The Gates case

I'm surprised that one unfortunate police encounter has been in the news so long. A police officer wrongfully arrested a professor who wrongfully called him a racist. The fact is that innocent people do get arrested all the time, and police are called racist all the time. I think that this case is attracting a lot of attention because of Professor Gates' social status. If this happened to an auto mechanic, we wouldn't be hearing about it.

A couple thoughts:
1. It generally doesn't serve one's interests to call a police officer a racist or otherwise insult him. If he's not racist, he might get offended. If he is in fact a racist, then you aren't telling him anything that he doesn't already know.
2. Police officers should control their own emotions when dealing with emotional people.

Both the police and the public have to meet each other halfway to get along in the streets.

What next?

Bernanke said that he had to hold his nose over the bailouts. Obama says that he doesn't want to run car companies. These are good feelings to have. Whether you supported the bailouts or not, we can still agree that we should reduce the need for them in the future. The best way to do this is to draw the line and say that no business will be bailed out again. Businesses will be more careful about taking risks in the future. Such a policy may very well slow economic growth (companies may have to pass on certain "opprotunities"), but it will reduce the risk of future recessions.

If you think that is too harsh a policy, then at least it should be firmly established under what circumstances a bailout should take place. Last year when the crisis started, it was argued that there was an understanding that these companies would be not be allowed to fail. Until TARP was passed, this was an informal understanding. If Congress is willing to provide more bailouts in the future, please let the rest of us know and pass a bill stating such. If Congress is ready to commit to quit being an enabler of poor responsibility, then a resolution should be passed stating that companies should not expect anymore bailouts.

Obama and Congress right to kill F-22 purchase

I like the F-22. I named my cat Raptor after this plane. It is designed to defeat any plane in existence. However, Al Qaeda and the Taliban don't have any existing aircraft. Even if they somehow hijack another civilian aircraft, older model F-15's and F-16's would be more than enough to shoot down an unarmed subsonic plane.

Senator Chris Dodd, a supporter of the purchase, argued that 95,000 jobs could be put at risk. If over a trillion dollars of deficit spending isn't helping to reduce the unemployment rate, that's a big clue that government spending isn't the way to create jobs.

This is a small step in the right direction. It's nice to know that a program can be frivolous enough to get axed.

40th anniversary of the first moon landing

Young people might wonder why no one has been to the moon in their lifetime. I'll explain it in terms that they can relate to. Space exploration is like dating. At first, all you are able to do is look at a heavenly body through a telescope or visit it's myspace page. You try to learn more about it by sending emails or space probes. Then when you're sure that it's safe to do so, you send a manned mission or take them out on a date.
You do all this to see what's out there. But after a while, you need to think about the long term. Why exactly should you keep spending money on rocket fuel and steak dinners? What are your intentions, anyway? Do you want a colony or a family? Do you plan to simply take advantage of her by mining her for resources?

After over half a century of exploration, if we don't have any long term plans then there is no point in continuing this relationship. If we do decide on a long term relationship, then we need to establish boundaries.

The homestead principle must be applied to space. If an individual or entity creates a useful structure on another world, then they should be allowed to own that structure and the land beneath it. It's unlikely that any corporation or eccentric billionaire would bother to set up a habitat dome on the moon or Mars unless they were assured that their claim to it would be recognized by all. If our government and governments around the world adopted this principle, then the real space race can begin.

Secure ID

Next year, Indiana will require people to show a passport, birth certificate, or other documentation proving one's legal status in order to get your driver's license or state ID renewed.

SecureID might very well be a bill of attainder. If people with valid ID's cannot get them renewed, then they will not be able to vote, thus denying their rights as citizens.

I am Robert Enders. I am a US citizen. If you think the first statement is false, prove it and send me to prison for identity theft. If you think the second statement is false, prove it and deport me. Otherwise, let me renew my driver's license.


LPAC SECRETARY: The preceding text was cited and quoted by Niki Kelley's and Benjamin Lanka's weekly column THE POLITICAL NOTEBOOK in the Fort Wayne Newspapers' Journal Gazette on the 19th of July 2009 (Pg 5C 5th subtitle c3,ip9 through c4,ip4)

City spends $400K on new facades

This is like repainting a car that's need of a new transmission. It makes things prettier but ignores what's important. With a looming budget crunch, this $400K could have been better spent on essential services.

But perhaps some of you think that there is a critical facade problem in Fort Wayne. Here is a streamlined approach to the problem:
1. If a facade presents a threat to the health and safety of the community, then the owner must be required to fix it at his own expense or be fined.
2. If the facade in question is just plain old or ugly, then it just gives the building character and there is no need for the city to take any action.

Anti Health Care Reform Rally @ Allen County Courthouse 12 Noon Thursday

LPAC SECRETARY: The following is a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT only, not an endorsement:

Thursday @ 12 Noon concerned citizens across northeast Indiana can open their mouths, and the first 150 can even deep throat a Coney Dog, at the Allen County Courthouse on South Clinton at Main Street, to protest against national health care reform that is currently making its way through Congress. The hour long rally event is hosted by Americans 4 Prosperity and Patients United Now and will include commentary from highlighted speaker, Honorable David McIntosh, former US Representative from 1995-2001 in the 2nd District, who was succeeded by the Honorable Mike Pence in the sixth District, and is currently also working with Conservative Lobbying Groups against the Sonia Sotomayor nomination/appointment to The United States Supreme Court.

LPAC SECRETARY: For my personal thoughts and commentary, please see my blog F6, thank you.

Congress takes on the BCS system

BCS is like life. It isn't fair, it cannot be made fair, but it still beats the alternative. The shear number of college football teams (more than 500) plus the amount of rest and practice that teams need between games (a week) means that a season followed by a tournament would take too long.

Some in Congress want to change the system. Should we be upset that with all the problems facing the nation that Congress wants to spend time on this? Or should we be glad that this distraction means that Congress will be spending less time screwing up on more important matters?

Another video

Indiana state government shut down averted

Everybody who follows Indiana politics already knows that the State House passed a budget.

I have but two comments on the future potential of a government shutdown:

1. This is but one more reason why the amount of responsibility assigned to government should be held to a minimum. If something is important to you, you'll find a way of accomplishing it that isn't subject to the political whims of the legislature.
2. If the BMV is ever shut down unexpectedly when you need your license renewed, that should be a valid defense for driving with an expired license. Life still goes on even when the state doesn't.

Is Cap and Trade worth it?

I will concede that reducing CO2 emissions is a laudable goal. While most scientists do agree that CO2 emissions have an impact, there is still disagreement on the extent of that impact. Remember all that panic over Y2K? You really didn't what was going to happen until it happened. On January 1, 2000, most of us either breathed a sigh of relief or said "I told you so!" And there were some that were disappointed that the world didn't come to an end. There were some minor problems associated with Y2K, but it wasn't as devastating as many had feared.

Like a millennium prophet, Al Gore will have the privilege of getting to see first hand if he is right. Because CO2 levels will go up, and it is beyond the power of Congress to stop it. If it costs too much for a company to emit CO2 in the US, they will simply move elsewhere. As China, India, and other countries start to develop, there will be a massive increase in CO2.

If the worst case predictions are correct, then it won't matter what we do since we're all doomed anyway. On the other hand, if conservative talk show hosts are right, then we have nothing to worry about. But for the sake of argument, let's assume that the truth is somewhere in between. Even without human activity, the climate still changes from year to year, century to century, and eon to eon.

So here are my predictions:
1. Congress will either repeal "Cap and Trade" or grant exemptions to "vital" industries.
2. The climate will change, and we will adapt.
I feel rather confident about the second prediction, since there won't be anyone around to tell me that I was wrong.

What should the government do then? Everyone, including the government, should look into ways to reduce consumption of resources. Maybe I should start riding a bike to work, and maybe some wasteful government programs should be cut.

What if government ran health care?

What happens when another country takes an interest in your election

In 1888, the British ambassador to the US received a letter from someone claiming to be an English immigrant living in California. It was asked in the letter if it would serve British interests if Grover Cleveland were to be re-elected. He sent a reply suggesting that it would indeed be better for England if the Democratic incumbent won the election.

The letter turned out to be from a Republican operative. The ambassador's reply was made public, and it caused Irish-American voters to oppose Cleveland.

The moral of the story is that it can backfire when government officials try to influence the internal affairs of another country. President Obama is right to condemn the violence taking place in Iran, but that is all he can do about it at this point. With an embargo already in place, it would be unwise to make any threats to the Iranian government that cannot be carried out.

City ordinance violates rights of suspects

Fort Wayne City Code Section 130.06 requires landlords to evict tenants who are suspected of a drug crime. Even if one supports current drug laws, this ordinance ignores due process and the presumption of innocence. A defendant who posts bail should be allowed to remain in his current residence until the conclusion of his trial, assuming he complies with the terms of his lease.

Landlords already have strong incentives to keep drug offenders out of their rental properties. They should even have the right to evict tenants that they know are breaking the law. But they should not be forced to do so.

Currently there is a lawsuit to get the ordinance overturned. The City Council should save the city the cost of fighting the lawsuit and repeal the ordinance.

Trailer for new Michael Moore film

"Cash for Clunkers" scheme

The "Cash for Clunkers" program is a bad idea for the following reasons:
1. The plan is not cost effective in terms of job creation. It would spend $4500 per new vehicle sold. A car company must sell 100 cars in order to justify employing 1 assembly worker per year, since it takes about 20 man hours to produce a vehicle. So this plan spends $450K, more than what the POTUS makes in a year, to keep one autoworker employed for another 12 months.
2. It is wasteful. The plan calls for the traded-in vehicles to be scrapped. There is still some demand for SUV's and pickup trucks. By removing these vehicles from the roads, it could increase the demand for new large vehicles and increase consumption of natural resources.
3. It isn't fair to people who already drive small cars and don't qualify for the program. Don't be surprised if people hoard SUV's when the next bubble pops in the hopes that this idiocy will be repeated.

There have been renewed calls for increased government control over health care. A new argument holds that fixing healthcare is key to fixing the economy. This is an easy argument to pick apart:
1. If the current economic situation means we need to fix healthcare, does it follow that we won't need to fix it if the economy improves?
2. Is increasing federal spending by hundreds of billions a year on top of what we already spend somehow a better idea now that we're 11 trillion in debt?
3. Aren't they putting the cart before the horse? Isn't the way to make healthcare more affordable is to grow the economy so that more people can afford it?
4. Isn't healthcare's real problems caused by previous attempts to fix it?

Get Free Money!

GM and Chrysler

Remember 6 months ago when we were all told that it would be devastating if any of the Big 3 declared bankruptcy? Chrysler recently did exactly that, and GM is about to do so as well. Deep down, I think most of us knew that was going to happen anyway. There were a lot of folks who opposed the bank bailout but still supported government aid to automakers, as if it were really possible for all of the Big 3 to make a full recovery.

Many people have an emotional attachment to the Big 3. They wouldn't feel as bad if Proctor & Gamble filed Chapter 11. If Microsoft or WalMart were going under, there would be a lot of gloating. But for people whose knowledge of American history only goes back to 1941, Ford, GM, and Chrysler have been around forever.

It's like having a beloved relative who is brain dead and on life support. Intellectually, you know there is no hope but you can't bring yourself to pull the plug. At the same time, his hospital bills are costing the family a lot of money.

While it is hard to say goodbye to a loved one, we have to be more dispassionate when it comes to corporations. A company that is failing should not put on life support. The purpose of a company is to generate profit, so any company that is no longer able to carry out this function should cease to exist. You wouldn't keep a car that couldn't run, would you? Instead, you'd sell it to a buyer that would make better use of it.

Memorial Day

Today we honor the war dead with parades, moments of silence, and blog posts cranked out at the last minute. For the rest of the year, let's honor them by preserving what they fought for and ensuring that their ranks do not increase as much in the future.