Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Better Angels of Our Nature

Without the Police Logs and the crime reports, the Lehighton Times News would be a very thin newspaper.  Violence appears to be endemic, and we long for the good old days when people knew how to behave.  
On the other hand, Steven Pinker, Harvard professor and “evolutionary psychologist,” believes we are now living in what is probably the least violent time in human history.  In Pinker’s latest book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, he writes: “Believe it or not--and I know that most people do not--violence has declined over long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era of our species’ existence.” The book is loaded with charts and statistics to back up this conclusion.  Here is one example:  homicide rates in England are about one-hundredth of what they were in 1400.
We obviously still have the capacity for violence, but Pinker argues that the rise of government lessened violence.  Prior to the state, vendettas, blood feuds, and clan violence were the accepted ways to correct a perceived wrong.  With the development of the state, government took over the responsibility of punishing the bad guys.  
On a more pessimistic note, Dr. Pinker notes that just as social conditions can bring about a lessening of violence, violence can also increase.  In a society enamored of crime shows, violent video games, and NRA-inspired weapon availability, we may be seeing a return to higher homicide rates.  That last sentence is my view, not Dr. Pinker’s.  

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

A new meme

The term “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, in 1976 in a book entitled The Selfish Gene.  Dr. Dawkins said a meme can be ...”tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or building arches.”  (Meme rhymes with steam.)  Dawkins compared memes to diseases, seeking to propagate themselves by infecting people.  They can spread rapidly, and they affect the way we think.
Kalle Lasn, the editor of the magazine Adbusters, is credited with sparking the “Occupy” movement.  He deliberately set out to create a new meme.  He said, “There’s a number of ways to wage a meme war.  I believe one of the most powerful things of all is aesthetics.”
Did he succeed?  If I say the words 99%, do you know what I’m talking about?  Do you think the top 1% should be taxed?  Do you think the benefits of government are going to the wealthy?  It doesn’t matter if the Occupy movement people go home for the winter.  We have a new meme going. 
Tomorrow:  Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker says we are growing less violent. 

Monday, November 28, 2011

When old professors die

When retired college professors die, their survivors are often confronted with file drawer after file drawer of old lecture notes, class lists, and course syllabi from twenty or thirty years ago.  Not that I’m planning to die real soon, but I decided that I would save people a good deal of trouble and perhaps some guilt by recycling all of that old course material before the inevitable end.  
I am looking at a class list from Hayward State, where I taught a few evening courses.  Among the names are Aguilera, Alvarez, Chang, Cruz, Gonzalez, Kageyama, Kato, Nguyen, Patel, Phan, Qureshi, Rios, and Tsan.  Sometimes I miss the Bay Area so much my heart aches.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Victory

When everything seems to be going to hell in a hand basket, we need to recognize a victory when we get it.  TransCanada wanted to build a 1700 mile pipeline to bring petroleum from Canada to refineries on the Texas coast.  The refined product would most likely be sold outside the U.S.  The pipeline, known as the Keystone XL, was opposed by Canadian Indians, a number of progressive labor unions, farmer groups in Nebraska, and a wide range of environmental activists. 
On November 10 the Obama administration announced that the pipeline project would be delayed until after 2013.  That is after the presidential election. I suppose President Santorum or Gingrich or Cain could revive it, but right now it is basically dead.  If Obama is reelected, it is definitely dead.  This is one more reason to reelect President Obama.  

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Corporate profits and workers' wages

If you need further evidence of the erosion of the middle class, the success of the top 1%, and why we are experiencing a revenue problem rather than a spending crisis, check the article in today’s New York Times by Floyd Norris.  It’s entitled “For Business, Golden Days; For Workers, The Dross,” and features a number of charts:
  • corporate profits hit record high
  • ...as wages fall to new low
  • ...and taxes remain well below average.
The article, which you can read in its entirety at <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/business/for-companies-the-good-old-days-are-now.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper>, will not be discussed at the next Republican presidential candidate debate.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Divisions within the 99%

Income inequality in a number of Nebraska counties is increasing, and it is increasing in the counties with the highest and fastest growing incomes.  The counties with the fewest college graduates and the lowest income levels also have the most income equality.  I learned this from a report by David J. Peters in the Fall 2011 issue of Great Plains Research.  
I’m grossly oversimplifying a sophisticated scientific study, but Mr. Peters notes that the inequality tends to worsen when a county develops the high-end service sector (think computer techs) and low end service jobs (think Wal-Mart).  Counties that have low inequality are rural and somewhat stagnant, which means almost everyone is at the low end of the income scale.
Couple those findings with a study cited in today’s Allentown Morning Call.  Martha Bailey, an assistant economic professor from the University of Michigan, found that 54% of students from wealthy families obtained college degrees, but only 9% of low income students received their diplomas.  She defined wealthy as students from households bringing in at least $87,000 annually; low income as less than $26,000.  Since a college degree is a ticket to higher mobility, the poor are falling further behind. 
What both of these studies suggest to me is that the U.S. is evolving into a three-tier society.  First, we have the extremely rich--the 1% who rake in gobs of money and do not pay their fair share of taxes.  Secondly, we have the comfortable segment whose kids get college degrees, who have low unemployment, and who, if not super-rich, are not exactly hurting.  They probably identify upward.  The last tier includes the people who are not making it, who are working dead end jobs if they can find employment, and who are not really part of the political system.
Political philosophers from Aristotle to Ben Franklin to Franklin Roosevelt have noted that a community is strongest when most of the citizenry are firmly middle class.  A society with wealthy people confronting poor people is in trouble.  I think we better start a dialogue on this topic.  Perhaps it will be discussed at the next Republican debate, the same day pigs fly.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pennsylvania Gerrymandering, cont.

In an earlier post I printed the address of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.  I also said it wouldn’t do any good to write.  I did anyway--call it an existential gesture.  Here’s a copy of my letter.
Legislative Reapportionment Commission
North Office Building, Room 104
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Dear Commission members:
On November 17 the Morning Call printed a map of the preliminary reapportionment plan.  One look at the plan and it is obvious that the tradition of gerrymandering continues in Pennsylvania.  In Carbon County, for example, an integral part of the County’s tradition and culture, the borough of Summit Hill, is neatly excised.  New legislative districts wander across county lines, squiggle here and there, and are obviously drawn for partisan advantage.
Citizens grow more cynical with each election cycle.  Money controls elections, incumbents are almost impossible to defeat, and democracy is mocked.  I know you are doing what you are paid to do, but it is not what America stands for, and I think you should be ashamed of your work.  It is not too late to do the right thing, but I have little hope that that will happen.
By the way, Governor Cuomo in New York said he will veto any plan drawn up by the legislature that he regards as gerrymandering.  He has asked that the boundaries be drawn by an independent commission.  That is the difference between having a governor who believes in fairness and one like Corbett, who will do anything to advance his partisan cause.
Note:  I am taking a vacation day for Thanksgiving.  See you back here on Friday.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Corbett breaks campaign promise, supports new taxes

As a candidate Governor Corbett promised Grover Norquist, the anti-tax guru who controls the Republican Party, that he would never to raise taxes.  Now he supports a tax on the job creating natural gas drilling and fracking industry of up to $40,000 per well.  
Governor Corbett says this is not a tax but rather an “impact fee.”  Grover Norquist knows better.  This is a tax.  What next, Governor Corbett?  Attacks on the free market?
Support for “Obamacare”?  Calls for sex education for home schoolers?
Can we ever trust this man again?  He’s a damn socialist.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Sandy Pope defeated

Sandy Pope was the first woman ever to run for the President of the Teamsters’ Union.  She was a UPS driver who thought the current Teamster leadership gave too much away to companies like UPS.  She only received 17% of the vote; another candidate running against the current leadership received 23%.  That means that the incumbent, a member of the Hoffa family, was reelected with 60%.
As a former Teamster (Oakland, CA, Warehousemen’s local), I hoped Ms. Pope would win, but the Hoffa name is hard to overcome.  By the way, approximately 20% of the Teamsters bothered to vote.
Reapportionment revisited
A few days ago I noted the partisan gerrymanders in Pennsylvania and praised states like California and Arizona that had non-partisan commissions drawing the lines.  Evidently the Governor of Arizona was not as impressed as I was, and she tried to fire the Arizona commission’s chairwoman for “gross misconduct” because she thought the new lines hurt Republicans.  The Arizona Supreme Court has vacated the Governor’s order.  Sometimes Republicans have a hard time accepting fairness.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Veterans' Day, redux

Dear Readers,
     I was reviewing recent posts and noticed that my entry for Nov. 10 had never made it into print.  I have no idea why, but I did write it and I want you to read it.  It was entitled "Veterans' Day," and here it is in its entirety.


In the Strohl’s Valley one-room school where I attended fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, our tiny library contained a book by the World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle entitled Brave Men.  It was an odd choice for an elementary school, but I loved that book.  Pyle’s columns did not glorify war or talk about the nobility of combat.  Instead, they reported on the average American fighting man and detailed his tribulations and his quiet dedication.  Pyle was killed in the Pacific theater just a few weeks before the war ended.
About fifteen years ago Linda and I were driving on Route 36 in western Indiana and noticed that the small town of Dana had a museum dedicated to Ernie Pyle.  We drove north to the town, toured the museum, and bought a publication featuring some of Pyle’s writings.  As we drove west we took turns reading the columns, still incredibly moving some 50 years after the end of World War II.  
We noticed that all of the other visitors were older than we were.  They were vets, paying homage to a man who wrote about infantrymen living and dying in rain and mud.  We wondered who would visit that museum when the vets died off. 
Today an article in the New York Times reported that the state of Indiana took Pyle’s typewriter and some of his artifacts and then closed the museum.  It was too far from a major urban area and had too few visitors.  Volunteers in the town are trying to keep it open on a part-time basis with donations.  I hope they succeed.
A note on mandatory voting
Janette from Belgium sent me an email commenting on the recent post supporting mandatory voting.  Here’s what she wrote:  “We have mandatory voting in Belgium, so everyone stays home for the weekend.  The word is, don’t go early or you will be recruited to work.  Other than that, as everyone is in town, it is always a good weekend to plan something with friends without people having to arrange mutually agreeable dates week in advance due to conflicting activities.   Yeah, people here are getting as busy as they are in the states.”

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Bella has a baby

My great niece (who really is great in both meanings) has prevailed upon Linda and me to see the midnight showings of all three “Twilight” films.  That is the series in which a teenage girl falls in love with both a vampire and a werewolf.  I think the odds are slim that she would fall in love with a boy from either of those categories.  What are chances on both at once?
These movies are a cultural phenomenon.  This last one raked in over 30 million dollars before dawn broke on Friday.  The Mahoning theater was filled with young girls and their mothers, and the film was playing in all theaters.  While I didn’t see every patron, I’m fairly sure I was the oldest person there.
I once taught a class in political films, and my definition of a political film was broad, including both “Selena” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”  In the case of the films in the Twilight series, however, I can’t see any political implications whatsoever, although a picture ID requirement might be a problem if the wolf wants to vote.  Maybe he can request an absentee ballot.
I must confess that I never see the complete films. I fall asleep. In this last one I missed the wedding dress, the honeymoon, and most of the pregnancy.  
Here’s another thing.  When Lon Chaney, Jr., became a werewolf, his pants and shirt stayed on.  When Jacob becomes a wolf, what happens to his pants?

Friday, November 18, 2011

Savings Bonds

I’m reasonably sure the Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Public Debt, needs money.  That is the agency that issues government savings bonds.  Today I picked up savings bond purchase forms from my bank in Kresgeville.  I give them to family members for Christmas presents.  It also makes me feel patriotic.
As of December 31 I can no longer do that.  The only way to purchase savings bonds after that date will be online.  This is one of those policy changes that is both thoughtless and counterproductive.  First of all, about one-third of Americans do not have internet access.  People who are connected assume that everyone else is, but millions are not.  Old people are among the demographic groups who lack internet access.  Who do you think buys savings bonds?  The term itself is redolent of World War II and Liberty Bond drives.
The second problem is the credit card issue. Millions of people do not have credit cards.  I have never bought anything over the internet because I don’t have a credit card.  How am I supposed to purchase my savings bonds next Christmas? 
You would think that the Bureau of Public Debt would be looking for ways to increase savings bonds purchases.  Evidently not. 
Tomorrow:  My adventures at the midnight showing of that new vampire/werewolf movie “Breaking Wind, Part I.”  I think that was the title.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Republicans gerrymander Pennsylvania districts

You’re surprised?  
Under current law and court decisions, legislative districts must be substantially equal in population, and the boundaries must be contiguous.  Other than that legislators can be quite creative, as a glance at the preliminary district maps in today’s Morning Call will show.
The most egregious gerrymander in the local area is the excision of Summit Hill from the 122nd House District.  If you go to the official preliminary map at <http://www.redistricting.state.pa.us/Maps/index.cfm> and look very carefully  at Carbon County, you will see a sliver on the western side lumped in with Schuylkill County.  That sliver is Summit Hill.  (A warning:  the color contrasts on the map are not very good.)
Why did the Republicans remove Summit Hill?  Because Representative Heffley has not exactly lit up the night skies over Harrisburg.  He is vulnerable, and what better way to protect him than to remove one of the most Democratic municipalities from his district.
A petition is being circulated in the Summit Hill area to keep the borough in the 122nd.  Individuals may also write to the Commission, although I don’t think they accept emails.  Send your letter to 2011 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, North Office Building, Room 104, Harrisburg, PA 17120.  You have until November 30.  They won’t listen to you. 
Finally, we recently had a Democratic Governor and one chamber controlled by Democrats.  Why didn’t they implement a neutral reapportionment commission?  A number of states have done this.  Why is Pennsylvania always at the end of the line, the bottom of the pile, the back of the pack?  Look at the current legislative priorities--selling state stores, protecting natural gas drillers, wrecking public schools with vouchers, failing to act on property tax reform, suppressing the vote.  

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Small Stream Advisory

In 1972 Congress adopted and President Nixon signed the Clean Water Act to protect, in the words of the Act, “all the waters of the United States.”  Any commercial developer who wished to dredge a body of water or dam up a stream or fill in a wetland had to obtain a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Under the George W. Bush Administration the protections were limited to navigable waters.  Although I have canoed the Aquashicola and Mahoning Creeks, they would not be considered navigable under the Bush guidelines. 
Earlier this year the Obama administration proposed new guidelines that protected American streams and wetlands--the same standards that had been applied for decades after the Clean Water Act was passed.  This irritated developers, and in response, the House passed legislation denying the EPA and the Army Corps from carrying out the guidelines.  Now Repuiblican Senators Barasso of Wyoming and Heller of Nevada have introduced legislation to do the same thing in the Senate.  Approximately two million miles of small streams are at risk.
I read in the New York Times a few days ago that college students aren’t as enthusiastic for President Obama as in 2008.  Given the Republican candidates and the Republican Congress and the Republican Supreme Court, I have actually become MORE enthusiastic.  This country and its environment cannot afford to have a Republican president.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

In China I'd be in trouble

Chinese government offices, including the Central Propaganda Department and the State Council Information Office, send directives to various media outlets on what they may report.  Harper’s Magazine (Dec. 2011 issue) has reprinted some of these directives:  
All websites are requested to immediately remove the story “In China 94 Percent Are Unhappy; Top-Heavy Concentration of Wealth.”
Regarding Shanghai’s and Chongqing’s experiments with initiating property taxes, opinions that property taxes steal money are not to be reported.
All websites are requested to immediately remove photos and news reports regarding Chengdu bus explosion.
Do not report on the sinkholes caused by coal mining in Shanxi.
China is doing well economically.  Its people have a work ethic that puts ours to shame.  The Chinese government has loosened many aspects of government control.  Nevertheless, China is still a dictatorship with press censorship and arbitrary rules; I’m glad I don’t live there.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Feeling stupid

If citizens were ranked by their political knowledge, I’d be in the top 1%.  That isn’t bragging; it is a simple fact.  I read three newspapers every day.  I have a Ph.D. in political science.  I know a lot of stuff.  
Nevertheless, when I voted last Tuesday, I didn’t know a single fact about any of the five school board candidates on my ballot.  I didn’t even have the cue of party, since the candidates had cross-filed.  These are people who make policy that will affect our children and grandchildren.  They determine our school property tax.  They are important, and I knew nothing about them.  I can’t remember any analysis or candidate profiles in the Times News
I felt very stupid, and I ended up not voting for any school board candidate.  I must do better next time, but I’m not sure where I can even get information.  Any suggestions?

Sunday, November 13, 2011

An Honest Man

During a newspaper strike, New York Mayor LaGuardia read the Sunday funnies over the radio.  In that tradition I’ll bring you one of today’s strips.
“Doonesbury” features an interview with “an honest man.”  He discusses the voter I.D. bills Republican legislators are pushing in state after state.  He also points out that the Bush Department of Justice found voter fraud to be almost nonexistent.  
In the next panel he says this:  “Republicans should make the case on its merits!  We don’t give a flying fig about ‘fraud.’!  We just want to suppress turn-out of Democrats to keep the wrong kind of people from voting!”
“For the love of god, show some spine!  If we’re gonna try to steal elections, we shouldn’t make it worse by insulting voters’ intelligence!”
Exactly.  Gov. Corbett and the Pennsylvania Republican legislators know that fraud is not a problem.  They know their purpose is to suppress votes.  Why can’t they at least be honest about it?

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Flat tax

Every four years at least one Republican candidate can be counted on the introduce the idea of the flat tax.  The arguments advanced are, first, that the flat tax is fair, taxing everyone equally; and second, that it is simple, allowing us to get rid of all the complicated regulations contained in the present I.R.S. code. 
Let’s address the fairness issue first.  A flat tax will make the rich richer.  According to the recent Congressional Budget Office study, the top 1% of income recipients received (I refuse to use the term “earned”) 275% more in 2007 that they did in 1979, adjusted for inflation.  In this same period earnings for middle class households increased by less than 40%.  Some flat taxers like Herman Cain would make matters even worse, excluding dividends and imposing the flat tax a tax on wages alone.
The simplicity argument is completely bogus.  I do my own taxes.  Once I have my income figured out, I turn to the tax table and find what I owe.  I can do that in less than two minutes.  I could put that on three lines on a postcard.  1. income.  2.  tax from table.  3.  amount owed.  The problem is figuring out what my income is.  That takes hours and hours.  Do I count Carbon County fair winnings?  What about the yard sale profits?  Scrap metal sales?  Do I count every retirement benefit?  Can I deduct medical costs or the college fund for my grandson?  I will have to do the same thing with a flat tax.
Not one of the Republicans who tout the simplicity of the flat tax explain how it will eliminate the problem of determining income.  Because it won’t.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The Utah Compact, one year later

One year ago the Utah Compact was unveiled.  It was an effort to deal with the immigration issue in a reasonable and humane way, and I was so impressed with the attempt, I signed it.  It was a more conservative plan than I would have drafted, but it does not call for mass deportations, throwing children out of school, or scapegoating immigrants.  It’s a good starting point.
The Mormon church did not officially endorse the Compact, although many of its leading members supported it.  That Mormons are divided on this issue was shown in Tuesday’s election in Mesa, Arizona, where Spanish-speaking moderate Jerry Lewis won in a recall election against Russell Pearce, one of the most anti-immigrant politicians in America.  Both candidates were Mormons.  According to the Deseret News, the Compact played a role in Pearce’s defeat.
If you would like to check out the Compact, go to <utah.compact@gmail.com>.  You might even want to sign it.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hey, I didn't do it

The campaign for County Commissioner in Carbon County was notable for four separate mailers attacking Democratic incumbent Commissioner Bill O’Gurek. I believe that most neutral observers would characterize these mailers as dirty politics.  In an article in the Times News today, Republican incumbent Wayne Nothstein was quoted as saying, “I was not totally happy with them [the mailers] myself, but I am not going to apologize for what somebody else did.”
Mr. Gerhard, Mr. Nothstein’s running mate, reiterated this theme.  “The mail campaign was done by the state committee.”
We are asked to believe that a mail campaign featuring pictures of the two Republican candidates, was beyond their control.  They were just bystanders, helpless pawns, innocents.  
It is going to be a long four years in Carbon County.
Contest results:
The winner of the contest to predict the voter turnout in Carbon County was George White of Towamensing Township, Carbon County.  The actual turnout was 34.9%; Mr. White predicted 34%.  Mr. White, who makes his own excellent wine, has declined the prize, which means I now get to drink two bottles of wine from Big Creek Winery.  I’m starting right now.  

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Returns

Returns

1.  Maine voters restored election day registration, overriding a vote suppression attempt by the Republican Party in that state.

2.  Ohio voters defeated an anti-collective bargaining bill that was even worse than Wisconsin's.

3.  Mississippi voters defeated an extreme anti-abortion initiative.  That's right--Mississippi.

4.  Kara Scott won her election to the Bowmanstown Borough Council.

I don't know the Carbon County results yet, but I'm going to bed happy.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Voting and Jury Duty

If you are called for jury duty and you don’t show up, you better have a good excuse.  Otherwise, you will be fined.  Jury duty is considered a civic responsibility, but it is not a voluntary responsibility.  You must serve when called.
Why not fine citizens who don’t vote?  Australia adopted that policy in 1924.  In Australia if you fail to vote, you are fined.  If you continue not to vote, the fine increases.  
William A. Galston of the Brookings Institution gave three good reasons for mandatory voting in a November 6 article in the New York Times.  First, citizenship involves obligations as well as rights.  Voting is a responsibility.  Second, voters today tend to be people with money and education.  The interests of the people on the bottom are not represented at the polls.  Years ago when labor unions were strong and “machines” turned out the vote, more people at the bottom were voting.  Now the electorate is skewed toward the upper tier.
The third advantage would be that if everyone voted, extremists would be diluted.  Only about 40% of eligible voters cast a ballot in the non-presidential House races.  The 40% includes Tea Party people and other nut jobs who are intensely political.  They skew the political system.  If everybody voted, the fringes would be diluted.  
No, I don’t think mandatory voting will happen any time soon.  In fact, the Republicans love that the rich and the extreme are able to swing low turnout elections.  Their entire thrust is to restrict voting, not expand it.  Tomorrow we will see further results of low turnout and big money.  It won’t be pretty.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Union to Union

Today my partner and  I did a “union to union” walk in Palmerton.  We visited homes where a voter was also union member.  We explained that we were there on behalf of the Carbon County Labor Chapter, AFL-CIO, and that the Chapter had endorsed Charlie Getz and Bill O’Gurek for County Commissioner.
Yesterday I did the same thing in Nesquehoning.  This weekend was the first time I have ever gone door-to-door for a candidate where I only received positive feedback.  Today, in fact, a young ironworker shook my hand.  My partner had a similar experience.  In all my years of precinct walking, I have never before had anyone shake my hand.  
I feel like breaking into a rousing chorus of “Solidarity Forever.”  It’s a nice feeling.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Voter contest announced

On Tuesday, November 8, Pennsylvania will hold an election for the state judiciary along with local municipal and school board members.  In Carbon County, 37,565 people are eligible to vote.  I’m predicting the turnout in Carbon County will be 32%.  
The reader who posts a more accurate guess on the turnout than mine will win a bottle of red and a bottle of white from Big Creek Winery.  If my guess is the most accurate, I keep both bottles.  No one else is allowed to guess 32%--I’ve already taken that.  If there is a tie, each tie will receive one bottle.  I’ll pay shipping costs.
If the Republicans succeed in their efforts to require picture ID, I also predict next year’s turnout will decline by between three and five percent, mostly among Democrats.  There’s no contest on that, just disgust at one side’s willingness to cheat and pretend that it’s to prevent fraud.  

Friday, November 4, 2011

Advice to radicals

 As one of the founding members of the California Green Party, I was often irritated with some of the more “idealistic” ideas that not only hindered accomplishments, but were actually undemocratic.  Early on, the Party adopted a procedure in which everybody had to agree with a proposal or the proposal died.  I pointed out that this was the least democratic procedure possible.  What it meant was that one person could rule.
This is the way the U.S. Senate operates.  Rand Paul, for example, can put a “hold” on a bill and block passage.  He did that in October on a bill to extend cash assistance to 5,600 elderly and disabled refugees.  The bill, supported by such diverse people as Sen. Shumer of New York and Sen. Sessions of Alabama, was opposed by Sen. Paul, and under Senate rules the bill could not go forward.
It was with some despair that I read that some of the “Occupy” groups had adopted a “consensus” procedure.  Congressman John Lewis was prevented from speaking to the Occupy Atlanta group because one vegan objected.  (Mr. Lewis, evidently, eats meat.)
I understand that the minority must have rights.  I am a proud member of the American Civil Liberties Union, a group devoted to minority rights.  Nevertheless, I don’t believe that a minority should dictate policy.  That is a form of tyranny.  It’s also stupid.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Immigrant entrepreneurs

Recently the Fiscal Policy Institute published a study on new businesses in New York City.  Of the 69,000 businesses in the City, approximately 48 percent are owned by foreign born entrepreneurs.  Some sections of the economy (grocery stores, dry cleaning establishments) are dominated by foreign born owners.  You can find the story at <http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/immigration.html>.
The statistics were based on samples from 2005-2009.  The study defined small business owners as self-employed people with incorporated businesses.
We probably expect taxi drivers to be predominately foreign born, but the study found that 40 percent of the computer systems design, architectural, and engineering businesses were also owned by immigrants.
It’s too bad about the wasteland known as Hazleton.  Somebody should tell Congressman Barletta.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

How Many Votes?

Joseph Stalin is reputed to have said, when reminded of the influence of the Pope, “How many divisions does the Pope have?”  I think about that sometimes when I’m reading about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.  How many votes does it have?
I expressed some admiration for that movement in an earlier posting.  I noted that the demonstrators had changed the way people perceive the American economic system.  Americans are finally getting the message that the people on top have undue influence, are doing better than the rest of us, and have one of the two major parties to represent their interests.  I may stage my own “Occupy Weissport” demonstration in the near future in support.
Nevertheless, I come back to “How many votes does the movement have?”  It is not enough to change the conversation, as important as that is.  We also need to change the government.  The Tea Party people understood that.  They went to town halls, registered voters, and voted in 2010.  Admittedly, they were shills for the rich, and they received training and funding--and still are--from people like Art Pope and the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove.  Be that as it may, they have their hands on the levers of power.  They stop the jobs bill.  They kill environmental legislation.  They prevent poor women from obtaining abortions.  They manipulate the redistricting and suppress voting rights.  They possess power.
I, and a few hundred others, if I can get things organized, may stand with our signs and slogans in the Weissport park, but that won’t be enough.  Politics is dull hard boring work.  It is especially difficult when the other side has most of the money, but it is work that must be done. Otherwise the “Occupy” movement will be an interesting footnote in some future American history book.
An aside:  The House yesterday reaffirmed that “In God We Trust” is the official motto of the U.S.  I always thought it had an additional phrase--"All others pay cash." Who knew? 

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Purchasing elections

I’ve received two mailers from the Republican Party attacking Bill O’Gurek, candidate for Carbon County Commissioner.  The first one basically accused him of causing the high unemployment rate in Carbon County; the second implied that he went up to the county facility at Weatherwood and pushed old people out of their beds.
The Supreme Court set the stage for this type of campaign with its “Citizens United” decision.  Corporations, with the same rights as people, can pour money into campaigns without reporting their contributions.  Rich individuals can do the same.  (Check out the Oct. 10 article in the New Yorker on how one man, Art Pope, is skewing the entire electoral process in North Carolina.)
The Pennsylvania Republican Party has enough money to try to influence a small county race for commissioner.  The strategy is to elect Republicans at the local level.  Those Republicans will at some point run for higher office.  
I recently had an argument with a man who was irritated that I had picketed an event at Penn’s Peak, asking who funded the Carbon County 9/12 group.  The 9/12 group was inspired by Glenn Beck and is pretty much a shill for the top 1%.  This man said it was perfectly legal for the 9/12 group to keep its donors secret.  I told him that it might be legal, but it was wrong.  Wrong or not, he is correct.  Money is pouring into the political process.  It is not pouring into the Democratic Party.  This government is for sale, and our side lacks the funding to buy it.  
It’s legal, but it’s not democracy.  Even worse, the governments that are elected under this system lack legitimacy, and that can be dangerous.