So last time I discussed issues regarding the coming Presidential primary on the Republican side of the ticket and promised to look at the Democratic ballot. However, the race on the Democratic side just isn’t as interesting as the chaotic free-for-all on the Republican side (which seems a reversal in how the 2 parties normally operate). Frankly, the Michigan Democratic Presidential primary ballot looks like swiss cheese as it’s missing 2 or the top 3 contenders for the nomination who needed to vow to Iowans that their votes were more important than yours lest the oh-so-serious voters of Iowa hold it against them and stop their campaigns. For too long, the premier position of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primaries have ensured that our Presidential campaigns are focused heavily on promises of ever-greater subsidies for corn farmers in Iowa and anti-tax pledges to the wealthy elite in the Granite State and not enough on rust belt concerns like the loss of manufacturing jobs.
As the overwhelming favorite, Senator Hillary Clinton didn’t have as much to lose as the campaigns of Barack Obama and John Edwards and so her campaign chose to remain on the ballot in Michigan while her top 2 competitors asked to have their names removed. In any case, the Michigan Democratic primary results are pretty much nothing more than a beauty contest with no real binding results. In remains to be seen how much the media decides the results are worth (my guess is that it depends on what they've already decided the story will be and whether Michigan's results play into that narrative). It’s a shame seeing as how Edwards’ heavy union support and Obama’s obvious appeal to the many black voters in the Detroit area and independent voters in the “middle” of the state could both be seen as paths to winning the state’s delegates and could have propelled either or both onto the national ticket and helped make Michigan a true player in the march to decide the national party’s nominees.
If you think I sound like I’m less than enthused about Clinton’s candidacy it’s not because I’m against her gaining the nomination, it’s more that I’m traditionally for the most populist candidate as well as usually rooting for the underdog (the two go hand in hand in modern American politics, for reasons I address below), and against the media coronation that seemed to be taking place earlier in the year. Clinton could only be a step up from the blundering and corrupt fool we have in the Oval Office right now- except that the media obsession and irrational hatred of the Clintons lingers. I would have concern that this could prove to be a distraction from governing as it was when President Clinton was launching attacks against al Qaeda in response to their growing threat but all the media wanted to talk about was the missile in the President’s pants. Conveniently, they imitated the right wing’s cries of “wag the dog” but then after September 11, 2001 wailed that Clinton hadn't done enough. I digress, but only to show how the media creates a narrative that isn’t necessarily true but becomes truth through repetition, a lie told often enough...
We’ve seen the media create an “inevitable” campaign (on the Democratic side with Hillary, on the Republican side first with McCain, then Giuliani, then Thomspon, then Romney and now back to McCain- anything to stop Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who’s embrace of theocracy isn’t as disturbing to the media as his economic populism is) only to jump on some minor issue to beat up the leader with and create a horse race because more ratings and more money can be earned from a hotly-contested battle. It’s a long-standing theory of mine that the media will ALWAYS try to create a contest even where there is none because the closer the race, the more advertising money the campaigns will spend with the TV networks and thus they make more money. They also do their best to ensure the “marquee match ups” the same way boxing promoters maneuver their fighters into fights with the biggest purse (in boxing this is done by having your fighter beat up lots of losers to falsely inflate their record to seem more impressive- in politics it's often achieved by raising lots of money as early as possible in the race). It is this quest for the biggest, most expensive battle that has the media trying to coronate Hillary Clinton and only “select” Republican candidates with ties to the Wall Street financiers who helped George W. Bush swamp John McCain in 2000. McCain was best known for his stance in trying to get big money out of the political process- an issue he mostly ignores now.
Another disgusting aspect of this is that the media will often push out voices that don’t align with their profit-making motive. Witness the media silence regarding the fact that Iowa is, despite their best efforts, a tight 3-way race where the John Edwards stands a serious chance of winning or at least finishing in a tight cluster with the other 2 front runners. Edwards has run the most populist campaign in recent memory and speaks out strong and loudly against entrenched corporate interests which threaten to overwhelm our democracy if left unchecked (if it’s not already too late). Edwards was on the ticket in 2004 and has spent a fair amount of time campaigning in Iowa and yet the media treats him as an also ran- it is fair to argue that because of those factors he’s not treated seriously because despite these advantages he’s still in a dead heat but that would require ignoring the obvious appeal of the former First Lady and Senator from New York is running against perhaps the most charismatic Democratic politician since Senator Clinton’s husband left office. The media black out of Edwards is no doubt because the main message of his campaign is that big money (you know, the people who buy ads on network television) has too much power while the citizens don’t have enough. The last thing the traditional media wants to see is a citizenry in control of the political system- no more deregulation, stronger worker protections, FAIR trade, etc. In other words, they cover politics while looking out for their bottom line. Frankly, the mainstream corporate media has become an obstacle in the fight for the citizens of this country to take their democracy back and their coverage of politics proves it.
Despite all the crying and gnashing of teeth at Fox News that Democrats are “too scared” to debate on their network (in fact, it was not the party bosses but the Democratic activists who forced the move as they have cataloged far too many examples of Fox News’ obvious bias in their reporting, including time after time placing a Democrat “D” next to the name of a disgraced Republican, that the network is run by Republican political operatives, most of its pundits are paid by right wing think tanks and is known to have been the first network to wrongly call the 2000 election for candidate Bush) and that this is a sign they only cater to their own base, the network has announced that they will exclude Republican candidate Ron Paul from their New Hampshire debate. Paul recently set the record for one-day on-line campaign fund raising for a presidential candidate. However, Paul’s campaign is outside the parameters the media wants to see and thus they do everything they can to shut out his voice. I strongly disagree with many of Paul’s positions but I would strongly advocate for these positions to be openly debated instead of being shut out completely. Paul has polled consistently better than many of the media darling such as Fred Thompson in the state of New Hampshire and yet Paul is excluded and ignored.
We’ve seen this before when the debate system set up by the 2 major parties shut out 2rd party voices such as Ralph Nader who once again was a loud voice opposed to media deregulation and consolidation and of the influence of corporate America over our political system and the resulting erosion of our freedoms and our rights. The media pretends polls are what matters when polls often only are a reflection of what the media is reporting. It’s a vicious circle in which the media gets to create the winners and losers by what they report and what they exclude and often the winners are the ones that, unsurprisingly, have the positions most in line with the CEOs and shareholders of the giant media conglomerates. Everywhere I go, people are angry and upset at how broken the system is and yet the media does everything it can to ensure that the winners are the ones who most guarantee the least amount of change. I think we’re past the time in American politics where anything short of millions of people of streets can effect much change, and we saw before the idiotic invasion of Iraq that our corporate media will even do its best to ignore and dismiss that.
So, in other words, it doesn’t matter who actually wins or loses in Iowa or even New Hampshire, let alone Michigan. What matters most is what a small group who attend each other’s cocktail parties in the upscale suburbs of Washington D.C., the “chattering class” if you will, decide. They will set up the expectations and they will decide how well the candidates performed against their false expectations and they will control the debates and manufacture a win for their side. No matter what, We The People lose.
For years, people in the other 48 states have decried the influence of two small, mostly white states in our political process which helps to further restrict the national debate by controlling which candidates are even seen as viable in a national election. The time has come to break the system and I applaud those in Michigan who stood up and did their best despite the fact that it backfired and now Michigan and Florida voters have lost the ability to fully participate in the system. Since we never really got a say in the process until it was mostly decided we really haven’t lost much, if anything.
I’d like to think in the next four years we’ll have figured out a better process- though we seem headed for a series of randomly selected, alternating regional primaries which may or may not be an improvement. However, given the fact that the entrenched interests are making serious money off the system as it exists now, the only way things change is if they change in a way that makes the Presidential election an even bigger revenue stream for the big media powers.
There is a slight outside chance that the people can have an influence larger than the media and select candidates willing to step up, listen to the people, lead, and change the corrupt system in place. WE can be the fly in the ointment. It is that small hope that keeps me pressing on. In 2004, the compressed primary season paved the way for a surprise showing for both John Kerry and John Edwards in Iowa (fueled by a desperate Gephardt campaign attacking Howard Dean which helped create the opening- something which could well happen in the GOP field this time, most likely for John McCain as Romney and Huckabee slug it out) that propelled them onto the national ticket. With an even more compressed selection process in place this time, I fear the possibilities are even greater than an early win will prove to be decisive and that only one or two states will get any real say (fueled by the media insistence that any other candidates step down only serves to speed us toward the general election which equals money for the big media companies). There’s a slim chance that an “outsider” candidate could win big early and use the condensed schedule to propel themselves to a surprising victory, but I wouldn’t bet on that happening. In fact, that's my primary concern...
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Gee! Oh, Primary...
After a ridiculous year long pre-season that is mostly a fund-raising tour where lobbyists and media conglomerates are allowed to shape the race in advance, the Presidential primary election is finally close at hand. I really doubt most people besides political junkies have followed the race in any way other than hearing the jokes on late night talk shows or a few key moments where media coverage was so saturated over some meaningless non-event which was blown into a major gaffe (most of the above focused on the media's obsession with appearance and inability to deal with substance). So for the most part, the candidates remain a mystery to the majority of American voters and yet in just a month or two this thing could well be over.
Since Michigan has moved up the date of its primary the race may not be over when the show comes to town, but the field will likely have already significantly shifted by then. I have tried to take a look at how the contest might appear when Michigan voters get to have their say in just a couple of weeks. Since the Michigan Democratic primary will be mostly meaningless because the National Democratic Committee thinks Iowa and New Hampshire voters should have a special status conferred upon their ballots that voters in Michigan and elsewhere don't deserve, I have decided to look only for now at the Republican field and what the race will look like Michigan holds it's primary (though I hope to tackle the Democratic field in a future post):
First, the calendar:
January 3
Iowa- this seems to be coming down to a contest between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Romney has the advantage of having spent a billion dollars here and planning for this contest for years with many visits to the state. Huckabee has the advantage of a campaign surging at just the right time which is mostly based on his appeal to the most fundamentalist of white Christian voters in the GOP primary which had yet to find a candidate they liked. The most fun thing to watch is how the establishment Republicans in the chattering class are attacking Huckabee in the media, hoping to cut off his campaign at the knees before it gains traction. The Wall Street Republicans have seen none of their preferred candidates taking hold and there's no doubt their ideal candidate would be Romney and Giuliani so that a Romney defeat of Huckabee in Iowa is crucial. But the evangelical voters who make up a large chunk of the base activists in the GOP have found no other candidate to their liking until finding Huckabee acceptable thanks in no small part to his past as a Baptist preacher and his support for putting people who are HIV+ in concentration camps. Expect Huckabee and Romney to finish 1 and 2 with the big surprise who ends up in 3rd- that person then gets to declare themselves the real winner and play the media expectation game. If Huckabee doesn't win Iowa expect the media to declare his candidacy dead or at least mortally wounded. After Iowa it's quite possible Fred Thomspon finally makes official what everyone knew the day after he announced- he never really wanted to be in this thing other than to appease his ego.
January 5
Wyoming- will this really matter? If it does, for some reason I think it becomes mostly a campaign based on national name recognition, money and momentum from Iowa which would seem to help Romney unless he gets 3rd or worse in Iowa. Giuliani as a well known name with money could finish strong. But I'd also expect that the western voters in Wyoming would give a boost to either a strong libertarian like Ron Paul or a deeply fundamentalist candidate like Huckabee. Perhaps because Arizona is in the west and McCain still appeals to a certain independent voter (though it's a caucus which does help to discourage independents from voting) I could see him finishing in the top 3 as well. Still, I doubt the media pays much attention to Wyoming and I wonder whether the candidates are (though a dark horse candidate like Ron Paul usually has to try to win in the contests the top tier consider worthless so he could likely be building a strong grass roots effort and shock the establishment with a win which would come just in time for New Hampshire, a state a libertarian could actually win and rocket into contender status).
January 8
New Hampshire- In 2000 the maverick John McCain smashed George W. Bush in New Hampshire and dazzled the media with a no-nonsense yet charming style. That McCain has long since disappeared as he's spent most of the last 8 years sucking up the evangelical right wing voters who killed his campaign last time which might have alienated him from the more socially moderate fiscal conservatives in N.H. Romney has a regional advantage he hopes will propel him to a victory (or at least 2nd place). Have no doubt that the anti-tax independents in New Hampshire will make a great showing for libertarian Ron Paul who will finish in the top 3 if not score a major upset of 2nd or even 1st. If Huckabee didn't win Iowa and doesn't come in 1st or 2nd in N.H. expect his candidacy to be declared over my the media pundits. After New Hampshire expect the race to boil down to Romney, McCain, Paul and Rudy Giuliani who will be bunkered down in Florida waiting to take on the ones still standing (see below). Romney and McCain have the most to lose in New Hampshire and if either one finishes third here they're toast.
January 15
Michigan- One would expect Mitt Romney, son of former Governor George Romney, to do well in Michigan. However, Mitt's dad was a Republican back before the party became dominated by theocrats who would impose a belief test on the office of President, or dog catcher for that matter. Expect John McCain to once again do well in Michigan though it may not be as big as when he broke down John Engler's infamous fire well erected to protect George W. Bush in 2000. I still think Romney has the home town boy advantage and McCain will still do well but the big winner in Michigan will be Ron Paul. Paul's libertarianism seems to be gaining him a lot of support and his campaign has been the only one I've even seen physical evidence of.
January 19
Nevada- Given the extreme anti-immigration rhetoric that the average Republican primary voter demands to hear from the candidates and that only John McCain has really done well to not walk too far out on that ledge, expect McCain who's from neighboring Arizona to do well. Other than that, I haven't a clue other than I'd expect the nationally-well known candidates like Romney and Giuliani's name and money advantages to play well here. Either way the news will probably be obscured by whoever wins South Carolina which also votes on the 19th.
South Carolina- South Carolina has recently been the "fire wall" in the Republican primary. Because of it's size and position in the race, as well as how it reflects the white, right wing and Christianist nature of the Republican base, the state is yet again poised to be a "decider" this time just as it did in 2000 when it dashed McCain's hopes of winning the nomination. I would expect a Baptist preacher like Huckabee to do great here is he is still hanging around and could even make him a front runner if he makes the top 3 in New Hampshire and continues the momentum. However, with a host of other races in big states coming soon after S.C., the state may not have the final say especially with Giuliani waiting in the wings to see who emerges from a brutal early primary season.
January 29
Florida- apparently Giuliani has decided to sit out the early contests and hopes that a big win in Florida will jump start his campaign after the early contests have knocked out most of the also-rans. Most people expect the race to be all but over by this point but I see a good chance that this thing is still confused and Florida could confuse it even more. Since Florida's Democratic primary is an meaningless as Michigan's, you have to wonder if the vote could see an influx of independents and Democrats who help push one campaign over the top. Perhaps the elderly Florida rejuvenate the campaign of the elder statesman John McCain.
In short, this thing is going to be wild and may drag out longer than the Republican establishment would prefer (though it should be over February 5 when a mass of states vote on the same day, including California and enough other states that someone could near the number of delegates needed for victory and begin the calls for the other candidates to drop out). Right now the knives are out against Huckabee who's surging in Iowa but is seen as too evangelical and too liberal on economic issues for the true power brokers in the GOP (listen to what the ivy league pundits on the right like George Will, Charles Krauthammer and others are saying- they truly fear a Huckabee nomination), the financial elite would prefer Romney or Giuliani or even McCain. Expect Huckabee to get "Deaned" in Iowa as every little gaffe and anything short of 1st place will be declared by the media as the end of his campaign- if I were Huckabee I'd avoid an enthusiastic speech in the event of not winning a resounding victory in Iowa. The real test is how much power the theocratic wing of the party has versus the moneyed elite and whether the contest between the two wings turns into something that breaks the party in half and possibly even helps contribute to a third party run (which Ron Paul seems most capable of, unless the candidacy of a Romney or Giuliani fuels a run from a Christian fundamentalist candidate or a win by Huckabee causes Wall Street Republicvans to beg New York Mayor Bloomberg into the contest). Since Reagan, the Republicans have mostly held together a majority coalition but the fault lines have been emerging. In the end, the GOP can hold together if they are united in a trying to avoid a humiliating defeat at the hands of their most hated political enemy- Hillary Clinton.
An important thing to consider is how much the shifting Democratic field shapes the Republican race. The more Hillary Clinton's campaign loses the media-created aura of inevitability the more Republican voters are likely to sense that they don't need to hold their nose and cast their lot with someone "who can beat Hillary" yet isn't tough enough on immigration, taxes, abortion, guns, gays, etc. (Giuliani, I'm looking at you- you too, Romney). However, if Clinton ends up doing well in Iowa it could unite the GOP in their long-running irrational fear of anything associated with the Clinton name.
Another interesting of the aspect of the race to watch is that as much as John McCain seems to be irrelevant now, the fact remains that he has been relatively unscathed by the back and forth attacks of the current front runners (especially between Romney and Huckabee in Iowa which is starting to resemble how Dick Gephart's attacks on Howard Dean took out Dean and let Edwards and Kerry emerge as the front runners after surprising finishes in Iowa in 2004) and could emerge with enough delegates to win the nomination should no one else ever emerge as a true front runner. As much as the GOP has flirted with everyone in the field at various points, McCain could emerge as the standard bearer should no one else grab with enough momentum or delegates to win it outright.
By biggest fear, is that the advanced calendar of this primary election will mean that the race has been decided by the time most people even realize it's time to make a decision. So, hopefully this is a wake up call that this election process is like the tiny pebble at the top of the hill, soon about to become an unstoppable avalanche. The campaign process is broken and needs to be fixed but we can only make our voices heard when he actually show up and vote. Do your homework, research the issues and candidates' records, look past the rhetoric and the rumor and make an informed decision.
Since Michigan has moved up the date of its primary the race may not be over when the show comes to town, but the field will likely have already significantly shifted by then. I have tried to take a look at how the contest might appear when Michigan voters get to have their say in just a couple of weeks. Since the Michigan Democratic primary will be mostly meaningless because the National Democratic Committee thinks Iowa and New Hampshire voters should have a special status conferred upon their ballots that voters in Michigan and elsewhere don't deserve, I have decided to look only for now at the Republican field and what the race will look like Michigan holds it's primary (though I hope to tackle the Democratic field in a future post):
First, the calendar:
JANUARY 2008
* January 3: Iowa (caucuses)
* January 5: Wyoming (GOP caucuses)
* January 8: New Hampshire (primary)
* January 15: Michigan
* January 19: Nevada (precinct caucuses), South Carolina (R primary)
* January 26: South Carolina (D primary)
* January 29: Florida
FEBRUARY 2008
* February 1: Maine (R)
* February 5: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado (caucuses), Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (D), Illinois, Kansas (D), Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (D), New York, North Dakota (caucuses), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
* February 9: Louisiana, Kansas (R)
* February 10: Maine (D caucuses)
* February 12: District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia
* February 19: Hawaii (D), Washington, Wisconsin
MARCH 2008
* March 4: Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont
* March 8: Wyoming (D)
* March 11: Mississippi
APRIL 2008
* April 22: Pennsylvania
MAY 2008
* May 6: Indiana, North Carolina
* May 13: Nebraska (primary), West Virginia
* May 20: Kentucky, Oregon
* May 27: Idaho (R)
JUNE 2008
* June 3: Montana, New Mexico (R), South Dakota
AUGUST 2008
* August 25-28: Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado
SEPTEMBER 2008
* September 1-4: Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.
January 3
Iowa- this seems to be coming down to a contest between Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Romney has the advantage of having spent a billion dollars here and planning for this contest for years with many visits to the state. Huckabee has the advantage of a campaign surging at just the right time which is mostly based on his appeal to the most fundamentalist of white Christian voters in the GOP primary which had yet to find a candidate they liked. The most fun thing to watch is how the establishment Republicans in the chattering class are attacking Huckabee in the media, hoping to cut off his campaign at the knees before it gains traction. The Wall Street Republicans have seen none of their preferred candidates taking hold and there's no doubt their ideal candidate would be Romney and Giuliani so that a Romney defeat of Huckabee in Iowa is crucial. But the evangelical voters who make up a large chunk of the base activists in the GOP have found no other candidate to their liking until finding Huckabee acceptable thanks in no small part to his past as a Baptist preacher and his support for putting people who are HIV+ in concentration camps. Expect Huckabee and Romney to finish 1 and 2 with the big surprise who ends up in 3rd- that person then gets to declare themselves the real winner and play the media expectation game. If Huckabee doesn't win Iowa expect the media to declare his candidacy dead or at least mortally wounded. After Iowa it's quite possible Fred Thomspon finally makes official what everyone knew the day after he announced- he never really wanted to be in this thing other than to appease his ego.
January 5
Wyoming- will this really matter? If it does, for some reason I think it becomes mostly a campaign based on national name recognition, money and momentum from Iowa which would seem to help Romney unless he gets 3rd or worse in Iowa. Giuliani as a well known name with money could finish strong. But I'd also expect that the western voters in Wyoming would give a boost to either a strong libertarian like Ron Paul or a deeply fundamentalist candidate like Huckabee. Perhaps because Arizona is in the west and McCain still appeals to a certain independent voter (though it's a caucus which does help to discourage independents from voting) I could see him finishing in the top 3 as well. Still, I doubt the media pays much attention to Wyoming and I wonder whether the candidates are (though a dark horse candidate like Ron Paul usually has to try to win in the contests the top tier consider worthless so he could likely be building a strong grass roots effort and shock the establishment with a win which would come just in time for New Hampshire, a state a libertarian could actually win and rocket into contender status).
January 8
New Hampshire- In 2000 the maverick John McCain smashed George W. Bush in New Hampshire and dazzled the media with a no-nonsense yet charming style. That McCain has long since disappeared as he's spent most of the last 8 years sucking up the evangelical right wing voters who killed his campaign last time which might have alienated him from the more socially moderate fiscal conservatives in N.H. Romney has a regional advantage he hopes will propel him to a victory (or at least 2nd place). Have no doubt that the anti-tax independents in New Hampshire will make a great showing for libertarian Ron Paul who will finish in the top 3 if not score a major upset of 2nd or even 1st. If Huckabee didn't win Iowa and doesn't come in 1st or 2nd in N.H. expect his candidacy to be declared over my the media pundits. After New Hampshire expect the race to boil down to Romney, McCain, Paul and Rudy Giuliani who will be bunkered down in Florida waiting to take on the ones still standing (see below). Romney and McCain have the most to lose in New Hampshire and if either one finishes third here they're toast.
January 15
Michigan- One would expect Mitt Romney, son of former Governor George Romney, to do well in Michigan. However, Mitt's dad was a Republican back before the party became dominated by theocrats who would impose a belief test on the office of President, or dog catcher for that matter. Expect John McCain to once again do well in Michigan though it may not be as big as when he broke down John Engler's infamous fire well erected to protect George W. Bush in 2000. I still think Romney has the home town boy advantage and McCain will still do well but the big winner in Michigan will be Ron Paul. Paul's libertarianism seems to be gaining him a lot of support and his campaign has been the only one I've even seen physical evidence of.
January 19
Nevada- Given the extreme anti-immigration rhetoric that the average Republican primary voter demands to hear from the candidates and that only John McCain has really done well to not walk too far out on that ledge, expect McCain who's from neighboring Arizona to do well. Other than that, I haven't a clue other than I'd expect the nationally-well known candidates like Romney and Giuliani's name and money advantages to play well here. Either way the news will probably be obscured by whoever wins South Carolina which also votes on the 19th.
South Carolina- South Carolina has recently been the "fire wall" in the Republican primary. Because of it's size and position in the race, as well as how it reflects the white, right wing and Christianist nature of the Republican base, the state is yet again poised to be a "decider" this time just as it did in 2000 when it dashed McCain's hopes of winning the nomination. I would expect a Baptist preacher like Huckabee to do great here is he is still hanging around and could even make him a front runner if he makes the top 3 in New Hampshire and continues the momentum. However, with a host of other races in big states coming soon after S.C., the state may not have the final say especially with Giuliani waiting in the wings to see who emerges from a brutal early primary season.
January 29
Florida- apparently Giuliani has decided to sit out the early contests and hopes that a big win in Florida will jump start his campaign after the early contests have knocked out most of the also-rans. Most people expect the race to be all but over by this point but I see a good chance that this thing is still confused and Florida could confuse it even more. Since Florida's Democratic primary is an meaningless as Michigan's, you have to wonder if the vote could see an influx of independents and Democrats who help push one campaign over the top. Perhaps the elderly Florida rejuvenate the campaign of the elder statesman John McCain.
In short, this thing is going to be wild and may drag out longer than the Republican establishment would prefer (though it should be over February 5 when a mass of states vote on the same day, including California and enough other states that someone could near the number of delegates needed for victory and begin the calls for the other candidates to drop out). Right now the knives are out against Huckabee who's surging in Iowa but is seen as too evangelical and too liberal on economic issues for the true power brokers in the GOP (listen to what the ivy league pundits on the right like George Will, Charles Krauthammer and others are saying- they truly fear a Huckabee nomination), the financial elite would prefer Romney or Giuliani or even McCain. Expect Huckabee to get "Deaned" in Iowa as every little gaffe and anything short of 1st place will be declared by the media as the end of his campaign- if I were Huckabee I'd avoid an enthusiastic speech in the event of not winning a resounding victory in Iowa. The real test is how much power the theocratic wing of the party has versus the moneyed elite and whether the contest between the two wings turns into something that breaks the party in half and possibly even helps contribute to a third party run (which Ron Paul seems most capable of, unless the candidacy of a Romney or Giuliani fuels a run from a Christian fundamentalist candidate or a win by Huckabee causes Wall Street Republicvans to beg New York Mayor Bloomberg into the contest). Since Reagan, the Republicans have mostly held together a majority coalition but the fault lines have been emerging. In the end, the GOP can hold together if they are united in a trying to avoid a humiliating defeat at the hands of their most hated political enemy- Hillary Clinton.
An important thing to consider is how much the shifting Democratic field shapes the Republican race. The more Hillary Clinton's campaign loses the media-created aura of inevitability the more Republican voters are likely to sense that they don't need to hold their nose and cast their lot with someone "who can beat Hillary" yet isn't tough enough on immigration, taxes, abortion, guns, gays, etc. (Giuliani, I'm looking at you- you too, Romney). However, if Clinton ends up doing well in Iowa it could unite the GOP in their long-running irrational fear of anything associated with the Clinton name.
Another interesting of the aspect of the race to watch is that as much as John McCain seems to be irrelevant now, the fact remains that he has been relatively unscathed by the back and forth attacks of the current front runners (especially between Romney and Huckabee in Iowa which is starting to resemble how Dick Gephart's attacks on Howard Dean took out Dean and let Edwards and Kerry emerge as the front runners after surprising finishes in Iowa in 2004) and could emerge with enough delegates to win the nomination should no one else ever emerge as a true front runner. As much as the GOP has flirted with everyone in the field at various points, McCain could emerge as the standard bearer should no one else grab with enough momentum or delegates to win it outright.
By biggest fear, is that the advanced calendar of this primary election will mean that the race has been decided by the time most people even realize it's time to make a decision. So, hopefully this is a wake up call that this election process is like the tiny pebble at the top of the hill, soon about to become an unstoppable avalanche. The campaign process is broken and needs to be fixed but we can only make our voices heard when he actually show up and vote. Do your homework, research the issues and candidates' records, look past the rhetoric and the rumor and make an informed decision.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
State of confusion
Saturday was an interesting news day for Michigan. First, the state legislature, once again acting at the last minute, finally got a bill passed and signed into law both repealing the sales tax on some services 7 hours after it took effect and replacing the lost revenue with a bump in the new Michigan Business Tax. The AP has the story complete with ridiculous headline (once again pushing the false notion the service tax was widely disliked by the public):
Also, the Democratic National Committee decided to strip Michigan of its delegates due to an effort by Michigan and a select group of states trying to finally strip Iowa and New Hampshire of their undeserved and overpowering influence in the presidential nomination process.
The service tax will be replaced by a 21.99 percent surcharge on the taxes businesses will already pay under the new Michigan Business Tax, which takes effect Jan. 1. The surcharge would be eliminated in 2017 if certain economic conditions are met. Many small businesses don't pay the MBT and won't have to pay the surcharge.At least the bill got a good number of votes from both sides, passing 66-42 in the House and 33-4 in the Senate even if a solution should have come sooner than after the brand new tax had just come into effect, leaving too many businesses in a state of confusion as to whether they would be responsible for collecting the new service sales tax and once again hurting the state's image.
Also, the Democratic National Committee decided to strip Michigan of its delegates due to an effort by Michigan and a select group of states trying to finally strip Iowa and New Hampshire of their undeserved and overpowering influence in the presidential nomination process.
Michigan, with 156 delegates, has scheduled a Jan. 15 primary. Democratic Party rules prohibit states other than Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina from holding nominating contests before Feb. 5.Despite what I think was a noble effort for a worthy cause, it can only hurt Michigan's influence as it is now totally irrelevant irrelevant as not only will it lose its delegates but most of the major players on the Democratic ticket have asked to have their names removed from the ballot and have promised not to campaign, thus accomplishing the complete opposite of the goal to make Michigan more important in the selection of the 2008 presidential nomination process. The presidential primary has become a joke with states jockeying for better position, leaving the schedule up in the air so long and moving the schedule so far ahead that most people will just be starting to pay attention to the race only to find it already decided with an eternal general election to follow that will leave the country despising both major party candidates once again.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
No means no park
When Barry County voters go to the polls Tuesday, November 6, 2007, they will be faced with a simple question: Should Charlton Park remain open?
Now, some will muddy the waters and insist that it's about accounting or oversight or budgets or taxes or whatever their particular grudge/issue, but those people are still concerned about the "sins of the father" rather than what faces us now. They obsess about what went wrong in the past, aren't contributing to fixing the problems now, and have no vision of the future.
You see, it's very simple: no matter what you think about what went on at the park before or what will happen in the future, all that stuff is irrelevant when you go to vote Tuesday. If you vote "no" then the park closes and it doesn't matter how much you are for the park while being against the who, how and when of everything to do with the park. You aren't voting "no" to protest the failures of the past, you're voting to close a valuable asset that hasn't been used to its potential in the past but is on the road to get there NOW thanks to the hard work and dedication of many volunteers. With no other means of remaining open, a "no" vote would assure the end of a unique treasure that is finally on the road to being what many of us think it could be.
The "no" voters seem intent, willing, and able to deny the vast change in the direction of the park in the last year. Of course, the park isn't "fixed" yet, but the "no" voters haven't helped by sitting at the sidelines and throwing rotten tomatoes. If you can't see that the park added events, improved the way it operates, and extended a hand to the volunteers and event organizers who had been shunted aside in the past, then you aren't paying attention. We also can't let our anger at what's gone wrong before blind us to what is going right now. I have seen first hand the hard work and dedication that has gone into correcting the course of the park and I feel those efforts deserve support. A small minority have tried to make the perfect the enemy of the good and point out how things aren't where they should be, but I see a group who's only had a year and has made a lot of progress which shows no signs of letting up as long as voters continue their support.
Last year, a "no" vote was needed to upend the corrupt structure of the Parks and Rec board, but the time has come to recognize that the only way to move forward and to continue to fix and improve the Park is to vote yes. Now, with a new board in place and a renewed commitment to the park, $10-$20 is a small price to pay to allow the continued operation and future improvement of the park.
Of course you may not agree with every decision made in the operation or improvement of the park, but voting "no" doesn't help that. Voting "no" simply closes the park and removes the hope that one day it can be a self-funded educational tool and tourist attraction. If you want to improve the park or change it's direction you can join the Parks Board, volunteer at the park, run for County Board, or you can keep lobbing rotten tomatoes at those doing the job, but the only message a "no" votes sends is to close Charlton Park. Let's send a different message- that we care about the future while we seek to preserve and educate about the past. Let's show that we appreciate the diligent and determined efforts of countless volunteers who are committed to improving and maintaining the park. Say "yes" to Charlton Park.
Remember to vote on Tuesday, November 6.
Now, some will muddy the waters and insist that it's about accounting or oversight or budgets or taxes or whatever their particular grudge/issue, but those people are still concerned about the "sins of the father" rather than what faces us now. They obsess about what went wrong in the past, aren't contributing to fixing the problems now, and have no vision of the future.
You see, it's very simple: no matter what you think about what went on at the park before or what will happen in the future, all that stuff is irrelevant when you go to vote Tuesday. If you vote "no" then the park closes and it doesn't matter how much you are for the park while being against the who, how and when of everything to do with the park. You aren't voting "no" to protest the failures of the past, you're voting to close a valuable asset that hasn't been used to its potential in the past but is on the road to get there NOW thanks to the hard work and dedication of many volunteers. With no other means of remaining open, a "no" vote would assure the end of a unique treasure that is finally on the road to being what many of us think it could be.
The "no" voters seem intent, willing, and able to deny the vast change in the direction of the park in the last year. Of course, the park isn't "fixed" yet, but the "no" voters haven't helped by sitting at the sidelines and throwing rotten tomatoes. If you can't see that the park added events, improved the way it operates, and extended a hand to the volunteers and event organizers who had been shunted aside in the past, then you aren't paying attention. We also can't let our anger at what's gone wrong before blind us to what is going right now. I have seen first hand the hard work and dedication that has gone into correcting the course of the park and I feel those efforts deserve support. A small minority have tried to make the perfect the enemy of the good and point out how things aren't where they should be, but I see a group who's only had a year and has made a lot of progress which shows no signs of letting up as long as voters continue their support.
Last year, a "no" vote was needed to upend the corrupt structure of the Parks and Rec board, but the time has come to recognize that the only way to move forward and to continue to fix and improve the Park is to vote yes. Now, with a new board in place and a renewed commitment to the park, $10-$20 is a small price to pay to allow the continued operation and future improvement of the park.
Of course you may not agree with every decision made in the operation or improvement of the park, but voting "no" doesn't help that. Voting "no" simply closes the park and removes the hope that one day it can be a self-funded educational tool and tourist attraction. If you want to improve the park or change it's direction you can join the Parks Board, volunteer at the park, run for County Board, or you can keep lobbing rotten tomatoes at those doing the job, but the only message a "no" votes sends is to close Charlton Park. Let's send a different message- that we care about the future while we seek to preserve and educate about the past. Let's show that we appreciate the diligent and determined efforts of countless volunteers who are committed to improving and maintaining the park. Say "yes" to Charlton Park.
Remember to vote on Tuesday, November 6.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Pass the budget, not the buck - Part 2
State Rep. Brian Calley’s most recent column in the Hastings Banner is another reminder of what’s wrong in Lansing.
I was told by former Banner Editor David T. Young that when he was approached by newly-annointed State Representative Brian Calley about running a column that Calley assured the Banner, which previously had refused to run columns and articles from politicians because they too often were campaign propaganda, that the column would be non-partisan and stick to informing readers of what was happening in Lansing. At first, Calley stuck to his promise, but like everything else he says, that vow was issued with forked tongue and slowly but surely we see the real politician poking out from behind the gleaming white teeth and the humble, aw shucks prose of the supposedly simple man sent into the lion’s den who reports back weekly on how awful and partisan the process is- and by some coincidence it’s always the Democrats’ fault.
Calley’s newest column proceeds to convince us that the horrible state budget stalemate is the fault of House Democrats and the Democratic Governor as he compares the state budget negotiations to going out to eat with your wife and watching another married couple argue. As usual, he’s got it all wrong as he hides behind his supposedly bipartisan persona while he sticks to the party line, he says one thing but then does another.
Citing the fact that not ALL Democrats are voting for the proposed tax increases to fix an almost $2 billion structural hole in the budget, mostly caused by massive and continued tax cutting in the 90s (and then obviously made worse by the cyclical downturn in fortunes of the “Big 3” US automakers and not due to the phantom menace of high taxes since Michigan ranks in the middle of tax burden and at the very top for reliance on auto manufacturing), our State Representative informs us that the Republicans are merely innocent bystanders unable to help along the process and held victim to the bickering Democrats who don’t agree on a solution. This is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth and Calley knows it, he just doesn’t expect or want YOU to know it.
I won’t disagree with everything Calley says, but much of it is partisan spin with just enough truth to convince those not following along at home. While it’s true House Democrats haven’t supported the Governor the entire way (thank goodness one political party still believes in allowing it’s members to dissent and actually represent their constituents as opposed to
enforcing solid party discipline and marching in “lock step”... or is that goose step), the real problem is that at every turn the State Senate which is controlled by the Republican Party has refused any measure that would close the budget hole and pushed the crisis to the brink in a game of chicken. Remember that despite getting less votes across the state in the combined Senate races, the GOP ended up with control because of redistricting much like a President can gain the White House despite losing a popular vote (and yes, this is the way the system works and I use it only to point out that more voters elected to give control of the state economy to Democrats and that the state GOP should understand this in regards to their negotiating position). Senate Leader Bishop has stubbornly refused any tax increase despite the Republican Party not having enough votes to do anything but be a road block to any real compromise, Bishop has continually and doggedly done everything to stand in the way of any real solution, instead offering only meager cuts in spending to departments that have already faced year after year of cuts of increases less than that of the rate of inflation- a defacto cut by any measure.
Also remember that it is a Republican former state legislator who has threatened and organized a well-funded and coordinated recall campaign for anyone in Lansing who dares to vote with the people and patch up the gaping budget hole with the increases in revenue that will end this yearly madness of last minute budget stop gap measures and quick fixes once and for all. This recall threat and the obvious stance of the Republicans which is to try to force Democrats to push through a tax increase with ZERO support from them (an impossible task given the GOP control of the Senate) has forced 8 Democratic members of the House to refuse to vote either way without some measure of bipartisan support, but yet there is NO Republican willing to cross party lines to vote for a tax increase and so we still have no deal less than a week away from a government shutdown. Democrats rightfully smell the GOP trying to shirk their responsibility to deal with the mess and know they are going to be left holding the bag. Why should the Democrats act like the responsible adults who get stuck cleaning up the mess just so the GOP can use it as a bludgeon against them in the next election?
And so now some are calling for half measures to move the goalposts and put off the big decisions for another day- something which the Governor has said she will not allow. While some in Lansing are trying to do the right thing and face up to their responsibility, our State Rep. Brian Calley takes the tough stand and declares his support for.... more of the same. How disappointing and yet how predictable, and the whole reason we're in this mess.
In his tenure in Lansing, Calley has become a pro of coming to town and donning some “dungarees” and fresh-out-of-the-box sneaker and walking among us common folk, shaking hands & kissing babies and telling us what we want to hear. He writes his weekly column as if he were Jimmy Stewart, aghast at the awful partisianship in Lansing while he votes straight party line and does everything he can to ingratiate himself to leadership to further his attempts to move up the ladder and take the next step to State Senate. If you hate career
politicians then you might want to know that Calley has said to confidants that he never wishes to go back into banking and has made it known his eyes are on the prize- a cushy seat in the State Senate which is surely no more than another stop along to bigger and better things and many more years making a nice living from the government his philosophy constantly demeans and diminishes.
Where Calley’s dishonesty becomes most apparent is his lack of acknowledgement of the role the state GOP has played in all of this. Even IF House Democrats ALL voted for a tax increase would Senate Majority Leader Bishop allow ANY Republicans in the Senate to vote with Democrats and pass a tax increase? If you think so I've got a bridge across the Straights of Mackinac to sell you. Democrats only control 2/3rds of the process and without ANY Republicans willing to muster the fortitude and political courage to pass the solution the people of Michigan understand is needed then NOTHING gets done. So, instead of blaming the Governor and the House Democrats, maybe Calley should have used the time he took to write his partisan screed this week and called up Mr. Bishop and told him to quit standing in the way of a solution.
As long as the Republicans in Lansing are in the majority in the Senate they can effectively block any budget deal so to blame Democrats for the lack of a deal is not wrong, it’s a blatant lie and I’m calling Calley out on it. Instead of blaming the people who’ve proposed as REAL solution to our problem how about Mr. Calley remember all his talk of bipartianship and
actually follow his own suggestion. Instead of offering partisan spin, Mr. Calley should offer the cold hard truth to his constituents even if it hurts his obvious career ambitions. All of us get up and go to work and do our jobs without complaining, maybe it’s time for our highly paid “welfare cases” in Lansing do the same... or maybe next time they come to us asking for our votes we’ll tell them they’ve taken enough of our money and done too little to earn another paycheck. Maybe instead of whining about how mean-spirited and partisan everything in Lansing is, our State Rep. should stand up and cross party lines and do what’s right.
Brian Calley comes to town and says he’s for your local domestic violence shelter, more funding of mental health treatment, and whatever else he thinks you want to hear but then he goes to Lansing and votes party line in favor of a rabid right wing agenda of tax cutting government down to the size it can be drowned in a bath tub until our schools are failing and bridges are falling down. I wouldn’t mind Mr. Calley being such an anti-tax idealogue, I just wish he wouldn’t lie about it. I also wish he and his cohorts would do their ONLY constitutionally-mandated job and PASS A BUDGET instead of putting it off for another day. When it comes to fixing the budget mess, there's no better time than right NOW!
I was told by former Banner Editor David T. Young that when he was approached by newly-annointed State Representative Brian Calley about running a column that Calley assured the Banner, which previously had refused to run columns and articles from politicians because they too often were campaign propaganda, that the column would be non-partisan and stick to informing readers of what was happening in Lansing. At first, Calley stuck to his promise, but like everything else he says, that vow was issued with forked tongue and slowly but surely we see the real politician poking out from behind the gleaming white teeth and the humble, aw shucks prose of the supposedly simple man sent into the lion’s den who reports back weekly on how awful and partisan the process is- and by some coincidence it’s always the Democrats’ fault.
Calley’s newest column proceeds to convince us that the horrible state budget stalemate is the fault of House Democrats and the Democratic Governor as he compares the state budget negotiations to going out to eat with your wife and watching another married couple argue. As usual, he’s got it all wrong as he hides behind his supposedly bipartisan persona while he sticks to the party line, he says one thing but then does another.
Citing the fact that not ALL Democrats are voting for the proposed tax increases to fix an almost $2 billion structural hole in the budget, mostly caused by massive and continued tax cutting in the 90s (and then obviously made worse by the cyclical downturn in fortunes of the “Big 3” US automakers and not due to the phantom menace of high taxes since Michigan ranks in the middle of tax burden and at the very top for reliance on auto manufacturing), our State Representative informs us that the Republicans are merely innocent bystanders unable to help along the process and held victim to the bickering Democrats who don’t agree on a solution. This is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth and Calley knows it, he just doesn’t expect or want YOU to know it.
I won’t disagree with everything Calley says, but much of it is partisan spin with just enough truth to convince those not following along at home. While it’s true House Democrats haven’t supported the Governor the entire way (thank goodness one political party still believes in allowing it’s members to dissent and actually represent their constituents as opposed to
enforcing solid party discipline and marching in “lock step”... or is that goose step), the real problem is that at every turn the State Senate which is controlled by the Republican Party has refused any measure that would close the budget hole and pushed the crisis to the brink in a game of chicken. Remember that despite getting less votes across the state in the combined Senate races, the GOP ended up with control because of redistricting much like a President can gain the White House despite losing a popular vote (and yes, this is the way the system works and I use it only to point out that more voters elected to give control of the state economy to Democrats and that the state GOP should understand this in regards to their negotiating position). Senate Leader Bishop has stubbornly refused any tax increase despite the Republican Party not having enough votes to do anything but be a road block to any real compromise, Bishop has continually and doggedly done everything to stand in the way of any real solution, instead offering only meager cuts in spending to departments that have already faced year after year of cuts of increases less than that of the rate of inflation- a defacto cut by any measure.
Also remember that it is a Republican former state legislator who has threatened and organized a well-funded and coordinated recall campaign for anyone in Lansing who dares to vote with the people and patch up the gaping budget hole with the increases in revenue that will end this yearly madness of last minute budget stop gap measures and quick fixes once and for all. This recall threat and the obvious stance of the Republicans which is to try to force Democrats to push through a tax increase with ZERO support from them (an impossible task given the GOP control of the Senate) has forced 8 Democratic members of the House to refuse to vote either way without some measure of bipartisan support, but yet there is NO Republican willing to cross party lines to vote for a tax increase and so we still have no deal less than a week away from a government shutdown. Democrats rightfully smell the GOP trying to shirk their responsibility to deal with the mess and know they are going to be left holding the bag. Why should the Democrats act like the responsible adults who get stuck cleaning up the mess just so the GOP can use it as a bludgeon against them in the next election?
And so now some are calling for half measures to move the goalposts and put off the big decisions for another day- something which the Governor has said she will not allow. While some in Lansing are trying to do the right thing and face up to their responsibility, our State Rep. Brian Calley takes the tough stand and declares his support for.... more of the same. How disappointing and yet how predictable, and the whole reason we're in this mess.
In his tenure in Lansing, Calley has become a pro of coming to town and donning some “dungarees” and fresh-out-of-the-box sneaker and walking among us common folk, shaking hands & kissing babies and telling us what we want to hear. He writes his weekly column as if he were Jimmy Stewart, aghast at the awful partisianship in Lansing while he votes straight party line and does everything he can to ingratiate himself to leadership to further his attempts to move up the ladder and take the next step to State Senate. If you hate career
politicians then you might want to know that Calley has said to confidants that he never wishes to go back into banking and has made it known his eyes are on the prize- a cushy seat in the State Senate which is surely no more than another stop along to bigger and better things and many more years making a nice living from the government his philosophy constantly demeans and diminishes.
Where Calley’s dishonesty becomes most apparent is his lack of acknowledgement of the role the state GOP has played in all of this. Even IF House Democrats ALL voted for a tax increase would Senate Majority Leader Bishop allow ANY Republicans in the Senate to vote with Democrats and pass a tax increase? If you think so I've got a bridge across the Straights of Mackinac to sell you. Democrats only control 2/3rds of the process and without ANY Republicans willing to muster the fortitude and political courage to pass the solution the people of Michigan understand is needed then NOTHING gets done. So, instead of blaming the Governor and the House Democrats, maybe Calley should have used the time he took to write his partisan screed this week and called up Mr. Bishop and told him to quit standing in the way of a solution.
As long as the Republicans in Lansing are in the majority in the Senate they can effectively block any budget deal so to blame Democrats for the lack of a deal is not wrong, it’s a blatant lie and I’m calling Calley out on it. Instead of blaming the people who’ve proposed as REAL solution to our problem how about Mr. Calley remember all his talk of bipartianship and
actually follow his own suggestion. Instead of offering partisan spin, Mr. Calley should offer the cold hard truth to his constituents even if it hurts his obvious career ambitions. All of us get up and go to work and do our jobs without complaining, maybe it’s time for our highly paid “welfare cases” in Lansing do the same... or maybe next time they come to us asking for our votes we’ll tell them they’ve taken enough of our money and done too little to earn another paycheck. Maybe instead of whining about how mean-spirited and partisan everything in Lansing is, our State Rep. should stand up and cross party lines and do what’s right.
Brian Calley comes to town and says he’s for your local domestic violence shelter, more funding of mental health treatment, and whatever else he thinks you want to hear but then he goes to Lansing and votes party line in favor of a rabid right wing agenda of tax cutting government down to the size it can be drowned in a bath tub until our schools are failing and bridges are falling down. I wouldn’t mind Mr. Calley being such an anti-tax idealogue, I just wish he wouldn’t lie about it. I also wish he and his cohorts would do their ONLY constitutionally-mandated job and PASS A BUDGET instead of putting it off for another day. When it comes to fixing the budget mess, there's no better time than right NOW!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Pass the budget, not the buck
President Harry Truman is known for the sign he placed atop his desk in the Oval Office, reminding everyone that "The Buck Stops Here." If only the politicians in Lansing were as willing to take responsibility...
An October 1 deadline draws near. By that date the Michigan House and Senate will have needed to pass the state budget with the signature of the Governor or the state faces a government shut down. The Attorney General has decreed that absolutely no money can be spent without a balanced budget signed into law. As of now the state is almost $2 billion short of making ends meet. Lansing, so far, has yet to deal with the situation and mostly what we've seen so far has been grandstanding and theatre, more of the same.
The Republican-controlled Senate has time and time again insisted that the state's budget should be balanced through spending cuts and have rejected several plans and compromises to deal with the budget shortfall through revenue increases. A last desperate measure by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to pass the buck and make the voters decide was foiled last week, and so here we are, right where we were so many months ago when I last commented on the situation. Frankly, I'd put off saying anything else, assuming that the "paid professionals" in Lansing would finally come to some resolution. Especially since the best solution has been sitting on the table for quite some time.
In a previous post here, I called for the legislature to roll back a small portion of the Engler income tax cuts for at least a temporary period of time. Since then many others have come out in favor of the same method for putting our state budget back in the black. Other plans have been floated but none is as elegant or as easily wiped away, should more prosperous times return. Raising the sales tax or adding a new service tax were both equally flawed solutions and harder to do away with.
Though, to be honest I doubt any tax increase will be temporary. Michigan's financial situation is not just a product of "lean times" or a temporary manufacturing downturn as much as it is a product of continued and excessive rounds of revenue cuts as part of a deliberate "starve the beast" mentality among right wing conservatives in the state and the result of the lust for globalization among the country's rich elite who lobby Congress for trade deals that cut the American worker off at the knees and move production to foreign countries, robbing us of our ability to pay our mortgages or our taxes.
Michigan's attempts to to transform itself from an auto manufacturing state to whatever comes next won't be quick or easy, but it also cannot be done without an investment in education and infrastructure. Both have been slowly rotting away as the people have been sold the snake oil of lower taxes and smaller government which come at "no cost" much like those "no interest" and "no money down" home loans. Those little tax refund checks sure feel good but they don't last. Meanwhile, the state is failing to educate it's workforce and it's citizens while the roads and schools crumble. It's time to quit passing the buck and deal with the mess we've created.
Some would say that it's foolish to expect that common sense will rule and that people will see how the "feel good now" tax cuts of the past created this mess and that it's time to own up to our collective responsibilities. Then again, outside of a small and timid group of corporate puppets and timid bureaucrats in Lansing, most people I talk to seem to understand the need to own up to our responsibility to properly fund schools, roads, health care, etc. But yet, the interest groups are already threatening to recall politicians who vote for tax increases, and timid politicians who cling to their cushy jobs and look to take the next step up the ladder of sucking on the public teat are feeling the heat. So, it's fair to ask if we expect politicians to make the tough and correct choices, isn't it time for the voters to do so as well?
For too long citizens have returned to office the very politicians who traded the milk cow of American industry for the magic beans of a Flat Earth. We've voted the guys who offered prosperity without cost and glory without sacrifice. I have no doubt that whatever form the final budget takes in Lansing, there will have to be some form of increased revenue (even the Senate conceded as much when it offered only a meager package of cuts which fall far short of the $2 billion needed). When the time comes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth as anti-tax, anti-government special interests threaten recall and primary challenges. We can only hope that our elected representatives belly up and do what's right. But when our time comes will we support the ones who were responsible and wise or will we once again support the short term solutions and the easy answers?
I ask the lawmakers in Lansing to do what's right and pass the budget, then I ask for the voters of Michigan to support them when they show courage and make them accountable if and when they pass the buck.
An October 1 deadline draws near. By that date the Michigan House and Senate will have needed to pass the state budget with the signature of the Governor or the state faces a government shut down. The Attorney General has decreed that absolutely no money can be spent without a balanced budget signed into law. As of now the state is almost $2 billion short of making ends meet. Lansing, so far, has yet to deal with the situation and mostly what we've seen so far has been grandstanding and theatre, more of the same.
The Republican-controlled Senate has time and time again insisted that the state's budget should be balanced through spending cuts and have rejected several plans and compromises to deal with the budget shortfall through revenue increases. A last desperate measure by Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to pass the buck and make the voters decide was foiled last week, and so here we are, right where we were so many months ago when I last commented on the situation. Frankly, I'd put off saying anything else, assuming that the "paid professionals" in Lansing would finally come to some resolution. Especially since the best solution has been sitting on the table for quite some time.
In a previous post here, I called for the legislature to roll back a small portion of the Engler income tax cuts for at least a temporary period of time. Since then many others have come out in favor of the same method for putting our state budget back in the black. Other plans have been floated but none is as elegant or as easily wiped away, should more prosperous times return. Raising the sales tax or adding a new service tax were both equally flawed solutions and harder to do away with.
Though, to be honest I doubt any tax increase will be temporary. Michigan's financial situation is not just a product of "lean times" or a temporary manufacturing downturn as much as it is a product of continued and excessive rounds of revenue cuts as part of a deliberate "starve the beast" mentality among right wing conservatives in the state and the result of the lust for globalization among the country's rich elite who lobby Congress for trade deals that cut the American worker off at the knees and move production to foreign countries, robbing us of our ability to pay our mortgages or our taxes.
Michigan's attempts to to transform itself from an auto manufacturing state to whatever comes next won't be quick or easy, but it also cannot be done without an investment in education and infrastructure. Both have been slowly rotting away as the people have been sold the snake oil of lower taxes and smaller government which come at "no cost" much like those "no interest" and "no money down" home loans. Those little tax refund checks sure feel good but they don't last. Meanwhile, the state is failing to educate it's workforce and it's citizens while the roads and schools crumble. It's time to quit passing the buck and deal with the mess we've created.
Some would say that it's foolish to expect that common sense will rule and that people will see how the "feel good now" tax cuts of the past created this mess and that it's time to own up to our collective responsibilities. Then again, outside of a small and timid group of corporate puppets and timid bureaucrats in Lansing, most people I talk to seem to understand the need to own up to our responsibility to properly fund schools, roads, health care, etc. But yet, the interest groups are already threatening to recall politicians who vote for tax increases, and timid politicians who cling to their cushy jobs and look to take the next step up the ladder of sucking on the public teat are feeling the heat. So, it's fair to ask if we expect politicians to make the tough and correct choices, isn't it time for the voters to do so as well?
For too long citizens have returned to office the very politicians who traded the milk cow of American industry for the magic beans of a Flat Earth. We've voted the guys who offered prosperity without cost and glory without sacrifice. I have no doubt that whatever form the final budget takes in Lansing, there will have to be some form of increased revenue (even the Senate conceded as much when it offered only a meager package of cuts which fall far short of the $2 billion needed). When the time comes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth as anti-tax, anti-government special interests threaten recall and primary challenges. We can only hope that our elected representatives belly up and do what's right. But when our time comes will we support the ones who were responsible and wise or will we once again support the short term solutions and the easy answers?
I ask the lawmakers in Lansing to do what's right and pass the budget, then I ask for the voters of Michigan to support them when they show courage and make them accountable if and when they pass the buck.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Nine Won One more time...
When I wrote my last post to this blog a little over a month ago, I guessed that the blaring news headlines of a new rock solid set of charges against our much-maligned Barry County 911 director would likely vaporize into little more than the newest chapter of the long saga of The Wall of Blue - the system that Mr. Nystrom has used time and time again to attack his accusers and shield himself from the prying eyes of the public. Last year I wrote my first post on Director Nystrom's ability to avoid punishment for his many misdeeds and here we are today with some still not realizing that the very illegal or unethical payments Mr. Nystrom is accused of making to his dispatchers is part of that Wall. How ironic is it that the very people we are supposed to call when we are being robbed are the ones who are picking our pockets?
Very simply for those who still can't grasp the basic facts in this case: Why would anyone rat out the guy who's been giving them taxpayer money that they hadn't earned and weren't entitled to receive? How many of those people would go public, knowing that not only would they likely have to pay that money back but that they'd also have to answer why they took it in the first place? Why did those payments take place in a manner not exactly legal or ethical when there would have been almost no objection from any quarter had they been necessary and well-earned?
That Nystrom's defenders have no answers for any of those questions leaves me convinced that the taxpayers of Barry County just got screwed again. It's in many ways similar to the way Scooter Libby obstructed justice by lying before a Grand Jury in the CIA leak case and then got his sentence commuted by the very forces his lies were helping to protect- how do you prosecute a case when all the witnesses are willing to lie and their lies are condoned by the people in power that they are protecting?
I find it almost surreal that most of Nystrom's defenders have used the line that he personally didn't benefit from the misuse of public funds- as if stealing from someone is OK as you long as you don't keep the money. Is it much of a stretch to understand that those payments are obviously part of his system of favors and punishment that the director has used to keep his Wall intact? While there is no doubt many incorrect allegations have been hurled at the director, it's also true that men and women of reason have to be able to separate unrelated arguments, and the truth or falsehood of the most recent allegations have nothing to do with past incidents, investigations and cover-ups.
The real problem here is that the public has been robbed not just once, but twice. First, Nystrom took money (correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen very few people argue- even Nystrom himself- against the actual charges but instead they choose to dismiss it as just being nice to public employees who worked hard to keep us safe which has nothing to do with Nystrom's guilt or innocence but makes a neat way to deflect attacks without really mustering a real defense) which was not his to spend on dubious overtime expenses which had no reason to exist "off the books" other than to serve as hush money and to protect his personal fiefdom. Second, Nystrom has received a generous payoff which is his own hush fund, given to him by his long-time enablers on the County 911 Board- the very people who should have discovered the misappropriation of public money and DONE SOMETHING about it! This smacks of yet another corrupt crony Christmas gift which seems to be a proud tradition in local politics. I'm not sure what is more offensive- the bribe to go away quietly or the fact that so many prominent figures are forcing us to eat this turd and tell us how good it tastes!
That the voters have been let down by their elected leaders is the real story. Once again, instead of doing what was right, Nystrom and the 911 Board have failed in their duty to wisely use taxpayer money for the greater good. Nystrom's payments to dispatchers could have been done through legal and ethical means, but they weren't and he should have to face consequences for those actions instead of receiving an early retirement gift and a loud and boisterous defense from his pack of enablers who hide behind talking point as if they were members of the Bush administration- how many more times do we have to hear any complain about our County 911 system countered by the old saw that "we have the best system in the state." Talking points work best when they confuse the issue and distract people from the real matter.
Finally, it seems like we've been most let down by a County Prosecutor who I warned was not up to the job from what I saw in the election campaign. Prosecutor Evans led with his chin and got sent to the mat. Whatever his motives or reason for going public with the case when he chose, it now appears obvious he wasn't ready to press charges. He now seems to be hinting he and the Sheriff will not sign off on the deal, which has been called a golden parachute in the local paper's editorial. I have no sympathy for Prosecutors who choose to try their case in public- it's one of the reasons voters sent a previous prosecutor packing. Evan's opponent likely lost because she was seen as too close to the corrupt system voters were already tired of. But if Evans is unable to effectively manage a case of public corruption then what good is he? Perhaps the biggest lesson from all this is that sometimes people just aren't up the job and that being incompetent is perhaps just as bad or even worse than being corrupt.
If voters want to take their anger out on anyone over this, how about the 911 Board which has always defended Nystrom, instead of doing their job to protect the public from waste, fraud, corruption and abuse? I'd suggest starting with Nystrom's loudest defender, Hastings Township Supervisor Jim Brown. This Brownie is not doing a "heckuva job" since he's loudly trying to tell us what a good deal we got. The only way it would be a good deal is if Brown himself resigned or if the sensible voters of Hastings Township started making some noise about their elected official's involvement in defending the misuse of public funds. I know there's a remedy for when elected officials shirk their responsibility to the public, do you recall? Hastings Township voters are in a unique position to have their voices heard on this issue and they should let Jim Brown know his days of defending the misuse of their money are over.
And should anyone still be confused- acquittal, or lack of prosecution, does not equal innocence. Since OJ Simpson never got convicted does that mean he didn't kill two people? Ken Lay never served a day in prison but he's still known as the guy who defrauded Enron investors. The people who see the lack of prosecution as evidence of innocence need to understand that there is no connection between the two, except that it's one more sign the Wall of Blue is still holding strong.
Very simply for those who still can't grasp the basic facts in this case: Why would anyone rat out the guy who's been giving them taxpayer money that they hadn't earned and weren't entitled to receive? How many of those people would go public, knowing that not only would they likely have to pay that money back but that they'd also have to answer why they took it in the first place? Why did those payments take place in a manner not exactly legal or ethical when there would have been almost no objection from any quarter had they been necessary and well-earned?
That Nystrom's defenders have no answers for any of those questions leaves me convinced that the taxpayers of Barry County just got screwed again. It's in many ways similar to the way Scooter Libby obstructed justice by lying before a Grand Jury in the CIA leak case and then got his sentence commuted by the very forces his lies were helping to protect- how do you prosecute a case when all the witnesses are willing to lie and their lies are condoned by the people in power that they are protecting?
I find it almost surreal that most of Nystrom's defenders have used the line that he personally didn't benefit from the misuse of public funds- as if stealing from someone is OK as you long as you don't keep the money. Is it much of a stretch to understand that those payments are obviously part of his system of favors and punishment that the director has used to keep his Wall intact? While there is no doubt many incorrect allegations have been hurled at the director, it's also true that men and women of reason have to be able to separate unrelated arguments, and the truth or falsehood of the most recent allegations have nothing to do with past incidents, investigations and cover-ups.
The real problem here is that the public has been robbed not just once, but twice. First, Nystrom took money (correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen very few people argue- even Nystrom himself- against the actual charges but instead they choose to dismiss it as just being nice to public employees who worked hard to keep us safe which has nothing to do with Nystrom's guilt or innocence but makes a neat way to deflect attacks without really mustering a real defense) which was not his to spend on dubious overtime expenses which had no reason to exist "off the books" other than to serve as hush money and to protect his personal fiefdom. Second, Nystrom has received a generous payoff which is his own hush fund, given to him by his long-time enablers on the County 911 Board- the very people who should have discovered the misappropriation of public money and DONE SOMETHING about it! This smacks of yet another corrupt crony Christmas gift which seems to be a proud tradition in local politics. I'm not sure what is more offensive- the bribe to go away quietly or the fact that so many prominent figures are forcing us to eat this turd and tell us how good it tastes!
That the voters have been let down by their elected leaders is the real story. Once again, instead of doing what was right, Nystrom and the 911 Board have failed in their duty to wisely use taxpayer money for the greater good. Nystrom's payments to dispatchers could have been done through legal and ethical means, but they weren't and he should have to face consequences for those actions instead of receiving an early retirement gift and a loud and boisterous defense from his pack of enablers who hide behind talking point as if they were members of the Bush administration- how many more times do we have to hear any complain about our County 911 system countered by the old saw that "we have the best system in the state." Talking points work best when they confuse the issue and distract people from the real matter.
Finally, it seems like we've been most let down by a County Prosecutor who I warned was not up to the job from what I saw in the election campaign. Prosecutor Evans led with his chin and got sent to the mat. Whatever his motives or reason for going public with the case when he chose, it now appears obvious he wasn't ready to press charges. He now seems to be hinting he and the Sheriff will not sign off on the deal, which has been called a golden parachute in the local paper's editorial. I have no sympathy for Prosecutors who choose to try their case in public- it's one of the reasons voters sent a previous prosecutor packing. Evan's opponent likely lost because she was seen as too close to the corrupt system voters were already tired of. But if Evans is unable to effectively manage a case of public corruption then what good is he? Perhaps the biggest lesson from all this is that sometimes people just aren't up the job and that being incompetent is perhaps just as bad or even worse than being corrupt.
If voters want to take their anger out on anyone over this, how about the 911 Board which has always defended Nystrom, instead of doing their job to protect the public from waste, fraud, corruption and abuse? I'd suggest starting with Nystrom's loudest defender, Hastings Township Supervisor Jim Brown. This Brownie is not doing a "heckuva job" since he's loudly trying to tell us what a good deal we got. The only way it would be a good deal is if Brown himself resigned or if the sensible voters of Hastings Township started making some noise about their elected official's involvement in defending the misuse of public funds. I know there's a remedy for when elected officials shirk their responsibility to the public, do you recall? Hastings Township voters are in a unique position to have their voices heard on this issue and they should let Jim Brown know his days of defending the misuse of their money are over.
And should anyone still be confused- acquittal, or lack of prosecution, does not equal innocence. Since OJ Simpson never got convicted does that mean he didn't kill two people? Ken Lay never served a day in prison but he's still known as the guy who defrauded Enron investors. The people who see the lack of prosecution as evidence of innocence need to understand that there is no connection between the two, except that it's one more sign the Wall of Blue is still holding strong.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall
If you live in Barry County or if you've been reading this blog, chances are you know a little bit about the controversy over our County 911 Director, Charlie Nystrom. Nystrom has been charged with wrong doing in the past but nothing has ever seemed to stick. Today, Nystrom was placed on one week of administrative leave due to Prosecutor Tom Evans alleging Nystrom gave several 911 employees overtime pay which they were not entitled to to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.
In previous instances, Nystrom has been accused of much but there was always a lack of solid proof, a "blue wall" of defenders and a feeling that the accusations from some were nothing more than a combination of personality conflicts, sour grapes and small town politics. However, if the allegations presented by Evans and Sheriff Dar Leaf turn out to be true, Nystrom's critics will finally be vindicated.
In the past Nystrom has personally tried to defend himself on this blog and the Barry Home Companion in the guise of "Truthseeker," often by accusing me of being part of the local paper which has been a fierce and unrelenting critic of Nystrom, even after he was cleared of other allegations in a probe by the Michigan State Police. Nystrom used the investigation's result as a way to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt conducted by the paper and this blog.
However, the State Police probe was discounted by many in the community due to Nystrom's close ties to many State Police, including former post commander and current 911 Board Chair Ron Neil. In fact, when the 911 board allowed Nystrom's lawyer access to his office, it conveniently was Neil who was allowed to escort him. It's amazing to me that no one else on the board saw the potential for mischief and forced someone more impartial to take part in the visit. I can't help but wonder if once again the wall surrounding Nystrom will protect him and keep the truth from coming out.
Despite the media coverage I can't help but feel like I've seen this film before. The allegations once again sound grave but Evans has yet to press any charges and hints he may not, despite his calling this a case of "embezzlement." At this point, despite having gone public with the inflammatory charge, the investigation has only interviewed a mere 2 of 11 dispatchers. Eyewitness accounts from today's meeting has said that Evans and Leaf were less than convincing in their presentations. Could it be that once again critics of Nystrom have gone public with their allegations without enough evidence to convict?
I'd like to think that this time the people responsible for defending their claims will have the weight of evidence on their side. And this time, I'm hoping that those who've spent so much time defending Nystrom finally decide to do right by the citizens of this county, who deserve to have their public officials be watch dogs in the use of tax dollars, not using it to pay off their buddies and buy their silence. The most recent allegations against Nystrom could be the final crack in the Wall of Blue or All the King's Men just might find a way to fix their boss and return to business as usual.
In previous instances, Nystrom has been accused of much but there was always a lack of solid proof, a "blue wall" of defenders and a feeling that the accusations from some were nothing more than a combination of personality conflicts, sour grapes and small town politics. However, if the allegations presented by Evans and Sheriff Dar Leaf turn out to be true, Nystrom's critics will finally be vindicated.
In the past Nystrom has personally tried to defend himself on this blog and the Barry Home Companion in the guise of "Truthseeker," often by accusing me of being part of the local paper which has been a fierce and unrelenting critic of Nystrom, even after he was cleared of other allegations in a probe by the Michigan State Police. Nystrom used the investigation's result as a way to portray himself as the victim of a witch hunt conducted by the paper and this blog.
However, the State Police probe was discounted by many in the community due to Nystrom's close ties to many State Police, including former post commander and current 911 Board Chair Ron Neil. In fact, when the 911 board allowed Nystrom's lawyer access to his office, it conveniently was Neil who was allowed to escort him. It's amazing to me that no one else on the board saw the potential for mischief and forced someone more impartial to take part in the visit. I can't help but wonder if once again the wall surrounding Nystrom will protect him and keep the truth from coming out.
Despite the media coverage I can't help but feel like I've seen this film before. The allegations once again sound grave but Evans has yet to press any charges and hints he may not, despite his calling this a case of "embezzlement." At this point, despite having gone public with the inflammatory charge, the investigation has only interviewed a mere 2 of 11 dispatchers. Eyewitness accounts from today's meeting has said that Evans and Leaf were less than convincing in their presentations. Could it be that once again critics of Nystrom have gone public with their allegations without enough evidence to convict?
I'd like to think that this time the people responsible for defending their claims will have the weight of evidence on their side. And this time, I'm hoping that those who've spent so much time defending Nystrom finally decide to do right by the citizens of this county, who deserve to have their public officials be watch dogs in the use of tax dollars, not using it to pay off their buddies and buy their silence. The most recent allegations against Nystrom could be the final crack in the Wall of Blue or All the King's Men just might find a way to fix their boss and return to business as usual.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Death by Diet Coke?
I was going to send this link via email to a circle of friends and family, knowing most of them would probably ignore it among the mass of jokes and cute pictures and "male enhancement" emails clogging up their in boxes and then I realized that I should reward the regular readers of this site awaiting a new post.
Anyway, I hate to join the latest health scare panic as I usually find that the stories don't hold up to their initial promise, but this latest disturbing health study seems part of a pattern to me...
(snip)
The FDA has become a joke and whether it's Chinese food unfit for animal or human consumption or killer pharmaceuticals released without proper testing (at the same time they tell you that you can't get them from Canada because it might not be safe or that if you smoke pot you are a dangerous criminal who will end up stupid and forgetful).
Maybe it's time to write your Congressman or one of your two Senators:
Yes, it seems as if they want to make the companies themselves responsible for their own testing. The reason we have an FDA is because we know what happens when companies are in charge of overseeing the safety of their own products without government "interference" and "over regulation." Anyone remember the Ford Pinto's exploding gas tank?
In the 1970s Ralph Nader warned of and tried to do something about the fact that airlines needed to strengthen their cockpit doors as a means to help defend against plane hijackings, a warning which went unheeded due to the airlines' insistence that such a regulation would be burdensome to the industry. Anyone care to "connect the dots" there? If our government would have insisted on public safety maybe the public wouldn't have had to write a $15 billion check after 9/11? Also, we likely wouldn't have started a bogus invasion of a foreign country, leading to a bloody and costly occupation.
We now a see a pattern of a political philosophy that sees government as the problem when in fact, in the case of food and drug safety, it's the lack of government that is a problem. Without rigid regulations, stiff inspections and serious penalties for failure to meet a proper standard, we will continue to have to take our lives into our own hands when we sit down at our dinner table or when we pop a pill.
Anyway, I hate to join the latest health scare panic as I usually find that the stories don't hold up to their initial promise, but this latest disturbing health study seems part of a pattern to me...
Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health
Expert links additive to cell damage
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Published: 27 May 2007
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.
(snip)
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
The FDA has become a joke and whether it's Chinese food unfit for animal or human consumption or killer pharmaceuticals released without proper testing (at the same time they tell you that you can't get them from Canada because it might not be safe or that if you smoke pot you are a dangerous criminal who will end up stupid and forgetful).
Maybe it's time to write your Congressman or one of your two Senators:
After all, if you're not testing for it, it's easy to say there's no problem since it hasn't been caught. I'm sick of poisonous products being pumped out for corporate profit without regard to the many lives affected. Our current system has failed to protect the public and it's because we've handed the keys to our country over to people who only care about their own bottom line and have managed to gut the FDA's power to properly inspect our food and drug supply:The FDA normally inspects about 1 percent of all food and food ingredients at U.S. borders. It does tests on about half of 1 percent.
And official vigilance has been going down — for two reasons.
First, food imports have increased dramatically, from $45 billion in 2003 to $64 billion three years later.
Second, the "food" part of the FDA has been getting smaller.
Earlier this year, lead-contaminated multivitamins showed up on the shelves of U.S. retailers. And this spring, vitamin A from China contaminated with dangerous bacteria nearly ended up in European baby food.It's bound to happen more often. Hubbard says the agency is overwhelmed by the rising tide of imports.
"When I came to the FDA in the 1970s, the food program was almost half of the FDA's budget. Today, it's only a quarter," Hubbard says.
Experts say the FDA has about 650 food inspectors to cover 60,000 domestic food producers and 418 ports of entry.
The agency plans to close nearly half of its 13 food-testing labs.
Yes, it seems as if they want to make the companies themselves responsible for their own testing. The reason we have an FDA is because we know what happens when companies are in charge of overseeing the safety of their own products without government "interference" and "over regulation." Anyone remember the Ford Pinto's exploding gas tank?
In the 1970s Ralph Nader warned of and tried to do something about the fact that airlines needed to strengthen their cockpit doors as a means to help defend against plane hijackings, a warning which went unheeded due to the airlines' insistence that such a regulation would be burdensome to the industry. Anyone care to "connect the dots" there? If our government would have insisted on public safety maybe the public wouldn't have had to write a $15 billion check after 9/11? Also, we likely wouldn't have started a bogus invasion of a foreign country, leading to a bloody and costly occupation.
We now a see a pattern of a political philosophy that sees government as the problem when in fact, in the case of food and drug safety, it's the lack of government that is a problem. Without rigid regulations, stiff inspections and serious penalties for failure to meet a proper standard, we will continue to have to take our lives into our own hands when we sit down at our dinner table or when we pop a pill.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The bad idea that won't die
While a noble band of local folks have been waging a grass-roots campaign to try to stop a Super Wal-Mart from being constructed just outside the Hastings city limits, Hastings City and Rutland Township officials have been quietly negotiating a deal with the giant retailer. Citizens: Prepare thyselves for Wal-Mart’s presence near the corner of Green Street and Cook Road in Rutland Township. Back-room politics appear to be winning yet another battle in hyper capitalism’s war on the unwary working middle class.
Forget the fact that a horde of local citizens cheered when the Rutland Township Planning Commission voted unanimously in March against recommending Wal-Mart’s request for mixed use zoning to accommodate the project. Forget the fact the Rutland Township Board last month voted 4-3 in the face of public opposition to have another traffic study done, effectively delaying Wal-Mart’s request to get started on a "super" shopping center. Forget what you heard about the Super Wal-Mart plan being dead. Like a movie monster, this bad idea just keeps getting up again in order to continue scaring the villagers...
The crucial argument against Super Wal-Mart’s location selection has been the nature of Green Street, residential, too narrow and too close to a hospital that needs quick ingress and egress for emergency vehicles. The secondary argument against the world’s largest retailer is its awful habit of ruining small communities by sucking the life out of downtowns, forcing taxpayers to widen roads and provide infrastructure as a result of Wal-Mart’s mere presence and the retail giant’s penchant for locating just outside the city limits and in the adjacent township to avoid paying higher city taxes (in Hastings the levy is 16.2 mills, in Rutland, it’s one measly mill).
Several city and township officials, through private negotiations, apparently have cut off the traffic argument at the pass with a novel idea: Closing Green Street just to the west of Pennock Hospital and Fish Hatchery Park, thereby countering claims Green is too narrow and the hospital can’t absorb increase in traffic. Meanwhile, it seems people then could get to Wal-Mart from Cook Road and the portion of Green that runs from Cook east from the M-37/M-43 traffic light that was necessitated by the current existing Wal-Mart and paid for by taxpayer dollars.
I’ve always said one of the most important functions of government is to solve problems, and a few city and township officials seem to feel they’ve done just that. They’ve found a way to avoid potential costly litigation at the hands of the second richest company in the world, second only to Exxon/Mobil. And they didn’t get that way by just being the benevolent smily-face falling prices public relations fantasy baloney they’ve fed us for so long. They’ve gotten where they are by bullying backwoods rube governments with little courage and not enough knowledge or money to stand up to them. They’ve climbed to the top on the backs of poor Third World workers who ultimately are doing what many Americans used to do, only much cheaper and under conditions more foul than the sweatshops of late 19th Century America in the era of robber barons. They’ve used cut-throat tactics to sell their products for less and eliminate competition, which is supposed to be the cornerstone of the free market enterprise system.
But it seems too many consumers examine only what’s right in front of them, the low price, while ignoring the man behind the curtain who hopes someday to be the only seller left standing so he can name whatever price he wishes. Some letter writers to the local newspaper call this process “progress” for Hastings and Barry County. I call it a giant step back into the early 20th century before Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era put a stop to it.
So city and township officials seem to have found a way to let Wal-Mart in the back door. And they’ll probably tell us they were forced to, they couldn’t legally stop the world’s largest retailer. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I sentence Jim Carr, Jeff Mansfield and a few other sellouts to study the story of the Munich Conference in 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave away the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler, declaring “Peace in Our Time.”
And I challenge the many people who live here to engage in a serious boycott of ever buying anything at Wal-Mart. If your local elected officials won’t stand up for you, you’re going to have to resort to the only weapon you have left: “Vote with your pocketbook.”
And I challenge the readers of this blog to call up their local representatives and let them know that if they don't support local businesses and citizens, maybe those businesses and citizens won't support them when they run for re-election. Don't let Barry County join the race to the bottom we like to call "globalization." Don't let back door deals override the will of the people. And don't let the politicians forget that they can get "downsized" when they don't defend the working class that pays their salaries and votes them in or out of office.
And for any politician or citizen who wants to do the right thing and fight Wal-Mart, please click go to Wal-Mart Watch's BattleMart page.
Forget the fact that a horde of local citizens cheered when the Rutland Township Planning Commission voted unanimously in March against recommending Wal-Mart’s request for mixed use zoning to accommodate the project. Forget the fact the Rutland Township Board last month voted 4-3 in the face of public opposition to have another traffic study done, effectively delaying Wal-Mart’s request to get started on a "super" shopping center. Forget what you heard about the Super Wal-Mart plan being dead. Like a movie monster, this bad idea just keeps getting up again in order to continue scaring the villagers...
The crucial argument against Super Wal-Mart’s location selection has been the nature of Green Street, residential, too narrow and too close to a hospital that needs quick ingress and egress for emergency vehicles. The secondary argument against the world’s largest retailer is its awful habit of ruining small communities by sucking the life out of downtowns, forcing taxpayers to widen roads and provide infrastructure as a result of Wal-Mart’s mere presence and the retail giant’s penchant for locating just outside the city limits and in the adjacent township to avoid paying higher city taxes (in Hastings the levy is 16.2 mills, in Rutland, it’s one measly mill).
Several city and township officials, through private negotiations, apparently have cut off the traffic argument at the pass with a novel idea: Closing Green Street just to the west of Pennock Hospital and Fish Hatchery Park, thereby countering claims Green is too narrow and the hospital can’t absorb increase in traffic. Meanwhile, it seems people then could get to Wal-Mart from Cook Road and the portion of Green that runs from Cook east from the M-37/M-43 traffic light that was necessitated by the current existing Wal-Mart and paid for by taxpayer dollars.
I’ve always said one of the most important functions of government is to solve problems, and a few city and township officials seem to feel they’ve done just that. They’ve found a way to avoid potential costly litigation at the hands of the second richest company in the world, second only to Exxon/Mobil. And they didn’t get that way by just being the benevolent smily-face falling prices public relations fantasy baloney they’ve fed us for so long. They’ve gotten where they are by bullying backwoods rube governments with little courage and not enough knowledge or money to stand up to them. They’ve climbed to the top on the backs of poor Third World workers who ultimately are doing what many Americans used to do, only much cheaper and under conditions more foul than the sweatshops of late 19th Century America in the era of robber barons. They’ve used cut-throat tactics to sell their products for less and eliminate competition, which is supposed to be the cornerstone of the free market enterprise system.
But it seems too many consumers examine only what’s right in front of them, the low price, while ignoring the man behind the curtain who hopes someday to be the only seller left standing so he can name whatever price he wishes. Some letter writers to the local newspaper call this process “progress” for Hastings and Barry County. I call it a giant step back into the early 20th century before Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Era put a stop to it.
So city and township officials seem to have found a way to let Wal-Mart in the back door. And they’ll probably tell us they were forced to, they couldn’t legally stop the world’s largest retailer. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I sentence Jim Carr, Jeff Mansfield and a few other sellouts to study the story of the Munich Conference in 1938, when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave away the Sudetenland to Adolf Hitler, declaring “Peace in Our Time.”
And I challenge the many people who live here to engage in a serious boycott of ever buying anything at Wal-Mart. If your local elected officials won’t stand up for you, you’re going to have to resort to the only weapon you have left: “Vote with your pocketbook.”
And I challenge the readers of this blog to call up their local representatives and let them know that if they don't support local businesses and citizens, maybe those businesses and citizens won't support them when they run for re-election. Don't let Barry County join the race to the bottom we like to call "globalization." Don't let back door deals override the will of the people. And don't let the politicians forget that they can get "downsized" when they don't defend the working class that pays their salaries and votes them in or out of office.
And for any politician or citizen who wants to do the right thing and fight Wal-Mart, please click go to Wal-Mart Watch's BattleMart page.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Tax cutting the trees down
I'm sure many people didn't give much though to a recent story about the city of Grand Rapids being forced to cut down dozens of ash trees due to the spread of the invasive pest, the Emerald Ash Borer but I think it's something you should pay attention to. Millions of trees are being killed by this pest but efforts to contain its spread were cut:
I'm sure some people will dismiss this as not a major news story but imagine streets lined with large, stately trees that the city of Grand Rapids is now going to have to replace:
Imagine the quality of life in those neighborhoods that will be lost, the higher heating and cooling bills due to the loss of shade and windbreak. These seem like silly concerns because our society often dismisses things that no one is able to package and sell in a sound byte. But also add up the tax dollars that need to be spent to deal with the problem and the loss of home value in the neighborhoods defined by streets lined with beautiful trees. Federal and state government should have been managing the crisis before it got out of hand but instead they passed it off to overwhelmed local officials and homeowners. Now communities all over are dealing with the problem and who knows how much money it will cost in the long run because government didn't wisely allocate its resources and people weren't willing to support the programs needed to avoid this problem.
And why couldn't we have just spent the money to deal with the problem in the first place? Because some people would cry about tax dollars being "wasted fighting bugs." I think they're just greedy, the same kind of greed that says a person with mental or physical problems should be forced to go out and earn a living instead of getting a "handout." The starve the beast and drown government in the bathtub crowd doesn't care about those that can't help themselves. They don't want to pay for mental institutions or welfare agencies, food stamps or Head Start. They don't mind taxes for roads, mostly torn up by the big trucks that take merchandise from one rich man's warehouse to another. They don't mind taxes to pay for big stadiums where they have luxury boxes. And they don't mind paying taxes for airports where they can fly their private planes. But taxes to fight bugs are a sign of bloated bureaucracy and if only we'd "trim the fat" we'd balance the state budget and everything would be fine.
Once again, I remind you of Howard Wolpe's famous words: "Read my lips, raise YOUR taxes." Feel good tax cuts are passed by politicians which mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans but then spend whatever it takes on a war without end or even a reason. We pass the burden down to the people least able to deal with it while the rich and powerful party away. They always cry "class warfare" whenever anyone brings up the widening imbalance between rich and poor in America and usually they manage to force people to back down. But change is coming...
The poor are finally waking to the fact that as they are told their kids' schools may have to shut early, luxury yacht owners can't find a slip for their million dollar toys. While people grumble yet pay their dues to the federal government, the rich hide behind tax shelters and then try to convince you they're being over-burdened. Well, that's too bad for them because I thought we "are all hurting" yet the rich are making more and more money every year while our services are being cut.
Sadly, most people don't seem to get it. I guess it's easier to blame the guy who's in between jobs or to shift the burden to the single mom who left her abusive boyfriend and now has to support her and her kid. Maybe it takes a little intelligence to think in the long term instead of seeking immediate gratification. Maybe it's asking to much for people to see the forest for the trees.
We've been seriously ignoring our long-term problems while relying on short term thinking and feel good solutions to complex issues. We can continue to ignore the warning signs: the dead trees, the potholes in the road, the closed school buildings and the workers headed out of state or we can understand that the paid lobbyists have bought our government and are going to keep squeezing as much money out of it as they can. Meanwhile, you wonder why they're closing schools and hospitals. But don't worry, this is just a story about a couple of dead trees...
In April 2003, the state cut down more than 15,000 trees in Wyoming as a part of a federally-funded eradication effort. But over the last two years, the feds cut funding for the program and by the time trees in Cascade Township were found with it last June, the state had already decided to concentrate their efforts on other parts of Michigan. That means local municipalities and property owners are on their own.
"They've left basically this side of the state to deal with the problem," said Public Works Director Patrick Bush.
I'm sure some people will dismiss this as not a major news story but imagine streets lined with large, stately trees that the city of Grand Rapids is now going to have to replace:
Heartwell said the city's 7,000 ash trees are at risk because of the invasive species of beetle whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree's ability to transport water and nutrients.
"This is significant," Heartwell said. "It's going to change the face of Grand Rapids."
Last fall, the city unveiled a plan to replace all the city's ash trees over the next 10 years. The plan is expected to cost between $7 million and $12 million.
Imagine the quality of life in those neighborhoods that will be lost, the higher heating and cooling bills due to the loss of shade and windbreak. These seem like silly concerns because our society often dismisses things that no one is able to package and sell in a sound byte. But also add up the tax dollars that need to be spent to deal with the problem and the loss of home value in the neighborhoods defined by streets lined with beautiful trees. Federal and state government should have been managing the crisis before it got out of hand but instead they passed it off to overwhelmed local officials and homeowners. Now communities all over are dealing with the problem and who knows how much money it will cost in the long run because government didn't wisely allocate its resources and people weren't willing to support the programs needed to avoid this problem.
And why couldn't we have just spent the money to deal with the problem in the first place? Because some people would cry about tax dollars being "wasted fighting bugs." I think they're just greedy, the same kind of greed that says a person with mental or physical problems should be forced to go out and earn a living instead of getting a "handout." The starve the beast and drown government in the bathtub crowd doesn't care about those that can't help themselves. They don't want to pay for mental institutions or welfare agencies, food stamps or Head Start. They don't mind taxes for roads, mostly torn up by the big trucks that take merchandise from one rich man's warehouse to another. They don't mind taxes to pay for big stadiums where they have luxury boxes. And they don't mind paying taxes for airports where they can fly their private planes. But taxes to fight bugs are a sign of bloated bureaucracy and if only we'd "trim the fat" we'd balance the state budget and everything would be fine.
Once again, I remind you of Howard Wolpe's famous words: "Read my lips, raise YOUR taxes." Feel good tax cuts are passed by politicians which mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans but then spend whatever it takes on a war without end or even a reason. We pass the burden down to the people least able to deal with it while the rich and powerful party away. They always cry "class warfare" whenever anyone brings up the widening imbalance between rich and poor in America and usually they manage to force people to back down. But change is coming...
The poor are finally waking to the fact that as they are told their kids' schools may have to shut early, luxury yacht owners can't find a slip for their million dollar toys. While people grumble yet pay their dues to the federal government, the rich hide behind tax shelters and then try to convince you they're being over-burdened. Well, that's too bad for them because I thought we "are all hurting" yet the rich are making more and more money every year while our services are being cut.
Sadly, most people don't seem to get it. I guess it's easier to blame the guy who's in between jobs or to shift the burden to the single mom who left her abusive boyfriend and now has to support her and her kid. Maybe it takes a little intelligence to think in the long term instead of seeking immediate gratification. Maybe it's asking to much for people to see the forest for the trees.
We've been seriously ignoring our long-term problems while relying on short term thinking and feel good solutions to complex issues. We can continue to ignore the warning signs: the dead trees, the potholes in the road, the closed school buildings and the workers headed out of state or we can understand that the paid lobbyists have bought our government and are going to keep squeezing as much money out of it as they can. Meanwhile, you wonder why they're closing schools and hospitals. But don't worry, this is just a story about a couple of dead trees...
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Building a better blog
I’ve been delighted that County Board of Commissioners Chairman Mike Callton decided to get into the blogging game with the “Barry Home Companion” blog in order to add another voice to serious cyberspace political and social commentary about Barry County and West Michigan. Dr. Callton, with a nod to Goldilocks and maybe Fox News, has billed his forum as “not too liberal, not too conservative, but just right,” but the Barry Home Companion has fallen victim, as many other blogs have, including this one at times, to the scourge of anonymity and its use as a way to hurl mud at political opponents, particularly the use of sexual innuendo to slime a public official. There’s absolutely nothing anonymous in the featured postings clearly identified as to who their authors are: Callton himself, State Rep. Brian Calley, Commissioner Jeff VanNortwick and Chuck Reid, a County Commission watchdog, all have written opinion pieces, giving the blog variety, a different approach than my lone wolf style and one that I enjoy reading.
However, comments in reaction to postings sometimes have gotten out of hand, just like they did too often on West Michigan Politics a while back. Buoyed by their anonymity, some people have made outrageous, questionable and personal attacks on public figures. I suppose this too often is a big risk when setting up and running a blog that invites everyone to the table to speak their minds.
Because of the nefarious nature of certain anonymous claims on this blog in bygone days, I changed my policy by not allowing anyone to post simply as “anonymous.” My compromise was that comment contributors must consistently use a handle in order to be able to post. And since I'm limited by the tools Blogspot and Google offer for free, I felt this was the best decision. Granted, those sending comments still don’t have to identify themselves by their real names, but with a particular handle, it becomes a lot easier to have back and forth debate and some people eventually give themselves away under their pseudonyms of choice. It's also easier for people to gauge how they line up with an author's point of view through repeated exposure to their signed blog posts and it works as a check against people saying things they might otherwise say if they were one of a number of comments listed as "anonymous."
I hereby ask Dr. Callton, customarily a reasonable man, to eliminate all anonymous commentary on his blog, to use his authority to block scurrilous charges and suggestions from these secret snipers who don’t have the guts to join the cyber discussion with at least a nom de plume of some kind so that others may judge their record of posts and encourage a responsible and civil discussion. I think automatically turning away anonymous commentary will cut down on the more outrageous tabloid-style attacks we have to endure in our laudable never-ending efforts for political discourse outside the usual channels. It won't end it, but those now more rare out of bounds comments can be deleted by the moderator. I have even cut out an offending comment and re-pasted the rest of the author's post when I felt they'd crossed a line but the rest of the comment was worthy of discussion.
I also believe Commission Callton should set a higher standard simply because he's a public official. He already got in some hot water for having the blog linked to an official government web site which he has since rectified. But by having his name on the blog and because of his status as a public official, his opponents or those trying to damage his reputation or the power of his blog can use these gutter tactics against him by attaching him to the attacks. I think it's in his own best interest to clamp down a bit but not so much as to completely stifle discussion and dissent. Some will cry censorship but that rare minority is likely to be the one most willing to use anonymous attacks for character assassination.
When I started my blog, it was my intention to have debate, discourse and discussion about political issues crucial to people who live in Barry County and West Michigan, issues that might not be seriously discussed in traditional media formats because of fear of reprisal. I developed West Michigan Politics as a haven for that discussion. It may not be the perfect forum but I've done my best to live up to my own high standards. I admit to being a flawed person, an amateur political commentator who has made mistakes in my judgment and my grammar and not always lived up to my own intent and potential. My intention is not to promote the sleazy, slimy and salacious, it is, rather to promote a truly open, honest and illuminating discussion that the traditional media dare not offer. It is with humility and respect that I beseech Dr. Callton to do the same.
However, comments in reaction to postings sometimes have gotten out of hand, just like they did too often on West Michigan Politics a while back. Buoyed by their anonymity, some people have made outrageous, questionable and personal attacks on public figures. I suppose this too often is a big risk when setting up and running a blog that invites everyone to the table to speak their minds.
Because of the nefarious nature of certain anonymous claims on this blog in bygone days, I changed my policy by not allowing anyone to post simply as “anonymous.” My compromise was that comment contributors must consistently use a handle in order to be able to post. And since I'm limited by the tools Blogspot and Google offer for free, I felt this was the best decision. Granted, those sending comments still don’t have to identify themselves by their real names, but with a particular handle, it becomes a lot easier to have back and forth debate and some people eventually give themselves away under their pseudonyms of choice. It's also easier for people to gauge how they line up with an author's point of view through repeated exposure to their signed blog posts and it works as a check against people saying things they might otherwise say if they were one of a number of comments listed as "anonymous."
I hereby ask Dr. Callton, customarily a reasonable man, to eliminate all anonymous commentary on his blog, to use his authority to block scurrilous charges and suggestions from these secret snipers who don’t have the guts to join the cyber discussion with at least a nom de plume of some kind so that others may judge their record of posts and encourage a responsible and civil discussion. I think automatically turning away anonymous commentary will cut down on the more outrageous tabloid-style attacks we have to endure in our laudable never-ending efforts for political discourse outside the usual channels. It won't end it, but those now more rare out of bounds comments can be deleted by the moderator. I have even cut out an offending comment and re-pasted the rest of the author's post when I felt they'd crossed a line but the rest of the comment was worthy of discussion.
I also believe Commission Callton should set a higher standard simply because he's a public official. He already got in some hot water for having the blog linked to an official government web site which he has since rectified. But by having his name on the blog and because of his status as a public official, his opponents or those trying to damage his reputation or the power of his blog can use these gutter tactics against him by attaching him to the attacks. I think it's in his own best interest to clamp down a bit but not so much as to completely stifle discussion and dissent. Some will cry censorship but that rare minority is likely to be the one most willing to use anonymous attacks for character assassination.
When I started my blog, it was my intention to have debate, discourse and discussion about political issues crucial to people who live in Barry County and West Michigan, issues that might not be seriously discussed in traditional media formats because of fear of reprisal. I developed West Michigan Politics as a haven for that discussion. It may not be the perfect forum but I've done my best to live up to my own high standards. I admit to being a flawed person, an amateur political commentator who has made mistakes in my judgment and my grammar and not always lived up to my own intent and potential. My intention is not to promote the sleazy, slimy and salacious, it is, rather to promote a truly open, honest and illuminating discussion that the traditional media dare not offer. It is with humility and respect that I beseech Dr. Callton to do the same.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Tim's tantrum: Is Walberg worried?
Poor Congressman Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) is starting to show the strains of being a radical right winger whose record of over-heated rhetoric and crass campaigning is catching up with him. It seems the Battle Creek Enquirer's Assistant Local Editor Susan Demas has offended poor Timmy by actually reporting the truth, that former Congressman Joe Schwarz is hanging around Battle Creek and leaving open the possibility for a rematch against Walberg, who defeated Schwarz in the last primary election mostly with slash and burn attack ads against "liberal" Joe Schwarz paid for with dough from anti-tax zealots but then narrowly beat out a weak Democratic candidate with zero money and little or no support from the party. Timmy's response to the horrible truth was to cut the reporter from their media spam list...
Demas' response is both devastating and hilarious:
"I took you off the (media) list," his spokesman, Matt Lahr, informed me this month, "because the congressman has decided he will no longer talk to you."
Demas' response is both devastating and hilarious:
Walberg is the Congressional equivalent to those Pat Robertson Law School grads stinking it up in the Justice Department courtesy of soon-to-be outgoing Attorney General Alberto "What did I know and when did I know it" Gonzalez.It's not personal. It's just a bad public relations move, typical of a staff composed of 20-something "Jesus Camp" counselors who almost managed to lose the general election to Sharon Renier, a chicken farmer with $1.03 in the bank.
They're not ready for primetime.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
DARE to think different
"If you build it, they will come."
That over-quoted line from “Field of Dreams” accurately predicts what virtually always happens when we build new jails and new prisons. Yes, we’ve got a lot of everything in this wonderful country, and a lot of places to put ’em in. All you have to do is look at the statistics that show the United States, ironically known as the land of the free, has more people per capita behind bars than in any other industrialized nation in the world. More than Russia, more than South Africa, more than all those countries with dictatorships we love to trash as hating freedom.
We should keep this in mind when we look at the notion that Barry County needs a new jail, which I don’t doubt since the old one isn't worth repairing for the price it would take. I just find it sad we’re among the many in this country that must build bigger and more spacious lock-up facilities out of fear of overcrowding. If we build it, they will come and fill it up. For the record, I support somehow finding a way to construct a new Barry County Jail in a new and more appropriate location. It doesn’t make a lot of economic or social sense to have the sheriff’s department and jail smack dab on one of the best commercial locations in Barry County, on Hastings' West State Street across from McDonald’s and virtually next door to Pennock Hospital and a senior citizens’ complex.
I’d like to see the county find a way to sell that parcel to a commercial buyer for top dollar and move to a better location. A lot of people are mentioning the soon to be vacant First Presbyterian Church, within walking distance for deputies and prisoners to appear in court, thereby saving money in the energy department. There could be other locations, but this does seem to have some good arguments in its favor.
Then I’d propose the Barry County Board of Commissioners cut the excessive emergency 911 millage, which will come up for renewal next year, from one mill to one-half to six-tenths of a mill and use the difference to help fund a jail over, say about 20 years. If that isn't enough money to do the job by itself, then ask for a small amount from the people in the form of a millage to make up that difference.
The current 911 millage is a good example of one program getting more money than it needs or deserves while others are starving. Officials at 911 have crowed loudly and proudly often they’ve not used all of that one mill and they bought state of the art equipment that arguably is more than a bit over the top for a sparsely populated and poor, rural county. In other words, director Charlie Nystrom and his legions are pleased they have bought a brand new Mercedes-Benz with all the options when a slightly used, bare bones Ford or a Chevy would do perfectly well. So let’s take some of that taxpayer money back, maybe four-tenths of a mill, put it to work with the profits from the sale of the current location's real estate, and maybe try to add the money the county gets from the delinquent tax fund every year to fund a needed (unfortunately) new jail in a more sensible location.
Then I’d like to challenge all judges and cops in this county to think long and hard about just who we want sitting in these jails and prisons and use some common sense, which has been sorely lacking in these United States of America for too long and has made us the world’s crime capital. Taking things a little further, I think (and polls show Americans agree) it’s past time for legislators to summon a little courage and repeal many of the stupid drug and victimless crime laws that have put too many people behind bars who are not threats to society, but mostly to themselves and maybe their livers. Jails and especially prisons are tailor-made for people whose behavior threatens the safety and well being of society, not for people who smoke marijuana or hire the services of a woman practicing the world’s oldest profession. We tried a long time ago to outlaw alcohol but it only helped create more criminals, so why don't we get the same message when it comes to fighting other behavior where the war against it causes more damage and wrecks more lives than the thing being fought?
Crime fighting has become big business, with a lot of drug warriors, homeland security personnel and the prison industrial complex sucking furiously on the public teat and making a living by exploiting our irrational fears, fueled by sensationalist television news and entertainment programs. Yes, lawmakers and police are raking in big bucks and shiny medals for their war on drugs over the last quarter of a century. In the meantime, their war seems to be going about as well as the one in Iraq. Civil rights are violated, property stolen, people killed, and for what? So cops can get a shiny D.A.R.E. car with a cool paint job so they can play superhero? Guess who pays for it? You, and our society.
Our jails are filled with people who could be useful and productive members of society, instead they become a drag on the economy. We take away their right to vote and ability to find good work then wonder why we can't put them back out into the public successfully all or even most of the time. We fail to take this problem seriously at our peril. We need more than "the way we've always done it." We need to think different: Imagine what our society might be like if we would bother putting one half of the money we spend to imprison people towards treatment or other investments to improve their chances of working within society and not against it. Quit letting fear rule the debate. We need a new jail, but new means more than the physical material to build it. That will take some guts and some imagination.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Breaking: Falling prices land on house, kill 5
“Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it.”The news broke last month that Wal-Mart plans to build a supercenter near the corner of Green Street and Cook Road, just outside the City of Hastings. Never mind that Wal-Mart already has a huge store in Rutland Township that hasn't been around very long, but I guess it’s not enough for the board of directors at Wal-Mart, they’ve got to have a store that will offer people everything in the world of goods and services, from groceries to haircuts, to lawn implements to lamp shades and all or most of it made in China. It feels like nothing is ever enough for these guys, they want to rule the world. And I hope we’re not dumb enough to do our part to let ’em do it. Wal-Mart made a pitch last month for rezoning to the Rutland Township Planning Commission and was rebuffed by a unanimous vote in a packed house full of people mostly opposed to the project. But those who opposed the project only won Round One, and this 800-pound gorilla will be back with a bigger team of lawyers and more threats Wednesday night when the Rutland Township Board will take up the issue in the spacious digs at The Barry Expo Center.
— Georges Santayana
Meanwhile, the debate is raging, with most people opposed explaining that Green Street is mostly residential and too narrow to handle the traffic especially considering it's already a congested road at peak times of day and is the only route for ambulances to take to Pennock Hospital where any delay because of traffic can lead to death. Some people are arguing a bigger Wal-Mart would be bad for local business but that doesn't sway the ones who would rather pay a little less for a product without regard to the steeper social and economic costs to society which we have seen before in periods of American history where corporations began taking too much power and squashing their competition. Some of us are arguing that we need to remind ourselves of the lessons from those mistakes in history and see that unabated corporate greed has a way of coming back to hurt the people who never profited from its success in the first place.
For those who have forgotten about what happened in the United States 100 years ago, the Progressive Era was born at the beginning of the 20th century in response to the excesses of the Gilded Age, the Industrial Revolution, laden with “robber barons” such as J.P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, who made millions of dollars by screwing the poor masses glad to have jobs with meager pay and lousy hours.
The progressives included “muckrakers” like Upton Sinclair, whose book “The Jungle” exposed the awful things that were allowed to go into our food; Ida Tarbell, who a critical history of Standard Oil, and even politicians such as Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin, who came up with a lot of the political reform ideas later captured by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal which helped fuel the period in history that made America the champion of liberty, prosperity and generosity around the world.
These reformers had their greatest champion in arguably one of our greatest presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, who did a lot more than just talk about doing something to stop the abuses of the super wealthy and hyper capitalism. It was T.R. who stopped the merger mania that had been occurring so frequently in early 1900s with his trust-busting activity and
he halted Big Oil’s march toward monopoly. The most important thing Teddy did was call out and defeat the likes of Standard Oil, which had designs on monopoly and status more powerful than the federal government through cut-throat tactics, simply because they could.
Under the still highly touted principles of an unregulated free market system, Standard Oil, because it had become so rich and powerful, could afford to sell petroleum products at ridiculously low prices that eventually could eliminate all competition. When the mission had been accomplished, Standard would be the only company left standing and it could set prices for as much as it pleased.
When you use cut-throat tactics to sell your goods and services for less, when you treat your employees like indentured servants, when you collect all the goods you sell from foreign countries that exploit their workers and pay them a fraction of what the U.S. used to pay ours, when you put a tremendous tax burden on the citizens where you locate because they must pick up the tab for roads, sewer, water and traffic lights that your presence requires, when you deliberately locate just outside city limits to avoid paying higher tax rates than neighboring citizens must pay, when you create schemes in which your employees must seek health care paid for by the public in order to shirk the cost of doing business in a fair society, you are just like the robber barons Theodore Roosevelt fought against so long ago. Citizens have a right to stand up and ask their government to be a fair referee. It's long past time we reminded government of it's duty and it's purpose.
There are plenty of shallow and uncomplicated people, too many of them, who only look closely at the low prices offered at Wal-Mart. They don’t understand they’re selling their souls to the devil, and they don’t want to be told about it. They’ll tell you they shop at Wal-Mart simply because the prices are cheaper and in these hard times, you’ve got to save money. But they don’t want to be presented with the big picture, the inconvenient truth such as I have only scratched the surface of here. I only wish these people, too many of them, would revisit history from 100 years ago and then look long and hard at the real price they pay for lower prices at Wal-Mart. There's a price to be paid for ignoring history and it's one that our children and grandchildren will likely pay. But that's just my 2¢...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
