According to the blog at the Weekly Standard, the US Census has cut its ties with ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now); ACORN will no longer be helping with the US Census in 2010.  The Census made its decision after two undercover video tapes surfaced showing ACORN offices in Baltimore and Washington, DC, giving advice to the people making the videos on how to set up a business of underaged prostitution with advice on tax status, getting grants, and avoiding notice by law enforcement.  This follows charges against ACORN of illegal voter registration in a number of states during the 2008 elections–ACORN registered the Dallas Cowboys football team front line to vote in Nevada, and Mickey Mouse was registered to vote in Florida.  These are people who obviously do not have a lot of respect for the law.

The fact that ACORN is no longer involved in the Census is good news.   Unfortunately, this won’t be the end of government involvement with ACORN.  The stimulus bill includes millions of dollars for community organizing that could conceivably go to ACORN.  All of us need to pay close attention to where the stimulus money is going.  According to Recovery.gov as of September 4, only 93.6 billion dollars of the supposedly 233.76 billion dollars available had been actually paid out.

This is a picture of the Teardrop Memorial, Russia’s gift to the United States in memory of 911.  The monument To the Struggle Against World Terrorism was dedicated on September 11, 2006, by President Clinton.   It is located in Bayonne, New Jersey, at a place where the twin towers were visible.   To read the entire story of the monument and how it came to rest there, please follow the link to 911monument.com.    The website tells the story of what inspired the monument and how it came to be.  This is another picture of the monument.    I stumbled on this monument in an article at the American Thinker on Monday and plan to visit the monument in the near future.

President Obama spoke to our schoolchildren on Tuesday and told them how important (and cool) it was to do their homework and stay in school.  I believe he also said that their success depended on them–not their schools.  Good thing.  As he was making this speech, he was taking the chance at a quality education away from 1,700 low income children in Washington, D. C.

According to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“The D.C. voucher program has proven to be the most effective education policy evaluated by the federal government’s official education research arm so far,” writes the Education Department’s chief evaluator Patrick Wolf in the current issue of Education Next. “On average, participating low-income students are performing better in reading because the federal government decided to launch an experimental school choice program in our nation’s capital.”

This is the program the White House and Congress shut down earlier this year.  The problem with shutting down this program is the fact that the President and the majority of members of Congress who live in Washington send their children to private schools.  If they are unwilling to put their children in the failing schools they supervise, why are they unwilling to help other children access the educational opportunities available to their children.

Yesterday’s Jerusalem Post ran a story about a secret visit by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Russia on Monday.  The trip was kept secret.  According to the article:

“According to various new reports on Wednesday, Netanyahu – who was reportedly accompanied by Kalifi and Arad on the reported trip – leased a private jet from Merhav, a company owned by Israeli mogul Yossi Maiman, one of the shareholders of Channel 10 and EMG, an Egyptian company supplying gas to the Israel Electric Corp.

This was apparently done to make the trip as discrete as possible, since using an Israel Air Force jet – it was apparently thought – would have raised the suspicions of the Israeli media.

Maiman was reportedly not directly involved in leasing the jet, as this was done through a company he owns.”

The timing of this trip is very interesting.  As is to be expected, there is a lot of speculation as to what was involved in discussions between the Prime Minister and the Russians.  There are currently Russian arms deals to Iran involving anti-aircraft missiles, and we have all heard of the disappearance of the Arctic Sea cargo ship – suspected of carrying Russian made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles bound for Iran – that went missing last month.  Once Russian anti-aircraft missiles are in place, attacking Iran’s nuclear sites becomes much more complicated.  

Any negotiations between Israel and Russia need to be watched carefully–the stability of the Middle East is at stake if Iran goes nuclear and Russia may be helping that occur. 

Just because a comment is made out of order does not mean that it isn’t true.  (Just a note, how many times did Democrats boo George Bush during his State of the Union addresses.  Why was that acceptable?).  The little boy who yelled that the emporer had no clothes was not practicing protocol, but what he said was true.  Just a thought.  Unfortunately, the outburst by Joe Wilson has taken the focus off of what is the substance of what was being said and putting it on Joe Wilson instead.  We need to focus on substance.

I am not sure what healthcare bill President Obama was referring to in his speech last night.  HR 3200, the House bill, has no requirement for people seeking government health insurance to prove citizenship.  There is no ‘e verify’ or any enforcement of the idea that the healthcare provided is for American citizens and people here legally.  Therefore, any illegal alien seeking to be covered will be.  The House bill also promises a full range of ‘reproductive services’ to women.  When a Congress member tried to put an amendment in the bill outlawing federal funding for abortion, the amendment was voted down.  Hmmm.  The President was lying.  It’s just rude to yell it out in the middle of the speech.

In terms of how to pay for this massive healthcare bill, yesterday’s Washington Times reported on the suggested ‘fees’ proposed by Max Baucus.  According to the Washington Time:

“Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ bid to get a bipartisan agreement on a health care overhaul before President Obama addresses a joint session of Congress Wednesday night calls for imposing a $6 billion tax on insurance companies and fining families $3,800 for not obtaining insurance coverage.

“The draft contains many of the expected proposals, including the creation of a series of insurance cooperatives, but lawmakers who were reluctant to support other proposals may be more attracted to what’s not in it – namely, the public option, the employer mandate and the tax increase on wealthy Americans.”

The current healthcare proposal is not revenue neutral, the Congressional Budget Office has made that clear.  If this passes, prepare for significantly higher taxes on everyone. 

Salem radio delivered petitions against healthcare reform to Congress yesterday with more than a million signatures opposing the current proposals.  Congress needs to listen to the American public–they are paying attention and they want to be heard. 

Today’s Washington Times has posted an article stating that there will be an inquiry into the Justice Department’s dropping the case against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia for voter intimidation.  The inquiry will be conducted by The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.  According to the article:

“In January, the Justice Department filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia against the New Black Panther Party after two of its members in black berets, black combat boots, black shirts and black jackets with military insignias purportedly intimidated voters with racial insults, slurs and a nightstick. A third party member was accused of managing, directing and endorsing their behavior.”

That case was dropped by the Justice Department.  The incident in question is posted at You Tube.  That fact alone makes ignoring the case extremely difficult.

Today’s Boston Herald posted an article today in its Science section saying that research has identified the organism that caused the Irish Potato Famine.  Cambridge’s Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard worked with the United Kingdom’s Sainsbury Laboratory and other groups to unlock the organism’s genetic code.  According to the article:

“The genome structure of the organism is an “unusual mechanism that enables the pathogen to outsmart its plant hosts” and kill off crops at a rapid pace,”

This is believed to be the same organism that has attacked tomato plants and potato crops this summer.  My cherry tomatoes did fine, but my regular tomatoes were attacked by tomato blight this summer.  We have the luxury of going to the supermarket to buy tomatoes when ours do not do well; the Irish in the 19th century had no such option.  However, a significant part of the greatness of America is due to those Irish immigrants who braved crossing the Atlantic Ocean rather than starve to death.  Although they were treated horribly at first, they persevered and many became leading citizens of this country.

Today’s New York Post has an article by Betsy McCaughey suggesting what President Obama should say in his healthcare speech tonight.  Her bottom line is very simple–rip up this awful plan and rewrite it in English!

The current healthcare bill is 1,018 pages long.   Members of Congress who have bothered to try to read it say they cannot understand it.  Most members have not even tried to read it.  The bill contains such great examples of legal confusion as:

“Section 502 of such Act (29 USC 1132) is amended in subsection (a) (6) by striking paragraph and all that follows through subsection (c) and inserting paragraph (2), (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) or (11) of subsection (c) and (2) in subsection (c), by redesignating the second paragraph (10) as paragraph (12) and by inserting after the first paragraph (10) the following new paragraph.”

Huh?  Ms. McCaughey points out that it only took the founders of this country 18 pages to form a country.  She believes we can do a healthcare bill in 20 pages.  She points out that the uninsured could be insured for the next decade with the remainder of the stimulus money which has not been spent.  That is really the major need in healthcare right now.  Other steps could be taken for pre-existing conditions, etc. later on after we see how the first step works.

I agree.  It’s time to go back to the drawing board and do the right thing instead of the political thing. 

Power Line reminds us today of the reaction when George H. W. Bush spoke to school children in 1991.  They cite a Washington Examiner article by Byron York that chronicles the events.  According to Byron York:

“Democrats, then the majority party in Congress, not only denounced Bush’s speech — they also ordered the General Accounting Office to investigate its production and later summoned top Bush administration officials to Capitol Hill for an extensive hearing on the issue.”

They eventually concluded that he had done nothing illegal, but spent a lot of taxpayer money coming to that conclusion.  My how times have changed.

Friday’s National Review posted an editorial on the actions of the American State Department toward Honduras.  After suspending non-emergency and non-immigrant visa services at the American Embassy in Tegucigalpa, America is now suspending non-humanitarian aid to that country.  America has made it clear it will not support the results of the elections Honduras has scheduled for November.  As you remember, former President Manuel Zelaya was ousted for his unconstitutional attempt at a referendum to be President after he was constitutionally required to step down from office.  Honduras is enforcing her constitution, and America is fighting her every step of the way.

According to the article:

“Zelaya’s constitutionally mandated successor was congressional leader Roberto Micheletti, who has been serving as the temporary Honduran president since late June. Micheletti recently declared his willingness to resign and support Zelaya’s return to the country — provided Zelaya does not seek to resume the presidency. Honduran authorities consider Zelaya unfit to be chief executive — federal lawmakers voted nearly unanimously to approve his ouster — and with good reason. Zelaya will be lucky if he avoids jail time. He has no legitimate claim to the presidency.”

“As for the Obama administration, its mistreatment of the interim Honduran government is an ongoing travesty. In removing Zelaya from office, Honduran officials took a legal, constitutionally authorized stand against Chávez-style authoritarianism. They deserve praise, not punishment.”

It should be a wake-up call to this administration that they find themselves on the same side of an issue as Hugo Chavez.

The Corner At National Review Online doesn’t do a lot of celebrity stories, so this one surprised me.  It also gave me a lot of food for thought.

On Monday, Amy Holmes posted a piece about the death of spin-meister DJ AM, nee Adam Goldstein.  Amy points out that according to the New York Times, Mr. Goldstein’s death may have been a suicide.  He was 36 years old, a millionaire, and had luxury homes on each coast.  Why would he commit suicide? 

Amy Holmes suggests that the perpetual adolescence he had achieved in society along with his success simply did not satisfy him.  Ms. Holmes points out that there has been much written about the effect of the perpetual adolescence of men on the women who interact with them, but not much has been written about the effect of perpetual adolescence on the men practicing it. 

She concludes her article by saying:

“One could say that Goldstein died too young at the mere age of 36. But one could also say that he lived too young, too.”

Friday’s Wall Street Journal posted an article by John Shadegg and Pete Hoekstra suggesting ways to fix our healthcare problems without a government takeover of the entire healthcare system.

Some of their suggestions were:

Patient choice–the government so closely regulates the healthcare industry (and the tax code rewards the status quo which puts healthcare under employers).  People should have the right to decide independently what healthcare they want.

Allowing people to purchase their own healthcare with untaxed dollars, providing cheaper insurance for individuals who turn down their employer-funded plans.

State-based risk pools to allow people with pre-existing conditions to be insured.

Using healthcare vouchers to allow low income people to purchase health insurance, but keeping the government out of the healthcare business.

The basic idea of the plan suggested is to make it easier for Americans to buy health insurance and to make Americans responsible for their own healthcare.  I think that’s a much better idea than a government takeover of the healthcare industry.

Paul Mirengoff at Power Line posted an article yesterday asking, “Does our President have a moral compass?”  The article links to a Barry Rubin article in the Jerusalem Post.  The question involves some recent problems between Iraq and Syria.  President Maliki of Iraq visited the President of Syria in August and offered him economic concessions in exchange for the return to Iraq of 271 Iraqi exiles involved in organizing terrorist attacks against Iraq.    The offer was refused.  The next day bombings in Iraq killed 100 people.  The Iraqi government blamed Syria, and both countries recalled their ambassadors. 

According to the article, this is the comment by the US State Department:

“We understand that there has been sort of mutual recall of the ambassadors. We consider that an internal matter. We believe that, as a general principle, that diplomatic dialogue is the best means to address the concerns of both parties. We are working with the Iraqis to determine who perpetrated these horrible acts of violence… We hope this doesn’t hinder dialogue between the two countries.”

Good grief!  As the article points out, what are the concerns of both parties?  Is Syria’s concern that it would like to continue blowing up Iraqis?  Is that a valid concern according to this administration?  It is very nice to be diplomatic, but if no one is willing to stand up to people who continue to bomb innocent civilians, they will continue to bomb innocent civilians.  What happened to our country?  We used to defend freedom and protect the innocent.  Have we given that up in favor of nice-sounding words that don’t mean anything ?

Today’s New York Daily News posted an article on unions and pension funds.  In the article, they cite the U. S. Labor Department statistics on pension funds and their funding.  The article points out that in 2006 (the last year that data is available)  only 17% of union-negotiated plans were fully funded, compared with 35% of nonunion plans.  According to the article:

“Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, funds with less than 80% of assets are in “endangered” status. In 2006, 41% of union funds were “endangered,” compared with 14% of nonunion funds.

“Thirteen percent of union funds had less than 65% of required assets, also called “critical” status by the Labor Department, while only 1% of nonunion plans were in critical shape.”

The figures also show that in a sampling of the largest union retirement plans, the collectively bargained plans had 70 % of the money to meet their obligations, while the officers plan had 93 %.  The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) was 74 % funded in 2007 and in 2009 filed under critical status with the US Labor Department.  Meanwhile, there is a separate fund for the unions staff and officers.  The staff pensions are 85% funded and the officers’ pensions are 102 % funded.  The article points out that all three of the SEIU funds are managed within a single trust, separately, but by the same people.

The union workers pay into their pension funds.  They are promised their pensions, yet the only people who can be sure of those pensions are the officers.  In my opinion, this seems to go against the whole reason unions were started.  If the unions can manage to fund pensions for their officers (with rank and file money), why can’t they fund the pensions for their workers with the same kind of security?  I would also like to point out that the SEIU is one of many unions who will receive a cash windfall if the Obama healthcare passes (see yesterday’s post).

On Friday, the Heritage Foundation posted an article on why the unions support the proposed healthcare legislation.  The short story is very simple–follow the money.

The proposed legislation includes a $10 billion bailout of union retiree health plans.  Because the program would increase the number of government workers (to administer the new plan), it would increase the number of union members (government workers unionize more quickly than private sector workers).  National healthcare would reduce the competitive disadvantage that unionized companies have.

According to the article:

“Many unions negotiate benefit packages that allow workers to retire early and collect health benefits until they qualify for Medicare. Many of these plans they are underfunded because unions mismanaged them.

“The healthcare legislation transfers $10 billion to these accounts, in the form of a reinsurance program that pays most of the cost of claims for workers in these plans.  Like the GM and Chrysler bailouts, the health care legislation requires all taxpayers–including low income workers without retirement plans–to pay for benefits for already well-compensated union workers.”

The legislation that is currently proposed would mean a financial windfall for the unions.  If it is passed, they expect to increase their membership, increase the amount of dues collected, and lower their costs in benefits to members–all with taxpayers’ money.  If you question why unions support this bill, follow the money.  Please read the entire article at the Heritage Foundation  for details on all the reasons for union support of this bill.

Today’s Washington Examiner has an article by Byron York on the resignation of Van Jones as Green Jobs Czar.  In submitting his resignation Mr. Jones cited a “vicious smear campaign” and stated that “opponents of reform” had used “lies and distortion” to drive him out of office.  The problem with those statements is that the words used against him were his own words found on YouTube and various other places.  One of the ‘problems’ with the internet is that everything you have ever posted anywhere is there for the world to find.  The major media chose not to look very far for these things; the ‘new’ media went searching. 

Evidently Glenn Beck at Fox News uncovered a lot of evidence that Mr. Jones was not representative of mainstream American thinking and showed videos and quotes on his program.  This may explain why ColorofChange.org is trying to get advertisers to boycott Glenn Beck.  When I first heard of the campaign by ColorofChange.org, I wondered why they were going after Glenn Beck and not Rush Limbaugh.  Now I understand–I believe Rush Limbaugh reaches a larger audience, but he goes after the entertainment factor as much as the hard news factor.  Glenn Beck has connected the dots on a number of Czars in the Obama Administration, exposing the radical past of more than one Czar.  He is more of a ‘threat’ to the Administration than Rush Limbaugh.  Color of Change.org has close ties to the Obama Administration and would be more interested in protecting the Administration than in just driving a conservative off the airwaves.

Although I am sorry to see anyone lose his job, I believe the structure of czars that President Obama has set up is unconstitutional.  More than that, I believe the fact that the czars are not accountable to Congress or subject to Congressional confirmation hearings is simply not the way the American government was designed to run.  I would like to see all of the czars resign.  There are at present at almost 40 czars–that is nearly half the number of Senators.  That is just not appropriate.

I don’t really have a lot to say about Van Jones.  My two sources for my comments are both articles at Power Line (also Power Line).  It was reported last week that in addition to openly professing to be a Communist, Van Jones was a 911 truther.   He also supports cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal.  This is not a wonderful resume.

The articles point out:

“Jones also signifies the cooperation of the mainstream media in Obama’s machinations. The nonfeasance of the mainstream media in the performance of their job has been virtually complete. They have left it to the likes of the indomitable Gateway Pundit to reveal what a man we have in Jones, and therewith the project in which the Obama administration is engaged. The mainstream media have Obama’s back. Yesterday Byron York ran a Nexis search on Van Jones and posted the resutls:

Total words about the Van Jones controversy in the New York Times: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy in the Washington Post: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on NBC Nightly News: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on ABC World News: 0.
Total words about the Van Jones controversy on CBS Evening News: 0.

“As of today, I think York’s calculation still obtains for the New York Times, but the Wshington Post has contributed a few words on the White House’s “tepid support” of Jones. A reader is more or less left to fend for himself in figuring the the substance of Jones’s statements or views that have produced this “tepid support.””

Van Jones is one of President Obama’s czars.  That means he did not have to go through the confirmation process in his search for a position at the White House.  Is there anyone who actually believes he would have been able to get through the confirmation process?

The fact that Van Jones has a position in the White House shows that our system of government is breaking down.  Czars are not a part of the US Constitution.  They are a way of avoiding the checks and balances that are supposed to be built into the system.  We need to find a way to put those checks and balances back in! 

There is wisdom in being concerned about terrorism threats from overseas, but we also need to be aware of terrorism threats here.  According to Breitbart.com, two radio transmitters in Everett, Washington, were bulldozed yesterday.  A sign bearing the initials ELF (“Earth Liberation Front”) was left at the sight.

A neighbor called 911 at about 3:30 am on Friday to report that bulldozers were taking down the towers.  The towers belonged to radio station KRKO.  The family-owned radio station was able to remain on the air Friday by using other transmission equipment.

According to the article:

“A hearing examiner denied a permit for the towers, based on claims that radio signals could be dangerous to humans. But the council voted to reverse the finding, saying it was based on shaky scientific evidence.

“A King County judge upheld the council’s decision on Aug. 14.”

Destruction of another persons property is illegal and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.  Earth Liberation Front has also been involved in vandelism of construction sites and car dealerships.  They should be considered terrorists and treated as such.

Breitbart.com posted an article today about Nicholas Winton, now 100 years old, who oganized the rail “kindertransports” that carried hundreds of mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to safety in 1939.  A vintage train arrived in London on Friday carrying  Holocaust survivors celebrating the 70th anniversary of their trip across Europe to safety.  Mr. Winton was there to meet them.  The steam train carried 170 people, including about two dozen survivors of the evacuations and members of their families, on a trip across Europe to remember their journey. 

The article explains:

“In late 1938, Winton, a 29-year-old clerk at the London Stock Exchange, had traveled to what was then Czechoslovakia at the invitation of a friend working at the British Embassy.

“Alarmed by the influx of refugees from the Sudetenland region recently annexed by Germany, Winton immediately began organizing a way to get Jewish children out of the country. He feared, correctly, that Czechoslovakia soon would be invaded by the Nazis and Jewish residents would be sent to concentration camps.

“Winton persuaded British officials to accept the children, as long as foster homes could be found, and set about fundraising and organizing the trip. He arranged eight trains that carried 669 mostly Jewish children through Germany to Britain in the months before the outbreak of World War II.

“The youngsters were sent to foster homes in England, and a few to Sweden. None saw their parents again.”

It’s wonderful that these children were saved; it’s truly sad that their parents and siblings could not have been saved also.

According to the Los Angeles Times today:

“Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton cut off more than $30 million in aid to Honduras on Thursday in an effort increase pressure on the country’s de facto government to restore democratic rule after a coup in June.”

First of all–IT WASN”T A COUP!!!!!!   Former President Manuel Zelaya was arrested and taken out of the country in June of this year.  He was arrested because he was attempting to violate the Honduran constitution which imposes term limits.  The courts and the legislature had determined that the referendum he was planning to hold to allow him to run for another term was unconstitutional.  His arrest and exile were ordered in order to prevent revolution and bloodshed in the country.  President Zelaya is a close friend of Hugo Chavez, and Mr. Chavez was going to supply the ballots for the referendum (were they premarked?).

America is on the wrong side of this fight.  We used to support democracy in our hemisphere; we seem to have moved away from that in this case.  Hopefully someone at the State Department will take another look at this situation in the near future–South America does not need another dictator like Hugo Chavez.

According to yesterday’s New York Daily News, when Moammar Khadafy comes to New York later this month to visit the UN, he will ask the UN to dissolve the country of Switzerland.  He wants to country split up between France, Italy, and Germany.  Why?  A year ago, Khadafy’s son Hannibal was arrested in Geneva for beating two servants with a belt and a coat hangar.  He had previously had run-ins with the French because of drunk driving. 

According to the article, there was some major fallout from the incident in Geneva:

“Libya retaliated with fury, recalling some diplomats, withdrawing $5 billion from Swiss banks, shuttering the Tripoli office of Nestle and threatening to cut oil deliveries. Two Swiss businessmen were barred from leaving the country until Libya received an apology for Hannibal’s arrest.

For a year, the issue festered. Two weeks ago, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz traveled to Tripoli to apologize for the arrest and Libya promised to let the hostages go by Sept. 1.”

The UN charter specifically states that no member can threaten the sovereignty of another member.  Although that rule is consistently overlooked in the case of Iran threatening Israel, there is a good chance it will be followed here. 

This is a disjointed article, linking to one or two things, that simply expresses some of my thoughts and observations about what I have seen and heard over the past few days.

On healthcare–the debate is not about healthcare–everyone in the US gets healthcare–the question is who pays for it and how much is available.  I think it’s interesting that some of my liberal friends who have been screaming for years that the government lies to us are so anxious to put the government in charge of their healthcare.  I have read ‘translations’ of the bill and have a lot of questions.  If we cut the amount of money going to medicare at a time that the baby boomers are reaching medicare age, how are we going to avoid rationing care?   A news story broke this week in the UK Telegraph about the care that elderly patients receive in the United Kingdom.  Being forced to die does not fit my definition of healthcare.  It is also noteworthy that assisted suicide is legal in two of the United States.  This may be a trend.  Do we want to put the people who have totally botched paying car dealers in ‘cash for clunkers’ in charge of our healthcare?

The following is quoted from “Your Social Security Statement” published by our government:

“Social Security is a compact between generations.  For decades, America has kept the promise of security for its workers and their families.  Now, however, the Social Security system is facing serious financial problems, and action is needed soon to make sure the system will be sound when today’s younger workers are ready for retirement.

“In 2017 we will begin paying more in (Social Security) benefits than we collect in taxes.  Without changes, by 2014 the Social Security Trust Fund (which does not exist) will be exhausted and there will be enough money to pay only about 78 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits.  We need to resolve these issues soon to make sure Social Security continues to provide a foundation of protection for future generations.”

I believe George Bush tried to fix this problem and was blocked by the Democrat Congress.  Congress has been taking money out of the Social Security Trust Fund since the 1960’s and putting in worthless IOU’s.  Congress opted out of Social Security about the same time they started robbing the trust fund.  I suspect we shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for them to sign on to the ‘public option’ in healthcare. 

In relation to the President addressing all schoolchildren next week.  This just seems odd to me.  The children are a captive audience–they are in school because the law requires them to be there.  I would much rather the President address them on a weekend when they can (or not) watch the address with their parents.  Parents have the responsibility of raising their children–not schools.  Will there be a chance for equal time?  Will there be fact checking?  Will children be asked to report ‘fishy’ behavior on the part of their parents?  This is just too weird for me!

Tuesday’s Investor’s Business Daily posted an article about Toyota closing its NUMMI plant in Fremont, California.  The plant was a hybrid General Motors and Toyota manufacturing facility.

In theory the plant was the type of manufacturing that the Obama Administration supports.  The plant had won 42 environmental awards and 32 product excellence awards.  Most of its 5,500 employees were members of the United Autoworkers Union, making an average of $65,000 a year. According to the article:

“Since 1982, the plant has cranked out more than 5 million vehicles, including the Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe and Geo Prizm.”

What happened?  According to Thomas Lifson, a former Harvard business professor and consultant to two of the top five global auto manufacturers, the excessive ‘green’ rules in California are fine in a thriving economy, but make doing business difficult during a recession.  The cost of doing business in California makes it difficult for business to prosper there.  Toyota has announced that the manufacturing done in Fremont will be moved to San Antonio, Ontario (Canada) and Japan.

The other problem with the plant was union labor.  The article reports:

“The UAW contract is a legacy of its ties to GM. After the government’s takeover of GM ended GM’s role in the plant, Toyota was left with the UAW’s uncompetitive labor costs, which added $500 to the cost of a car and forced it to lay off 4,700 workers.”

This is what happens when government oversteps its control of business.  Corporations, like people, vote with their feet.

As Iran edges closer to becoming a nuclear power, there has been some debate as to what action should be taken to prevent that from happening.  There has been speculation for a while as to whether or not Israel will respond with a military strike.  I do think it’s fairly obvious at this point that American will not respond with a military strike, and there are some questions as to whether we will block airspace in the Middle East to prevent Israel from hitting Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The seemingly ‘easy’ answer to the problem is some sort of severe economic sanctions.  Monday’s Wall Street Journal ran an article by John Bolton addressing the issues involved in economic sanctions.  He points out what he considers the main problems in imposing strong sanctions on Iran.  The first problem is the fact that the chances of the UN supporting strong sanctions is very small.  Both Russia and China are unlikely to vote for sanctions due to financial interests in Iran, and either has the power to block them.  Any sanctions imposed are likely to be very weak, as too many western countries are linked economically to Iran–they don’t want to hurt their own economies. 

The Iranian government has also watched the debate on sanctions.  Because they have realized that they are vulnerable in the area of refined petroleum products, they have begun to take steps to remove that vulnerability.  Gasoline prices are rising in Iran for the average consumer (the military will probably still have all the gasoline it needs).  Since the country has large natural gas reserves, they can move to natural gas powered cars fairly easily, thus lessening their dependency on refined petroleum.

Ambassador Bolton points out that sanctions might have worked a number of years ago, but the time for them has passed.  Please read the article, he has a lot of insight into the problem.

This is a local story.  In the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t all that important, but it is an example of how out-of-touch the people who make our laws have become.  This is a picture from today’s Boston Herald:

The person who drives the car is Michael J. Rodrigues, a Westport, Massachusetts lawmaker who voted to hike the state sales and alcohol taxes.  The picture was taken in New Hampshire (where there is no sales tax) over the weekend.

The Herald has the following report by the person who took the picture:

“The witness, who requested anonymity, claimed he approached Rodrigues, noted his State House plate, and asked if he was on personal or official business. Rodrigues, who was loading booze into his car, snapped “mind your own business,” the witness said.  The witness’ account was also posted yesterday on Citizens for Limited Taxation’s Web site.”

It is interesting that this event occurred at the time Massachusetts is attempting to crack down on people who shop in New Hampshire in order to avoid paying Massachusetts sales tax.