These former Border Patrol agents have been a cause celebre for media conservatives; they were convicted of assault (shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler) and lied to their supervisors. They were convicted and sentenced to mandatory terms of over 10 years. President Bush, in one of the last acts of his Presidency, essentially commuted the sentences while retaining the convictions. I believe that the original sentences were disproportionate, and I believe that the President's position, not to pardon but to limit the sentence to the 2.5 years or so served, is a reasonable, compassionate response. The media conservatives wanted nothing short of a full pardon, but you cannot give any law enforcement officer a blank check not to follow procedure and to obstruct justice, even when the target, an alleged drug smuggler, is in this country illegally.
Geithner's Troubling Problems
The New York Fed Reserve President and Treasury Secretary nominee Tim Geithner has run into a problem for failure to pay payroll/self-employment taxes while working for the IMF from 2001-2004 and for hiring a housekeeper whose work authorization was expired. What's particularly troubling is the fact that even after the IRS dinged him for failing to pay for 2003-2004 in 2006, it wasn't until after he was nominated over the last few weeks that he did the same for 2001-2002. A nominee for a position with authority over the IRS who didn't realize his paycheck did not show deductions for social security and Medicare taxes? And after the IRS catches him for his last 2 years of work for the IMF, he doesn't do the right thing and voluntarily pay up his first 2 years then and there?
Maybe it's because I view my annual social security statement, check my paystubs, have occasionally worked on an independent basis and had to pay estimated taxes, and have to consider the amount of payroll taxes paid in the preparation of my own tax returns, but I'm expecting a guy to run Treasury (and the financial bailout) whom can't even handle his own taxes?
On the whole, I believe that his professional experience with the IMF and the Fed makes him a strong choice, but I have to question the lame excuses and Geithner's personal ethics and judgment. I can understand if some Republican senators protest-vote against him.
Unseemly Inauguration Expenses?
Whereas I understand the historical significance of the swearing-in of the nation's first black President, the fact that the Obama inauguration will cost up to $150M, even if financed by donations, seems uncharacteristically out of touch with the most significant recession in decades. This is all the worse because of the fact that Obama, if anything, understands the power of symbolism. But even President Bush has resorted to gimmicks to free up DC money to service the inaugural, calling a state of "emergency". I understand that the Dems have waited 8 years to regain the White House and want an inauguration commensurate with their political victory, but try explaining it to the average joe on the streets whose grandkids' pockets are being picked to throw the domestic auto industry an undeserved lifeline and who is worried whether his job or neighborhood bank are going to be there next week. One would be remiss in not pointing out the double standard of Democrats whom had criticized Bush for his own inaugurals (which were less expensive). For shame!
Blog Name Change
I decided to retitle my blog (which had been titled "American Conservative Fusion") because I thought others might confuse it with Frank Meyer's fusionist conservatism; my own use of the term 'fusion' was coincidental and unintentional. Fusionist conservativism is a modern melding of traditionalist ends and libertarian means and found its culmination in the Reagan Presidency.
My own synthesis of conservatism will be explicated in future posts, but I'll give some hints. I believe in the traditional definition of marriage, but I do accept the concept of legally-privileged civil unions. Whereas I consider myself as more a pro-business conservative, I do not agree with the mercantilism of paleoconservatives, such as Pat Buchanan. If you read my farewell post to President Bush, you know that I'm extremely critical of the explosion of government spending and the nature and extent of Bush's economic intervention in the aftermath of the financial tsunami.
Whereas I did support the surge strategy in Iraq (which I regarded as a moral imperative given the fact of our occupation), I am not an isolationist, and I am willing to trust that the President made a good faith decision based on information I did not have available, I am more of a skeptic than neo-conservatives when it comes to the use of military force and foreign entanglements. I am also concerned about a disproportionate emphasis of our national defense efforts on two non-nuclear countries in the Middle East, while Russia and China seem to be upgrading their military and we have intelligence warnings that our southern neighbor, Mexico, is becoming politically unstable. In short, we need to be a lot smarter about setting our priorities internationally.
