It is the National Day of Prayer. There are a couple of noteworthy news items. First, as I have previously noted, a progressive Carter appointee to the federal bench, Judge Barbara Crabb ruled the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. This rationalization that the founding fathers, in particular Jefferson and Madison, believed, as presentists assert, in the common context of a state scrubbed clean of any trace of religious expression, simply is a denial of reality; in fact, both Jefferson and Madison attended worship services in the Capitol (a practice which continued until the Civil War), believing they were nondiscriminatory (i.e., rotated among various denominations) and voluntary in nature. No one is compelled to pray on the National Day of Prayer; participation is, in concept, inclusive and tolerant of religious diversity:
The National Day of Prayer was originally intended to be an inter-faith observance. It was to involve all monotheistic religions (conservative, mainline and liberal Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Baha'is), as well as followers of the many duotheistic, henotheistic, and polytheistic religions present in in the United States (Hindus, some Aboriginals, Wiccans, other Neopagans, Zoroastrians, followers of Vodun, Santeria, etc).The second bit of controversy involved the disinvitation of Rev. Franklin Graham due to his controversial statements with respect to the Muslim faith. (Franklin Graham, shortly after 9/11, called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion". In an interview with CNN's Campbell Brown last November, he characterized it as a religion which condones the beating of one's wife or the murder of one's children if they do something wrong.) Now I don't want to start an argument with Rev. Graham, but the Old Testament also says that adulterers and disrespectful children should die. Rev. Graham's statements are inconsistent with the ideals of religious diversity and tolerance; the vast majority of Muslims practice the same morals as Jews and Christians and reject the murders of innocent people. However, I don't think excluding Rev. Franklin from an inter-faith event is constructive. A National Day of Prayer should not become yet another vehicle for political correctness.
Wild Ride on Wall Street Today
My first guess was that Wall Street would be happy that Greece passed legislation today to meet conditions required for a massive European Union bailout. Maybe it was the union-organized unrest on the streets, furious with the prospect of tax increases and pay cuts and retirement deferrals in the public sector; maybe it was market skepticism that Greece, living beyond its means in a progressive social welfare net paradise, will maintain politically unpopular fiscal discipline. But I was watching Megyn Kelly on FNC between 2:30-3PM EDT when, without being prompted, I was fixated on the Dow Jones Average which seemed to be dropping a hundred points every so many seconds with absolutely no hint that it was going to stop; it broke through 10,000 and continued onward stopping mere points away from a 1000-point daily drop (almost 10%) before bouncing up almost two-thirds of the gap. It appears at least some of the programmed selling was motivated by an errant trade order for Procter & Gamble stock, which specified the sale of a massive number of shares (off by a power of 10).
This volatility was over a country with an economy a mere fraction of the size of the United States. Yet we've seen a progressive President and Congress not only add to the national debt over the last 2 years an amount greater than the record amount of a year of federal revenue--while adding another massive new entitlement based on unrealistic estimates of both revenues (too high) and costs (too low). In the meanwhile, they haven't done anything to strengthen the solvency of social security and Medicare.
What this prolonged difficult economic recession and recovery has shown is the fundamental weakness of progressive tax-and-spend policies. Public sector wages and benefits cannot outstrip those in the private sector in the long run; whereas the federal government has wisely not attempted to set up a super pension system like the state and local governments, state and local governments are beginning to experience exactly the same kinds of problems we are now seeing in Greece, also with excessive pensions, paying up to 80% of annual wages in retiring at the age of 53 for life. We need to go beyond even what Chris Christie is doing in New Jersey. It is not acceptable that half of taxpayers are getting a free ride for government goods and services.
Political Cartoon
Eric Allie reminds us that the Obama Administration's philosophy (spend now, tax Peter to pay for Paul and the rest of us all, and the kids will have to make up the difference) will have an ultimate day of reckoning. For all the demagoguery over bailing out Wall Street, it pales in significance to a federal government which has already piled on a $12.5T debt. Who is going to bail out the federal government and its massive unfunded liabilities? Who is going to bail out state and local government massively unfunded and unsustainable public pensions?
Quote of the Day
Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.
Kurt Vonnegut
Musical Interlude: Raspy-Voiced Singers
Bonnie Tyler, "It's a Heartache" all-time favorite!
Rod Stewart, "Maggie May" This song reminds me of the first woman (college) whom ever sent me a Valentine's Day card--the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. In fact, she explicitly referenced this song in one of her letters. The last I heard, Maggie was happily married with two lovely daughters of her own.
Janis Joplin, "Piece of My Heart"
Louis Armstrong, "Hello Dolly"
Joe Cocker, "You Are So Beautiful to Me"
