Miscellany: 1/07/10

Something Rotten In the State of our Airports 
(But the Dogs Can't Smell It...)

This May will mark my seventeenth year as a professional database administrator. DBA's are obsessed with backup and recovery of production databases. But an incident happened during my first gig, as a government contractor at the EPA regional headquarters in downtown Chicago. I had repeatedly pushed the network administrator group on backups, and I had been told, yes, the backups are occurring, we verify restore procedures, etc. Another government contractor group was rolling out upgrades of the core application software across the region labs; somehow the upgrade failed, and the contractor requested restoration to the most recent database backup, so I requested the network administrators to restore relevant files from tape so I could perform the recovery. Well, the funny thing was--they couldn't restore the files; not only that, but apparently none of the backups over the last several weeks was usable, either (effectively losing any database transactions in the interim). The network administrators couldn't explain it--they insisted the backup software reported that backup jobs had successfully completed; what annoyed me was I had specifically asked them to check restore functionality long before the upgrade incident. (Fortunately, the jaded chemists maintained a separate copy of records; as a former MIS professor who, in fact, wrote articles on usability, I was not surprised by this, but it's beyond the scope of this post. Let's just say I was more worried about it more the chemists, the managers, and the network administrator group.) This kind of breakdown is not the exception to the rule.

For confidentiality reasons, I cannot disclose more specifics, but let me give some real examples of government incompetence I dealt with as a contractor:

• A security audit script used a certain query to check certain "hidden" database parameters; the "view" referenced in the script holds no information about hidden parameters, so it could never flag an problem setting as intended.
• A production database server installed years earlier had 3 power supplies. No one before me noticed that one of the power supplies wasn't attached to a usable power socket. I also discovered that the RAID-5 array (storing the database) on another production server was "running on its spare" (i.e., a key disk had failed long before I came on board.)
• I once caught a grossly incompetent government auditor pulling equipment he didn't recognize out of a production rack in the middle of a workday. (I had to escalate the matter to my civil servant boss in St. Louis, when local IT management told me I had no standing to interfere with the work of a government auditor; in fact, I was attempting in vain to get the auditor to defer his activities outside the production window.) How did I catch him? I got alerted to the fact that the same unidentified guy had mistakingly rebooted a couple of my other servers in a different rack.
• Database replication is a high availability solution. I discovered that the facility security database being replicated was configured wrongly, with faulty switchover scripts, and the replication database was on a server in an adjacent rack (meaning no control for location risk, e.g., a flooded basement). This is typical of how things in the federal government work (or don't work): they paper over compliance with regulations, even if the makeshift "solution" fails to address the intent underlying the regulation. (I ran into bureaucratic inertia trying to get one of the databases rehosted to a different location.)

So, the TSA--which takes very seriously how many ounces of certain liquids you carry, forces you to take off your shoes, etc.--misses the "big picture" issues, e.g.,

• The TSA's explosives/drug canines in Philadelphia failed recertification last month. But the dogs were kept on the job until word recently broke out over the past few days.
• Usable explosives detection gear was discarded because of an unacceptable level of false positives and high maintenance costs.
• Metal detectors failed to detect surgical rods.
• When a passenger at Newark managed to get around security, setting off security alerts,  it turned out security cameras didn't capture the incident because they weren't working.

While we endure more and more violations of our privacy through Monday morning quarterbacking regulatory empire building (versus preventive care), what good does it do for TSA to audit us, when in fact the TSA itself is not being competently audited? Which is the greater threat to security--passengers or the TSA without effective resources deployed and monitored on a timely basis?

Schwarzenegger: The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost

I remember my enthusiastic support, as a former California resident, when the economics-literate actor swept to power on a reform agenda after his failed predecessor, Gray Davis. I then watched in dismay as the governor was unable to deliver change in the face of union opposition and other Democratic special interests: the governor seemed resigned to pointless political survival, veering left of center on opposing restoration of the traditional definition of marriage, supporting costly additional government intervention on the environment, and becoming Obama's principal Republican shill in supporting the so-called stimulus bill and in particular the federal Democratic Party Health Care Bill.

So I was not surprised when Schwarzenegger started pounding the door in Washington, demanding a state bailout. (Remember one of my favorite quotes, the Sally Brown philosophy ("All I want is what I... I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share...")? So Californians, angry that states like Alaska have gotten more than they pay into federal revenues, think they are entitled to a bailout based on their own net contribution--as if the average American should add to the federal deficit to accommodate California's fiscal policies and gold-plated benefits!) California is in a state of denial over the chickens coming home to roost after years of progressives making promises to government employees they couldn't keep and engaging in fiscally irresponsible spending sprees without first setting up proper reserves/rainy day funds. Who could have known when Schwarzenegger uttered his movie tagline, "I'll be back", he meant a place at the federal teat?

So Schwarzenegger abruptly changed course on the Democratic Party Health Care Bill in his State of the State Address, bitterly unhappy over corrupt deal making, such as the Cornhusker Kickback. His point, of course, is that California will be affected by federal Democratic scope creep in unilaterally expanding Medicaid, where the state shares expenses; given mandatory budget balancing and the state government already tens of billions in the red. Schwarzenegger is probably more angry with himself for not negotiating a Terminator Rebate in exchange for his earlier political support. However, shouldn't Schwarzenegger have objected more to the consistent pattern of Democratic scope creep on Medicaid eligibility from the get-go as fiscally irresponsible, rather than simply griping California shouldn't have to pay for its fair share of the Medicaid cost burden?

In the meanwhile, do we really expect Obama to put California's rich pool of 2012 electoral votes at risk? Expect some sort of sham rationalization to print more federal money in California....

Political Cartoon


Pat Oliphant's work clearly captures that Obama has not brought change to the Executive Branch. (I love the gatecrasher to the Cabinet meeting; nice touch!) Nearly 9.5 years after 9/11, we still have an intelligent community that fails to connect the dots and doesn't believe in accountability and taking initiative. In a country where credit card companies can validate your credit card purchase in seconds, a trip from Yemen about a terror plot involving a Nigerian, and a recent identification of the Nigerian suspect as a potential threat, somehow doesn't impact the government's no-fly list or even enhanced security check. And people, on matters like health care, really believe more government is the answer? What goes unsaid, of course, is Barack Obama talks sternly about holding his administration accountable, but it's "words, just words"... (He'll probably let the parties put on a coat before lightly slapping their wrists.) While arguing that health care should be preventive, how preventive is Obama's handling of national security? And the word to Obama is: NATIONAL SECURITY IS JOB #1.

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Neil Young Hit: "Heart of Gold"

A deceptively simple song and brilliant performance, with a distinctive sound and despondent vocal which perfectly frames the stark lyrics.To paraphrase Shakespeare: "All that glitters is not gold."




"Heart Of Gold"

I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.
It's these expressions
I never give
That keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind,
it's such a fine line
That keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
Keeps me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

Keep me searching
for a heart of gold
You keep me searching
for a heart of gold
And I'm growing old.
I've been a miner
for a heart of gold.

Miscellany: 1/06/10

The Latest Dem Dropout: 
Senator Dodd Will Not Seek Reelection

It was just a matter of time; incumbent Connecticut Senator Chris "Countrywide Mortgage" Dodd had low approval ratings and was losing against all prospective GOP candidates. Democrats have been urging him to step aside to give another Democratic candidate a chance to retain the seat in a blue state. Whereas I'm sure that Dodd's political vulnerability made an easy change argument, I think a first-time Democratic candidate faces a tough battle given public anger over runaway deficit spending, questionable Democratic priorities and performance since the 2008 election, and a lack of political balance in Washington.

Scott Brown Trailing but Competitive 
in Massachusetts Special Election for US Senate

A Republican in heavily Democratic Massachusetts faces an uphill battle in the battle for Ted Kennedy's former seat; the last GOP senator, African American Edward Brooke, lost his bid for a third term in 1978 against Paul Tsongas. For people outside Massachusetts, Scott Brown is better known as the father to former American Idol 2006 contestant, 6-feet-tall Ayla Brown, a senior basketball player at Boston College.

A Picture of Me As a UTEP Professor

This picture was taken in the spring of 1990 before I left UTEP. (I scanned the dusty picture, which I recently fished out of a moving box.) I mentioned the student (not by name) in a prior post ; he wrote on the back side: "Most sincerest appreciation for some "real" education. Couldn't have made it without your help." (In fact, he was a profile in courage sticking up for the truth against a dishonest student and a corrupt university administration; there was mutual admiration.) You don't earn a PhD and spend countless hours on research and teaching with the expectation of being thanked. I didn't get high teaching ratings during my academic career cut short by a subsequent recession, but winning the respect of an outstanding young student and person is a most meaningful validation of one's efforts in the classroom.

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Eagles' Song: "Desperado"


Simply one of the greatest songs ever written (Glenn Frey and Don Henley), reminding us guys that the greatest attribute of a woman is not her appearance or means but her loving heart. I wish I could write a song like this. Preview of an upcoming interlude selection: I'm still searching for a heart of gold...




Desperado

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
You been out ridin' fences for so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She'll beat you if she's able
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger
Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home
And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine
It's hard to tell the night time from the day
You're losin' all your highs and lows
Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away?

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate
It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you
You better let somebody love you, before it's too late

Miscellany: 1/05/10

CSPAN Calls Obama's Bluff 
on Broadcasting Health Care Negotiations


This quote  needs no further explanation:

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama called for completely transparent health care deliberations and even promised to hold all negotiations on C-SPAN. Now, as the health care debate reaches its final stages, the nonprofit cable company is asking Washington leaders to follow through on that promise. 

Democratic political spin is that the time for debate is over, that everything has been discussed, etc. That is manifestly false from any objective standpoint: GOP/conservative ideas were never seriously debated. The House plan pays in part for the new entitlement by a large surtax (in addition to expiring Bush era tax cuts on upper brackets to Clinton levels)--one may just as well call it a poison bill for future American economic growth; the Senate plan alternately pays via a surtax on gold-plated plans (which is roughly comparable to a McCain proposal to provide a flat exemption, which, of course, Obama attacked during the general campaign, so it's difficult to argue what kind of mandate is being claimed). However, behind the Democratic proposals is an extension of a mandate for insurance--which is really a way of forcing healthier risks to subsidize health expenses capped for politically favored groups. For example, older people tend to be more expensive risks; if premiums are capped for higher risks, the government is subsidizing their personal expenses. Where is the government finding the money to subsidize higher risks? From other people or businesses.

The problem is not so much with covering people with catastrophic expenses, which is something I could support. It has more to do with dictating how people finance their health care (e.g., a la carte or via insurance)  and adding millions of newly insured onto a health care insurance system which, in fact, is a perversion of the concept of insurance, and intensifying inflationary cost pressures--all while progressive Democrats, with a straight face, insist they are trying to make insurance more affordable. It's bad enough the Fed is keeping interest rates artificially low--which will inevitably result in growth-crushing, savings-sapping inflation--but we're throwing another trillion or so dollars into a health care system (and cannibalizing Medicare funding in the process).

The financial impact could be lowered if we simply focused on hard-to-insure people by bolstering state/regional high risk pools--and/or provided catastrophic coverage, which would address a principal health insurer rationale for denying coverage. But the Democrats want to play the class warfare card more than to limit the solution to the real problem; they want to subsidize health coverage through the middle class--not just those whom find it difficult to find coverage. They are pulling a classic bait-and-switch on the American taxpayer--and almost no one is pointing this fact out. Yes, they are correct that many Americans will be happy with hard-to-insure people being able to find medical coverage without catastrophic expenses; what they are not doing is explaining how this could be done on a more modest basis without balancing the budget on the backs of physicians and hospitals, at the expense of senior citizens (by undermining the funding of Medicare), or otherwise indirectly taxing people and businesses through mandates and favored pricing for certain groups.

The point is, however, that the deal making that Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders have been engaging in is antithetical to the whole concept of transparency in government. The American people have a right to know what other corrupt deals are being made among elite Democratic legislative and executive leaders. The idea that Democratic legislators are being asked to vote on bills without a comprehensive understanding of what Reid and others are negotiating in the back room is inherently unacceptable; what's worse is the fact that the American people are also being shut out of the biggest decision in decades regarding one-sixth of the American economy. In fact,  the Democratic leaders are engaging in a majoritarian abuse of power, a conspiracy to shut out Republicans and providing a rush to judgment, simply so Obama has a timely marker to use for his self-congratulatory State of the Union address, a perversion of our Constitution.

Incumbent Dems Are Smelling Change in the Mid-Term Election

Three-term Senator Dorgan (D-ND) announced that he will not seek reelection this year; in addition, Colorado incumbent Governor Ritter pulled the plug on his reelection campaign, multiple Democratic recruits for House races have dropped out, as well as the likely Democratic candidate for Michigan governor, Lt. Gov. John Cherry.


Musical Interlude: My Favorite ABBA Tune: "SOS"

I was a huge fan of ABBA before the current generation rediscovered them, i.e., "Momma Mia"; it's one of the few groups (beyond the Beatles) for which I bought nearly every album. It's hard to pick a single song, because the group's male songwriters crafted superb pop songs; I do prefer a couple of bittersweet late hits, i.e., "Knowing You, Knowing Me" and "The Winner Takes It All". But if I had to choose one, it would have to be their 1975 hit "SOS"; I always envisioned a video of this song with a couple of passing Navy ships where a man and a woman in uniform are signaling each other, with  "An Officer and a Gentleman" ending (with the guy getting the girl); I have a very active imagination. I found the embedded Youtube video which is a clip from the group's appearance on American Bandstand. I find the choreography charming and love the ladies' makeshift miniskirts, reinforcing one of the indisputable laws of the universe: Swedish women are hot. (Contemplate on that truth, Tiger Woods, during one of your Buddhist meditations...)

Miscellany: 1/4/10

A Reminder There Are Other Sean Goldman's

Is there anything more wonderful than the sight of a father (David Goldman) finally reunited with his son? (Something, unfortunately, far too many American fathers take for granted, not making the time to be with their children; life is too short. See the musical interlude segment below.) The Bring Sean Home Foundation reminds us that other American parents in marriages with foreign-born spouses are in David Goldman's former position, fighting to have their children brought home in accordance with the Hague Convention dealing with international child abduction, and each American child deserves the opportunity to grow up in his or her American home.

Waterboarding for Abdulmutallab? No

Rasmussen published a poll last week showing that 58% were in favor of waterboarding the Nigerian underwear bomber for additional information. I have a nuanced view here: I see Abdulmutallab as being more of "foot soldier" terrorist; I'm not sure why someone intent on killing himself would be in the know about future plots. At the same time, I don't believe in lawyering up a terrorist, and I believe that he should be tried in a military tribunal. I do think it would be invaluable to know whom his contacts on the Arabian peninsula were, and I would be disappointed to hear that the Obama Administration did not send in their best CIA interrogators before he lawyered up.

Political Cartoon

Brian Farrington's variation of the truth-telling child observing the emperor wears no clothes:

Musical Interlude: My Favorite "Stop and Smell the Roses" Song

Harry Chapin: "Cats in the Cradle"

Probably the greatest American storyteller/troubadour, particularly in the 1970's, Harry Chapin is best known for two signature songs: "Taxi" and this song. The core insight of the song, in my view, is the character's recognition that he repeated the cycle of his own father; it reminds me of a brother-in-law whom had sworn that he would be a "better" father than his own but once he had his own kids and came home from work, he would often retreat to his den, often past the kids' bedtime.

MIscellany: 1/03/10

Sunday Talk Shows, Word Games, Political Spin and Profiling


While listening to ABC This Week,  given the primacy of homeland security issues, I was struck by how much Democrats were focused on word games. (I would normally say 'progressives', but Blue Dog Congressman Jane Harman also made related comments.)

I believe that Obama has publicly used the phrase 'War on Terror' only once, early in his administration. The progressive argument is that the use of the phrase is imprecise, that we need to use more "precise" wording, such as a war against Al Qaeda. I have a problem with this conceptual model; first, there are more terrorist organizations than Al Qaeda with anti-American agendas. Second, the War on Terror is hardly more confusing or convoluted than an analogous "war on crime". Distinctive characteristics of terrorism include an ideological (vs. intrinsic or personal) motive and an intentional focus on the perceived or actual threat to the property, health or lives of noncombatants.

What is particularly striking since the progressive administration took power is its emphasis on symbolic versus substantive action. There has been a definite trend--the substitution of euphemistic phrases, like "man-made disasters" or "enemy combatants", an intent to expand the definition to include speculations on alienated right-wing, pro-life or veteran groups, and the decision essentially to confer American legal rights on foreign terrorists and treat them as "criminals" vs. terrorists. I would even argue that Obama's apology tours have contributed, e.g., his use of the term "crusaders" which is often used by radical Islamic groups,

I do not see any productive nature to this indulgent progressive line of discussion. They are obsessed with the approval of foreign socialists and progressives. I assure you that the monsters who murdered almost 3000 innocent people on 9/11 are not mollified by a kinder, gentler rhetoric and have no problems with American partisan camps preoccupied with fighting each other instead of them.

The question of "profiling", e.g., expanded scrutiny of those from groups associated with past incidents of terrorism, is something that investigators do in everyday life. For example, when a husband or wife is found murdered in the home, barring other compelling evidence, the surviving spouse is often a suspect; there can be a variety of reasons, including marital problems. In terms of the Middle East, there could a variety of issues, including training at a radicalized seminary or a pattern of communication with a notorious cleric. I've already pointed out in past posts that the vast majority of Muslims oppose terrorism and in fact the father of the underwear bomber tipped off the Nigerian government, which immediately alerted the CIA. (Is there any question why a father, fearing that his own son might kill himself, would come forward?) There's no doubt that some may use profiling as a blank check, which is morally reprehensible, but we cannot fail to do prudent due diligence simply because an 80-year-old Quaker great-grandmother is not in the same risk group as a young male from Saudi Arabia.

In fact, over the weekend there was an announcement from a senior administration official that passengers originating from 14 relevant nations will be subjected indefinitely to enhanced security searches.

Do Not Let the TSA Go On a Spending Binge for the New "Naked Image" Airport Scanners

There was an interesting note in a British newspaper that the kind of devices that many Democrats have been pushing as a method of filtering out lower-density PETN-type events like the shoe and underwear bombers would not have been effective (and pat downs already may have failed to reveal the same).


Political Cartoon

Remember how Obama assured you only the federal government could contain health care costs and guarantee your medical care? (Of course, he didn't mention that his expansion takes money at the expense of Medicare, which is chronically underfunded and only reimburses doctors and hospitals less than 80 cents on their dollar of costs...) IBD cartoonist Michael Ramirez asks whether given the life-or-death circumstances of NWA Flight 253 despite tips to the government that should have clearly identified and stopped the underwear bomber, you want to risk your own health and life to further federal entanglement in the health care sector, deterring innovation and physician flexibility in dealing with his or her own patients' medical care.

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Remake of a 1930's Hit:

Art Garfunkel "I Only Have Eyes for You"

This is a timeless hit that for years I've always dreamed of singing to my bride if I ever got married. Art Garfunkel's angelic mid-1970's interpretation is so extraordinary, ethereal and effortless that I don't see how I could possibly improve on how Art made the classic his own...




I Only Have Eyes for You

(A. Budin, H. Warren)
My love must be a kind of blind love.
I can't see anyone but you.

Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright.
I only have eyes for you, dear.

The moon may be high,
But I can't see a thing in the sky.
'Cause I only have eyes for you.

I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue.

You are here, so am I.
Maybe millions of people go by.
But they all disappear from view.
And I only have eyes for you.

Miscellany: 1/02/10

Pardon Me While I Throw Up in My Mouth a Little....

Courtesy: CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

Obama Casting Spell Over European Audience

Any regular reader of my political blog knows that I do not care for European socialists, and I am a Christian in the Roman Catholic tradition. We Christians tend to be tolerant of nonbelievers, at least in the sense we did not issue death threats when Andres Serrano in 1987 published a picture of a small crucifix submerged in the so-called artist's urine. After a Danish newspaper dared to publish cartoons which it knew would offend many Muslim readers, should we be that surprised when a Danish newspaper decides to provoke 2 billion Christians in the world as well?

We simply need to excerpt the English translation editorial:

The U.S. president - the practical saviour of our times...His greatest results have been created with words and speeches...He comes from humble beginnings and defends the weak and vulnerable...And no we are not thinking of Jesus Christ...but rather the President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama. The idea was naturally that [if] the comparison between Jesus and Obama were to be made, it would, of course, inevitably be to Obama’s advantage. [In contrast to Obama's accomplishments of health care reform, the stimulus package, disarmament and rehabilitation of America's image,] we have Jesus’ miracles, which only benefitted a few...Obama is, of course, greater than Jesus.

Is it really necessary to mention how profoundly ignorant the Danish author is about US politics and Christian dogma? Let's just take health reform; the point is made about addressing financial hardship for Americans for health care reform; he fails to note, of course, that Senator Dole offered to make a deal with Bill Clinton on catastrophic health insurance, and Clinton turned it down. We have Medicaid available to poor and other lower-income people and Medicare for the disabled and senior citizens; hospitals cannot refuse emergency care on one's ability to pay. Many states operate high risk pools where hard-to-insure people get subsidized coverage. Many people the Democrats claim to be addressing in fact can afford health care insurance but prefer to pay, as has traditionally been the case in American history, for medical services as needed, choosing not to pay the overhead of a middleman (the insurance company).

The editorial writer waxes enthusiasm over how Obama has been able to achieve something multiple predecessors have failed to do; well, let's see: first of all, the final bill will hardly look what Obama originally envisioned and articulated during the campaign: for example, it will not have a public option, and it will include mandates. Second, Obama has a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and a lopsided majority in the House; almost no other President from either party has had as strong a hand to enact legislation. And while we're on the topic, if the author is correct about Obama's oratorical brilliance, why has he failed to make the case to the American public, which strongly opposes the framework of the bill likely to emerge, and why has his approval rating in multiple polls fallen below 50% in the biggest drop of any recent President during his first year of office?

Second, for those of us who are believers, Jesus Christ brought salvation through sacrifice. The miracles attested to the authenticity of His mandate, but Jesus was not a sideshow magician, performing at the beck and call of crowds, religious adversaries or a Roman court. Is there a single speech from Obama which even begins to approach the moral significance, influence or originality of the Sermon on the Mount, His other teachings or His profound parables? In the speeches I've heard or read, Obama serves up leftover campaign soundbites, abstract, turgid rhetoric, vacuous insights and truisms, condescending, morally self-superior polemics, self-congratulatory exaggerated claims of credit, and divisive, counterproductive straw man attacks of the political opposition, and simplistic scapegoating of past administrations or other pointless criticisms of America's historic sins.

No, Jesus Christ doesn't need me to defend His memory. Yes, I have been a persistent critic of Obama, but in large part, it's because he misleadingly sold himself during the general campaign as being a post-partisan moderate. Since the election, he has attempted to roll over the opposition on a radical progressive agenda (in a country where only 1 voter in 4 is progressive), particularly on major new policy initiatives where traditionally there has been an attempt at bipartisan consensus; for example, even Medicare decades ago attracted a significant percentage of Republican votes.

The Constitutionality of the Cornhusker Kickback Deal?


Nebraska US Senator Ben Nelson is responding to South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, the leader of 13 state attorney generals, threatening to file suit over the constitutionality of the deal which would exempt Nebraska from the state share of expanded Medicaid costs during the life of the 10-year bill under the corrupt deal between Harry Reid and Ben Nelson. Nelson, no doubt nervous over recent polls showing even Nebraskans oppose the deal and showing the incumbent GOP governor with a huge lead in Nelson's prospective 2012 reelection battle, defensively insists he did not ask for the deal and said that the same deal would be extended to all other states in the final bill.

It is true that you can't file a lawsuit until Obama signs the Democratic Party Health Care Bill, Trojan Horse edition (I'm still waiting for the GAO to stamp the bill with an explicit warning: "This bill may be hazardous to your financial future") into law. As for Ben Nelson's transparent attempt to distance himself from the political quid pro quo, this is little more than a ploy for political survival. If you offer a similar deal for all other states, where is the Congress going to come up with the money, and why didn't they offer the same deal from the get-go? Harry Reid himself admitted he had no respect for someone whom didn't ask for a political deal . Where were Nelson's principles in accepting the corrupt bargain, knowing other states hadn't been offered the same deal? Say, states without Democratic senators?


Political Cartoon


Gary McCoy doesn't show it here, but if you look behind the CIA scapegoat, you'll find a picture of George W. Bush.... Will Obama ever accept responsibility for anything he does (or doesn't do) as President? (Yeah, I know, I know: he banned "torture" and announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay detention facility... And he won the Nobel Door Prize for not being George W. Bush. Exactly how high were these items on the voters' agenda last fall, considering McCain also opposed "torture", wanted Gitmo closed, and would have also won a door prize for not being George W. Bush.)

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers  Hit

"A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)"

One of the greatest, if not the best, American rock songs of all time. I bought the album Hard Promises just to get a copy of this song. For any guy who ever lost his girl to a jerk, this song speaks to him. Rock does not get better than this--outstanding guitar work, great percussion, and spot-on vocal performance--you hear the despair, the resignation, the disgust, and the soaring guitar riff at the end--I can almost see him throwing down his mike in anger at the end of the song.

LYRICS:
She laughed in my face, told me good-bye
Said "don't think about it, you can go crazy
Any thing can happen, anything can end
Don't try to fight it, don't try to save me"

She's a woman in love
She's A Woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me

Well all rig ht, do what you want
Don't try to talk, don't say nothin'
She used to be the kind of woman
You have and you hold, she could understand the problem
She let the little things go

She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her hea rt to pieces
But she don't wanna know
She's a woman in love, she can't let go

Time after time, night after night
She would look up at me and say she was lonely
I don't understand what she needed
I gave her everything, she threw it all away on nothin'
She's a woman in love


She laughed in my face, told me good-bye
Said "don't think about it, you can go crazy
Any thing can happen, anything can end
Don't try to fight it, don't try to save me"

She's a woman in love
She's A Woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me

Well all rig ht, do what you want
Don't try to talk, don't say nothin'
She used to be the kind of woman
You have and you hold, she could understand the problem
She let the little things go

She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her hea rt to pieces
But she don't wanna know
She's a woman in love, she can't let go

Time after time, night after night
She would look up at me and say she was lonely
I don't understand what she needed
I gave her everything, she threw it all away on nothin'
She's a woman in love

MIscellany: 1/01/10 Happy New Decade!

Let Me Help National Leadership With Some New Year's Resolutions


Karl Rove writes an interesting weekly column for the Wall Street Journal; this week he decided to take our national obsession for starting a virgin new year with self-improvement goals and put it into a political context for Washington. Let me give my own take:

• Obama: Listen to Some Elvis Presley (courtesy Mac Davis/Billy Strange).

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart
Come on...I'm tired of talking
Grab your coat and let's start walking 
Don't procrastinate, don't articulate

• Obama: Learn to Set Priorities. Let's get this straight: on what planet were ideological goals of expensive climate change and health care initiatives higher priorities than a dragging recession, an exploding deficit and entitlement funding (social security and Medicare) solvency?
• Obama: Learn to Be a Better Baseball Hitter. Stop swinging for the fences; all that'll get you is a lot of high-profile strikeouts. Change your stance, be patient, less predictable and wait for the right pitch, adjust your grip, grab a lighter bat, stop swinging at pitches thrown outside the middle of the plate, and learn to go with the pitch and what the opposition gives you. Remember, to win in the World Series of the global economy, we need to get runs across the plate, and a sacrifice bunt or fly ball can be integral to a winning strategy; be a team player with the business executives and Republicans on your roster.
• Obama: Know Thyself.  Pick your battles, stop fingerpointing your predecessors and opposition, be more concise and practical, more civil, inclusive and constructive in dealing with the opposition, learn to live within a budget, and focus on substantive vs. symbolic accomplishments. Learn to be more timely and less tentative in making decisions, and don't announce decisions without first lining up your ducks (e.g., what to do about Guantanamo Bay detainees).
• Obama: Respect the Intelligence of the American People. This goes beyond rewarmed campaign rhetoric, a condescending tone, over-explanations and vacuous insights (e.g., whether there's evil in the world). Does Obama really think that the American people will buy a mid-term election year conversion on the primacy of jobs and holding down the deficit?
• The GOP: Stop Regifting the Same Old Fruitcake to Voters Every Election. What media conservatives fail to realize is the fact that they have invented a myth of Ronald Reagan which wasn't Ronald Reagan. Reagan as California governor signed a liberal abortion law and a state tax hike. (Even Michael Reagan admitted the same on a recent Dennis Miler Show podcast.) As President, he was more flexible on taxes (including raising payroll taxes), struck deals with Democrats and Communist leaders, and signed the last immigration reform bill. Yes, I do want to starve the progressives' endless spending sprees by cutting up their national debt credit card; I do not believe taxpayers should be forced to pay even more taxes to accommodate the progressives' endless appetite to spend other people's money (as if that was a noble endeavor!); it's time we cut off the blood money supply to these tumors imperiling the nation's economic health.

The Republicans' ratings (in terms of membership) are just now bottoming out, and it has taken Democratic partisan overreach to make the GOP competitive with the Democrats in generic ballot surveys; the GOP is benefiting more from independents' disenchantment with the Democrats than affirmation of a GOP agenda. The GOP needs to stop thinking small and incremental--we are not going to achieve energy independence simply by increasing domestic oil and gas production, we are not going to resolve abysmal inner city education by adding a small number of charter schools and private school vouchers, and we are not going to be able to balance the national deficit just by eliminating earmarks and catching occasionally greedy federal contractors.

The GOP must set realistic expectations for this year's mid-term elections; let's not forget that President Obama will exercise the veto during his last 2 years in office, and even if the GOP takes back the House or the Senate (which is unlikely and an uphill battle), the Senate Democrats would still yield the power of the filibuster. What the Republicans will be able to do is block future spending sprees and force Obama to the negotiating table, insisting on more than lip service to deficit reduction, spending and non-essential (vs. e.g., active duty military) hiring freezes and government streamlining, and we should expect some narrowing on what are more legitimate aspects to health care reform, such as the subsidization of preexisting conditions.

Republicans must make it clear this fall that "it's the economy, stupid". They must hold the Democrats responsible for reckless, ineffective spending, questionable priorities, corrupt deal making, moral-hazardous socialization of personal expenses, and unnecessary and ineffective government regulatory empire building. They must remind the American people what a dangerous mistake was made by electing both a Democratic President and Congress, with no meaningful attempts at bipartisan compromise.

The Republicans must acknowledge they have learned their lessons from four years out of power in the Congress, that it has learned lessons from its own record of massive federal spending, "Bridge to Nowhere" earmarks, failure to resolve the issues of entitlement solvency, a crumbling national infrastructure, regulatory failure in the middle of an obvious housing bubble, and its own culpability in passing new entitlements (i.e., Medicare prescription drugs) without adequate funding. There is a qualitative difference, of course, with the progressive Democratic agenda, which is political excess on steroids.

The Republicans need to articulate a business growth platform and must embrace a "big tent" philosophy, including the nomination of more pragmatic candidates in blue and purple states and districts. They must emphasize their willingness to engage in good faith negotiations without preconditions with the White House to address the real national priorities.

Mayo Clinic Arizona Clinic Stops Accepting New Medicare Patients

Bloomberg reports that the non-profit organization, praised by Obama for its quality care at a reasonable cost, lost $840M last year in treating Medicare patients, with the targeted Glendale facility receiving only about half the cost of medical services to its elderly patients from the federal government. Any health care "reform" at the expense of hospitals and doctors, already forced to subsidize existing patients with other, private-sector revenues, will likely result in more hospitals and doctors failing to accept new patients, while Medicare enrollments continue to take off as the post-WWII baby boomers retire. Meanwhile, the health care "reform" in Congress continues despite an over $30T unfunded mandate on Medicare, and a huge chunk of the new entitlement's costs essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul. Why in the world would any educated person try to expand federal-mandated universal coverage at the same time the government isn't even paying the freight of its existing patient load? A far more reasonable approach would have been to guarantee catastrophic costs and to spread them across 300 million Americans.

Political Cartoon

Mike Luckovich recalls that after the shoe bomber, we all had to take off our shoes, so after the underwear bomber....

Musical Interlude: My Favorite Cat Stevens Song:

"Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard"

What can you say about one of the most talented pop singer/songwriters of the 1970's, Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam)? He has a very distinctive, staccato vocal style that is both effective and hard to replicate.  I own copies of almost all his albums (until his career hiatus and religious conversion). What a better way to ring in a new year and decade than fondly remembering those days of childhood innocence and childhood crushes. (I still have my third-grade valentine from Lisa. She was Mrs. Darby's girl doll and I...had an unrequited crush on her.)

I'm embedding a couple of bonus videos. The first is a charming opening vignette of the same song from a 70's era Olivia Newton-John network TV special featuring the late Andy Gibb (whom is the BeeGee's younger brother and I believe still holds the record for most consecutive solo #1 singles) and the super group ABBA. The second is a tribute to one of my little sisters, Sharon, whom is also a Cat Stevens fan. She loved the song "Randy" (a variation of "Miranda") on Stevens' subsequent album. The melody and arrangement are brilliant (although the verses are obscure; some gay bloggers speculate it's about a guy, although Yusuf is married with children and has denied the speculation.).

Olivia Newton-John, the late Andy Gibb, and ABBA