early in the morning, and with a gentle push against your arm reminds you to get up and take him out, or the cat jumps up on the bed and nudges your face in a not so gentle reminder that  it’s time for her breakfast.   When is a nudge not quite so playful or gentle?  How about when it comes from your president in the form of an executive order in an effort to get you to change your behavior to conform to his agenda and his political ideology?   President Obama signed such an executive order on Tuesday of this week.  He’s been talking about issuing this type of regulation since 2013, but the concept goes back to 2009 when he appointed Ha