GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Clinton shatters pork record

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) requested $2.3 billion in earmarks for fiscal 2009, nearly three times the second largest senatorial request this year. Clinton’s request takes pork-spending greed to a new level after last year’s $837-million request by Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) turned reformers’ heads. Among the three presidential candidates, Clinton is by far the biggest spender. Barack Obama foreswore earmarks for 2009 and all his requests have totaled $740 million in his three years in the Senate. John McCain has yet to tally a single earmark request, sticking to his position against wasteful government spending.

Clinton’s request is heavy on grants for homeland security, but her office has given no details as to specifically where the money would be spent. Some think that she is looking to spread gobs of money around New York State in case she loses the presidential race and finds herself in need of support for a third Senate term. Nah, couldn’t be.

New & notable legislation

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) introduced a bill that would freeze the mandated fivefold increase in ethanol production by 2022. The mandate was part of last year’s energy bill and, according to Hutchison, was “well-intentioned… but it was also impractical.” She pointed to a 240-percent rise in the price of corn, wheat and soybeans in the last two years.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced legislation to allow the FBI to retain information from background checks on gun buyers for 180 days, instead of the current 24 hours. Prior to 2004, the FBI kept records for 90 days. Nothing like turning back the clock, as liberals always say. Of course, Lautenberg couched his bill in fighting crime and terrorism, calling it the Preserving Records of Terrorist & Criminal Transactions (PROTECT) Act of 2008.

After the unnecessary and wasteful farm subsidies in the run-up to the last election, congressional Democrats now are revealing that their talk of fiscal restraint was all hat and no cattle by proposing $280 million in government handouts disguised as a farm bill. No surprise, liberals refuse to let go of the economic reins despite 75 years of government command and control over agriculture. Statistical data reveal agriculture subsidies are mostly awarded to wealthy farmers and confer no benefit to small farmers (those worth less than $2 million with net incomes below $200,000), while the largest nine percent of all U.S. farms receive 56 percent of all subsidies under the current bill. Subsidies are costly to taxpayers and consumers, and they undermine the agricultural sector by creating surpluses of unneeded products while falsely spurring overconsumption of others. The mad dash (created in part by subsidies) to turn corn into ethanol has caused the downstream effect of driving up prices for nearly all other food, since corn occupies the most prominent foundation block of the American food chain.

Judicial Benchmarks: Indiana voter ID OK

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Democrat Party and the ACLU on Monday when it ruled that Indiana’s law requiring voters to produce a photo ID at the polls was not excessively burdensome. The Supreme Court’s decision paves the way for other states to take steps to prevent voter fraud. Liberal justice John Paul Stevens joined the court’s conservative justices in upholding Indiana’s law, and he wrote the majority opinion. “There is no question about the legitimacy or importance of the state’s interest in counting only the votes of eligible voters,” Stevens wrote. “Moreover, the interest in orderly administration and accurate recordkeeping provides a sufficient justification for carefully identifying all voters participating in the election process. While the most effective method of preventing election fraud may well be debatable, the propriety of doing so is perfectly clear.”

Not surprisingly, the ACLU’s Indiana legal director said he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision, even though Democrats’ own expert witnesses admitted that 99 percent of Indiana’s voting-age residents already have the necessary photo ID. While the Left is busy crying foul over “voter disenfranchisement,” the real story is that the Democrat Party can no longer rely on duplicate IDs and dead people to help win elections in Indiana. It is our hope that Monday’s ruling will prompt other states to follow Indiana’s lead in reducing voter fraud.

Around the horn

Proving he is a true big-government liberal, Barack Obama said this week that he is willing to give up his multimillion-dollar fundraising machine to accept public funding for the general presidential election. Obama’s fundraising prowess has surprised everyone, particularly cash-strapped Hillary Clinton, but he would give it all up for public financing. Of course, that means all taxpayers, even those who don’t support him, would pay for his campaign. His promise hinges on whether the Republicans also embrace public financing, which is hardly likely given the spending restrictions it places on the candidate and the party.

Hillary Clinton challenged Obama to a series of debates in the style of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates in an effort to draw the frontrunner out in the open. Using the 150th anniversary of the debates for the Illinois Senate seat between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas as a backdrop, Clinton called on Obama to debate one on one with no moderator, no panelists and no questions, save those the candidates ask each other. Clinton needs to expand on her Pennsylvania success in the remaining primaries, and she is hoping that by putting Obama in a compromising position on the stump she can close the delegate gap between them. Obama’s team so far has rejected the request, noting that there have been 21 debates, and four exclusively with Clinton, this primary season, indicating that the public would be better served by interacting directly with the candidates. What was it Jeremiah Wright said about chickens?

Let the lawsuits begin: Legal wrangling over the Michigan Democratic delegates was inevitable, given the litigious nature of the Democrat Party and politicians in general. Joel Ferguson, a superdelegate, filed a challenge with the DNC demanding that all of Michigan’s delegates, including the 55 percent who support Clinton, be seated at the convention in Denver. The Obama campaign opposes Ferguson and will likely oppose any similar demand that arises from Florida.

Speaking of delegates, a pledged superdelegate for Clinton switched to Obama this week. And not just any superdelegate, but former DNC chairman Joe Andrew, who served during the last two years of Bill Clinton’s administration. Indeed, Obama continues to welcome superdelegates to the fold, despite losing popular support and not posting a win since 22 February.

Campaign watch: Travels with John McCain

Since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have to spend precious campaign time tearing each other down, the task of whittling away at the GOP presidential nominee has apparently fallen to their accomplices in the Leftmedia. The New York Times published a hefty story in its Sunday edition this week noting that Sen. John McCain frequently took advantage of his wife’s company jet for comparatively little cost from last August through February. It was during this period that McCain’s campaign was in dire financial straits, and it paid a total of $241,149 in first-class fees for almost exclusive use of the jet. Last year McCain backed a law that required candidates to pay charter rates for using private jets to avoid lobby influence. However, there was a loophole that exempted aircraft owned by a candidate or his family. In the end, McCain did not do anything illegal, but given his holier-than-thou stance on campaign finance reform, we can expect this type of story to pop up from time to time throughout the election season.

On the brighter side, the Senate unanimously passed S. Res. 511 this week stating that McCain, who was born in the Panama Canal Zone, is constitutionally eligible to become president of the United States. Thanks for clearing that up.

‘DC Madam’ dead

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the “DC Madam” for the “escort service” she ran in Washington, DC, was found dead at her mother’s home in Florida Thursday in an apparent suicide. Palfrey was found guilty in April of money laundering, illegal use of the mail and racketeering in running the prostitution ring, which enticed many on Capitol Hill, including Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). Palfrey faced a prison term of four to six years, and one journalist quoted her as saying, “I’m not going back to jail. I’ll kill myself first.”

NATIONAL SECURITY

Another Iraq spending game in Congress

The House is debating what will likely be the last supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war of President George W. Bush’s term, and another round of political games is set to begin. The president’s $108-billion request has been padded by the House with an additional $70 billion, which Democrats want to offer the next president so that he (or, God forbid, she) won’t have to ask for more money right away. Presumably, the Democrats are counting on one of their own winning the White House, meaning that the new president wouldn’t have to ask for more money at all, since the general plan is to withdraw from Iraq unilaterally at the earliest possible opportunity.

The $70-billion add-on comes despite President Bush’s threat to veto any bill that comes across his desk greater than the original request, and House Republicans are itching for a fight over the whole affair. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Plorable) has drawn the ire of the GOP for taking the spending bill directly to the floor rather than through the Appropriations Committee, which is standard procedure. Her boldness may come back to haunt her, however, as fellow Democrats looking to give up the fight in Iraq are unsettled by the huge spending request from a House Speaker elected on a pledge to end the war.

Another subject of debate over Iraq is the new projection for its oil revenue—that it will exceed $70 billion this year. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) are currently drafting a bill that would require future reconstruction aid to be in the form of loans instead of grants.

Warfront with Jihadistan: Marine operation

Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit launched a major operation in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province this week, battling Taliban fighters in and around the town of Garmser, located in the heart of Afghanistan’s opium belt. Taliban fighters employed improvised bombs and small arms in resisting the Marines, but they generally refused to stand and take a beating, instead melting into the countryside. The operation, however, served as a reminder that the ongoing effort in Afghanistan, now approaching its seventh year, remains a shooting war in much of the country.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Ambassador William Wood came under attack last week during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the victory over Soviet invaders. At least three probable Taliban fighters opened fire with automatic weapons from a nearby building but failed to harm Karzai before being killed by Afghan security forces. A successful attack on Karzai, following the December assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, would have given a major propaganda coup to the Taliban/al-Qa’ida extremists, who are desperate to keep freedom out of the Middle East.

Profiles of valor: USA CWO Zanders

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Michael Zanders logged nearly 800 hours of combat flight in Iraq, but none were like those on 15 April 2006. On that day, Zanders received a call for help from a nearby combat outpost and quickly took off in one of two Kiowa Warrior helicopters from Forward Operating Base Mosul. On approach, gunfire and explosions forced the choppers to fly near to the ground, but they were able to say hello to the jihadis with a few rockets and 50-caliber rounds. The Kiowa helicopter opposite Zanders took heavy fire, however, and was forced to retreat and assess damage. Soon, the insurgents were threatening to overrun the landing zone and Zanders took quick action, landing next to the downed crew and allowing them to grab hold of his helicopter’s weapons struts while he took off for safety—80 knots back to FOB Mosul. The flight with an extra crew hanging on was challenging to say the least and was later confirmed to be the first ever attempt at such a rescue. As soon as he evacuated the crew at the base and refueled, he headed back out to provide security as the downed helicopter was recovered. For his heroism, Zanders was awarded the Bronze Star.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Economy doesn’t collapse, states hardest hit

The Associated Press headlined this week that the economy grew by “only 0.6 percent” in the first quarter. One could almost hear them cursing in the background because they have been predicting—no, hoping for—recession for months now. Economists define a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, and, well, that hasn’t happened. “The economy is weak but not collapsing,” said one economist. Furthermore, the word on Wall Street is optimism that the worst is behind us. Meanwhile, federal, state and local governments are hiring workers at the fastest clip since 2002. So on the other hand, maybe that 0.6-percent growth was just in the public sector.

The bean counters in 27 states, however, contend they are suffering because the money is not coming in to support their budgetary visions—collectively it’s estimated that these states are $39 billion in the red on their spending plans. Generally, the revenue shortfall is blamed on the slumping housing market. As citizens tighten their belts and prioritize spending in order to keep their heads above water, states are caught in the bind of also needing to deal with increased costs across the board but not receiving enough in tax dollars to keep up, especially in sales-tax receipts.

One possible benefit of this economic slowdown could be a frank evaluation of what state governments actually need to provide for services against what items can be cut. Unfortunately, the mindset of most state legislatures is still one of seeking additional revenue through new taxes and fees to deal with their projected deficits, most notably a $1-a-pack hike in the cigarette tax in Massachusetts. While that state expects to collect $175 million annually from the new levy, sin taxes generally fall far short of estimates, worsening the budget mess for future years. Thus, as citizens rework their finances to deal with increased food and energy costs, it appears they may have to leave a little room for their state government to exact their pound of flesh as well.

Income Redistribution: NY Internet tax

New York is trying to shore up its budget with a scheme to grab some $50-75 million in new sales taxes on Internet purchases. Online retailers that have a physical presence in the state already collect sales tax on items purchased, as do retailers in other states. New York, however, is extending the sales tax to online retailers that allow “click-throughs” from New York-based Web sites in an end run around a 1992 Supreme Court decision that bars just this type of tax. The Court ruled that it would cripple interstate commerce to force companies with no physical presence in a state to collect sales taxes. New York’s total sales tax is nearly nine percent, including local taxes, and the state already ranks 48th worst for overall business-tax levels according to the Tax Foundation. The new rule will take effect 1 June, but Amazon has already filed suit to strike down the law. The Retail Council of New York State spilled the beans, too, saying they hope the new rule is the first step to collecting taxes on all Internet purchases. What’s next, a tax on fast food? Oh wait, New Jersey is already considering that one.

Regulatory Commissars: Ethanol games

The goal is admirable: reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil. The means—using corn for an alternative fuel source—has created a disaster. This year, nearly 25 percent of the nation’s corn crop will go to ethanol plants instead of feeding poultry and livestock, not to mention humans. What is bringing a financial boon to corn farmers is squeezing others, who then pass the rising cost of corn to consumers. This plan, supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, including President Bush, is a no-win proposition. It has done nothing to drive down fuel costs but rather is driving up the price of several foods and significantly reducing our grain supply. Ironically, recent studies have found that burning ethanol may cause as much or worse pollution than gasoline.

In his defense, President Bush also advocates other alternatives to foreign oil, including drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). ANWR drilling, which would allow the domestic production of about a million barrels of oil per day, has been decried by many in Congress as harmful to the environment. In a recent press conference, President Bush took Congress to task for its failure to act on behalf of the millions of Americans affected by high fuel costs.

“There are a lot of reserves to be found in ANWR. That’s a given,” President Bush said. “We can explore in environmentally friendly ways. And yet this is a litmus-test issue for many in Congress. Somehow, if you mention ANWR, it means you don’t care about the environment. Well, I’m hoping now people, when they say ANWR, it means you don’t care about the gasoline prices that people are paying.”

’Court Jesters’: Decide on polar bears

Speaking of ANWR, we recently relayed the congressional debate over whether to classify polar bears as an endangered species and the effect that would have on tapping the oil supply in ANWR. This week, a federal judge in California ruled that the Interior Department must decide by 15 May on listing the polar bear as an endangered species. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, who has impeded oil drilling off the West Coast in years past, said that the Bush administration was improperly dragging its feet on the issue. The previous deadline was in January and Interior had asked for an extension until 30 June. The question is, when will Interior have the guts to just say “no” to listing the polar bear as endangered? That option is still open.

Timber and Taxes

Montana Democrat Sen. Max Baucus recently did an about-face on his support for punitive tax rates on hedge funds and private-equity shops. He supported punishing successful investors until he noticed the unfair results for his Montana timber constituency. Because timber sales are treated as capital gains, timber companies were forced to restructure in order to avoid paying both the 15 percent tax on capital gains and the 35 percent corporate taxes. Those that didn’t or weren’t able to restructure were then taxed at higher rates than the others. This struck Mr. Baucus as unfair—as it should. He has since argued that all timber concerns should be treated equally and that the top rate of 35 percent should be lowered to 15 percent.

These are all great ideas, but they reveal the wider problem in America’s tax code. The problem that Baucus discovered isn’t limited to the timber industry. Companies are constantly maneuvering in order to maximize tax benefits and avoid federal punishment for success. Those who aren’t as good at working the system or who don’t have enough folks lobbying Congress end up paying more taxes. If this is unfair for the timber industry, then it’s unfair for everyone. The only sensible solution for the economy as a whole is the solution Baucus has proposed for the timber industry: All U.S. companies should pay the same lower corporate tax rate. Fifteen percent sounds like a great place to start.

Back to the Future: Railroads and coal

Don’t look now, but railroads are moving again. After 20 years of contracting assets, seven major railroads are on an expansion investment binge. Capacity is being increased because demand is up. Of course, sensing that there may be happiness in a corporate boardroom, Congress is poised to douse the charcoal just as the barbecue begins. It seems that with an increase in demand, railroads have seen fit to increase prices. We seem to recall reading something about this concept—oh yes, it was in a freshman economics class where the concepts of supply, demand and equilibrium pricing were discussed.

However, Senators Rockefeller, Kohl and Dorgan—all Democrats—were absent that day. The trio is actively promoting the same policies and regulations that almost killed the industry in the 1960s and 70s. In the interim, railroads continue to operate with a level of fuel efficiency that would make Adam Smith blush. Coal remains the primary commodity shipped by rail, and with the recent decision of many electricity producers to convert its power-generating facilities from oil to coal, the shipments of coal via rail to Norfolk, Virginia, will continue to increase. With 200 years of coal reserves on hand, perhaps we will develop a method to extract gasoline from coal? Wait—it’s already been done, but those same wonderful folks who would re-regulate the railroads have successfully regulated that solution out of our available alternatives.

CULTURE

Chicago Heat

After a weekend that saw 36 shootings in Chicago, perpetual Mayor Richard Daley has decided to equip Chicago police officers with “high-powered M4 carbines” (more commonly known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians). Just one day after blaming the gun industry for Chicago’s crime problem, Daley said it was “not a difficult decision” to issue rifles to every police officer, making it unclear whether Daley thinks guns are the problem or the solution. Daley also failed to elaborate on how the Chicago Police Department’s new acquisitions were supposed to help citizens defend themselves in the city with America’s second-strictest gun control laws (crime-ridden Washington, DC, is first). A famous quote goes likes this: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” Such absurd reasoning has its own parallel in Chicago, where official policy is that defenselessness will continue until crime improves. Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama supported his hometown’s draconian stance on self-defense last week when he told the Chicago Sun-Times, “There has not been any evidence that allowing people to carry a concealed weapon is going to make anybody safer.” In light of Obama’s opinion, we think he should give up his Secret Service detail, since it isn’t “going to make anybody safer” and is therefore a waste of taxpayer money.

Meanwhile, law-abiding gun owners are busy proving Obama wrong. When an angry customer pulled a gun on the manager of a grocery store on Monday in West Palm Beach, Florida, the manager and his assistant both drew their own handguns, forcing the attacker to retreat. Manager Marino Hernandez and assistant manager Robert Espinal found the criminal, 73-year-old Marshall Hugo Grant, cowering in the parking lot, where they detained him until police arrived. We’re not sure how Hernandez and Espinal would have been safer without their guns, but we’re sure Barack Obama does. Leftists always know a great many things that aren’t so.

Halls of justice on the right: Gun suit thrown out

In other Second Amendment news this week, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out New York City’s lawsuit against gun manufacturers that claimed the industry was selling guns despite knowing that they can be diverted to illegal markets. The Associated Press reports that the city claimed “the industry violated public nuisance law by failing to take reasonable steps to stop widespread access to illegal firearms.” The suit, which was originally filed in 2000, sought no monetary damages, only a court order requiring gun manufacturers to “more closely monitor” gun dealers who sell guns later used in crimes. It reminds us of Universal Studios’ 1980s lawsuit against Sony over VCRs because consumers might use them for illegal purposes.

Around the nation: S. Dakota abortion referendum

Voters in South Dakota are going to be given another chance to vote on a referendum that would ban abortion in the state. In 2006, a similar referendum failed, though exit polls indicated that the referendum would have passed if there had been wording allowing for an exception to the ban in the cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother. As it stood, the 2006 version limited exceptions to the life of the mother. The new referendum opens up the other exceptions, such as serious health concerns for the mother, and rape or incest. Furthermore, the text of the referendum really hammers home the point: “All induced abortions, whether surgically or chemically induced, terminate an entire, unique, living human being, a human being separated from his or her mother, as a matter of scientific and biological fact.” There are about 800 abortions in the state each year, all performed at a single clinic. The referendum has even larger implications, however, because if it passes, it will no doubt end up in the court system.

This week’s climate change: Oceans cool

According to researchers at Germany’s Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, temperatures in North America and Europe may actually drop over the next 10 years because of shifting ocean currents. Worldwide temperatures could stabilize over the same span. One researcher said that the cooling effect might neutralize warming trends. “Those natural climate variations could be stronger than the global-warming trend over the next 10-year period,” he said. Now here’s the money quote: “Without knowing that, you might erroneously think there’s no global warming going on.” Word is, he said that with a straight face. Another researcher chimed in, “If we don’t experience warming over the next 10 years, it doesn’t mean that greenhouse-gas warming is not with us.” In other words, pay no attention to the cooling temperatures—the globe is still going to warm. (As an aside, NASA said this week that we are in for possibly 30 years of cooling.) Finally, another priceless quote from a researcher: “We thought a lot about the way to present this because we don’t want it to be turned around in the wrong way. I hope it doesn’t become a message of Exxon Mobil and other skeptics.” Perish the thought.

And last…

If anyone sees a giant floating pig over the California desert, please call the Obama campaign. Well, scratch that. It appears the pig has popped. The inflatable swine—as wide as two school buses, as tall as a two-story house and adorned with the words “Don’t Be Led To the Slaughter” on the side and “Obama” on the bottom—was accidentally released during a performance of Pink Floyd’s “Pigs” at the Coachella music festival in Indio, California, Sunday. The organizers offered a $10,000 reward that will be split by two families who awoke to a lot of shredded pork in their driveways Monday morning. “It wasn’t really supposed to happen that way,” said a Coachella spokeswoman. That pretty much sums up the month for Barack Obama. Perhaps it’s even indicative of his chances of becoming president: When pigs fly.

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)