South Dakota Politics

Rhett Butler on Tax Cuts

One of my favorite scenes from Gone with the Wind (a wonderful, but nonetheless overrated movie), is when Clark Gable's Rhett Butler is in a room with a lot of fire eaters who at that moment were celebrating the start of the Civil War.  Butler had the cheek to point out that "there isn't a single canon factory in the entire South."  One fair faced hot head exclaims "what does that matter to gentlemen!"  Butler coolly replies: "it will make a great deal of difference to a great many gentlemen," or something close to that.  I'm working from distant memory.

I thought of that shot when I got this one from Democratic activist and Daschle foot soldier Chad Schuldt at CCK.  Chad may be happy to hear that we are winning the war in Iraq, but he is certainly not happy to hear that the economic is very strong. 

Ken Blanchard, professor of political science at Northern State University in Aberdeen, writes last night about the great shape of the U.S. economy.  He points out how the stock market is swell, the great state of business investment, and the like.  Unfortunately that kind of stuff doesn't mean jack-shit to average Americans. Unless you buy into voodoo-trickle-down economic crap.

Chad apparently doesn't think that business investment is important, or that an increase in business investment matters to average Americans.  I wonder if that view is shared by Tom Dachle in particular, or the Democratic Party in general?  One might sometimes think that it is.  I reply, casting myself as Rhett, that it makes a great deal of difference to a great many average Americans.  Business investment (which, Chad, is what the stock market is about) is the financial oxygen that ignites economic growth.  You can't get job growth or wage growth without it. 

Nor, I submit, can you hope to fund the Federal Government without it.  The Investor's Business Daily has a fine piece on this. 

For Democrats opposed to the cuts, no argument has been more potent than that tax cuts somehow "cost" the government money — and thus make deficits worse. [Treasury Secretary John] Snow's chart, shown below, puts the lie to that argument.

In fact, the supply-siders are right: Revenues rise after tax rates are reduced. Federal revenues bottomed at $1.8 trillion just as Bush signed his bill; since then, they've risen 19.4% to $2.15 trillion, an all-time high.

This chart from the same article illustrates the result of Bush's tax cuts.

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In short, due to the tax cuts, more money is flowing into the treasury than ever before.  This seems counter-intuitive, a fact that Democrats ceaselessly exploit.  But it is a simple fact, and it is not hard to explain.

When top personal rates are high, the rich find ways to pay less. That's why our tax code is 55,000 pages thick. When rates are lower and flatter, such behavior disappears.

This also explains why the richest Americans' share of all income taxes paid has soared to 34.27% from 19.05% in 1980 even though their average income-tax rate has fallen by roughly a third — from 34.47% to 24.31% in 2003.

So the rich are shouldering a larger percentage of the tax burden now than before, precisely because their tax rates have fallen.  Instead of hiding their money in unproductive dodges (which Congressmen in both parties delight in creating), they bring it out and invest it in taxable enterprises.  This gives the Federal Government more money to spend on all those social programs that Democrats hold dear.  I also noted the Wall Street Journal's observation that state government budgets, which were in very bad shape not long ago, are in good shape now.  That's also something that might matter to average Americans who, after all, live mostly in states.  You might think that a Democrat would care about that too.  Apparently not.

Chad belongs to the "everything Bush does is by definition stupid and despicable" school of thought.  God knows that there are plenty of counterparts on my side of the isle.  To which I say a pox on both your houses.  And prepare yourself for a shock.

I think that Bill Clinton's Presidency was, economically speaking, a much greater success than is generally recognized by either party.  Clinton balanced the budget, saw NAFTA through to ratification (almost exclusively with Republican support), and reformed welfare.  All three were dramatic successes. 

By contrast, Bush has a much more mixed record.  The Federal Government under Bush has spent money in a way that makes a drunken sailor look like a Scottish Presbyterian.  That, along with a recession, a war, and a hurricane, is why the budget is in a mess.  I suspect that Bush will leave behind him a much less impressive economic policy than Clinton.  But however many mistakes Bush made, the tax cuts weren't one of them. 

Pentagon Sitting on Documents

Stephen Hayes:

FOR THE SECOND TIME IN recent weeks the Department of Defense has denied a request from The Weekly Standard to release unclassified documents recovered in postwar Iraq. These documents apparently reveal, in some detail, activities of Saddam Hussein's regime in the years before the war. This second denial could also be the final one: According to two Pentagon sources, the program designed to review, translate, and analyze data from the old Iraqi regime may be shuttered at the end of December, not just placing the documents beyond the reach of journalists, but also making them inaccessible to policymakers.

As a consequence, the ongoing debate over the Iraq war and its origins is taking place without crucial information about the former Iraqi regime and its relationships with presumed U.S. allies and known U.S. enemies.

Stephen Hayes concludes with a mystified "Why?"  Check out the whole thing.

UPDATE:  Comments by Power Line and Captain's Quarters.

Eugene McCarthy, RIP

Fellow St. John's grad Eugene McCarthy, dead at 89. 

Richard Pryor, RIP

Richard Pryor has died. 

Powerline vs. Sen. Inouye

Ouch.

Johnson Cont.

RedState:  South Dakota Press onto Senator Johnson Planned Parenthood Campaign

This story has been covered in the Aberdeen American News and the Rapid City Journal but, of course, has been missing from the Argus Leader.

Anonymous Jerks

Julie Neidlinger excoriates those who like to argue anonymously, especially those who leave comments on weblogs anonymously.  She holds particular contempt for those who like to throw around the charge "Hitler" and "fascist" while cowardly hiding behind a pseudonym or simply post under the name "Anonymous."  She also does a good job parsing the level of argumentation of those who use the "Hitler" and "fascist" charge. 

I believe I have just violated some rule about how many times you can use the word "anonymous" in one post. 

And girlfriday, I found this link on my own.  I just chalk it up to great minds thinking alike. 

When Choice Becomes God

Many years ago (1990 to be precise) Pepperdine law professor F. Largard Smith wrote a book called When Choice Becomes God that argues against the idea that maximizing individual choice is the supreme good, absent any thought about how our choices might effect our fellow man. The worship of choice ultimately is just the worship of ourselves. 

Now girlfriday brings our attention to the Planned Parenthood "Holiday Card" which asks us to celebrate "Choice on Earth."  One can only laugh.  Imagine the mentality that finds the deepest meaning of the Christmas, oops!, I mean "Holiday" season in "Choice on Earth." 

By the way, the kernel of truth in the PP worship of "choice" is that most of us dislike being told what to do.  Generally speaking, we all like to be "free to choose."  Don't conservatives who, dare I say it, worship the market believe in the value of choice?  The error is when we believe that a choice is good only to the extent it is chosen freely, rather than evaluating a choice based on what is actually chosen.  Also, people disagree on what it means to be free.  To make a generalization, and thus ignore the nuance, some think that freedom is nothing more than the absence of external constraint.  Others believe, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

The Sound You Hear is Millions of Evangelicals Gasping

Andrew Greeley is a sociologist and a Catholic priest, as frightening a combination as there ever was.  Today he argues that the popularity of Mel Gibson's The Passion and the Narnia film in evangelical circles are indications that evangelical Christians are seeing the worth of, yikes!, Catholic imagery. 

There are certainly risks in this Catholic imagination, superstition and idolatry among others -- though it does make the world a warmer and a more human place.

Gibson's imagination is certainly Catholic, though perhaps with a certain masochistic twist. In his retelling of the Gospel in allegorical form, C.S. Lewis goes back to the miracle and morality plays of the Middle Ages, in a sense as if the Reformation never happened.

However, I think someone should warn the evangelicals that they are playing with, one should excuse the expression, fire. They are drifting into an imaginative world where the Whore of Babylon lives and dominates. They had better beware. They are sliding towards oblivion on the day of the Rapture.

Hat tip to Amy Welborn.  You know, I used to read Amy Welborn faithfully, by which I mean regularly, and then I stopped for a couple years for no particular reason.  I just recently started reading her blog again.  I now apologize for having skipped out for those couple years.  Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, which is Latin for "my bad, my bad, it's really my bad."   

Whither (or wither?) The Democrats

Where are the Democrats heading?  Victor Davis Hanson thinks the Dean-Pelosi-Kerry-Murtha position is the heart and soul of the Democratic Party.  Here's a taste.

Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Congressman Murtha represent the Democratic mainstream. And that’s the problem. None of them can be characterized as embracing the Michael Moore/Cindy Sheehan fringe, and none are even prone to the wacky grandstanding of Jimmy Carter or Barbara Boxer.

Yet what we get from the national chairman, the former presidential candidate, and the new popular icon — on the verge of the third and final election in Iraq — is a de facto admission that we are losing and must leave.

In the background, old Vietnam-era themes provide the chorus for the growing antiwar sentiment: apparent disdain for the Iraqis, mirroring the way that liberals pooh-poohed anti-Communist Eastern Europeans, Cubans, and Vietnamese; endemic pessimism that does not match the rapidly evolving events on the ground; and political opportunity that an American embarrassment abroad might reverse a long-term and ongoing unfavorable political realignment at home.

And it looks like the Moveon crowd wants to read Joe Lieberman out of the Democratic Party. 

That Was A Close One

I am glad Prof. Blanchard chose to pronounce UNFCCC "unfunk" because I was going to go with a different pronunciation.  I still don't know where he gets the n in "funk." 

Gloom and Global Warming in Montreal

There's something odd about holding a conference in Montreal in December.  But that's where the Global Warming crowd is gathering.  Stand by for a flurry of acronyms:

The conference is an historic event.  Not only are the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting for the 11th time, but 2005 also marks the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. At Montreal, the first ever meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP) is running parallel to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP).  The United Nations Climate Change Conference is set to be the largest intergovernmental climate conference since the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997.  Some 10,000 participants are expected.

I suggest that we pronounced UNFCCC as "Unfunk."  The purpose of the three simultaneous conventions (you need three so you can pay the way for more delegates to attend) is to review the progress made under the Kyoto treaty, which has recently come into effect.  Unfortunately no progress has been made, resulting in an atmosphere of gloom settling in over the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.  The National Journal explains the situation bluntly:

Most of the governments taking part had been advocates of the Kyoto approach. Many are now being forced to admit that the policy is failing -- so embarrassingly that nothing similar is likely to take its place. As usual on such occasions, some face-saving scapegoating formula (you can guess which country is going be blamed) may emerge before the meeting wraps up. But the truth is that unless a new scheme is designed, there simply won't be an ongoing, effective, internationally coordinated effort to curb emissions of carbon to replace the failed Kyoto plan.

A friend of mine, Ronald Bailey, is reporting on the convention for Reason Magazine and Tech Central Station.  Ron describes the Kyoto Protocol as follows:

The Kyoto Protocol attempts to lower the temperature by setting limits on the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) for  37 signatory countries, known as Annex 1 countries. The goal is to reduce emissions by 5.2 percent below the levels emitted in 1990.  Annex 1 countries include most developed countries and many former Soviet states. The main exceptions are Australia and the United States, which have refused to ratify the treaty. Significantly, developing countries like China, India, Brazil and Indonesia do not have to make any reductions in their emissions of greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol.

So what is the problem? 

Many Kyoto signatories are emitting much more than they did in 1990. For example, Canada is putting out 24.2 percent more GHG [green house gas emissions]; Japan 12.8 percent; and Spain 41.7 percent.  For the most part the countries that are emitting substantially less than they did in 1990 are those that emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union.  For example, Russia is emitting 38.5 percent less; Lithuania 66.2 percent less; and the Czech Republic 24.2 percent less. Germany is emitting 18.2 percent less largely because of it closed down so many inefficient East German facilities after unification. The United Kingdom achieved its 13.0 percent reduction by switching from coal to North Sea natural gas to produce electricity. As Richard Kinley, the acting head of the UNFCCC secretariat, warned, "These data confirm that, after some emission decrease in the 1990s, emissions are increasing again in many Annex 1 countries."

In short, nations which tore down large parts of their economies (for the very good reason that communist policies had rendered those parts untenable) were able to meet their targets.  Its easy to reduce green house gas emissions if your economies are shrinking.  Nations with more rational (= capitalist) economies have experienced growth, and growth has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.  The special case was Britain, which was able to switch from coal to natural gas. 

Given that most nations do not have large untapped reserves of natural gas, is there any hope of reducing GHG without crippling the world economy?  In the short run, no.  As Ronald Bailey shows, at Tech Central Station, even the most outlandish scenarios aim only at the stabilization of green house emissions at much higher levels than at present, and that after 30 years or more.  And such scenarios rely on very implausible proposals.  For example, are we really going to devote one sixth of the world's cropland to the production of bio-fuels? 

If its true that human activities are accelerating global warming, and it almost certainly is, the only realistic response is to prepare to deal with the effects of that warming while encouraging technologies that will eventually bring green house emissions under control.  But that means unleashing the free market  to develop such technologies, as well as investing in proved but unpopular things like nuclear power.  And the environmentalists hate markets and reactors even more than they hate global warming. 

 

Johnson Flooded With Calls

Aberdeen American News:  Johnson's office flooded with calls from abortion groups

Abortion groups are battling over Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson's vote on the next Supreme Court justice.

Fidelis, a Michigan-based Catholic organization that opposes abortion, is criticizing Planned Parenthood for encouraging citizens to call Johnson's office in opposition to nominee Samuel Alito.

"Planned Parenthood is engaged in very risky politics by bringing their extreme position on abortion into South Dakota, a well known pro-life state," said Fidelis President Joseph Cella in a news release this week.

Representatives for Planned Parenthood said they are simply allowing the state's citizens to have a voice.

I previously cited Planned Parenthood's pressuring of Senator Johnson  here.  Also, there's a lot of Johnson / Alito posts going up at Mt. Blogmore.  Denise Ross doesn't seem to get the point that Johnson has refused to say he won't filibuster Alito.  Johnson can decide if he wants to vote for or against Alito later.  The issue is that Johnson has refused to state whether he'd at least support giving Alito a vote.

"The Butcher" Captured

Al Qaeda's number three man has been captured:

Iraqi citizens turned over a high-ranking Al Qaeda member known as "the Butcher" to U.S. forces in Ramadi Friday a military statement said.

Amir Khalaf Fanus was No. 3 on the 28th Infantry Division's High Value Individual list for Ramadi, wanted for murder and kidnapping in connection with his affiliation with Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"He is the highest ranking Al Qaeda in Iraq member to be turned into Iraqi and U.S. officials by local citizens," Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool said in a statement released from Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi. "His capture is another indication that the local citizens tire of the insurgents' presence within their community."

Twins Trade Romero

From the Strib:

Saying he felt "disrespected'' during his last few seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Romero wanted to be traded. The Twins accommodated him on Friday, dealing the left-handed reliever to the Los Angeles Angels for minor league infielder Alexi Casilla.  . . .

The 29-year-old Romero was 4-3 with a 3.47 ERA and had 48 strikeouts in 57 innings last season, but clashed with manager Ron Gardenhire and struggled to keep inherited runners from scoring.

Dominant at times earlier in his career but inconsistent since then, Romero has been the subject of trade rumors for the much of two seasons. He was drafted in 1997 and had his best season in 2002, when he went 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 appearances to help the Twins reach the AL championship series, where they were eliminated by the Angels

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Dakota Dem Hammers Dean

The Bismarck Tribune: "Pomeroy to Howard Dean: Shut up"

North Dakota Rep. Earl Pomeroy is accusing Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean of overstepping his bounds, saying the former presidential candidate should not give up on the war in Iraq.

On Monday, Dean likened the war in Iraq to Vietnam and said, "The idea that the United States is going to win the war in Iraq is just plain wrong."

"My words to Howard Dean are simple - shut up," Pomeroy told WDAY Radio in North Dakota on Thursday.

Pomeroy later told the Associated Press that he is tired "of the overblown rhetoric on both sides."

"We have young men and women with their lives on the line," he added. "The debate has fallen far short of what they deserve."

Pomeroy said Dean wasn't representing Democrats like him when he discussed the war.

Maybe Stephanie Herseth will join her Democratic counterpart in North Dakota in criticizing Dean.

Herseth

Sibby:  "Herseth playing politics on tax cuts"

House votes to continue Economic Growth

From Yahoo News:

The House voted Thursday to preserve tax cuts for investors through the rest of the decade, safeguarding the centerpiece of the Republican tax agenda in a $56 billion package of tax breaks.  The bill, passed 234-197 along mostly party lines, would keep the 15 percent top tax rate for capital gains and dividends in place in 2009 and 2010, two years after their scheduled disappearance at the end of 2008.

Republicans said tax cuts championed by President Bush have revved up a sluggish economy, and Treasury Secretary John Snow praised the bill's passage, saying, "It would encourage investment and innovation — the lifeblood of the American economy."  Democrats disagreed and said the tax cuts for investment income, and much of the GOP's economic agenda, exacerbated budget deficits and ignored average workers.

We here at SDP are committed to holding Bush responsible for the consequence of his policies, so I note the following.  The Wall Street Journal points out what Bush's tax cuts have achieved so far:

The 2003 tax cut is about as clear a policy success as has come out of Washington in many years:

• The stock market has risen by about $4 trillion in value, and an estimated 40% of that gain is directly attributable to increases in the after-tax return on equities, thanks to the tax cut. (If the tax cut expires, the market will instantly give back those gains.) Housing values have soared so rapidly that the fear is we now face a bubble. Household net wealth has climbed by $10 trillion.

• Business investment--which had sunk into the abyss during the recession, falling by 21% between 2000 and 2002--has roared back to life. Spending is up nearly 25% over the past 30 months.

• Dividend payments to shareholders have doubled in two years, according to data gathered by the American Shareholders Association. The cumulative impact of the tax cut and the higher dividend payments has put $100 billion into the pockets of America's burgeoning investor class.

• The macro-economic signs all point to a solid, sustainable expansion. Employment is up 4.4 million and real GDP growth has averaged 4%--or twice the OECD average--since 2003. Today's unemployment rate of 5% means there are now roughly one million more Americans working than were projected before the tax cut.

• Oh, and yes, there was a $120 billion reduction in the budget deficit in 2005. That's because tax receipts rose by more than in any previous year in U.S. history, even adjusting for inflation. Receipts were up by $55 billion above projections in 2004; $122 billion above projections in 2005; and are already running well ahead of projections so far in fiscal 2006 (which began in October).

• Finally, we wonder if any of the faux debt-hawks in Congress noticed that thanks to the sizzling economy, states and localities are now running hefty budget surpluses, reversing years of red ink and painful service cutbacks. Even New York City--which for years looked like the U.S. version of debt-plagued Argentina--is back in the black.

This would be remarkable economic growth even in the best of circumstances.  We note that the circumstances have not been the best.  Katrina shaved away hundreds of thousands of jobs, and energy prices soared.  My guess is that Bush's second term will achieve more job creation than France has known over the last ten years. 

It is perfectly fair of Democrats to note that the benefits of this economic expansion are not shared equally by all Americans.  That is more or less their job.  But its only fair for us to point out that their favor solution to the problem is to make the economy of the U.S. more like that of France.  That's our job.

Job creation should be the single most important social policy aim.  Nothing improves the lives of ordinary people more than a regular paycheck.  And job creation follows from investment.  So far we are surely on the right track.

 

The Ghost of McGovern

Michelle Malkin (HT to Sibby):

The head of the party's coalition of the quivering has declared this week that the war in Iraq is "unwinnable" and called for bringing "80,000 National Guard and Reserve troops home immediately," while nonsensically advocating placement of "a force in the Middle East, not in Iraq but in a friendly neighboring country to fight [terrorist chief Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi" and sending more troops to Afghanistan instead.

Huh?

Meanwhile, the aimless John Kerry continues his long legacy of public troop-smearing – taking to CBS News airwaves to accuse American soldiers in Iraq of "terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the – of – the historical customs, religious customs."

This kind of deranged defeatism will earn you a Code Pink T-shirt and a hug from Cindy Sheehan. But as Hillary (dangerously for Republicans) seems to understand, it won't win much else. George W. Bush isn't the Dems' biggest enemy, it turns out. It's the living ghost of George McGovern.

Sibby Rebuts Hildebrand Boys

Sibby:
"Hildebrand Boys in denial and busted." 

Nathan Peterson also says this:

First of all, I would assume that the “Hildebrand bloggers” reference is made in regards to Theron and I (SD Progressive) and Chad (Clean Cut Kid).  It is no secret that we work for Steve Hildebrand.

These attacks are a continuation of the "permanent campaign" noted by the Rapid City Journal last summer when they observed, Thune's victory "didn't really end the 2004 campaign — at least, not for some former members of Daschle's staff.  Led by public statements from former Daschle campaign manager Steve Hildebrand and the pointed and sometimes profane Internet sniping from other former staffers, the Daschle team continues to wage political war against Thune."

Wal-Mart

Charles Wheelan:  "Is Wal-Mart the Answer to France's Problems?"

And Now For The Real News

What are the Minnesota Twins going to do during the off season?  I worry that the Twins will bank on signing over-the-hill veterans like Frank Thomas or Mike Piazza.  Thomas in particular would spell disaster.  He is way past his prime and has very fragile health.  The big rumor is that the Twins are making a play for Ranger third baseman Hank Blalock.  Newly acquired Luis Castillo would play second base while Blalock would hold court at third.  Add in a more mature Justin Morneau, the return of healthy outfielders Torii Hunter and Shannon Stewart, and an already established Joe Mauer, and I am liking the looks of that line up.  It only looks better if (miracle of miracles) the Twins can hold onto Jacques Jones.  When does the season start? 

Johnson and Alito Cont.

Piggy-backing Tyler's inaugural post, see this from the US Newswire:

Today, Fidelis revealed that Planned Parenthood is calling South Dakota residents in an effort to pressure Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) to vote against the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito. Reports coming in from South Dakota show that a coordinated effort of "patch-through" calls by Planned Parenthood to Sen. Johnson's office is now underway.

Fidelis President Joseph Cella stated: "Planned Parenthood is engaged in very risky politics by bringing their extreme position on abortion into South Dakota, a well known pro-life state. Senator Johnson must reject the political litmus tests imposed on judicial nominees by radical pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood. The place for policy politics is the Congress not the courts."

Liberal and feminist groups are building on the attacks of Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Sen. Ted Kennedy in an effort to disrupt the Alito hearings that begin on Jan. 9.

"If Senator Johnson caves to the demands of groups like Planned Parenthood and votes against Judge Alito, the voters of South Dakota will hold him accountable just as they did with Tom Daschle," Cella said.

Bingo.

Hildebrand/Tewes

From 12/8/05 Roll Call:   

To the Whitehouse. The Democratic firm Hildebrand and Tewes continues to grow as a force in the 2006 election cycle, having signed on to another high-profile campaign.

Steve Hildebrand, a former top aide to ex-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), and former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Political Director Paul Tewes have steadily been building a powerhouse firm since its creation almost a year ago.

They will now serve as consultants to the Senate campaign of former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse (D).

Party leaders favor Whitehouse as their nominee in what is expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races next year.

He faces Matt Brown, Rhode Island’s secretary of state, and former Marine Carl Sheeler in the Democratic primary, while Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) has his hands full with Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey in the GOP primary.

Johnson and Alito

Argus Leader reports that the Judicial Confirmation Network is asking for South Dakotans to lobby Sen. Johnson to confirm Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, whose confirmation hearings are set to begin in January.

The network is concentrating on Democratic senators and their constituents who live in the states that voted for President Bush, and who may hold crucial swing votes when the confirmation reaches the Senate floor.

"One senator might need some help and encouragement to make the right decision on Judge Alito," said Wendy Long, legal counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network.

"Those senators really hold the keys to approving these nominations," said Long, who spoke to about 40 people at the Holiday Inn City Centre at a luncheon sponsored by the South Dakota Family Policy Council.

Sen. Johnson has said that he always encourages hearing from constituents, but offers a notice.

"I always welcome comments from constituents, so long as they understand that whoever calls the most doesn't necessarily win," he said.

Goose and Gander Syndrome

This from Real Clear Politics:

Conservatives have not been models of consistency lately.

You can say that again.   

But this week liberals had a turn at exhibiting their, um, confusion.  For years they have favored using federal power to force universities to do certain things that some schools would rather not do. An institution that accepts federal funds, for example, may not discriminate on the basis of race. Title IX, beloved by feminists, compels  colleges getting such aid to offer equal opportunity for female students in sports and other activities -- with the feds defining what constitutes "equal opportunity."

Suppose a school disagrees with these mandates? It will get no sympathy  from liberal groups, which invariably reply: Cry me a river. When you accept public subsidies, they announce, you must defer to the public's sense of fairness and equity. If you want to do things your own way, do them with your own money.

But in a case heard by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, it appears that the liberal affection for assertive government has a limit. A law known as the Solomon Amendment requires universities getting federal  funds to grant access to recruiters for the military on the same  terms as recruiters for any other employer.

Its remarkable how many ways there to describe this situation: "whose ox is getting gored," "turnabout is fair play," etc.  Well, the chickens have come home to roost on this one. 

An Addition to the Staff!

I'd like to welcome Tyler Crissman to South Dakota Politics.  He is an Augustana political science major who will be helping us out, especially with local political stories.  Look forward to his own introduction later on. 

SF Rec Center Cont.

A new reporter at the Argus Leader, Jonathan Ellis, reports that the "political establishment" and "elite" of Sioux Falls were the big losers in the rec center vote:

The city's political establishment was behind it. A who's who of the city's elite recommended it. The business community wanted it.

Voters, however, weren't buying it.

Tuesday's electoral thumping of a $32.3 million rec center was the sort of nightmarish result that can put a politician in a cold sweat. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure, 12,336 to 6,435.

What Kranz Doesn't Report

Dave Kranz of the Argus Leader does his usual routine this morning and reprints the criticisms of Senator Thune made by the Democratic Party and the Hildebrand bloggers, who are demanding that Thune return Jack Abramoff donations.  But don't forget who was getting lots of Abramoff donations according to the Washington Post:

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an associate famously collected $82 million in lobbying and public relations fees from six Indian tribes and devoted a lot of their time to trying to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on their clients' behalf.

But Abramoff didn't work just with Republicans. He oversaw a team of two dozen lobbyists at the law firm Greenberg Traurig that included many Democrats. Moreover, the campaign contributions that Abramoff directed from the tribes went to Democratic as well as Republican legislators.

Among the biggest beneficiaries were Capitol Hill's most powerful Democrats, including Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the top two Senate Democrats at the time, Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), then-leader of the House Democrats, and the two lawmakers in charge of raising funds for their Democratic colleagues in both chambers, according to a Washington Post study. ...  The Indians' largess flowed to higher-ranking Democrats as well. Senate Democratic leaders Reid and Daschle each received more than $40,000 from the tribes and from lobbyists on Abramoff's team during the period.

Education and Parents Rights

Joe Knippenberg on a new case about the rights of parents and the rights of schools.  The case he discusses is interesting in that it involves Judge Alito. 

Rounds Budget Message

The governor issued his budget message yesterday.  The Aberdeen American News reports on it here.  I find much in this message to applaud, including a proposal by the governor to increase teacher salary in the state.  I find one proposal highly objectionable, and I hope the legislature puts a stop to it.  I refer to the governor's proposal to provide funds so schools can buy or lease laptop computers for students.  I cannot stress enough what a waste of money this is.  Many months ago I linked to this article outlining the relationship between technology in the classroom and educational performance.  I ask members of the State Legislature and the Governor's staff to read this article.  In short, the findings show that giving laptop computers to students has either no effect or, if anything, a negative effect on student performance.  We have perfectly good technology already available.  It's called books.  And students need to learn to use them.  Our students are not suffering from a lack of technology.  They suffer from a lack of basic language skills. A colleague in English once told me that the vocabulary of today's students is half of what it was a generation ago.  In other words we are losing the English language.  The problem is not that students don't know how to use laptops; it's that they don't know how to read books.  I beg those involved in state government to oppose this proposal.  The $13 million the governor proposes spending on laptops should be used to even further increase spending on teacher salaries or (here selfishness intrudes) to give more generous scholarships to our students who wish to attend universities in the state. 

Withdrawal Symptoms

Its one thing to argue, as I have on occasion, that the Democrats can't decide what their policy is on Iraq.  They are after all a party, and consensus can be hard to forge.  But you would think that Congressman Murtha, the hero of the hour, could get his story straight during a single Sunday morning interview.  Apparently not.  This from Kausfiles:

Rep. Murtha on the prospects of an Iraqi civil war:

[T]here's a civil war going. We're caught in between a civil war right now. Our troops are the targets of the civil war. They're the only people that could have unified the various factions in Iraq. And they're unified against us. --ABC's This Week, 12/4/05

[W]hy should I believe what the CIA says about what's happening in Iraq, that there's going to be a civil war? First of all, al Qaeda was wrong. It was wrong on the nuclear stuff. It was wrong on everything they have said over there. So why should I believe that there's going to be a civil war? -- same show, a few moments later.

Rep. Murtha on whether the Iraqis will throw us out:

[T]he military won a military victory. They got rid of Saddam Hussein. ...[snip] ... Now, it's got to be a political win. They have to win this politically. The Iraqis themselves. We'll stay there forever. The Iraqis are never going to say turn it over. We can't allow them to say when it's gonna turn it over.--This Week, 12/4/05

You're gonna see the Iraqis clamoring. Listen, anybody we support in Iraq loses the election. And so they're gonna be clamoring for us to get out. -- same show, a few moments later.

Well, unlike John Kerry, at least he is clear when he contradicts himself. 

Gannett to Purchase Knight Ridder

The Star Tribune and Wichita Eagle are noting that Gannett is attempting to purchase Knight Ridder:

Gannett Co. would take a "hard look" at any potential acquisition opportunities, including Knight Ridder Inc., a major newspaper company that has been forced by its largest shareholders to explore a sale, Gannett CEO Craig Dubow told an investor group today.

In other words, the Argus Leader's parent company is considering the purchase of the parent company of the Aberdeen American News.  Thus, the Argus is looking to expand its monopoly power.  One indicator of a monopoly is profitability; I'll save you from all of the economic jargon and say that basically a monopoly can be determined by examining the rate of profit of the firm.  A report leaked to the Nashville Scene indicated that in 1997 (the last year that financial data was available) the Argus made an enormous 46% profit! 

What's interesting is that this information is curiously missing from SD mainstream news.  Since the Argus is always demanding full disclosure from the governor and attacking him, maybe they should fully disclose their efforts to take over another SD newspaper.  Do the citizens of SD want the Argus to have more monopoly power, especially when the Argus is already so pro-Democrat?

HT to NVB.

Mommy Wanted Me Dead

A ghastly story out of England that shows the barbarism of the abortion culture.  A woman wants damages because her daughter wasn't killed in utero.  Hat tip to Amy Welborn, who has the right reaction to this story.  The comments on Amy's site are worth reading. 

"Rally ‘round the white flag, boys"

Captain Ed (HT Viking Pundit):

The good news for the Democrats is that their leadership has settled on an electoral strategy for 2006. The bad news is that they have cribbed their game plan from one of the most disastrous campaigns in their history. The Democratic leadership has decided to elevate surrender to a party platform for the upcoming elections, with their national chairman, House leader, and last presidential nominee all running up the white flag as the Democratic war banner.

Viking Pundit comments:

Ouch.  The WashPost is more measured with “Democrats fear backlash at polls for antiwar remarks” but Ankle-Biting Pundits wonders whether the Dems are more concerned about political strategy than national security. John Kerry tried this tactic during the Presidential campaign when he betrayed his own beliefs by voting for the war in Iraq (to look strong on foreign policy) then voting against funding (when Howard Dean was leading in the primaries.) Everything in his political and personal life indicated that he would have voted in the opposite on those two issues, but he let his ambition override his principles. The Democratic Party as a whole wants to win elections, but they can’t by appeasing the anti-war Left and appearing weak on national security. Thus the descent into doublespeak and ambiguity punctuated by moments of sincerity quickly withdrawn.

Question

LA Times: 

An unnamed woman, hidden behind a tan curtain and her voice altered by a computer, gave a harrowing account of torture and sexual abuse at the hands of Saddam Hussein's security forces, on the fourth day of the Iraqi leader's trial Tuesday.
...
"They forced me to take off my clothes," recalled the woman, who said she was 16 when she was detained along with many others from her village, Dujayl. "They kept my legs up. They handcuffed me and started beating me with cables.

"It wasn't just one guard," she said. "It was many guards."

Why aren't the Democrats denouncing torture perpetrated by Saddam, while at the mere allegation of "torture" by U.S. soldiers they're up in arms about it?  I've never figured out how you flush a book down a toilet...

Local SD

Jerald Hinkle:

Holabird Advocate Names Bernie Hunhoff as 2005 "Person of the Year" in 800th Post

This year of 2005 as been one of overflow both for the Holabird Advocate and it's Publisher. If it were up to the our courageous, dynamic Publisher, Jerry Hinkle, He would have named Garrison Keillor to this honor, since he was responsible for Jerry meeting Ms. Amanda and Senator McGovern on the same evening. But it is Mr. Hunhoff [link] who was chosen above all others for this years title for one reason and one reason only. He read our little Newsblog. He read it and he like it!

 

Pearl Harbor Roundup

La Shawn Barber's Corner and Michelle Malkin have great roundups on remembering Pearl Harbor.  Some World War II veterans are worrying that the day is being forgotten.  This day (and another) will never be forgotten by some.

Energy Vulnerability

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross at the Counterterrorism Blog noted back in October that Hurricanes Rita and Katrina highlighted our energy vulnerabilities and warned that terrorists may capitalize on that.  Today he notes his argument is bolstered by the latest video release by Al-Zawahiri.  Quoting the AP:

Al-Qaida's deputy leader called for attacks against Gulf oil facilities and urged insurgent groups in Iraq to unite to drive out American forces, according to a videotape posted on the Internet Wednesday.

The posting was a full version of a video by al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri that was issued on Sept. 19, excerpts of which were broadcast by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera at the time.  The network aired more excerpts Wednesday, originally presenting all of the footage as new.  A newscaster later told viewers some of the excerpts had previously been broadcast.

"I call on the holy warriors to concentrate their campaigns on the stolen oil of the Muslims, most of the revenues of which go to the enemies of Islam," al-Zawahri, the Egyptian deputy of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, said in a portion of the tape not previously broadcast. . . .

Al-Zawahri, who was wearing a white robe and black turban and was seated before a pale blue sheet, spoke to an off-camera interviewer. He said "the enemies of Islam" were exploiting oil with "incomparable greed, and we have to stop that theft with all we can save this fortune for the nation of Islam."

UPDATE:  South Dakota native John Hinderaker notes:

It's nice to see Zawahiri calling on would-be jihadists to attack oil facilities in the Gulf region. . . . Why is this good? Because if al Qaeda had the means to attack Middle Eastern oil facilities directly, it would do so. The fact that Zawahiri is putting out a call for volunteers, rather than ordering the organization's agents into action, is another sign of how far al Qaeda's operational strength has been degraded.

Dakota Weather Makes the News

From CNN:

The mercury dived to a record 45 below at West Yellowstone, Mont., the frequently cold spot at the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the National Weather Service said. The old record for December 7 was 39 below, set in 1927.

The cold even extended south to the Texas Panhandle, where Lubbock shivered at a record low 6 above zero, the weather service said.   . . .

The cold follows a blizzard that blasted much of the Plains on Nov. 27-28, shutting down hundreds of miles of major highways across a half-dozen states and piling up snowdrifts 8 feet high in South Dakota.

Just two of the 157 South Dakota towns that had power problems after that storm snapped power lines were still without electricity Wednesday, but more than 3,600 rural customers were still blacked out, said Tom Dravland, state public safety secretary. Lows across the eastern part of the state dipped to as much as 20 below.

Backlash

The Democratic Party is fearing a backlash from embarrassing positions on the war--so much that a number of them are distancing themselves from the mainstream Dems of John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Nancy Peolsi.  From the Washington Post:

Strong antiwar comments in recent days by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have opened anew a party rift over Iraq, with some lawmakers warning that the leaders' rhetorical blasts could harm efforts to win control of Congress next year.

Several Democrats joined President Bush yesterday in rebuking Dean's declaration to a San Antonio radio station Monday that "the idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

The critics said that comment could reinforce popular perceptions that the party is weak on military matters and divert attention from the president's growing political problems on the war and other issues. "Dean's take on Iraq makes even less sense than the scream in Iowa: Both are uninformed and unhelpful," said Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), recalling Dean's famous election-night roar after stumbling in Iowa during his 2004 presidential bid.

Read the whole thing.  The Democrats should have seen this coming.  Telling America that we cannot win in Iraq isn't going to win anybody's vote when we're in the middle of a war except the hardcore antiwar (who, by the way, lashed out against Hillary Clinton).  People have every right to oppose the war; in fact, it's good insofar that it will encourage debate on the direction of the war.  But the vehement attacks on our troops, our President, and the supporters of the war does nothing (especially when you once supported action against Saddam for the same reasons we went to war).

In related news, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlmen has responded to John Kerry and Howard Dean.

Hell Freezes Over

This is not a post about how bloody cold it is (as I type this, 8 degrees, which is a warming trend compared to recent days).  No, it's getting cold in the nether world because I agree with Leonard Pitts.  Put down the cell phone and pick up a book. 

The Wal-Mart Effect

I want to mention something in regards to Prof. Blanchard's Wal-Mart post.  Last week Aberdeen Mayor Mike Levson was on campus to talk about what ever anyone wanted to talk about.  Wal-Mart and community development came up.  I am going to quote from memory, so forgive me if I get some numbers wrong, but Mayor Levson said that in his first six months or so as Mayor the city got virtually zero contacts from businesses looking to set up shop in Aberdeen.  Once the city voted to allow Super Wal-Mart to build they started getting an inquiry every week.  Again, I might have the numbers wrong as my memory is fallible, but the overall point remains.  The entry of Wal-Mart into a market sends a signal to other businesses that the water in this town is fine, so come on in.  I for one am happy Super Wal-Mart is coming and that Aberdeen has an excellent mayor like Mike Levsen who works very hard to build our economic base. 

December 7, 1941

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR

© 1941
Lyrics: Don Reid, Sammy Kaye, Music: Don Reid

 History in ev'ry century
Records an act that lives forevermore.
We'll recall, as into line we fall
The thing that happened on Hawaii's shore

Let's remember Pearl Harbor
As we go to meet the foe
Let's remember Pearl Harbor
As we did the Alamo.

We will always remember
how they died for  Liberty
Let's remember Pearl Harbor
And go on to victory.

Free Speech for Professors IV

Intrepid reader Casey McEnelly takes me to task for my blog on the Dr Mirecki "Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies" course that apparently has been canceled at Kansas University.  Mirecki  proposed this course apparently to slap religious fundamentalists in the face.  It aroused an enormous wave of public hostility.  I had the gall to defend Dr. Mirecki.  Casey reacts:

I got a little lump in my throat when reading Professor Blanchard’s post. At first I thought I was getting choked up, then I realized it was a vomit bolus hurtling toward my larynx. The times I was offended during my college days weren’t when professors brought up arguments that challenged my beliefs but when they acted with such preening arrogance as to suggest that I was an idiot/bigot/pig not to swallow their swill. It’s too bad that that more professors don’t adhere to KB’s marketplace of ideas philosophy toward education. Too often class rooms become indoctrination centers where discussions take place on an emotional level rather than an intellectual one.

This case in KU is not as even-handed as the Prof suggests. This class was intended to “tweak the fundies,” rather than have a frank discussion about the intersection of religious and science in explaining the origins of man. Do you really think calling someone’s belief a “mythology” was an attempt to engage in a dialogue instead of an insult to their beliefs? It’s amazing who we are and are not allowed to insult these days. Hands off Islam, but go ahead and take an axe to the Christians.

I agree with most of what Casey says. But I did not claim that Mirecki was being even handed.   In my post I pointed out that I would never have given a course such a title.  It was obviously intended to insult a view held by many potential students.  Nevertheless, I think that such a course ought to have been allowed, and the Professor's chosen title should have stood.  It may be true that such a title could not have been allowed if it were similarly insulting to Islam, but that is a sign of the weakness of free conversation at the University.  It does no favors to Islam to give it special protection.  The creation story is strong enough that it can survive an unfavorable title in a course catelog.  I think that Professor Mirecki's critics would have come off much better if they had enrolled in the course and engaged him in dialogue. 

Interestingly enough, our beloved Northern Valley Beacon posted again on this issue, and (surprise!) insults us in the process. 

Dr. Mirecki issued a written apology for e-mails and went along with the University of Kansas change of the name of a course he was scheduled to teach on intelligent design during the spring semester. Then more uproar ensued and Dr. Mireckie requested that the course be cancelled. However, the full story involves the National Review finding more e-mails in which Dr. Mirecki expressed his distaste for religious fundamentalism. Dr. Mirecki was followed by two men in a pickup truck Monday morning in an incident that resulted in the men beating him and him being taken to a hospital.

Furthermore, legislators in Kansas have vowed to extract more accountability from Prof. Mirecki. The National Review engaged in a tactic common to Sibby and South Dakota Politics, which is to take partial quotations and put them into contrived contexts in order to portray their author as a rabid hate-mongerer. The question of free speech and academic freedom discussed of late in South Dakota blogs is not really the issue. Academic honesty and accuracy in making representations about what other people say is the issue.

I am still not sure whether the NVB approves or disapproves of the way Kansas University and the State Legislature treated Dr. Mirecki.  But when it comes to "accuracy in making representations about what other people say," surely he is a bit remiss here.  Mentioning us in the same paragraph as the National Review, which sided against Mirecki, without mentioned that our lone contribution was to side with Mirecki, gives a misleading impression of what this blog said. 

SDP secures its honesty by quoting liberally from all writings that we comment on, and including links so that readers can see if we have been fair or not.  That is a standard to which the NVB has never risen.   

 

Wal-Mart and Me

I have something in common with Wal-Mart.  We were both born in Arkansas.  So when folk tear her down, well, its kinda like they're goin after kin.  So I read with interest Professor Schaff's recent post on the Pack-Man of retailers, and the links he provides.

To some extent Wal-Mart is the target of a congenital American (and maybe human) irritation with anyone who gets too big.  IBM, oil companies, and Microsoft all suffer the same problem, and heaven knows its often justified.  But more than most giants, WM has kept its good old fashioned entrepreneurial virtue: it remains just as committed to efficient marketing as when it first started out.  That's rather rare. 

As for some of the more interesting criticisms, I admit that I don't know much about how Wal-Mart affects "organic urban communities."  I have no experience of inner city poverty.  But I know small town poverty reasonably well.  It was in the small towns that Wal-Mart laid its foundation.  Most summers for the last 30 years I have gone camping and back-packing in the Ozark National Forest, in North Central Arkansas.  The last sizable town before Highway 14 climbs up into the pines was Mountainview.  When I began that habit, in my teens, it was a small hole in the cliff-face with a small claim to fame: it was the site of the Ozark Mountain Folk Festival.  There were two small stores there where we could stop for batteries, ice, and other essentials.  They were expensive, and there wasn't much to choose from.  When Wal-Mart came in it very quickly drove them out of business. 

But from our point of view it was an immediate improvement.  The goods were cheaper, and a full range of camping supplies was available.  This was the most important thing that Wal-Mart brought to Mountainview: you could get stuff in town that was formerly only to be found hours away in larger communities.  I also noticed that Wal-Mart employed a lot more people than the two dollar stores had.  I don't know what those stores paid, but I bet it wasn't a lot more than Wal-Mart did.  I know that there were a lot of folk living in that beautiful area who would rather have stuck around if they could get any work at all, and WM provided that. 

Another thing I noticed is that as soon as Wal-Mart set down, the town began to grow.  Folk from a wide area came in to shop instead of going to Little Rock or somewhere else.  And while they were there, they liked to get a bite to eat.  Fast food joints sprouted like mushrooms after a good summer rain, and then a catfish house or two.  There is no reasonable doubt that Wal-Mart was good for the town as a whole. 

I think a lot of the hostility toward Wal-Mart on the part of the intellectual left arises from something they share with many conservatives: a snobbish disdain for those enterprises that give the most humble people exactly what they want.  They want cheap goods and jobs that easy to start out in. 

I have seen the same snobbery directed at chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble, and its second string competitors like BooksaMillion and Hastings.  Conservatives like my friends who live in urban areas whine about the disappearance of small, quaint bookstores.  But I grew up in Jonesboro Arkansas, and there weren't no quaint bookstores there when I was a teenager, unless you count the Bible Bookstore.  Until I got old enough to drive to Memphis, my bookstore was a rack of paperbacks at a local card shop.  Now when I visit my ancestral manor (a three bedroom, two car carport a little older than I am), I can stop by Hastings and find books on Buddhism and sociobiology.  The great chains have done far more good for far more people than the quaint bookstores and dollar stores ever did. 

Daschle

From KELO (HT to Ben at Horserace08):

The former Democratic Senate leader, Tom Daschle, says he's not ruling out a run for elective office in the future.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the South Dakotan said Democrats must run a presidential candidate in 2008 who can resonate with voters across the country. Daschle says energy, health care and the Iraq war will be major issues.

Ben comments:

Pretty interesting to think about an ousted ex-Senator still eying the White House. Some would say he does not have a chance to win the presidency if he can´t win in his own state, but those critics should remember that Daschle does have extraordinary national name recognition. Of course, the last thing most people remember about Daschle is that he was voted out of office after being billed as an ´obstructionist´ by the Republican Party in mid-term elections. Will his 20 years of Senate experience count for anything in the public eye? I think probably not. He will have to combat many critics, including other hopefuls from his own party, who will gladly remind the American people of his most recent political history. He has an uphill battle on his hands.

SF Rec Center

With nearly 65% of the precints reporting (a 16% voter turnout on a very cold day), it looks like the vote for the Sioux Falls rec center will be a "no."  It currently stands with nearly 65% voting "no."

UPDATE:  With all precints reporting, the rec center has been voted down.  6,435 (34.28%) voted in favor of the center, while 12,336 (65.72%) voted against.  The total voter turnout was 23.6%.

More Wal-Mart News

The evidence keeps accumulating.  Wal-Mart is good for the poor and good for America, so reports Dan Drezner.  Prof. Bainbridge responds with what I take to be the better argument against Wal-Mart, the aesthetic one, since the economic argument is so obviously false.  But then at NRO, where I found all of this, Jonathan Adler responds to the argument that "Wal-Mart kills organic communities":

On Bainbridge's other point, I yield to no one in my love of organic urban communities, but the idea that Wal-Mart has been a significant contributor to urban decline -- rather than an indirect beneficiary of the decline brought on by disastrous government policies and other social trends -- I find highly implausible.