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Citizen’s United .. Part 2

A story in the Sacramento Bee is illustrative of the liberal distress over the Citizens United decision. Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is a Republican running for Governor of California and is looking pretty good so far.  An unprecedented amount of union and liberal activist money (over $40 million) is expected to go to three “committees” targeting her.

Until the Citizens United decision, corporations and business people could not support her or target her opponent (Governor Moonbeam), which is how the liberals like it.  They want to be able to spend and shout, and to use campaign finance laws to muzzle the opposition. Their ability to do this is dramatically curtailed!

BTW — I have not yet decided whether I support Meg Whitman or Steve Poizner, the other Republican.  The Republican primary election is June 8, 2010.

h/t Hugh Hewitt

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By Tomek – February 11, 2010

Road Tax – per gallon or per mile?

On his radio show and in his blog, Clark Howard discusses a proposal to replace the current per gallon gasoline tax with a tax assessed per mile driven.

There are two “problems”  with the current scheme.  First, the gas guzzlers effectively pay more per mile, since they get fewer miles per gallon. Second, as gas mileage goes up the tax receipts per mile driven go down.  Since gas mileage is governmentally mandated to rise, tax revenue will fall, or at least not go up enough.

The first “problem” (guzzlers pay more tax) is actually a good thing, as gas mileage is a reasonable proxy for weight, and heavier cars do more damage to the roads so should be taxed more for road maintenance.  The second “problem” (improved mileage lowers tax receipts) does appear realistic, although the real solution (increase the per gallon rate) is a political problem.   Which brings us to the rub … if the road taxes collected aren’t sufficient to maintain the roads properly, then road taxes have to increase. My suspicion is that this proposed change, while couched in “fairness”, is just a sneaky attempt to increase the taxes we pay.

I don’t care whether the tax is based on miles driven or gallons guzzled, and I am willing to pay my share for road maintenance.  However, I am concerned about a GPS device in my car will track my miles (and my location!).  This is clearly not acceptable.  I could support a mileage surcharge with the registration, but I think that collection at the pump makes the most sense. I can support a mileage tax, as long as it isn’t implemented in addition to the existing gasoline tax.  However, it should take vehicle weight into account, as heavier vehicles wear down the road faster than light-weight vehicles.

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By Tomek – February 10, 2010

Chris Matthews calls Sarah Palin stupid …

I happened across a video of a Chris Matthews (MSNBC) discussion with Anne Kornblut (Washington Post), where he repeatedly slams her  as being stupid.  My gosh is he arrogant. And as is generally the case with a Beltway liberal, he is just wrong and has no clue that he is just wrong.  He assumes that because she doesn’t perform well in his arena (the unscripted conversation), that she is empty-headed.  He is mistaken.

Sarah Palin needs to improve her performance in interviews.  But despite her lack of a blue-chip education and her strange accent, the evidence is clear that she has something going on upstairs.

  • Just last weekend, she gave a coherent, moving, ordered, well-reasoned 45-minute speech on national televised speech from hand-written notes. Contrast that with the President, who needs a teleprompter for a 5 minute talk to 6 year olds.
  • She out-witted and took down the corrupt Alaska political machine. Contrast that with the President, who embraced the corrupt Chicago political machine.
  • She has repeatedly demonstrated courage and fortitude in personal and political situations that would humble lesser people.

I don’t think  Ms. Palin should  run for President in 2012. She should wait until 2016 or 2020.  And contrary to what others think, her gig at Fox is a great place for her, because it will allow her to improve her interviewing and will keep her in the public eye.  She is paying attention .. hosting the General Electric Theatre transformed Ronald Reagan.

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By Tomek – February 10, 2010

Super Bowl: What a Game!

Man, it was a good game! I don’t necessarily think the *better* team won, but the more deserving one certainly did.  The Colts got timid when they took the lead, and stayed timid.  The Saints got aggressive when they fell behind, and stayed aggressive.

I loved the gutsy calls that Saints coach Sean Payton made.  Obviously, the onside kick was inspired!  And the 4th and goal call, even though it failed, was great.  The confidence it showed inspired the team, and they ended up better off than if they had kicked the field goal.  Contrast that with the Colts three and out immediately following .. the best 2 minute quarterback in the league, yet they run three up the middle with 2 minutes left.
I feel for Peyton Manning.  He had a good game, but it wasn’t up to his standards.  He had a couple of passes dropped, and the lone interception was the play that changed the game.  Given how much responsibility he has for audibles and adjustments, I do wonder if perhaps some of the timid “safe” play calls were his.  I have this sneaking suspicion that the game got to him.
Kudos to Drew Brees!  He played a great game, one of the best of his life, and certainly deserved the MVP.  He rose to the occasion,  playing exceptionally well in by far the biggest game of his career.  I don’t imagine he will buy a beer in New Orleans for a decade or so.
Finally a note about football karma.   When the Colts threw in the towel against the Jets and gave away the perfect season 6 weeks ago, they committed an offense against the game.  The game got it’s revenge.

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By Tomek – February 9, 2010

My Politics – a summary

I have a pragmatic streak, and it informs my positions, particularly around education and health care. I was liberal when I was young, although because of my grandfather and father I was anti-communist before I could speak. Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech caught my attention, and the fall of Soviet communism forced me to rethink my overall political philosophy. Clearly, Reagan was doing something right. I vote and am registered Republican (as was Martin Luther King), although I frequently view the Republican politicians as the lesser of two evils.

I am an adult convert to the Roman Catholic faith and practice my faith diligently. I believe in the church teachings around social justice, but substantially differ with the Church on the best ways to promote a just society. God gave us freedom in the Garden of Eden and increasing the role of government in social welfare decreases freedom. The Church seems eager to have government take on a paternalistic role in the interest of improving <<insert cause here>> and I disagree. In my experience a free market is significantly more just than government.

I believe in good and evil, that American democracy is force for good in the world, and that communism and radical socialism are evil.

God bless America!

Continued…

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By Tomek – February 5, 2010

The Tebow ad is indeed revealing …

A Wa-Po op-ed, by a liberal woman no less, expresses PERFECTLY my view of the Tebow ad kerfuffle.

The money quote (emphasis mine)…

Tebow’s 30-second ad hasn’t even run yet, but it already has provoked “The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us” to reveal something important about themselves: They aren’t actually “pro-choice” so much as they are pro-abortion.

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

Update 9-Feb-2010:  Focus on the Family demonstrated incredible savvy with this ad and the publicity leading up to it.  The pro-aborts went crazy over nothing, and it was the uproar that publicized the message, not the ad.  Nicely done!

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By Tomek – February 1, 2010

Great take on the iPad .. hilarious!

I have chuckled a few times at the “Hitler finds out ..” parodies, but this one captures my thoughts about the iPad pretty well and is quite funny!

h/t:  TechCrunch

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By Tomek – January 29, 2010

State of the Union – 2010

I have some thoughts of the 2010 SotU address delivered by President Obama last night and the Republican response by Virginia Governor Bob McConnell.  I did not watch either speech with rapt attention as the family was having dinner, but was paying some attention and read the text of both this morning.
  • President Obama is a good speaker, but the speech seemed disjointed and clunky. It was longer than I remember GWB’s SotU speeches.
  • I don’t care for the (now traditional) frequent applause lines.  It makes the speech hard to follow.
  • It was a very typical “something for everyone” speech reminiscent of the Clinton speechs. A “jobs bill”, high speed rail, bank tax, student loan forgiveness, … and so on.
  • President Obama talked a lot about jobs.  Why he thinks that bigger government leads to more jobs is beyond me.
  • The “spending freeze” is pure fraud. He exempted the bulk of the budget and the areas of biggest growth, and even proposed expansions to programs that are inside the “frozen” area!
  • I really don’t like the high speed rail idea.  Government doesn’t do this kind of thing well (see Amtrak), and I it will require huge subsidies forever.
  • Lots of hypocrisy in this speech.  Obama leads the most special interest driven administration since Warren Harding, yet complains about the Citizens United SCOTUS decision as enabling special interests.  Obama has led the most partisan and divided political year since the Clinton impeachment, yet calls for ideas and suggestions.  Obama calls for transparency, while refusing to be transparent.
  • The SotU is a tough act to follow. Governor McDonnell did a fine job in the response. Nice touch mirroring the setting (legislature, live audience).
  • I wonder if the audience for the response was all Republicans or if it was the Virginia legislature.

Update: Sarah Palin wrote a response to the SotU .. on Facebook no less!

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By Tomek – January 28, 2010

The Citizens United Decision

The left has been wailing and gnashing their teeth over the  Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision which gutted the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law.  Apparently, democracy is now doomed, because Wal-Mart and Bank of America can spend money on political campaigns.

The hypocrisy is striking …

  • Every major news organization is a corporation, and there is plenty of electioneering going on at every one of them.  News Corp. and  Tribune Company can publish political opinion and endorse candidates but Citizens United and Wal-mart can’t.
  • It is fine for unions or environmental groups or clubs (AARP, AAA) to be able to petition the government or support a candidate but not for a corporation or private company.
  • Does anyone seriously think that McCain-Feingold reduced the impact of money or special interests on American politics?  No, it was simply another weapon in the arsenal of the left.

This discussion (and the whining from the left) is not about what is right, or about democracy.  It is about their disappointment that a big advantage they held has been removed.  It is illustrative to examine the specific case that was contested.  Citizens United is a non-profit corporation that was planning to purchase cable television air time and show a documentary highly critical of Hillary Clinton.  The FEC didn’t go after Michael Moore and his clearly partisan (and demonstrably untruthful) “Fahrenheit 9/11”, nor did they go after MSNBC and Keith Olbermann, who would spew hate at his Grandmother if she were Republican.

Clearly, money isn’t speech.  But just as clearly, limiting the use of money limits speech.  Given the clarity of the language in the First Amendment, it is obviously unconstitutional.  Just as clearly a corporation is not a person, but is an association of persons, and should be able to represent shareholders just as a union, environmental group, or other organization can represent members.

In my mind, the big surprise is that it took so long for the Supreme Court to toss McCain-Feingold, and that 4 of the justices got it wrong!

Update (h/t Stossel) – Apparently, the ACLU sided with Citizens United.  This is good, although surprising.

Update – Xrlq makes a similar argument, with some great examples.

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By Tomek – January 27, 2010

I love this thought ..

Megan McArdle often has interesting thoughts. I love this one, a thought about how the Dems should react to the Scott Brown victory.

I mean, take this for what it’s worth but if Brown wins today, my advice to Blanche Lincoln, and Ben Nelson, and  their counterparts in the house?  You should panic.  They’re coming for you next.

It is this fear (whether justified or not), which will prevent ObamaCare from passing.  Thank God!

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By Tomek – January 21, 2010