I mentioned before my disagreement with Barack Obama when it comes to his views on major issues. So I’ll say up from that I am biased when I talk about him. This isn’t really different from anyone who has selected a candidate to support at this point. You can see the mud that gets slung in the media (more of it will be targeted at McCain since he is the assumed enemy of the media) each day. Is some of it true? More than likely. Is some of it false (or misleading)? Absolutely. One thing that you can depend on is that very few minds will be changed. Those minds that are changed will probably change a few more times before the election. What you have are the cheerleaders on the side of each candidate either nodding there head up and down or left and right depending on the situation.

My biggest problem is that I can’t avoid the media more than I do. It’s always a frustrating thing to see the calculation and the marketing going on under the guise of a news broadcast (on TV or radio). It’s even worse when this comes from a religious group which should know better. Whether or not Barack Obama takes care of his half brother across the world is not the main reason for me to vote for McCain. Knowing Obama’s stance on abortion (I shutter just thinking about it) is plenty of reason for me.

The Democratic leader of the House of Representatives is doing her best (which apparently is pretty effective) to block any vote on off-shore drilling before the election this Fall. It really is spectacular how the American people are getting thrown under the bus on this one. There isn’t much downside at all to allowing drilling in a number of places as long as environmental protections are in place. Michael Ramirez of Investor’s Business Daily sums it up nicely (Speaker Pelosi is the one satirized as the life guard).

High gas prices are only one part of the reasoning. A bigger issue is domestic energy independence. We can’t sit around and wait for our enemies in the Middle East to hold us hostage again. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Picken’s Plan (former oil man) has been derided by many of the conservatives as being unrealistic. After taking a look at it, it seems to have some validity. I’m mainly skeptical of how much energy can be generated from the wind farms as well as the visual blight they would cause (although I think there is room for design improvements). I didn’t even realize that Honda had the Civic GX on the road today (search for a little information on it… it’s pretty amazing). Regardless, it’s just another piece of a multi-prong attack to reduce dependence on foreign oil while trying to encourage alternative fuel usage. Now if we could just get Congress to help out a little.

The PowerlineBlog takes a look at who really pays the taxes in the United States. I don’t think it would be a surprise to know that the rich pay a disproportionate amount. I also think that most people in the lower 50% of the wage earners agree with that taxation system. But how far can we push the “rob from the rich to give to the poor” mentality?

Given that poorer citizens always outnumber the rich, political philosophers have worried that government based on majority rule could lead to organized theft from the wealthy by the democratic masses. “If the majority distributes among itself the things of a minority, it is evident that it will destroy the city,” warned Aristotle.

We need to consider the other side of that equation. How can we move more people in that distribution so that it is skewed toward the upper end rather than the lower? At that point, the game changes all together.

Today Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the pay raises that the Louisiana State Legislature had given themselves. In doing so, he went back on his word to not interfere in their inner workings. In reality, someone wasn’t going to be happy. He was previously accused of going back on his word to allow the pay raises in the first place. So there you have the dilemma, veto and risk the ire of the legislature or sign and risk the ire of the public (and more likely the ire of the conservative political establishment). In the end, Jindal feared the public more than the legislature. Time will tell whether this was a good move or the beginning of the end. I can’t help but hear the name Buddy Roemer echoing in the background.

I’m a little disappointed in the veto since it indicates an unsteadiness in his leadership. I think the pay raises were okay even though ill-timed and poorly handled. On the other hand, some would say that it shows maturity that he was willing to not be stubborn, recognize a bad (unpopular) decision and then correct it. Does anyone remember the phrase, “Read my lips. No new taxes.”? I thought so. Former President George H. Bush was defeated by his going back on his pledge (even though this was something of a trap in the first place). I suppose that if you are going to run for re-election in a few years, it is better to go on record as having upset the legislature by stopping a pay raise rather than the opposite.

As goes the 6th Congressional district, so goes the nation. This past weekend, State Rep. Don Cazayoux won a very close election against former Congressman “Woody” Jenkins. Jenkins is a great man and a great citizen. Although he’s is personally better off not to be in Washington (IMHO), the state (and nation) could have benefited from his abilities. I think that will probably end his career as a politician.

The 6th Congressional district has previously been held by a Republican for 33 years. So the election of Cazayoux is a stunning pick-up for the Democrats. Cazayoux campaigned as a conservative Democrat and the National Republican party tried to (unsuccessfully) paint him as a pawn of the liberal national Democrats. We’ll see which side of the fence that he resides on as the votes come up in Congress. I expect there will be a certain amount of “vote throwing” as he is allowed to vote against national Democrats when the overall bill is expected to pass easily, but his record should still indicate his allegiance.

The seat opened up with Richard Baker vacated the post to join a lobbying firm. I really think that is part of the problem as Republicans are perceived to be in cahoots with big business. I think that mantle is shared by both parties and rightly so since we really need laws that are at least “fair” to business. So headed into the Presidential election in the fall and the other Congressional contests, I think the Democrats are in the driver’s seat. I fully expect a return to the rule of national Democrats with their control of Congress, Senate and the Presidency. I’m not at all happy about this, but we live in a country in which we are blessed with the privilege of voting. We the people get to vote and I respect the outcome of those elections as the will of said people. Although with all of the nastiness of the liberal left during the Bush presidency, don’t expect pacifism on the right.

In light of the growing number of chemicals that are around us, I think it’s a helpful thing to have a Earth Day. I think to our detriment it is seen more as a time to hug the nearest tree and should be a time to audit our behaviors (both personal and corporate) to determine if we can make changes in order to be better stewards of the Earth and its (not her) resources. There has been a marked improvement in the US waterways in the past 20 years and I can remember times during the early 80’s when you had to be careful what water you stuck your toe into (due to both chemical and human contamination). So there has been a positive shift in the public attention to such matters.

On the negative side of things, we seem to lack the balance in addressing issues. It’s an all or nothing perspective that is meant to illicit fears and an emotional response. The gains of the past twenty years didn’t come from Chicken Little predictions, they came from hard work on the part of government enforcement of regulations and dedicated employees making real changes to the way we do business. So we should drop the dire predictions and look at economically feasible ways to move forward. With the energy crunch expected to get worse, we can’t afford to stifle our own economy (by blocking oil exploration and recovery) due to irrational fears.

The Washington Policy Center had a good press release on the topic and I’ve posted a good chunk of it here:

On this Earth Day 2008, new predictions will again be made about looming environmental disasters about to strike our planet. If past experience is any guide, most of these predictions are wrong. People concerned about our planet’s future should be wary of statements from activists and other interested groups, so we stay focused on real environmental concerns, and don’t waste time on fearsome predictions that will never happen.

• “…civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind,” biologist George Wald, Harvard University, April 19, 1970.
• By 1995, “…somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” Sen. Gaylord Nelson, quoting Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, Look magazine, April 1970.
• Because of increased dust, cloud cover and water vapor “…the planet will cool, the water vapor will fall and freeze, and a new Ice Age will be born,” Newsweek magazine, January 26, 1970.
• The world will be “…eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age,” Kenneth Watt, speaking at Swarthmore University, April 19, 1970.
• “We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation,” biologist Barry Commoner, University of Washington, writing in the journal Environment, April 1970.
• “Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from the intolerable deteriorations and possible extinction,” The New York Times editorial, April 20, 1970.
• “By 1985, air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half…” Life magazine, January 1970.
• “Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make,” Paul Ehrlich, interview in Mademoiselle magazine, April 1970.
• “…air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone,” Paul Ehrlich, interview in Mademoiselle magazine, April 1970.
• Ehrlich also predicted that in 1973, 200,000 Americans would die from air pollution, and that by 1980 the life expectancy of Americans would be 42 years.
• “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation,” Earth Day organizer Denis Hayes, The Living Wilderness, Spring 1970.
• “By the year 2000…the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America and Australia, will be in famine,” Peter Gunter, North Texas State University, The Living Wilderness, Spring 1970.

It’s interesting to hear the candidates talk about “Bringing America Together”. I’ve written about this before, but I feel the need to rehash it. News flash people, we are already together in the same geographic area. On the political side of things, we will never be together on things. It’s the normal political process to work towards a solution not based on everyone agreeing. What is nice in America is that we are able (most of the time) to go through that process without anarchy and violence. So when you hear people talking about “Bringing America Together”, realize that it is just a euphemism for “Everyone should agree with the way I think it should be done”. By the way, that also serves another mantra “Bringing change to Washington”. It would definitely be a change and not necessarily for the better.

624787. Interesting number. It sort of highlights some of the differences in the three remaining candidates.

It is widely reported that the Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has been involved in a prostitution ring for months (perhaps years). This came out due to a federal investigation into unusual financial transactions by the Governor. If this sounds familiar, then it should. Louisiana Senator David Vitter was also accused of a relationship with a prostitute (he only admitted to a serious sin). So now the calls for Spitzer’s resignation are now drumming up calls for Vitter’s resignation as well. I wrote previously about Vitter:

Even in this situation, I don’t think I would call for his resignation. I wouldn’t support him in the next election, but I’m not sure that I would ask for his resignation (unless he was convicted of a crime).

There are a few differences in the cases. Vitter’s sins were from several years prior to his admission and all signs are that he had changed his behavior and had been working through his problems with his wife. Spitzer’s sins were still ongoing and he was caught in the middle of it all. This might differentiate whether I would even consider voting for them again (which is very doubtful I would). The other difference and it is a much bigger difference is that Vitter paid with his own money and it appears that Gov. Spitzer used the state of New York’s money  (to the tune of an estimated $80,000). Edit: Seems that it was his own money. I still don’t know why Vitter’s case wasn’t prosecuted (unless the evidence wasn’t there) since I believe soliciting a prostitute is still a crime. However, it appears that Gov. Spitzer’s case will be prosecuted.

It seems that my own expectations for our leaders continues to decline. I really want to believe that some of these men are really morally strong people, but the more that cases come out like this, the tougher it is to expect it. These bad eggs continue to cast dispersions on those that really are faithful public servants.

I don’t know how long ago it was, but I think it’s been a while since the United States Postal Service “jumped the shark“. It is no longer a viable method of moving letters or parcel unless the item is expendable. Thirty years ago, it was a completely different picture. People had trust in the postal service. Not any more. Not me at least. There have been several deliveries that have been lost and others pilfered. It was so bad that the office in Houston will only use one of the commercial carries to deliver my checks (that can’t be direct deposited). The only thing that they are able to consistently deliver is the huge wad of sales fliers and credit card offers. For serious delivery options, try FedEx. Even better, try to fax or email letters (and other paper items).