I'm probably an embarrassment to my ancestors' homeland (French Canada); I can't ice skate, have never played a game of hockey and rarely watch hockey. (I have watched gold medal games in the Olympics, especially if the Americans play.) I did attend one NHL game several years back when I worked for a Chicago-based management consultancy affiliated with a middle-tier accounting company; the company had a stadium box, and I, among other project colleagues, got invited one evening when clients weren't being entertained. So I join with thousands of other Blackhawks fans in celebrating their first Stanley Cup since 1961.
BP Pay for Benefits for Obama Administration Offshore Moratorium? HELL, NO!
This goes beyond the usual Obama Administration incompetence and arrogance. Governor Jindal (R-LA) and Senators Vitter (R-LA) and Landrieu (D-LA) have been pleading with the Obama Administration, which unilaterally and arbitrarily imposed a 6-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, which is little more than political posturing over the BP Deepwater Horizon.... The point is, of course, as Senator Vitter has pointed out, there are over 30 deepwater rigs out there, producing oil and providing well-paid employment for scores of skilled workers. BP stock has now lost half of its market value, the biggest drop to date (16%) occurring after Interior Secretary Ken "Boot on the Throat of BP" Salazar made a promise to try to get BP to reimburse other energy companies for effects of the moratorium on their operations. This is ethically bankrupt and unconstitutional--why should BP pay for the consequences of government decisions beyond the direct cost (if any) of the spilll?
Primary Season Reflections on the Fall Elections
I have to admit to having mixed feelings here because I've been critical of at least 4 Republican Senate nominees, Sharron Angle (NV), Carla Fiorina (CA), Rand Paul (TN) and Marco Rubio (FL), whom are less electable than their top competitors (i.e., Sue Lowden, Tom Campbell, Trey Grayson, and Charlie Crist) in purplish states. (Of course, I've been highly critical of Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer in multiple posts, so of course Sharron Angle and Carla Fiorina have my unconditional support. I expect to support gaffe-prone Rand Paul.) [Technically Rubio's nomination is finalized later this summer, but his main competitor, Charlie Crist, dropped out of the primary several weeks ago.]
We should expect Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer to do exactly what unpopular governors like Gray Davis (D-CA) and Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) did in winning reelection a few years back: attack their competitors personally or attempt to marginalize them as extremist.
I am not Michael Steele, but I do like what I see Meg Whitman, the GOP candidate for California governor, and Charlie Crist are doing: shedding or sidestepping some of the red meat issues that turn off independents and moderate voters, e.g., abortion, guns, and/or same-gender "marriage". I realize I may be considered a heretic here for suggesting such, although my positions on these issues are compatible with most conservatives. (I would simply refer to the need to nominate Supreme Court judges dedicated to the principles of negative liberty in the Bill of Rights and functional independence and balance of power among the branches of government, e.g., policies are a legislative responsibility, subject to relevant constitutional constraints.)
There was the 1992 mantra in the Clinton/Carville campaign: "It's the economy, stupid!" If I was running the Republican or conservative campaign this fall, I would focus on these points:
- HAD ENOUGH? Vote for REAL change..
- It's the tax-and-spending, stupid!
- Too much government floods the private-sector economic engine...
- Rollback the national debt!
- Results matter, not political spin!
- The government needs to go on a diet...
- Cut up the inter-generational credit card...
- The government needs to eat what on its plate before ordering something else.
Michael Ramirez points out the gusher of debt, accelerating under the progressive groupthink Democratic Congress and White House, is sticking to our newborn babies (and babies to come). The BP spill is a limited-term event; the leak will be stopped, and the shores will be cleaned up. We have to erase a $13T debt; this means MORE than simply erasing a $1.42T or higher deficit. We have to pay down the debt. How can we do it? In part, we have to have a moratorium on any new federal programs; we have to fix entitlement programs, like social security and Medicare, so they are self-contained and sustainable; we have to slash federal payrolls, particularly positions paying more than the national median income; we have to streamline government operations, asking whether functionality is a core competency; but--and this is a big point--WE HAVE TO HAVE A PRO-BUSINESS GROWTH ECONOMIC POLICY. This means, among other things, a comprehensive strategy on stripping down government costs to business--both direct, in terms of globally uncompetitive tax levels and benefit mandates (e.g., health insurance),and indirect, e.g., ancillary, unnecessary reporting and regulation requirements, with questionable cost-benefit justification. We need a radical reorientation of government from attempting to micromanage business affairs, which falls outside its distinctive competencies (cf. BP oil spill) to servicing its taxpaying clients, e.g., can the government open up new markets to American goods and services through win-win free trade agreements?
Quote of the Day
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Lao Tzu
Musical Interlude: The AFI Music Top 100 (continued/conclusion)
This is the final segment of my AFI music top 100. I'll be starting a new series based on Billboard's annual top 100 songs, starting with 1960; I'll cherry-pick up to 4 songs (based on my musical preferences) from the top 100. I may return to the AFI series in the future to present movie songs I like but didn't see on the AFI list or didn't make AFI criteria (sneak peak: Fiddler on the Roof, Elton John in The Lion King, Andrew Lloyd Webber, etc.) or to reprise my favorites from the list.
#97. "42nd Street"
#98. "All the Jazz"
#99. "Hakuna Matada"
#100. "Old Time Rock and Roll"
