Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for Obama's Vice-President?

Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic governor of Kansas, may be the ideal V.P. for Barack Obama, both for the election and for the administration.

She is a uniter, not a divider. Her Lt. Governor was a Republican.

She is a governor, which would counterbalance Obama being a Senator.

She is more concerned with governance, that is, making Kansas work, than with ideology.

She is supporting Obama for the nomination.

Is the time ripe for a new moderate party?

After I posted the "Simple platform" entry, I read "A Case of the Blues" by Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New York Times Magazine, March 30, 2008. It centers on Tom Cole, OK-R, and chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee and the daunting task he has to get Republicans elected to Congress.

Given the shift away from some of the ideologies of the Republican Party, would a party that was seen as more practical make serious inroads on the "Two-Party System"? It is past time for a party to do what the Republicans did in 1854-1860 - forming a party and within six years winning the presidency.

Simple platform for a moderate party

Many party platforms are laundry lists of ideas and proposed legislation that members want or oppose. It is impossible for candidates to act on so many ideas or even present coherent views on all of them. The 2004 platforms were 43 pages(Democrats) and 92 pages (Republicans). In 2008 The Independence Party of Minnesota has a reasonably simple platform, but its seven-page platform contains too many gimmicks as solutions to certain problems.

I would feel more comfortable supporting a party that had a simple platform like the following:

1. A civil society needs to strive for a balance between individual freedom and the common good.
2. The U.S. Constitution should be a starting point for determining this balance.
3. A civil society will never have complete agreement as to where the balance is.
4. Today's solutions may become tomorrow's problems.
5. All else is commentary.

To Boycott or not to boycott, that is the question

Because of China's crackdown on Tibetan dissidents, some are calling for a boycott of the Olympics and others are saying that engagement is a better policy.

I think the decision should rest with the individual athletes and not governments. A boycott by hundreds of athletes would have a greater impact than a boycott by one or several governments. What purpose was served by the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics?

Suppose the U.S. had boycotted the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Then Jesse Owen winning a gold medal would not give lie to Hitler's Aryan supremacy.

Source of our freedom

“I believe there’s an Almighty,” President Bush said, “and I believe a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman and child is freedom.” Quoted in Maureen Dowd's column, March 18, 2008, New York Times.

Bush also said, "Since that first 4th of July, some 43 million Americans have defended our freedom in times of war." (President Bush Thanks Military on Independence Day at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, July 4, 2006)

Which is it? The Almighty gave us freedom or the military fought for our freedom?

The framers of the Constitution stated it was "We, the People".

Technological irony

Apple placed one of its cute "I'm a Mac; I'm a PC" ads in today's online New York Times. The initial banner ad was "Vista - one of the biggest blunders in technology". Unfortunately, Safari 3.0.4 would not complete loading the page; it stuck on 88 items of 89. Safari 3.0.4 is included with Mac OS 10.4.11, the latest update to the OS prior to OS X Leopard. Firefox 2.0.0.12 did load the page successfully.

I used the "Report Bugs to Apple" feature of Safari to report this situation.

The most egregious political correctness

Many of us laugh at the attempts at political or patriotic correctness. One must not disparage any ethnic group, religious group, women, people with illnesses, and on and on through a laundry list of "marginalized" groups. One must not insult the flag or question a war and must show certain outward signs of "patriotism".

These misdirected efforts pale in comparison with the demands of certain governments and segments of several religions. Government after government shuts a newspaper down for insulting the nation of the government, often because they dared to print the truth. Many individuals want papers shut down or reporters and editors killed because the paper has "insulted" their religion with blasphemy. In both cases, such calls demonstrate weakness rather than strength.

In the case of "blasphemy", cannot an omniscient, omnipotent God protect himself? He sort of did in 1 Kings 18. After nothing happened to the sacrifice to Baal by the priests of Baal, God sent fire onto Elijah's water-soaked sacrifice and it was consumed. Interestingly, God did not send fire onto the priests of Baal; Elijah cut their throats.

In the case of "insults" of government, U.S. history is filled with some really mean-spirited campaign blasts. In 1796, John Adams "called his opponent Thomas Jefferson cowardly, weak and a person who did not share Americans' values." ("Character Attacks Heat Up Presidential Campaign", America.gov, 2007-12-04.

In 1828, Andrew Jackson's supporters called John Quincy Adams a "pimp". Adams' supporters retorted that Jackson's wife was a "prostitute". They also called Jackson a "jackass" and used a picture of a donkey. That last backfired because Jackson liked it and adopted the donkey as his party's "mascot". (ibid.)

And so it continues today, "fathering a black baby", "taking bribes", "not being heroic enough", and on and on. Somehow, although we wonder that our democracy will survive, it still does.

See also "Pledge of Allegiance or Sledge of Allegiance".

Spend or pay off debt, money still goes into the economy

One of the criticisms of the stimulus package that Congress passed and the President signed is that many people will save it or use it to pay off debt. However, the money still "goes" into the economy. Those who save it will be providing capital to financial institutions; they don't put it into a lock box but lend it to others. Those who pay off debt are similarly making more money available to lend.

What the rebate does mean is that the government will have less money to either spend or pay down its debt. That means at some time more taxes will be needed to pay for needed projects or to reduce the debt. In other words, the government is doing what many people did to get us into this mess - living on tomorrow's income.

Taxes and the common good; lack of linking the two is too common

"...just when you thought it was safe to spend your own money again..."
- Andy Aplikowski, residualforces.com, quoted by Tim O'Brien, The Blog House, Star Tribune, 2008-02-28

How do you spend your own money for roads, police and fire, defense, and education?

Today's ideological conservatives just don't understand the need for a balance between individual choices and the public good.

My wife added, "They inherited the public good without any notion of how it got there."

And I added, "How can we earn our money without the investment in the public good by people in the past?" Or, as the bumper sticker says, "If you can read this, thank a teacher."

See also

Time for Republicans of integrity to bolt the party

I've long been disenchanted with both "major parties" and been unhappy that the election process locks in the choice between "excessive government" and "excessive individualism (except for what they don't like)".

Six Republican Minnesota legislatures supported an override of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a transportation bill. For this "breaking of party discipline" the minority leader has stripped them of their committee positions. Very strange considering that Republicans pride themselves on being for individual choice and responsibility.

I think this may be an excellent opportunity for these legislatures to bolt their party, especially considering that they represent districts that are voting more Democratic. However, the Democrats are not really the answer for these legislatures. Rather, I think they should either start a new moderate party or join an existing moderate party.

A new moderate party would have a relatively simple principle: the need for a balance between individual choice and the common good. Anything more could lock the party into positions that would be irrelevant or counterproductive in the future.

An existing moderate party is the Independence Party of Minnesota. You can find its principles at http://www.mnip.org/principles.shtml. This page has links to the party's platform and other information. Personally, I find the platform has too many details.

If you think that a vote for the Independence Party will be a "wasted vote", remember that third-party gubernatorial candidate Jesse Ventura, last in the polls, was elected governor in 1998. And if you keep voting for either the left or the right, you might be left right out of a bright future.

See also "Voting is not a horse race".

Campaign finance reform, a different idea

Stifle big money in politics! Don't infringe on political speech! Back, forth, up, down, and around go the arguments for and against any attempt to control the amount of money going into political campaigns. The one thing everybody appears to agree on is that it have become very expensive.

One of the ideas floated is that there should be free time on TV for political candidates. Free to who? The broadcasters would resist, rightly so, the mandating of giving away time, especially prime time. If the time was subsidized by the federal government, what rate should apply?

Why not reserve a couple of channels to be operated by the federal government? To qualify for use of the channel, candidates would need to get so many signatures, an existing requirement to be on the ballet in many states now.

The government would break the time into short, medium, and long spots randomly throughout the day. Then it would assign spots randomly each day to qualifying candidates. It would be up to the candidates to either appear live or provide a tape for their spots. The candidates could change their tapes as often as they wish. These spots would also be made available on the web.

The financing would be by the income tax checkoff as is now done to allocate public funds to candidates.

A photo not taken

A week or so ago we were on our way for a morning of skiing. As I got on the freeway, I noticed that Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge was reflected on the ice of Lake Superior. It was two miles to the next exit, two miles back, and then probably another five minutes to find a parking place and then a good vantage point. Another photo not taken.

Last week we were returning from our cabin, often driving into the sun. There was a long and high band across the western horizon and the sun made a golden glow through it. I looked at the icy shoulder, the snow-packed road, and all the curves somebody might skid on, and so I kept driving. Another photo not taken.

Borrowing from our grandchildren or ...

Many seem to have a misconception of borrowing, especially government borrowing, calling it borrowing from our grandchildren. The latest was "Road to ruin could be a high-speed rail track" (Star Tribune, Jan. 24). "Borrowing from our grandchildren" could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on circumstances.

There are two kinds of borrowing - short term and long term. Short term is to help smooth bumps in income or is for convenience. Long term is to pay for something that you need now but will not have sufficient cash for a long time. We all use both kinds: individuals, businesses, and governments. Each can be abused, but credit is something that makes modern society work more smoothly.

We put purchases on credit cards rather than walk around with a pile of cash. Many hotels and car rental agencies will only accept credit cards. Businesses take inventory loans to have sufficient stock. Why do you think there are sales? To raise the money to pay off the inventory loans. Governments borrow to smooth the cash flow for payrolls and other day-to-day costs because tax payments come in spurts.

We buy our cars and houses with loans. Some think we should save sufficient money rather than borrow, but where is our money going? To a bank who will lend it to somebody else. Meanwhile we're paying rent for housing. Businesses take out loans to buy new equipment or build new facilities. If they waited until they had sufficient cash, they may lose many business opportunities. Likewise, governments borrow to purchase equipment and build roads and bridges. If they waited until they had saved enough cash, people would complain about the cash hoard and the lack of roads and other infrastructure.

The abuse of borrowing comes when short-term borrowing becomes long-term borrowing. If we spend more on credit this month than we can pay next month, we are pushing our borrowing to long-term. Sometime this is unavoidable. We may be laid off unexpectedly. Businesses might not have the expected sales. Tax revenue could be less than predictions. But if spending more for short-term goals gets out of control, interest alone can make matters even worse. In the case of government, this truly becomes taxing our grandchildren for our own benefit.

But we aren't necessarily taxing our grandchildren for our own benefit to build and maintain infrastructure. The infrastructure may well last long past the lifetime of many current taxpayers and be available to their grandchildren. Are any of us today paying the taxes for all the county courthouses, fire and police stations, the sewers, schools, and many other government facilities? Shouldn't we pay for them? We are benefiting from them.

We are if they have been built recently and were built with borrowed money, money that may have been borrowed before we even started paying taxes. Similarly, by borrowing today for infrastructure that our children and grandchildren will benefit from, we are asking them to foot some of the bill. If we don't, neither we nor they will have a modern society.

Denying special treatment is not anti-business

Today's Duluth News Tribune had an editorial supporting a zoning change from residential to commercial ("Our view: Duluth can vote for progress with vote for change"). The editors said that if city council approved the change, "it would chip away ... at Duluth's ... anti-business reputation."

Maybe we should look at it as business's anti-Duluth attitude. An outside company comes in, buys up property knowing full well that the area is zoned residential, and then demands that the zoning be changed. This smacks of special treatment to me.

Granted that the particular parcel is not a quiet residential neighborhood. It is on a busy thoroughfare that is gradually becoming more and more commercial. It may well be in the city's best long-term interest to see this parcel become commercial. But that decision should be in the city council's hands as part of a long-term plan, not forced on it by an outside interest.

The long-term plan should also include traffic planning. How will this particular section of road handle the additional traffic of a hotel and restaurant? Who will pay for any improvements needed? The City Planning Commission and the City Council are supposed to answer these questions in two or three months?

Shortchanging education leads to big bucks health care

We too often look at parts of our society as unrelated to other parts. We link property taxes to education and do not properly support it to give our children a truly superb education. For example, we focus on reading and computation, but neglect art, music, and critical thinking, skills that promote and lead to much better thinking abilities.

As a result many of our children do not develop the skills that are in demand in our economy. For these, we spend an inordinate amount of time and money subsidizing corporations to create jobs.

But many jobs are going unfilled because there are not enough people to do them. This leads to higher demand for those who can do these skilled jobs which leads to higher wages for these employees.

A prime example of this is the shortage of doctors. Recently St. Mary's Duluth Clinic said it needed 139 doctors. You know that those doctors who are available have a long list of employment choices. To get them, SMDC is going to have to pay a lot.

Since health care organizations have to pay a lot for doctors they are going either pay others less or raise their fees, often both. As fees get higher and higher, health care premiums go higher and higher, often outstripping inflation. As premiums go higher, fewer people can afford health care.

When children don't get adequate health care they don't do as well in school. Therefore we need more money for schools to adequately educate these students. But we don't want to pay the taxes to do so because our health care premiums are so high.

Pledge of Allegiance or Sledge of Allegiance

Although I often dutifully recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I do so reluctantly and hypocritically. I do it more because of social conformity than any real attachment to the flag. To me, a pledge of allegiance, to a flag or a country, is un-American. We are a country founded on dissent; we should not have a legally or socially enforced act of conformity that serves no other purpose than to make some people feel good. Those who recite the pledge should remember that "liberty and justice for all" should include those who take the liberty of not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

As a measure of how emotional this can get, consider the campaign smearing Barack Obama for supposedly not putting his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. Actually, it was during the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner"; I know hardly anybody that puts his or her hand over heart during the singing of the national anthem.

To me, "The Star Spangled Banner" and the Pledge of Allegiance are more worshiping an icon than respecting the idea of a democratic republic. It became even more a public worship when "under God" was added in 1954. I find this ironic in that the Constitution states that there shall be no religious test for public office. However, if a candidate doesn't dutifully recite the whole Pledge of Allegiance, including "under God", he or she is considered unpatriotic and unsuited for public office.

What makes matters worse is that some office holders wear their flag pins, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, call unpatriotic those who do not, and then trash the Constitution. There is no requirement of a flag or a pledge of allegiance to the flag or government. There is simply the requirement that all government officials down to the state level "shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution" (Article VI). The President is required more stringently to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution" (Article II).

For more on the Pledge of Allegiance and dissent, search on "pledge of allegiance" and "Jehovah's witness". Among the more interesting hits, you'll find "In Defense of Obama's Patriotism, A dissent on the pledge", Ron Rosenbaum, Slate, Nov. 12, 2007.

"Mac Owners Are Snobs"?

This is the title of a TheStreet.com video.

My experience is that Mac owners may be snobs but that may be because PC owners have been bullies since they still coped with line-at-a-time commands on their plow horses. PC owners told newbies at user group meetings that they should get PCs, and then they would spend a good part of the meetings complaining about their problems.

You never know when you might have influence

Today's Duluth News Tribune had an article on the city council having a retreat to get to know each other and discuss some of the issues the face.

It was interesting to note that the council president, Roger Reinert, was interested in two issues that I had published this week: "snow removal and bringing train service to Duluth."

My "Local View", "Streets are plowed, but walkers must tread on ice" was published in today's Duluth News Tribune.

My regular bi-weekly column in the Reader Weekly was titled "Can even Superman stop this speeding locomotive?"

Jeff Foxworthy is "wrong" about winter wherever

I was sent a long list of things you might do if you live in Minnesota by a graduate of my high school. You can find this same litany on several places if you search for "if you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice".

It is cute but the variations can be way off the mark.

I've lived in Minnesota for a total of 35 years, almost nine in Duluth. The variant that I received had many factual errors.

I know ice fishing is popular, but I think it is a lot of effort to get food.

Mille Lacs is not the coldest place in the country. Embarrass, Minnesota often is. The rest of Minnesota can be ten degrees warmer.

Some Dairy Queen's are open year around. They sell quick lunches as well as frozen custard.

Twice in 130 years has Duluth gotten over 131 inches of snow in a season (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/climate/top10snow/topten_all_wntr.php). Lots of snow might be 25 inches in a week. The Twin Cities had about 25 inches on Halloween 1991 and Duluth had 36. But on another Halloween the Twin Cities temperature was above 70.

I have seen many people underdressed in cold weather. We saw a college student walking bareheaded with the temperature just above zero. I saw a young woman walk into a coffee shop with heavy mittens, a light jacket, and a shirt unbuttoned down three buttons.

Vacation to me means going north an hour to our cabin to cut wood. It also means going to Japan or Ontario.

I measure distance both in miles and hours. Hours make sense when talking about driving time. Doesn't everybody give hours for plane, train, and bus trips?

I know few people who have hit deer more than once. I'm one of them, both times at night.

My wife does use A/C in winter to clear fog on her windshield.

Two feet of snow just about closes everything down. I've known events to be canceled when there is four inches of new snow! And we recently saw a flipped pickup truck with just a bit of glaze on the road.

Don't I wish the potholes were filled with snow.

There are only two seasons in Minnesota: winter and road construction. Actually, we do have all four seasons; spring and fall can be strikingly beautiful. See my photos on Flickr. See the Brimson and Duluth sets.

Can't we all identify many accents other than our own? I recently knew that a priest officiating at a memorial service was Irish. Sure enough, the program gave his name as O'Shea.

I don't figure I'm Down South until I get to Missouri.

Gosh, when was the last time I went to a fish fry. I am overdue for fish and chips at my favorite brew pub.

Frost on the Fourth of July? Never heard of it. But it reportedly has snowed in every month except July some year or other.

I'd have to use my snow blower in the whole precinct to put more miles on it than my car. Of course, if more people cleared their sidewalks I'd drive less.

Ten degrees is good skiing weather. Twenty degrees is good outdoor working weather. I wear a sweater indoors in our 62 degree house. However, see above about bare-skinned people.

Coincidence or campaign

Today I submitted an op-ed piece on "borrowing from our grandchildren" to the Star Tribune. This evening at dinnertime I received a call from the Star Tribune. I thought it was to verify that I sent the piece. No, it was a solicitation for home delivery of the Star Tribune.

I first said that I walked to the corner to get the papers because we were away too much for home delivery. The caller clarified that the special was for the Sunday Star Tribune. I declined saying that we had enough trying to read all the Sunday Duluth News Tribune.

Coincidence or what?