Masson's Blog
We needed a study for this?
The nation’s top lawmakers are excessively partisan, fail to hold the executive branch in check and deserve a paltry C-minus for their overall performance, according to a report on Congress by Indiana University researchers.
The Center on Congress at Indiana University questioned 39 political scientists from around the nation about Congress’ performance and came away with a mediocre impression of lawmakers.
Andrew Kaduk at Just for the Record has an inspired rant on the subject of religious wingnuttery, its collision with science, and our government’s inane reaction thereto. Specifically, what has ignited his ire is a decision that the National Park Service had to offer a book for sale that states, as non-fiction, that the Grand Canyon was created on a “Biblical time scale,” as opposed to the millions of years it actually took for water to carve it out. The book Grand Canyon: A Different View asserts that the the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood.
Says Mr. Kaduk:
I am sick, and I am tired, and I am sick and tired. I’m tired of this elephant sitting in each and every room as we try to discuss the problems of the day. Yes, you friggin’ goofballs, you have the right in this country to believe anything that you want. You want to believe that the Earth is a big floating ball of magical putty that “God” bends and shapes at his will? OK. I, however, have the right to expect that my government has the right to be objective and scientifically honest with respect to matters such as the formation of the Grand Canyon or the formation of this planet.
He has better bits in there, but this is a family friendly blog, so I won’t reproduce some of his more colorful passages.
A firm hired to build the fence between the U.S. and Mexico has been fined for – – – wait for it – – – employing illegal immigrants. Story here.
In the thread below, we were talking about privatizing government functions and its effect on state employees. Joe said:
Jobs for all Hoosiers are facing cutbacks & outsourcing, so exactly why state employees are exempt from the same issues is beyond me.
For starters, our state government has direct control over state employees. I suppose it boils down to whether you think it’s a good thing or a bad thing that workers generally are being subjected to cutbacks and outsourcing — in many instances due to increased global competition. If you think those pressures are ultimately a good thing, then I guess more is better. If you think those pressures are a bad thing for your citizens, then you take your stands where you can make a difference — public employment being one of those places.
I don’t think it’s enough to be able to buy widgets at a cheaper price. Your citizenry needs to be able to generate an income from their labor that allows them to buy the widgets. A Wal-mart income does not allow one to live a Wal-mart lifestyle.
What I see now is a sort of tragedy of the commons. The commons consists of the strong, healthy middle class we built up during the 40s through 60s, perhaps into the 70s. The tragedy is an economic strategy that consists of paying one’s workers too little to allow them to live a middle class lifestyle while selling one’s products to the employees of other businesses that have not yet adopted this economic strategy. It’s good while it lasts, but if it keeps up, eventually there will be nobody left to sell to.
My pipe dream of the middle class is a society where the median wage earner earned enough for a family of four to live on one income. That income would allow them to pay a mortgage on maybe 1,500 square feet and a quarter acre of land. It would allow a second parent to take care of the kids and participate in non-business community pursuits. If they were frugal, it would allow them to send the kids to college without much debt. The long time workers might have enough to afford a small cottage and maybe a fishing boat on a lake somewhere nearby. And, of course, by the couple’s mid-60s there would be enough to retire on and live in some dignity. Is my vision too opulent?
Via The Indiana Law Blog, the Bush EPA facing a Democratic Congress is coming to resemble Arthur Andersen in the wake of the Enron collapse. Where Andersen fired up the shredders, the EPA is trashing its own libraries, causing unique technical reports and analyses indefinitely accessible and throwing many materials concerning pollution and toxic substances into trash bins.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility news release here. Boston Globe story here.
“By its actions, it appears that the appointed management at EPA is determined to actually reduce the sum total of human knowledge,†stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “EPA is not an agency renowned for its speed, so its undue haste in dumping library holdings suggests a political agenda rather than anything resembling a rational information management plan.â€
Remember how the Republicans always used to beat up on the Democrats for being the party of “no”? Seems Mike Pence figures, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Sylvia Smith has an article entitled Pence pushes GOP principles in quest to lead party in House in which Pence offers the following in his quest to become House Minority Leader:
He said that in addition to trying to thwart Democratic legislation, he would stand up to President Bush “when he pursues policies at odds with the principles of limited government and the rule of law.â€
First, so much for bipartisanship. Second, wtf took you so long? I don’t particularly mind one group thwarting the legislation of another. Not always, but gridlock tends to be good. Still, it doesn’t speak much for a bipartisanship intention when gridlock becomes a leading campaign plank. As for standing up to President Bush, he hasn’t done it for the past 5 years, permit me to doubt he’ll develop a meaningful spine implant in the next 2 years. I’d love to be proven wrong on this one. But I don’t see Pence leading the charge to stop warrantless wiretaps on U.S. citizens, adherence to the Geneva Conventions, and rolling back the rest of Bush’s executive power grabs.
On the other hand, he’s a Hoosier and he’d be better than Boehner. So, good luck to you Mike.
Last night I composed a rather lengthy, link-filled post on the subject of Howard Dean. For some reason it wouldn’t post. I had no problem with other posts, but that one just wouldn’t go. I’d blame Diebold, but after Tuesday night that would be ungracious.
In any event, I recall that upon the election of Howard Dean to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee, there were pundits who promptly declared the Democratic Party to be doomed. He was too “angry.” He wasn’t a good enough fund raiser. He was chasing dreams by pursuing a 50 state strategy; he should only put money into the high probability races.
There were a lot of other factors involved in the Republicans reversal of fortunes — many of which were self-inflicted — but at the very least, we can say that those concern trolls opining on how bad Howard Dean would be for the Democratic Party were very, very wrong.
Oh, and another thing. The Karl Rove/Fred Barnes prediction that “Republican hegemony in America is now expected to last for years, maybe decades” also apparently weren’t so much right.
It looks like the Democrats have one a fairly comfortable majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and a very slim one in the Indiana House of Representatives. Control of the U.S. Senate is still under review, but it’s going to be a very slim majority for one or the other. According to the NCSL blog, the Thicket, on the state level Democrats have taken control of:
* Iowa House and Senate
* Minnesota House
* Michigan House
* New Hampshire House and Senate
* Oregon House
* Wisconsin Senate
* Indiana House
I think the message is that the Democrats fielded strong candidates in a lot of districts, but voters weren’t typically voting for the Democratic candidates quite so much as they were voting against the Republican candidates. This isn’t a failing of the Democrats; rather it’s just how it goes for candidates challenging incumbents. But, I suspect we’ll see the media try to package this election, summarizing it with some kind of pat “moral of the story.” In particular, I’m reminded of the supposed ascendancy of the “values voters” in 2004 — and talk of George W. Bush’s mandate. So, I wonder what kind of package this election will get wrapped in.
Don’t forget to vote. Also, if you see anything interesting or noteworthy at the polls and are so inclined, please feel free to share it here.
Update: I forgot to add the reminder to bring your state or federally issued photo identification which is required before you can exercise your right to vote. Even if you can prove who you are by other means, it doesn’t count. State or federally issued photo identification only.
Update 2: “Voting machines were not working in at least half of Marion County’s precincts after polls opened this morning because election workers forgot how to start the machines.” (Advance Indiana citing the Indianapolis Star.)
Update 3: An anonymous commenter at Taking Down Words (so take it for what it’s worth) observed two people on the south side of Indianapolis turned away from the polls because their photo ID did not have an address that matched the address on the voter roll. The ID is solely for the purpose of proving identity, not residency. So, if true, there are a couple of examples of unlawful voter disenfranchisement.
If you’re reading this blog, chances are, you don’t need to know that the elections are tomorrow. I thought I’d share my philosophy. Nationally, any vote I have is going against the Republicans. Bush is arguably the worst President we’ve ever had. The federal budget is a tsunami of red ink. Our foreign policy is in a shambles. Civil liberties are eroding quickly. The Bush administration has made a fetish of secrecy in government administration. Bad policy is coupled with incompetent execution — see Iraq, and Katrina. Add to the mix a dash of wanting to legislate morality — Schiavo, stem cells, gay marriage, etc. and you have a horribly toxic brew. We need to clean house. I’m so disgusted, I think I’ll even vote against Dick Lugar, who I happen to like, and in favor of the Libertarian candidate even though such a vote will be futile.
My hope is that an electoral train wreck will cause some serious reorganization in the Republican Party that sees the ascendancy of the fiscal conservatives and foreign policy realists along with the demise of the neocons and the social conservatives. Then maybe there will be some real choices to be had come election time.
At the state level, the Republicans are much, much saner, but they’re headed in the wrong direction. They’re headed toward the social conservatives, but there are plenty of level headed Republicans with sound policy goals currently in power. I’m thinking of legislators like Luke Kenley and Richard Bray. Even aside from the Daylight Saving Time vote, upon which I’ve made my views clear, I do not like legislators like Woodruff and Bosma who champion the intermingling of religion and government and rubber stamp the Governor’s agenda. The Governor has some good ideas from time to time, but he is impatient with the legislative process. He needs a Democratic House to teach him some patience and, frankly, to have a vehicle for the Democrats to advance some of the good ideas that they have. Plus, I generally (with frequent exceptions) hold to the proposition that the government that governs best, governs least. Having chambers of the legislative body dominated by different political parties has a way of weeding out, or at least subjecting to intense review, the controversial ideas (such as DST and the Toll Road) while allowing good government no brainers to go through. Some folks may disagree with me, and say that gridlock is a bad thing. But, absent a real emergency, I’m not one of those who thinks it’s absolutely essential for a government to “do something” just for the sake of doing something. We’ve got plenty of laws on the books right now. Slowing down the pace of adding new ones probably won’t hurt us unduly.
Locally, party affiliation becomes less important. Politicians at the local level seem less motivated by idealogy and seem much more practical in their approach to tackling problems. They’re also much more accountable to citizens of either party simply because they see them on the street and in the community every day. So, at the local level, just throw party affiliation out the door. Try to talk to somebody who knows the candidates personally and simply vote for the one who seems smartest and most competent.
That’s my two cents. That and about $1.48 will get you a decent cup of coffee.