Republican Treason

As the clock marches on, it has become increasingly clear that the Republicans are hell-bent on using the debt ceiling as a means to push their fiscal and political program on the United States. Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has admitted as much of the Republican refusal to play along, stating that "It's a political strategy-it's not a policy strategy."

My Gut Reaction: People willing to play politics with our economic well-being are no better than traitors.

Analysis: The effects of a failure to raise the debt ceiling could be catastrophic. As a recent story by NPR reports, one of the immediate effects would be an inability for the government to pay out Social Security, as the federal government would only collect $12 billion in taxes while needing to pay out $23 billion. That's not getting into other issues such as paying the military and federal employees.

Some are trying to tell us that it would not be so bad. For example, Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine raises the point that the August 2nd deadline is at least somewhat arbitrary, as it is difficult to measure the full amount of borrowing taking place. He also suggests that it is unlikely the United States would actually default on its debt, as the amount of money the federal government takes in well surpasses its annual debt payments. However, that assertion fails to explain the recent announcement by Moody's that it is considering downgrading the United States's credit rating.

Luckily, not all of the Republican Party has gone insane. Senator Mitch McConnell has recommended a "Plan B" whereby the President would be able to raise the debt ceiling subject only to a veto-proof vote by Congress. This has enraged Congressional Republicans, but stems more from Sen. McConnell's political savvy than any real patriotism on his part. He is on record warning that failure to raise the debt ceiling would leave Republicans vulnerable to being held responsible for ensuing economic woes. Yeah, plunging your country into economic chaos tends to hurt your poll numbers.

Houston, We Just Destroyed a Piece of History

According to NPR, NASA has admitted that it in all likelihood accidentally deleted the original magnetic tapes of the Apollo 11 landing and moonwalk. Apparently, they unwittingly used the tapes to record feeds from one of their numerous satellites.

My Gut Reaction: Somebody f###ed up.

Analysis: This, sadly, is part of the process of historical remembering. All too often, prime historical documents are lost through carelessness, stupidity, or simply bad luck.

Uh-Oh

According to NPR Planet Money podcast, the United States is or will be looking at a deficit of $1.2 trillion dollars due to the bail out and other expenses. Yes, that's trillion. With a T. Not good...

(Note: the above post is actually funny is you imagine it being delivered by Stewie from Family Guy.)

Hillary for SecState?

The NPR program Day to Day has reported that President-elect Barack Hussein Obama is considering Sen. Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Although I can see the political reasons he would have for doing so, I do not think she is the best choice. As the primaries revealed, she does not have much foreign policy experience. She would be far better off as Attorney General or a Supreme Court justice.

I think a far better choice would be former Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson. As Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Dan Simpson notes, Richardson has foreign policy experience, having served as Ambassador to the UN. Furthermore, he is tough enough to stand up to any foreign opponent.

Why I Am Not a Catholic (Political Issue)

A recent story on NPR's Morning Edition encapsulates many of my reasons for leaving the Roman Catholic Church. It is an oppressive, anti-progress religion whose hierarchy has a vested interest in suppressing social and spiritual development.

The story recounts the experiences of several anti-abortion Catholics who have experienced harrassment in various forms from their more fanatical brethren. For example, Rick Gebhard, a member of the Knights of Columbus who set up a pro-Obama website after the organization took out an anti-Obama advertisement in several major newspapers, has been threatened with expulsion from the organization and even legal action because of his stand. Similarly, Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor, has experienced harrassment from certain portions of the laity and public condemnation by a Bishop due to his pro-Obama stance.

Particularly disturbing to me is the hypocrisy displayed by some anti-Obama Catholics quoted in the article. For example, Catholic theologian George Weigel boasts that the Supreme Court is gradually chipping away at the right to abortion. Doesn't that contradict the usual conservative / pro-life argument that the Supreme Court shouldn't be making law?

What dissident Catholics need to realize is that the problem is not just a few fanatical right-wing Catholics. They are just one symptom, one outgrowth of a far larger problem within the Catholic Church-a stultifying hierarchy bent on imposing its will on all Catholics. The only solution is to make the leap to Protestantism, which at least has an emphasis on the free will of the believer. I, for one, have joined the Unitarian Universalists.

Super Tuesday in Perspective

Well, Obama and Hillary are almost neck and neck after the results of Super Tuesday, with some surprising results such as the shift in Missouri in Obama's favor. Furthermore, as the Tavis Smiley Show reported last night, some estimates suggest Obama won more delegates than Hillary. I think the results say some very good things about Obama's future.

The fact that he was able to do so well in red states such as Missouri and Colorado illustrates that Obama's lack of baggage compared with someone like Hillary Clinton is a definite advantage. He will not bring out the Republicans in as great numbers as Hillary would.

Furthermore, for the near future, the race will be to a certain extent dominated by Obama. With states where he is likely to win such as Louisiana coming up, he will have an even greater chance to build up momentum.

What's REALLY Behind Last Year's Bloodbath

Well, last year ended with 392 murders in Philadelphia, slightly less than 2006, despite a gruesome summer.

What was behind this violence, and its sudden decline. There is no one solution, but I think this NPR story holds some clues. What we saw was good law enforcement in action! Yes!

You see, according to federal drug enforcement officials, such as Drug Czar John Walters, there were major successes in curbing the amount of drugs, particularly cocaine, coming into the country early this year. One of the first places hit by the cocaine shortage was Philadelphia, where the scarcity started in May. In the following summer, there were massive amounts of violence.

Coincidence? I think not.

You see, drug shortages contribute to violence in at least two ways. First, drug gangs start competing more for territory, in order to make up for lost revenue. Second, drug addicts become more desperate for drugs, which means they became more violent and willing to rob people.

The story also contains a clue to why violence dropped later in the year. As one Philadelphia detective they interviewed notes, the shortage ended with the summer, creating less stimulus for violence.

Of course, this is not the only reason for the drop in violence. Violence always drops somewhat after the summer ends. Furthermore, the Philadelphia Police have been given impetus to crack down by the election of a reformist mayor, a new, tough police chief whom precinct captains will want to make a good impression on, not to mention a spate of Philly police officers getting shot.

Nonetheless, I think this is worth considering when we look at our nation's drug laws.

I (Don't) Heart Huckabee

This past Thursday, while listening to All Things Considered on NPR, I heard a mind-boggling story about Mike Huckabee's plan to replace the income tax and the IRS and the income tax with the fair tax, which would tax consumer goods rather than income.

As the story notes, this is a regressive tax which would put more of a burden on people with low incomes than on the wealthy. Furthermore, although it would dispose of the IRS, it would create two more huge bureaucracies, one to see that the tax was enforced, another to administer the rebates Huckabee proposes to offset the taxes on needed household items.

Huckabee may be likeable-even my father, a New Deal Democrat, likes him-but his ideas are all washed up.

Romney Gives His Spiel

Andrew Sullivan has an interesting commentary about Mitt Romney's new speech regarding his Mormonism. He has some interesting points.

First, although Romney wants to make his Mormonism a non-issue, he still uses a religious rhetoric, which will naturally bring religion into the race as an issue. For instance, in today's speech, he claims, "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom." Uh Mitt, if you want to keep your religion out of it, you shouldn't constantly bring up religion.

Also, as Sullivan correctly points out, Romney does not acknowledge the right not to have a religion, to be an aetheist or a secularist. If people are allowed not to vote for aetheists, then they can not vote for Mormons, either.

I do think that Sullivan goes too easy on Romney. For instance, while Sullivan claims that Mormonism should not be a factor at all, I do think it should be a matter of concern to voters if a candidate is a devout Mormon. Let's face it, Mormonism is Christianity's answer to Scientology (i.e. an outright, easily seen through scam.) If a candidate is willing to swallow that, who knows what else he might swallow. (For more on this, see this Slate article by Jacob Weisburg.)

Furthermore, the religious rhetoric itself disturbs me. Previous candidates who have had to deal with religious intolerance, such as JFK, maintained a steadfastly secular approach to their campaigns. They did not sell themselves as God or the Pope's candidate. NPR had a great segment about this on Morning Edition.