There's an item of interest in the news for those like me who have long wanted to see a viable third-party candidate run for office. In New York's 23rd district Doug Hoffman is facing off in a close race against Republican Dede Scozzafava (along with Democrat candidate Bill Owens) in a special election.
Normally that would probably be of little concern to Shaving Leviathan readers, but there are a few wrinkles in this case. To borrow a phrase from the mighty Mark Steyn, the Republican Party-anointed candidate isn't merely a RINO but a DIABLO (Democrat In All But Label Only).
She's ACORN friendly (her husband is a labor organizer) and drew support from the local Working Family Party, another Progressive organization. She supports card check and favors raising taxes over cutting spending, as demonstrated by her votes in the NY State Assembly.
Hoffman – while far from perfect, like conservative politicians in general – appears to be the only genuine sample in the race. He favors cutting spending before raising taxes, opposed the Stimulunacy Bill(s), opposes Cap and Kill, and generally wants to rein in the Feds.
That might normally be of only local interest; the House is already filled with statists of every persuasion, what's one more?
In this instance, Ms. Scozzafava exceeds even that loathsome norm. In a routine interview with Weekly Standard blogger John McCormack, the Republican candidate felt so intimidated by his questions she decided to call the police. Was his behavior threatening in any way? The police don't seem think so after routine questioning. McCormack was sitting in his car arranging to file his story when they approached.
Bad enough that the Republican Party would sponsor a candidate who has embraced so many Democrat positions. But, then, that's not exactly unprecedented. That Ms. Scozzafava would even think of using the police — after the interview was over — to harass a member of the press is really beyond the pale.
The only honorable thing to do would be to leave the race, if not politics all together. She can take time to think about her desired party affiliation before the general election next year. In the meantime, Doug Hoffman could be piling some sandbags in the way of the Leviathan wave. (Assuming he beat the Democrat, of course, likely since Republicans have taken that district consistently since 1874.)
Even if Mr. Hoffman doesn't win he'll have performed a valuable service, one pointed out in a wise statement I read recently. The purpose of third parties (an article discussing the Perot campaign said) isn't necessarily to win elections but to shake up the status quo and deliver a message.
It would be preferable to accomplish both, of course. If that's not feasible one thing is clear by now, though. It's time to stop supporting the Republican Party until or unless they support their supporters. I.e. they have to stop compromising and me-tooing the Democrats. They have to offer better candidates than creatures like Dede Scozzafava.
Even from a purely pragmatic perspective - even if one considers only the goal of winning – the Party leaders' actions make no sense. Republicans have lost elections at every level in attempting to water down their views (assuming they have any to begin with) in order to peel off moderate, Independent, or Democratic votes.
Whenever given the choice between socialism and socialism-lite the voters tend to take the real thing. I don't interpret that as their advocating socialism but simply respecting integrity and valuing consistency and honesty.
What's the point of having a Republican party at all if it's just a pale reflection of the Democrats? The only time that would be useful is if both parties stood staunchly for Madisonian principles. Then the choice would be simply which candidate could best realize those in action. Sadly, that's not the case today. The Democrats passed the point of no return around the time of the McGovern candidacy.
Loathsome as the current political leaders in D.C. are, there's a certain clarity their ascension has created that has spurred the Tea Party movement and related developments. All the RINOs accomplish is to water down - ultimately to the point of uselessness - any purpose the Republican party might still have. Republicans should stop trying to be the equivalent of homeopathic medicine and offer the real thing. They'll quickly find it's not really a bitter pill to swallow.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Federal Dissonance
Sure, sure the Feds have offered so many contradictions the past year that the mind becomes numb. But sometimes they're presented in such stark fashion that they illuminate reality in a new way. Thus, these two iGoogle headlines hit my eye...
"White House to push for big pay cutsSomeday, if America continues as a free country for another generation or so, this sort of lunacy will become no more than a dismal memory. In the meantime, bloggers will have lots of new material every day. Here's hoping we become the Maytag repairmen of journalism asap.
CNNMoney.com"
"House moves to create jobs, prevent economy from slipping
Washington Post"
Monday, October 19, 2009
The New American Wing of the Metropolitan
The Metropolitan art museum in New York, long one of the world's finest showcases for the finest art, has performed a makeover on its American Wing. While I miss the vegetation - and the Frishmuth that was among the finest sculptures they own appears missing - the re-design is stunning.
I plan to visit soon.
[Hat Tip to Daniel Wahl, of the nearby pen.]
I plan to visit soon.
[Hat Tip to Daniel Wahl, of the nearby pen.]
Friday, October 16, 2009
Stimulus "Saved or Created" 30,000 Jobs
And at a bargain price of only $16 billion. (Or $339 billion; as usual the Administration is unclear.)
This, of course, was not only predictable, but predicted - by nearly every free market-oriented economist around.
You can't create jobs - which requires the accumulation of new capital - by removing it from Peter and giving it to Paul, with the Feds taking a slice in the middle. You also can't create wealth by simply printing money to make it appear that new wealth exists. Dollar bills are not wealth. They don't create goods and services. You can't create productive jobs by kicking the can down the road or distorting the market for housing, or by any of the dozens of other tragically popular methods employed by the Federal Government.
But, by golly, you sure can claim credit for doing so, by simply pretending that the laws of economics are infinitely malleable.
This, of course, was not only predictable, but predicted - by nearly every free market-oriented economist around.
You can't create jobs - which requires the accumulation of new capital - by removing it from Peter and giving it to Paul, with the Feds taking a slice in the middle. You also can't create wealth by simply printing money to make it appear that new wealth exists. Dollar bills are not wealth. They don't create goods and services. You can't create productive jobs by kicking the can down the road or distorting the market for housing, or by any of the dozens of other tragically popular methods employed by the Federal Government.
But, by golly, you sure can claim credit for doing so, by simply pretending that the laws of economics are infinitely malleable.
Big Brother Is Nagging You
...to take your medicine.
One of the most personally intrusive things — and I mean that to refer to everyone in general, not to my individual inclinations — is the way Progressive politicians never stop nagging people to "do good." The latest incarnation of that smiley-face Fascism is the government's burgeoning campaign to tout "service" over the public airways.
The Administration is planning during the week of October 19-25 to use 60 network TV shows to "spotlight the power and personal benefits of service." If they've come up with a more diseased idea this year, I haven't heard it. And, naturally, the contagion won't stop after Halloween, appropriate as the nearness of that annual food poisoning festival may be.
It's enough to make anyone sick.
"Service to others" is at best an ambiguous notion. In a setting of trade it makes complete sense. Provide a value to others and they will reward you. In the hands of a coercive government — and, in the end, there is no other kind — the meaning is much more ominous.
This infection was first foisted on the public (in recent times) by Rahm Emmanuel, the Congressional Chicago bacterium who slithered into the White House along with the current virus occupying the Oval Office. The campaign has been incubating for months and now is staged to become an epidemic.
The disease vectors would very much like to pretend, of course, that it's all just traditional American volunteering, not modern Nazi-injected plague. But the symptoms are obvious to all except those who are in denial. Rahm even announced before the election his belief that every citizen should be forced to spend a few months doing activities he dictated as healthful.
Expect subtle, and not so subtle, propaganda whose method consists of equal portions of guilt (the stick) and appeals to mushy altruism (the Norwalk-laden carrot*). Neither is good for you. Doctors not yet fully enslaved by the Feds suggest avoiding all network TV that week.
Better still, get inoculated by some good philosophy. The shots are painless and the immunity lasts a lifetime.
*The Norwalk family of viruses are the leading cause of food poisoning.
One of the most personally intrusive things — and I mean that to refer to everyone in general, not to my individual inclinations — is the way Progressive politicians never stop nagging people to "do good." The latest incarnation of that smiley-face Fascism is the government's burgeoning campaign to tout "service" over the public airways.
The Administration is planning during the week of October 19-25 to use 60 network TV shows to "spotlight the power and personal benefits of service." If they've come up with a more diseased idea this year, I haven't heard it. And, naturally, the contagion won't stop after Halloween, appropriate as the nearness of that annual food poisoning festival may be.
It's enough to make anyone sick.
"Service to others" is at best an ambiguous notion. In a setting of trade it makes complete sense. Provide a value to others and they will reward you. In the hands of a coercive government — and, in the end, there is no other kind — the meaning is much more ominous.
This infection was first foisted on the public (in recent times) by Rahm Emmanuel, the Congressional Chicago bacterium who slithered into the White House along with the current virus occupying the Oval Office. The campaign has been incubating for months and now is staged to become an epidemic.
The disease vectors would very much like to pretend, of course, that it's all just traditional American volunteering, not modern Nazi-injected plague. But the symptoms are obvious to all except those who are in denial. Rahm even announced before the election his belief that every citizen should be forced to spend a few months doing activities he dictated as healthful.
Expect subtle, and not so subtle, propaganda whose method consists of equal portions of guilt (the stick) and appeals to mushy altruism (the Norwalk-laden carrot*). Neither is good for you. Doctors not yet fully enslaved by the Feds suggest avoiding all network TV that week.
Better still, get inoculated by some good philosophy. The shots are painless and the immunity lasts a lifetime.
*The Norwalk family of viruses are the leading cause of food poisoning.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Creeping Viro Totalitarianism
For anybody who still wonders just how deeply embedded in our culture is the Green machine, I dedicate this little item...
I recently researched a number of HDTVs and discovered something new at the bottom of CNET's reviews. In the specifications section, underneath the EPA Energy Star Compliant indicator is a Greenpeace Policy Rating. I try to avoid swearing in a public venue but I can't help but ask "What the **** is any statement by a rabid environmentalist group doing on a television review?"
Sure, CNET is owned by CBS, so one can expect a leftist slant here and there. But it's a sign of just how advanced is the spread of the viro contagion that it has now infected articles about high-definition TV sets.
One of the hallmarks of totalitarianism is that collectivist, statist propaganda seeps into every tiny nook of personal life. The editors at CNET, if they have any decency left, should remove this vile atrocity forthwith and not contribute to the incipient trend.
Bad enough that Wikipedia has been overrun by viro thugs (to the extent that even an article touting the giant Swiss Re insurance company contains a paragraph blathering about their greenhood). But when sites devoted to technology, of all things, being to grow such visible polyps it's time for major surgery.
I recently researched a number of HDTVs and discovered something new at the bottom of CNET's reviews. In the specifications section, underneath the EPA Energy Star Compliant indicator is a Greenpeace Policy Rating. I try to avoid swearing in a public venue but I can't help but ask "What the **** is any statement by a rabid environmentalist group doing on a television review?"
Sure, CNET is owned by CBS, so one can expect a leftist slant here and there. But it's a sign of just how advanced is the spread of the viro contagion that it has now infected articles about high-definition TV sets.
One of the hallmarks of totalitarianism is that collectivist, statist propaganda seeps into every tiny nook of personal life. The editors at CNET, if they have any decency left, should remove this vile atrocity forthwith and not contribute to the incipient trend.
Bad enough that Wikipedia has been overrun by viro thugs (to the extent that even an article touting the giant Swiss Re insurance company contains a paragraph blathering about their greenhood). But when sites devoted to technology, of all things, being to grow such visible polyps it's time for major surgery.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Largest Theft In History
Say what you will about the U.S. Federal Govt, it does things in a big way.
Ok, I'll drink the utilitarian Kool-Aid for a moment (making sure to have the antidote ready at hand). What did we get for that money? I know that if I list the answers I'll have a stroke, so it's left to the reader as an exercise.
Hint: Here are two of the chief villains:
CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit was about $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2009, $950 billion greater than the shortfall recorded in 2008.[CBO Monthly Budget Review. (pdf warning) Hat tip Veronique de Rugy at NRO's The Corner.]
Ok, I'll drink the utilitarian Kool-Aid for a moment (making sure to have the antidote ready at hand). What did we get for that money? I know that if I list the answers I'll have a stroke, so it's left to the reader as an exercise.
Hint: Here are two of the chief villains:
"Almost half of the spending increase—$245 billion—resulted from outlays for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and net payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In addition, CBO estimates that spending increases and revenue reductions stemming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) totaled almost $200 billion this year (excluding the impact on the budget from ARRA’s effects on the economy).
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