Hard Choices and Big Cuts

So said Gov. Bev Perdue  in describing the budget for the state of North Carolina. The $19 billion spending plan  is likely to be finalized today after one final vote. The Governor also called the budget  ” a clear win” for the people of the state. Democrats, who control  the state legislature, and have for what seems like forever, defended their work as keeping priorities intact and maintaining services for those who truly need them.

Listen to some partisan comments, while bearing in mind that the Democrats could pass the budget with no Republican support at all if they chose to do so. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger from my home county of Rockingham wanted to know about next year when there may very well be  a $3 billion potential deficit with which to cope? Asheville Democrat Martin Nesbitt is Berger’s Democrat counterpart, serving as Senate  Majority leader. He had an interesting response to Berger’s concerns. Basically, it sounded like we’ll deal with that next year. The exact quote was, ” Whatever happens next year, we’ll face that too.” Ok, let’s not look to far ahead there folks.

There are doubtless many specific items one could examine that would prove interesting, depending on point of view, etc. I chose just one. It involves the operation of the state Ferry System which will have  a budget next year of  $43.5 million. Granted that is  a pittance in a $19 billion  package. But the figure represents an increase of more than 33%. I’m guessing there are very few programs that received as high or higher increase. Note that the increase came while road maintenance spending will show a small decrease. Don’t know how our roads can handle less maintenance, but  they will still get less.

Here is my decidedly unscientific solution for this. Charge a fee for using the ferry. Not just some of the ferries, but all of them, since right now, 94% of the cost is taxpayer subsidized. Seems there was  a House proposal to encourage the State Department of Transportation to increase fees, but even that modest idea was defeated.

There is hope since Rep Grier Martin of Raleigh  says he supports the idea of charging more. What I don’t understand is why not just mandate that 1/2 the ferry cost must be paid by fees. There would all of a sudden by $15-20 million to devote to some deserving program that is being whacked. Can’t believe ferry travelers would immediately seek alternative passage, since there isn’t any.

And just think if this small example exists in a massive $19 billion budget, there must be more near painless ways to deal with the budget crisis. Right?

Justice Elena Kagan

Same song, second verse. On May 27 of last year I wrote about Sonia Sotomayor and  named her as a Supreme Court justice well before the vote took place. Since that proved to be  a no-brainer decision, thought I would just repeat the process in what is proving to be an annual event for the President, the nomination of  a new member of the Supreme Court.

Today was the first day of the hearings, the most pro forma day I guess. What have we learned? Can’t  use the experience line that was used last year so the refreshing change is the phrase  de jour. Senator  Feinstein calls her brilliant and the President calls the arguments against her “thin gruel ,” whatever that is.

The President also rejected the contention that he was remaking the court to suit himself, citing two  interesting names who support Ms Kagan’s nomination. This is almost funny. One is Ted Olson, who one thinks would know better. The other is Kenneth Starr, yep that Kenneth Starr. Bet  Bill Clinton freaked when he heard that name from his past.

So, we can could  call it  a dog and pony show except  I like dogs too much. Or we could use Rush’s label. It will be the ” don’t ask, don’t tell” hearings. Better yet, call off the hearings, have the vote and get it over with. Might save some money that way. Still, it would be great if someone like Ann Coulter or even George Will were providing questions. Nice try Sen Sessions.

John Adams

Just finished the David McCullough bio of John Adams and enjoyed it thoroughly. Hard to do justice to such a lengthy book about such  a towering historical figure. Some initial thoughts. The author commented  in his intro that we cannot learn enough about our funding fathers, a sentiment with which I very much agree. Makes me once again wish that I had majored in history in college. My presidential reading continues to remind me of my lack of historical education. I shudder to think of how American history is taught or not in public schools today.

It was delightful to read the many excerpts from the letters of Adams and his wife Abigail. Their correspondence numbered well over a thousand missives of which about half have been published. It is quite remarkable how enduring was their relationship in light of the quantity of time they spent apart. Over the course of their first 14 years of marriage they had been apart over half that time. Of course with communication and travel in those days being what it ways, even their communication was difficult. Letters from the United States to France or England of Holland took months and sometimes never made it at all. There as at  least one incident in which  a packet of her letters was lost at sea when an American diplomat about to be captured by the English threw them overboard along with other sensitive documents.

i observed to my wife after finishing the book that I probably knew more about the Adams’ family and its manner of living than of my own parents, thanks to their prolific correspondence. In contrast, Adams’ contemporary,Thomas Jefferson,destroyed all such family correspondence. His was  somewhat limited however,since his wife Martha died at age 33.

There is much to write about in reflecting on the ” colossus of independence” as Jefferson called him and I will attempt to do some justice to our second President, who seems  to me as somewhat overlooked in the pantheon of early American leaders.

Another Installment of……..

………. only in America.( Thank you Jay and the Americans for the song.) The quadrennial event known as the World Cup is ongoing in South Africa. As of this writing, the American team has just been eliminated  by Ghana for the second  consecutive time. Still advancing out of group play was an accomplishment for  a team ranked about 15th in the world.

I’m no soccer expert and not much of  a fan except when the Lady Tar Heels play. But I will admit to hoping the American team does well. That thought doesn’t  hold true with some prominent American sportswriters, namely William Rhoden of the New York Times and Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation. Bet that’s a real shock about  Mr Zirin. In a book I read recently about Calvin Coolidge, his magazine was  even then gleefully bashing conservatives . But back to the soccer.

First  Mr Rhoden who proudly admits to rooting for Ghana, the last African entry. He thinks that their success could be  along-term psychological boost as well as ” continuing the push to keep this important giant( Africa) on track.” Perhaps he should tell the South Koreans, their next opponent.

Now Mr Zirin is a  different story. He seems inclined to do a little America bashing as well as attacking Glenn Beck, etc. for using sports as  an avatar for  ” racism and imperial arrogance.”  Translation, if we do not excel at  a sport, it must be useless.

Lastly there is sportswriter and social commentator Bethlehem Shoals who sees American interest in soccer as  a refuge for the shameful actions of our government, translation, the evil Bush and his cronies.

What a shame to miss the pure enjoyment of goalllllllllllllllllll. Bet all  the Brazilian media types are  rooting for their team.

Two Generals and the President

Now that the White House has traded Gen Stanley McChrystal for Gen David Petraeus ( formerly known by liberal Democrats as Betray us, compliments of Moveon.org ) what does it all mean?  Oh and other assorted and sundry Democrats  named Reid and Clinton chimed in with their unflattering comments  as well.

First of all, Obama had to fire McChrystal. I believed that even before I heard it from Glenn Beck or my informal survey of several retired military friends. It brings to mind, just a little, mind you, of Truman  firing McArthur. But no Obama has not risen to Truman’s level with the firing even though Wolf Blitzer says that now he is the commander-in-chief. No, Wolf, he held that title from day one of his inauguration. now if you mean he finally acted like the commander-in-chief, you would be much more accurate.

There are many interesting things about this action, some of which will not materialize until some  time  has passed. Just a few. Petraeus actually is replacing a guy who reported to him in his role as CentCom Commander. So, does that not leave us  a general short?  Petraeus cannot do justice to the job in Afghanistan and run CentCom  at the same time. ( Imagine moving from Tampa to Kandahar?) So, one would think that someone needs to be promoted, right?

Ok, next up, why in the world did a four star general even agree to an interview with Rolling Stone magazine? You have to figure that nothing good will come from it and possibly something very, very bad. And so it did. That would be like, oh I don’t know, say  a Rush Limbaugh interviewing with them only worse. So, an obviously smart and capable military man does this for what reason? At some point, when things have settled down, I hope that he is forthcoming with his reasons.

Finally, was it just 2-3 years ago when Senators Obama and Biden at different times and in different public settings blasted Gen Petraeus for his lack of competency in Iraq?  Indeed it was, Obama at a Senate hearing in which he gave the general no time to respond and Biden in an interview with Tim Russert.

If you are Obama, would it not be a nightmarish scenario to have McChrystal make the  rounds of the talk shows or maybe even write a book? Can you say, bete noir? After all, McArthur had his triumphant parade in New York City.

Just Blooming Cool

Although I don’t eat there often, I am a big fan of Outback Steakhouses. One of their featured menu items is the famous bloomin’ onion. But I believe that their bloom has been  trumped. There is a  small division of Food Lion (numbering about 65 stores) known as Bloom. The stores operated under that name are decidedly more upscale than the Food Lion stores. Considering that I am no  great fan of Food Lion, I certainly hope that  their customer service is much better, because it needs to be. But I digress.

The Bloom folks created an ingenious billboard  on Highway 150 outside  of Mooresville,NC that was in action for several days last week. I’m purposely not using  a picture as I  want you to create your own mental image. So, imagine a giant fork standing 10 feet or so in the air, prongs sticking into a huge, juicy looking bite of steak which itself is in the middle of  a billboard. Gets your attention, huh? To top it off, there were fans at the bottom of the billboard wafting fragrances created by  charcoal and pepper flavored oil.  The fans  ran for 3 hours in the am and 3 hours in the pm.

I’m guessing that  there was a lot of attention generated by the first billboard to use the sense of smell. Wonder how much steak they sold ? If nothing else , the creative bar for billboards has been raised to a new and quite different level. Perhaps we will soon seee, if not already, a talking billboard.  The possibilities,alas, are limitless.

Is there any truth in there anywhere?

Jon Kyl is the junior Senator from the state of Arizona and is now serving his third term. Recently he and President Obama had an Oval Office meeting  on immigration, legal and otherwise. It appears that there are different perspectives on the substance of that  sit down.

Senator Kyl  was asked an immigration related question at an event last Friday in Tempe. The question basically asked if Obama was in fact going to challenge the controversial Arizona law. Senator Kyl said this:

                           “…… the problem is, he said ( he being the President) if we secure the border, then you all won’t  have any reason to support  comprehensive immigration reform. In other words, they’re holding it hostage. They don’t want to  secure the border unless and until  it combined with  comprehensive immigration reform.”

That was Sen Kyl’s statement. The White House wasted little time in responding.  Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton plainly said that Kyl lied about what was said at the meeting. Going  still further on Monday, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC’S Jake Tapper that Obama  didn’t say that and Kyl knows it.

So, there you have it, two quite different points of view. The thing I find a bit interesting is that neither White House official actually stated what  Obama did say. They only said what he didn’t say. Confused yet, so am  I. Guess one  must speculate  on what was actually said, huh? Perhaps this tidbit can be  a  guide. Yesterday, I posted about Secretary Clinton’s assertion that a lawsuit was definitely going to be filed against the Arizona law. She said that and then was backed  in what she said. Today we learn from Justice that no decision has been made. To paraphrase Casey Stengel from his time managing the woeful Mets teams  of the early 1960′s, can’t anybody here play this game?

Here Comes the Suit

The lawsuit that is. And word of it comes from a somewhat unlikely source. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said  just over a  week ago  that the Administration would be suing  the state of Arizona. Her phrase was that the  Justice Department “will be bringing a lawsuit against the act.”

Her comment  has finally been confirmed by an unnamed U. S. official speaking on condition of anonymity. An Administration official commenting on the evil Arizona law does not want his/her name used. You would think it would be an honor to be against this travesty of a law. I’m surprised that Obama spokespersons were not standing in line to confirm this announcement.

It is amusing to me that word first came from someone other than Attorney General Eric Holder or even Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, the previous governor of Arizona. But especially puzzling that Holder was not involved since he is over the Justice Department. Perhaps he is finally getting around to reading the law.

Got a feeling that Governor Brewer is not all that upset with the announcement of a forthcoming lawsuit. The suit would perhaps be the opportunity for a long needed discussion on immigration reform which is after all under the purview of the federal government. But since this  administration has failed to act on said issue as did the Bush administration, Arizona has made the issue  a priority. Obama  had made such reform a major campaign promise which has obviously not been the case until now.

An article that I read just yesterday made that very claim, using the phrase “highest prioities” when referring to the  overhauling  of  immigration law. Yeah, right.

Oh, one last tidbit. Governor Brewer has met with the President just  about 2 weeks ago, in a session labeled as cordial. Wonder what that means in Washington words. There  was no yelling and screaming and the meeting closed with a don’t call us, we’ll call you?  Brewer actually did invite the President to come to Arizona and see what the situation is like on the front lines of immigration reform. Answer, no commitment for a visit at this time.

Gulf Coast Shenanigans

” Otherwise, how are things, was an oft used phrase by the  late, legendary Paul Harvey. Incidentally, he seems to be one of those folks that cannot  be adequately replaced. I often wonder  what his take would be on this or that major news event.

But today I am using the phrase as an intro to a BP update. No, quite unfortunately the oil spill  has not been contained, although a few small good things have occurred and more could have occurred with a bit more co-operation/communication?

BP CEO Tony Heyward, their point man in dealing with the crisis on site, appeared before  members  of Congress and  the  questioning was anything but friendly. He did not help himself either by some  of his comments which appeared at times to be a bit insensitive. Given the nature of the Congressional beast, hearings and questioning were inevitable. I’m just not certain what worthwhile purpose the hearings have at this point. Maybe a little extra face time on C-Span or the major networks. Or a few good headlines like senators grill BP  executive or something like that. Obama even weighed in again saying he wishes he could fire Heyward. Real productive move.

I would rather the president work more closely with Louisiana Gov Bobby Jindal who really seems to be working hard on this thing as he should. But, yet one of his major efforts was actually stopped for a time the other  day by whom? Why, none other than the U S Coast Guard, from whence  came Admiral Thad Allen. Certainly the Admiral or his boss ( hint Barack H …..) had nothing to do with  stopping the oil removing barges from their task. As recently as Tuesday, they were hard at work. On Wednesday, they sat idle and remained so for over a day. Why? Jindal isn’t sure. He said that every time  he talked to  a Coast Guard representative, he got a different answer. And  Coast Guard spokesman, Lt Cmdr Dan  Lauer said they were all in this together since the real enemy was the oil. Chew on this, the Coast Guard had to confirm there were fire extinguishes and life vests on board  and then were having trouble reaching the people who built the barges. ( Not sure the relevance there, but what ever.) Jindal cannot overrule the Coast Guard although  he attempted to reach the White House with his concerns. Finally after what have seemed like an eternity to the Governor the barges were back at work.

Does this seem at all similar with  the feds refusal of international help for weeks before finally accepting the proffered Dutch assistance this week? Sure does to me. Do you see the spectre of politics at work anywhere? Just wondering. Han g in there Governor Jindal and keep the pressure on!

Just another week in the Gulf.

“Say it Ain’t so Joe”

Long time baseball fans will recognize the title  from way back in 1919. It refers to the comment made by a distraught young fan at learning that the great Shoeless Joe Jackson had been involved in ” throwing ” baseball games. It was the infamous Black Sox scandal that hit baseball very hard.

Today, there looms a much more dangerous Joe and one  which surprises me. It is Senator Joe Lieberman, the independent one from Connecticut. The bill  he is proposing, entitled  Protecting Cyberspace as a  National  Asset Act. Lieberman has been pushing for internet control for a while, it seems. This bill  would give the federal government the authority to shut down the internet, the proverbial kill switch, as it were, in response to a  Homeland Security directive.

Lest you think  Lieberman is flying solo, the bill has the stong support of  West Virginia Democrat Jay Rockefeller. He has wondered aloud if maybe it would have been better had ” we never invented the internet.” Better not let algore hear him say that, huh?

Of course, the bottom line , the very scary bottom line at work here is control. The government, at least not yet, cannot control the internet. And it cannot control things like the Bob Etheridge video, for example .

No  president, repeat, no president, whether his  name is Obama or Reagan or even as incorruptible as a Washington needs this kind of control. Perhaps I am being too much of an alarmist. I certainly hope so. Perhaps some folks thought Paul Revere was overdoing it too.