Sunday, July 31, 2011

Irrational actors

I was a political science grad student at Penn State in the 60s.  Game theory was all the rage at that time.  Mutually assured destruction, or MAD, was one of the “games.”  The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. played this game--each knew that if it launched a first strike with nuclear weapons, it would be destroyed.  The “game” depended on rational actors who knew their self-interest.  The biggest test of the game came during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and both sides behaved with restraint.  Both behaved rationally.
The game of “chicken” is classic game theory.  Two drivers drive their cars toward each other; the first one to veer away is the chicken and loses the game. If one of the drivers is suicidal or crazy, he will win the game.  (I say “he” because women are not stupid enough to play this game.)  
So what we have is one side in the debt ceiling conflict that is crazy.  In the game of chicken, crazy people win.  In MAD, the crazy side provokes the war. The problem is that in the resulting war or the resulting car crash, everybody dies.  In the case of the debt ceiling, the U.S. economy is destroyed.  Unfortunately, we are dealing with crazy people who welcome that outcome.
One way to counter that outcome is to be even more crazy.  So I am ready to put a brick on the accelerator, throw the steering wheel out the window, and brace myself for the crash.  You want Tea Party, you want crazy--bring it on.
Fortunately for the United States and its citizens, I’m just a blogger, not the President.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold


I’m taking a break.  I’ll be back on Sunday.  For some reason the current crisis reminded me of the poem “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats.  Here it is:
   THE SECOND COMING
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.
    Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
    The darkness drops again but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
We are not a third world country.  We are less than that.  We have a tiny minority willing to sell our country down the river to uphold a discredited ideology.  Today’s economic data show that we are not recovering from our economic problems.  Republicans in Congress hope that in 2012 they will win it all.  They may, but look for economic chaos, loss of faith, cynicism run rampant, and a country that I love in an irreversible decline.  
I’ll be back on Sunday.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Whitebark Pine

I know the Republican Tea Party members in the House are about to cause economic disruption.  I know raising the debt ceiling is important.  Nevertheless, I want to call your attention to the whitebark pine, a tree that grows in high altitudes in the America and Canadian west.  
It is on the way to extinction.  The mountain pine beetle attacks the whitebark pine, laying its eggs under the bark of the tree.  The tree, however, grows at high altitudes where the beetle has a hard time surviving.  Now, as the earth warms, the beetle is able to survive and attack the tree.  For an account from the Washington Post, go to <http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/whitebark-pine-tree-faces-extinction-threat-agency-says/2011/07/18/gIQA7tMcMI_story.html>.
Canada has already declared the tree species endangered.  Now the Fish and Wildlife Service has officially recognized that climate change is threatening the tree.  We are changing the global ecosystem.  If we recognized the problem and acted in a world-wide concerted effort, we might--might--be able to reverse or at least stabilize the warming.  But we aren’t doing that, are we?

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Anarchism, Libertarianism, and Ron Paul

I’ve always been somewhat sympathetic to anarchism.  It is a very old political philosophy that says we can live well without a central government.  Our government would be localized, community-wide, small scale.  Anarchism often is popular in mining towns, lumber camps, and fishing villages--places where people who are interdependent realize they can live without a far-away government telling them what to do.
I stayed one night in Austin, Nevada, 90 miles from the nearest hospital.  Ten percent of the population of Austin, 90 out of 900 people, were certified EMTs.  Austin was the kind of place where anarchism might work.
For anarchism to succeed you need three prerequisites.  The first is a small population.  A large population requires a power grid, turnpikes, sewage plants, what we call infrastructure.  Secondly, you’ll need a simple economy--preferably pre-industrial.  You won’t be trading with China, and you won’t have a Wal-Mart.  Finally, you must have  people who share the same values. People must really like each other for anarchism to work.
The Amish could do it.  They meet all three criteria, and they would hardly notice if the federal or state government disappeared.  The problem is, of course, most of us don’t want to live like the Amish.  We like our electricity, our cars, our imported wines, and our cities.
Libertarianism has no relationship to anarchism.  Libertarianism emphasizes the individual over the community.  It preaches that any person can do what he or she wants just as long as that doesn’t interfere with someone else.  If you make more than a million a year, Libertarianism may be the political philosophy for you, since you don’t need public schools, public housing, health care, social security, national parks, police protection, or any of the many other services government provides.  You can pay for them yourself.
Why ordinary middle class people would support a Libertarian candidate is beyond me.  Ron Paul is not an anarchist who advocates community government.  He is a Libertarian who supports a society where the rich live the high life and live in comfort, while the rest of us fight for the scraps.  The fact that he has raised millions of dollars, and his son, a U.S. Senator, preaches the same doctrine, are both illustrations that the U.S. is hurtling over the precipice.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Setting Barletta straight

My congressman Lou Barletta was quoted in today’s Morning Call saying everyone he talked to encouraged him to vote against raising the debt ceiling. I write to Rep. Barletta fairly often, and I don’t want to be one of those cranks who are constantly writing letters, but I couldn’t let a comment like that go by unanswered.  Here is a copy of my letter to Mr. Barletta.
Dear Congressman Barletta:
The Morning Call quoted you this morning as saying, “I have not had anyone come up and disagree with what we’re doing.”  I find that hard to believe--what you are doing with the budget and the debt ceiling is not only bad economics, it is a danger to our country’s security.  
Seldom has there been such a disconnect between a representative and his constituents.  You represent a district with high unemployment, a large number of retirees, and a stagnant economy, yet your main interests seem to be attacking immigrants and protecting the wealthy.  
Drive around your district and talk to some people.  I think you will find quite a few who disagree with you.  Please start representing us and not the Tea Party and Grover Norquist.
I’m guessing this letter will be ignored.  All the others were.

Monday, July 25, 2011

ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council provides model bills for Republican legislators on such topics as “the Capital Gains Elimination Act,” privatization, anti-public sector bargaining, keeping the single payer health care option off the table, and restrictive laws on voting (under the guise of “voter fraud” prevention).
The group, formed in 1973 by conservative activists, has 2000 legislative members and 300 corporate members.  It is funded mostly by corporate donations, including the Koch Brothers.  
Through a leak The Nation obtained more than 800 documents from the group.  The reach of the group is impressive, and it helps to explain, for example, why Republican-dominated state governments all introduce the same legislative agenda at the same time.  (I do not know if my own state legislators Argall and Heffley are members--the group does not make its membership list public).  
The August 1/8 double issue of The Nation contains a number of articles on ALEC.  You can find information at <http://www.thenation.com/search/apachesolr_search/ALEC>.  How do the liberals even begin to counter this kind of influence?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Air Conditioning

We don’t have it, and I have good arguments against it:
•  Literally billions of people in hotter climates than ours live without it. Apartment buildings in Singapore and Mumbai may be air conditioned, but most of the people on the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, and tropical Latin America do without air conditioning.
•  It wastes precious energy resources just to keep us comfortable.  Now PPL is giving economic incentives to people who agree to turn it off during peak periods.  It’s even better not to use it at all.
•  We need to get accustomed to higher temperatures.  The Republicans may deny the very concept of global warming, but it is here, it will get worse, and we need to adjust.
•  Running a fan is a chap alternative.  One problem with the heat is that you sweat and it doesn’t dry.  A fan doesn’t really cool you, but it evaporates the sweat, so your body is cooler.  
Having said that, we saw two rather lousy matinees this weekend (“Friends with Benefits” and “Captain America”) in part because the theaters were air conditioned.  
Here’s a tip to deal with the heat.  Don’t drink beer.  It has calories, and calories will make you feel warmer.  Try ice water.  Alternatively, drink enough beer so that you don’t  care about the heat.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sunday hunting

Right now Pennsylvania does not allow hunting on Sundays.  I think this is a wise policy--it is the one day a week during hunting season when people can walk in the woods and not have to worry about wearing bright colors or dodging bullets.  Not that I have anything against hunting--I have a license, and I do hunt.  I just think it is nice for both people and animals to have a respite at least one day a week.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is now considering changing the rules to allow Sunday hunting.  The Pennsylvania State Grange is opposed to this, and most member farmers are also opposed.  The Game Commission likes when farmers allow hunting on their fields and woodland, and we do that.  We don’t welcome snowmobiles or ATVs, but we have  welcomed hunters. 
Anyway, I will be writing to the Game Commission to let them know that if the Commission decides to allow Sunday hunting, hunters won’t be able to hunt on our land any day of the week.  Maybe that will gain their attention. 

Friday, July 22, 2011

Obama lacks the vision???

In an editorial in today's Times News entitled "Era Ends:  Obama lacks the vision of a John F. Kennedy" Jim Zbick blamed the President for the end of the space program.  I am sending the following letter.  



Dear Editor:
President Obama has proposed a manned space mission to an asteroid by 2025 and a manned mission to a Mars orbit by the mid-2030s.  Congress has not acted, and given the ideology of the current House of Representatives, prospects for action are bleak
A Times News editorial on July 22 stated that thanks to the “short-sighted Obama administration, the space program we grew up reaping so many benefits from, has ended.”  You might want to reconsider your editorial.

We will see if it is printed.  Any bets?

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Nullification

According to today’s Times News, the Lehighton 9/12ers (a Glenn Beck-inspired group) had a speaker advocating “nullification.”  The problem with autodidacts is they miss so much.  They learn a few details, but they miss main points.  
The U.S. Constitution states that the Constitution and the laws and treaties made under its powers are supreme over state law.  If there is a conflict between the Constitution itself and a law passed by Congress, the Supreme Court established in Marbury v. Madison (1803) that the Constitution is the one we obey.  The states don’t determine that issue.
Nullification was a doctrine advanced by South Carolina during the Andrew Jackson presidency that a state could determine what laws were unconstitutional.  It can’t, and the doctrine was discredited at the time.  South Carolina tried this again when it was the first state to revolt against the U.S. government in 1861.
South Carolina and its rebelling sister states lost that argument after a bloody four-year war.  Is the Lehighton 9/12 speaker advocating another Civil War?  Does he really want to attack the United States?  It sure sounded like that.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Tea Party Earmarks

Rep. Tim Scott, freshman Tea Party type from Charleston, South Carolina, managed to bring home a $150,000 appropriation to dredge the harbor in his district.  Not so much, but the whole project may cost up to $300,000,000 before it is completed.
Now get this.  He was quoted in the New York Times today as saying the appropriation was not an earmark.  “This was a merit-based project that was open and transparent.”  
Then there was Tea Party favorite Sean Duffy, who along with Michelle Bachman, is pushing for federal money to replace the Stillwater Lift Bridge over the St. Croix River.  He said it’s not an earmark because there were no specific costs listed, just an authorization to build the bridge.
The article, by Ron Nixon, (<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/us/politics/20freshmen.html?_r=1&ref=>) discusses other equally egregious examples of “fiscal conservatives” who ran against earmarks and federal waste and are now bellying up to the trough.  I wonder how they will vote on the legislation to raise the debt ceiling?

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

"...for the thinking voter"

Next Tuesday an ad will run in the Times News on behalf of this blog.  After the web address I added this line:  “Political analysis for the thinking voter.”  
About two hours later I remembered a story about Adlai Stevenson.  He was giving a campaign speech when a man shouted from the audience, “The thinking people of America are with you.”  Stevenson paused and replied, “That’s not enough, I need a majority.”

Monday, July 18, 2011

Festivals and picnics

This area is rich in picnics and festivals.  Yesterday we attended a joint Lehighton-Palmerton Democratic Club picnic in Ashfield.  It featured great food, a swimming pool,  and a live donkey.  In the evening we stopped in at a church festival Summit Hill, where Carbon County Democratic Chair Billy O’Gurek showed us how “blooming onions” are made.  We had one (one feeds at least two people), and it tasted great.
Firehouse festivals, Grange potlucks, family reunions (which you can crash--nobody checks), Rod and Gun Club picnics, political fundraisers, fairs, church socials, heritage festivals--all of them are fun, all of them are relatively inexpensive, and they are truly for all ages.  A line of people on wheel chairs from St. Luke’s attended the Summit Hill festival, but we also saw large groups of teens enjoying the event.  I especially like the ones in the northern part of the county--they usually feature bleenies, halushka, halupki, and pierogies.  
The Plainfield Fair in Monroe County starts tomorrow, the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club picnic is slated for this Saturday, and the Carbon County Fair opens in early August.  There are many others coming up, including a Carbon County Labor Chapter picnic in September.  Incidentally, I’ll be staffing the “Carbon Democrats for Change” booth at the Redneck Festival in Weissport this year--stop by and say hello.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Light Bulbs and Abortion

Here’s a copy of my letter to Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas.  Mr. Burgess recently introduced a bill to roll back the requirement passed in 2007 during the Bush Administration to phase out the old incandescent light bulbs.
Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D.
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Rep. Burgess:
I want to congratulate you for your effort to eliminate the requirement to use swirly light bulbs.  At a time when the country is suffering over 9% unemployment, faces a major crisis over the debt ceiling bill, and confronts global warming, it is good to know there are members of Congress who can see what is really important.
Incidentally, I wonder if you also oppose government intrusion between a woman who wants to terminate her pregnancy and her doctor.  That is probably right up there with government intrusion into the purchase of a hundred-watt incandescent bulb.
Sincerely,
Roy Christman, Ph.D.
I’ll post his reply.

P.S.:  I should note that  "geojr" in a comment brought up a good point  that I had not considered in my post about the proposed turnpike interchange near 903.  My only response to his comment would be that the end result of the interchange will be to encourage even more development far from any urban area.  

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Proposed Turnpike Interchange

This will irritate the residents of Penn Forest and Kidder Townships, but I think the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission should not be allowed to destroy three and a half acres of wetlands for their proposed EZ pass interchange near Route 903.  In fact, I think the whole interchange idea should be scrapped. 
I’ve heard the argument that people in Penn Forest and Kidder have to drive really far to get to a turnpike interchange, and it would be so much easier to get on and off the turnpike at an interchange between the Mahoning and Pocono exits.  Well, didn’t you realize how far you were from an interchange when you moved in?  Didn’t you want a house in the pristine Poconos, far from the hustle and bustle of the city?  Suck it up and live with it or move to town.
I also have heard that this will open up the Pocono Plateau to new development.  It will create jobs.  It will spur housing.  To me these are all reasons to oppose the interchange.  The Poconos have more than enough development.  Put the housing and economic development in Lehighton or Lansford, not in the woods.  Why can’t we ever have common sense land management in this area?

Friday, July 15, 2011

Money and Natural Gas

If you think that Pennsylvania will impose any kind of meaningful regulatory control over the natural gas industry’s drilling practices, let me quote you a headline and the first paragraph of an article at the bottom of page 4 of today’s New York Times business section:
BHP Billiton Adding Shale Natural Gas Assets With Petrohawk Deal
BPH Billiton said Thursday that it would buy Petrohawk Energy for about $12.1 billion in cash, as the mining giant continues its quest for shale natural gas assets.  
I try not to be cynical.  I continue to believe that individual citizens working together can make a difference.  Nonetheless, I have little hope of affecting policy when two energy companies I never even heard of are tossing billions of dollars around for natural gas.  I feel like the grass as a herd of elephants approaches.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Feral cats

The Times News reported yesterday on a meeting in Carbon County held to discuss the feral cat problem.  The article noted that the Amazing Grace Spay Neuter program will give residents with feral cat problems financial assistance to trap, neuter, and release the cats.  It’s called the TNR program.
Once the cat is released into the wild, what does it eat?  Songbirds, small rodents, baby rabbits, reptiles, and any other animal or bird that it can get its paws on and teeth into. 
Why are feral cats, a species not native to the Pennsylvania outdoors, deserving of more sympathy than a garter snake or wood rat, which are?  If the cat can be captured, it can be euthanized.  And yes, I am fully aware that “euthanized” is another word for “put to death.” 
The problem with “animal rights” people is that they think in terms of individual animals, not the species.  They will protect feral cats but show little concern for the endangered wood rat.  A feral cat is not a pet.  If it can be made a pet, fine; if it can’t, it certainly should not be re-released into the wild.
By the way, one solution would be to mandate that owners install ID microchips in their cats.  We could then track the irresponsible owners who dump their cats in rural areas.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Schadenfreude

It’s a German word that means to take pleasure in someone else’s problems.  Right now I’m experiencing it big time.  Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation stock has fallen and attempts to gain full control of British Sky Broadcasting look very remote.
Many historians think one of the main causes of the Spanish-American War was newspaper competition.  When the battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor, newspapers of the day whipped the nation into a frenzy, although there’s now general agreement that the ship’s powder room was too close to the boilers and the explosion was an accident.  A century later the media have changed, but the power to influence public opinion might even be greater.
Murdoch’s enterprises make or break British prime ministers and American politicians.  We have the News Corporation to thank for Glenn Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity, and such commentators as Palin and Huckabee.  Fox “News” has coarsened the public discourse, almost never presents news in an impartial manner, and is still taken as gospel by the millions who think if it’s on television, it must be true.
I’m not exaggerating the problems of what passes for journalism today.  Here is a small example.  A majority of Americans think the debt ceiling should not be raised.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

I hate when that happens

It’s one thing to be wrong, but it’s even worse to issue pronouncements for the world to see and then realize you made a big mistake.  On June 30 I wrote that the 14th Amendment’s section on debt precluded the need for debt ceiling legislation.  I said that I had taught Con Law and never realized that.  
Perhaps the reason I didn’t realize that was because it wasn’t true.  Lawrence Tribe, who teaches Con Law at Harvard and knows the subject way better than I evidently do. points out that if a President is able to raise the debt ceiling and borrow money, that President has usurped budgetary powers specifically granted to Congress by the Constitution.  
Sorry.
I’m also considering a reevaluation of my position against hunting wolves in Montana.  Seriously.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Breaking Blog Rules

If you want to keep your readers, don’t harp on a single subject.  Lighten up occasionally.  Vary your posts.
But 14,087,000 Americans are out of work.  As a headline in the New York Times put it yesterday, “Somehow, the Unemployed Became Invisible.”  The article noted that the unemployed tend to feel low self-esteem, tend not to vote, tend not to contact their members of Congress.  
Incidentally, in the interim between the last unemployment statistics and the latest report, the feds slashed 14,000 jobs and state and local governments cut another 25,000 jobs, mostly in education.  That may help balance the budget (which I doubt), but it sure as heck doesn’t help the unemployed.
How do the Republicans address the problem?  Repeat after me, over and over:  No New Taxes, No New Taxes.  

Sunday, July 10, 2011

For the Union Makes Us Strong

Linda and I worked a two-hour shift in the Carbon County Labor Chapter booth at the Miners’ Festival at the Number Nine Mine in Lansford today.  The weather was perfect, the crowd was pleasant, and the pierogies and halushka were delicious.
What we soon noticed was that most of the union members to whom we spoke were retirees.  To a person, they had high praise for their unions.  They mentioned pensions, health care, and wages.  Some told of struggles to form unions, and how working conditions improved after the union came in.  
At the end of our shift, as we were walking to our truck, we talked about how the average 20-something has probably never experienced a union.  He or she may not even understand the concept of collective bargaining.  He or she probably works for a company that calls the workers “associates” and fires anyone who even discusses the possibility of a union.
That’s why we were out there.  Look for us again at the Carbon County Fair and the Redneck Festival in Weissport.  Along with organizing, we need to educate. 

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Econ 101 repeated

Every Saturday the Times News asks five people a question and prints their pictures and their answers.  Today’s question was “President Obama keeps telling us that the economy is improving.  Do you think this is true?”
A woman from North Carolina said she couldn’t “...see improvement when the numbers keep getting deeper into the red.”
I could say something snide about her, but this woman’s misunderstanding seems to be shared by almost every Republican member of Congress and even President Obama, who said last week, “Government has to start living within its means, just like families do.  We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing....”
He is dead wrong.  Perhaps he says things like that because he thinks it will win him votes, which makes him less than honest.  Perhaps he says them--and I hope not--because he really believes them.
Government should not cut spending in a recession.  It should increase spending.  It should pump money into the economy.  Government is not like a family.  That analogy makes no sense.  Government can cut taxes or increase spending, but the LAST THING IT SHOULD DO IS DECREASE SPENDING.  Government can address the deficit when the economy is good (remember Clinton).  Right now these budget-cutting moves at the state and federal level are a major reason the unemployment rate stands at 9.2%.
When is the last time you heard a Republican congressman talk about unemployment as a major issue?  At least the President seems worried about people out of work, but he needs to push policies that will help them.  

Friday, July 8, 2011

144 Square Inches

So many subjects waiting for comment:  The newly independent country of South Sudan, the current emphasis on the deficit when approximately one in ten Americans is out of work, Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania, the David Brooks column today on the mental effects of poverty, to name a few.
Instead I’m writing about chickens.  The United Egg Producers and the Humane Society  [full disclosure--I am not a member of either group] have agreed to support a national law that would set the standards for space for laying hens at 144 square inches.  Take your ruler and measure out a square 12 inches by 12 inches.  That’s the improved standard.  Right now it is 67 square inches.
There are good reasons to buy free range eggs, not that I’m advertising here.  I just don’t think any chicken should have to spend its life in 144 square inches of space, not even a leghorn.
By the way, the National Pork Producers Council is appalled by the agreement.  The Pork Council thinks a national law would set a dangerous precedent.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Thirst for Fairness

In my last posting I noted that I resented really rich people.  No wonder--humans have evolved an innate belief in fairness.  Dr. Ernst Fehr of the University of Zurich discovered that by the age of 6 or 7, children share jelly beans and enforce an equal distribution.  They seem to do this instinctively.
Most primitive groups are low hierarchy groups.  There is some hierarchy, but it is not like that of chimpanzees, where one individual establishes dominance and can do whatever he wants.  In a study of five hunter-gatherer populations, a University of Washington professor found the average degree of income equality to be about half that found in the U.S. and close to what is seen in Denmark.
When the inequality is too great, brain scans show increased activity in the amygdala.  This is followed by “the arousal of higher cortical domains associated with introspection, conflict resolution, and upholding rules.”  In other words we have a visceral reaction and an intellectual aversion to unfair distribution.  For the full report on the research, go to Natalie Angier’s article at <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/science/05angier.html?_r=1&ref=evolution>.
So, don’t feel guilty if you are angry with guys making $10 million a year while you struggle along on unemployment.  It is part of our genetic heritage, and it is helpful for the survival of the tribe.  These greedheads are putting the whole tribe in danger, and we need to band together to bring them into line.  One way would be to increase their taxes.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Executive Pay

The New York Times asked an executive compensation data firm called Equilar (who knew there was such a thing) to look at executive salaries.  The results are in and were reported in last Sunday’s paper.  The median pay for the top executives at the 200 biggest companies was $10.8 million, a 23% jump from last year’s median of $9.6 million.  The median is the midpoint--half of the executives made more than that, half less.  
Philip Dauman of Viacom received the most--$84,500,000.  (Full disclosure:  I own some shares in Viacom and just cashed in my $16 dividend check today.)
Let me point out that if any of these top executives live in Minnesota, where the state government has shut down, they won’t notice.  Their kids won’t be attending public schools, they don’t need the police in their gated communities, public transportation is not in their experience, state parks are for poor people, health care costs can be met, Social Security is not important.
Please don’t tell me that those executives deserve that level of pay.  Nobody earns that level of compensation.  They receive it, but it is not earned.
In my next post I’ll explain why it is perfectly ok to resent the rich.  In fact, it is part of our evolutionary heritage, and for good reason.  Stay tuned.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A Guide to Republican Presidential Candidates

In his 1966 campaign for governor of California, Ronald Reagan had a Republican opponent in the primary.  He ran against former San Francisco Mayor George Christopher.  Mr. Christopher was a moderate with a good record.  Most Democrats were hoping Reagan would win the primary, because he would be easy to beat in November.
Whoops.  Reagan won the primary, won the governor’s election, and went on to not only win a second term, but also win the U.S. Presidency twice.  
Here’s the moral.  Always hope the opposition picks its best candidate.  He or she may win.
With that in mind, here is my preference for the Republican Presidential nominee.
1. John Huntsman.  Foreign policy experience, emphasizes civility.  Smart.  One of three adults in the race.
2. Mitt Romney.  The second adult.  Executive experience.  Not stupid.  Tends to pander.
3. Tim Pawlenty.  The third adult.  I almost forgot him.  I know he’s been working Iowa, but it is right now now very difficult to imagine President Tim Pawlenty.  Doesn’t compute. Still, better than the rest.
After Pawlenty they get downright scary.
4. Newt Gingrich.  Sometimes he seems reasonable, but he has the morals of a bunny.  His own staff doesn’t like him.
5.  Ron Paul.  I really think he is a true libertarian.  Marijuana would be legalized.  I can live with that.
6.  Herman Cain.  I think that’s his name.  He owns the Godfather Pizza chain.  I know many Tea Party people support him, but he did once give money to Bob Kerrey.
7.  Michelle Bachman. In many countries she would be institutionalized.  She “misspeaks,” and then defends her mistakes.  She takes federal funds for her farm, yet decries federal programs.  She thinks gay marriage is up to the states, yet supports a constitutional amendment banning it.  Her grasp on reality seems tenuous.
I think I may have missed some, but I can’t remember who they are.  My advice to Republicans who read this post (are there any?) is:  support Huntsman.  Really.  The president of the U.S. should be a capable adult.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Independence Day

This afternoon my partner was watching a show about newly naturalized immigrants.  They explained why they wanted to be American citizens and what citizenship meant to them.  A number of them said how proud they were that they could vote, how they could say things that would get them arrested in their home countries, how they liked the idea that they were a part of the American community.

There’s an adage that I think has some merit.  It states:  “The only true Americans are the immigrants.”  True Americans still believe in our ideals.  They are hopeful, not pessimistic; idealistic, not cynical; accepting, not bigoted.  Thank goodness the Barlettas in this country have not succeeded in eliminating immigration.  We need more true Americans.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Land Grant University

I received an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Penn State.  It isn’t Harvard or Yale, but I am proud to be an Penn State alumnus.  Penn State is a “land grant university,” one of the public universities initiated by Congress in the 1800s to teach agriculture, science, and engineering.  
Over the years land grant colleges developed agricultural experiment stations for research.  They also set up “Cooperative Extension” programs to apply this research to real world farming.  The County Agent was a part of this program, and 4-H activities were one of the Agent’s responsibilities.
Federal money to the agricultural programs is mostly distributed through the National Institute for Food and Agriculture.  That budget has been cut by 9% this year.
At the state level Gov. Corbett proposed cutting aid to Penn State by 52%. After public outcry the proposed cuts were reduced, but the agricultural programs will still be cut by $10.5 million, which will mean the loss of abut 200 jobs and perhaps the Extension program.  
The Republican Party is supposed to be the party of investment, of shrewd business decisions.  It’s not.  It is the party intent on trashing research, education, and the future of American agriculture. 

Friday, July 1, 2011

The Christman Brothers

In the 1950s and 60s, when I was a youngster, our farm was owned and operated  by the Christman Brothers--my father Elwood and my uncles Marvin and Leon and their families.  Marvin also ran a bulldozer and sometimes made as much money in a year excavating farm ponds and cellars as the crops brought in.  My father contributed two kids (my sister and me) to the labor force.  My Uncle Leon kept the financial records--of the three he was the only high school graduate.
Each brother could make a legitimate claim to a larger share of the income.  Nonetheless, at the end of the year, the profits were split into thirds.  Nobody complained, nobody felt cheated.  
In the 60s, when hippies were forming co-ops and communal farms, I realized I had grown up on one.  You learned to do your work and take your share without complaint.  You learned not to be selfish.  You learned not to whine.  
My Uncle Leon, the last of the Christman Brothers, died earlier this week.  He was my last living uncle, and I will miss him.