This past weekend, while I was in Grand Rapids to attend the Michigan GOP convention, this ad appeared verbatim in Friday's addition of the Wall Street Journal.
Geogia: The World's number 1 in fighting corruption.
According to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer by Transparency International, 78% of Georgians think that corruption has decreased over the last 3 years - the best result across the 86 countries surveyed. According to the TI survey, only 3% of Georgians who had contact with various public services reported paying a bribe in the past 12 months. This is a better figure than the EU average and places Georgia in a pool of countries whose citizens report the fewest bribes in the world. The survey shows that 77% of Georgians believe that Government action has been effective in the fight against corruption, making Georgia's result the 2nd highest globally. These achievements are even more important when set against the global perception that corruption has increased in the last 3 years and, as noted by TI 'one out of four worldwide has paid a bribe in the past year.' Another recent survey conducted by the International Republican Institute, Baltic Surveys and the Gallup Organization, points out that only 0.4 percent of the population of Georgia has paid a bribe to get service or a decision. To find out how to become part of Georgia's big success story please visit geogia.gov.ge. Grow with Georgia!
Where does one begin. First, for those in Rio Linda, CA, as Rush likes to say, this is not Georgia the state. This Georgia, the country, or state, or whatever, is within the borders of the former Soviet Union. I think Bill Clinton got us into a bit of a scrape here in the waning days of his presidency. It's nice to know, especially for Georgian officials, that 78% of Georgians think that corruption has decreased. With this kind of focused advertising, perhaps some additional wool can be pulled over some additional Georgian eyes in years ahead. It's so sad to think that European economic development has led to this. "We're not as good at stealing your money than the other guys!", or "Invest with us, with every dollar you save in bribes, another job can be created."
It's unfortunate to think that one in four around the world has paid a government official a bribe of some sort in the past year. More unfortunate is the fact that right here in the U. S. we have an occupant in the White House who wishes to emulate the very economic conditions and practices that seem to encourage this sort of despicable behavior. Commanding governments will ultimately demand more from its citizens. Now you must excuse me, a gentleman from the IRS is here to discuss last year's return and I've got tickets to this Sunday's Super Bowl.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
2011 State of the Union
The following are my alternate subtitles for last night's speech. Take your pick. Black and White and Red All Over, or Back to the Future, or Coyote Ugly. In either case, this was not one of Barack Obama's finest moments.
Black and White and Red All Over, refers to the black and white lapel ribbons worn by everyone in the room to honor those who lost their lives in the tragic shooting in Tucson. Apparently these are the colors that symbolize unity and hope for the Tucson community. Red is for the the collective deficits run up by our nation, states, and local governments. There's no joke here, it was just the first thing I thought of when I first saw that packed House chamber.
Back to the Future. It wasn't long into the president's speech before I thought to myself, this all sounds very familiar. In fact, the longer it went on it occurred to my that I have. Bill Clinton made this same speech some twenty years ago. President Clinton called for a hundred thousand new teachers. Or was it cops? Probably both. President Clinton charged Vice President Al Gore to reinvent federal government, streamline its processes, root out waste and duplication, and modernize it to meet the needs of a new generation. I don't think Mr. Gore was very successful and I don't believe President Obama, in this latest reiteration, will fair any better.
I think it was also Bill Clinton who first recognized that the term "investments" is a better euphemism for more spending and higher taxes, its focus group tested and has become standard lexicon in the progressive arsenal. Mr. Obama's much heralded march to the middle stops here. You can't spend masses amounts of new money and expect the deficit to go down. Unless perhaps you intend on massive cuts to offset the new spending, and once again Obama falls far short of that mark. By the way, what has all this ramped up spending over the past twenty or more years gotten us? According to the president, America lags the rest of the developed world in practically every indicator. How come we have fallen behind?
President Obama said that this is our "Sputnik moment." He spoke glowingly about President Kennedy's ambitious call in 1961 to land a man on the moon before the decade expired. That goal was accomplished in just eight years. Consider then Obama's goal of "80% of America's electricity will come from clean energy sources" by 2035. That's twenty-five years from now. That's really throwing down the gauntlet wouldn't you say?
As for increased spending on our nation's infrastructure, for my money, this was the best use of any of the stimulus funds. At least we have tangible evidence by driving on smoother roads. And there's no denying the fact that we need to maintain our roads, bridges, airports and power grid to keep up with the modern movement of goods and services that will attract additional job creation. But let's agree to do it without the yoke and chain of prevailing wage requirements set by Davis-Bacon. This federal relic from the past artificially and unnecessarily inflates the price of public works, thereby limiting the amount of work that can be done.
My disingenuous meter lit up when the president announced his support to lower the corporate income tax. It registered a little higher when he said that his administration had already made cuts to some of his favorite programs, such as community action groups. Read ACORN here, and only because of the extreme blowback from the public. But the one that really sent my meter into overdrive was his call, yet again, to veto any legislation with earmarks. I suppose he thinks that if he repeats this canard often enough he just might grow a pair and actually do it. I have thought for some time now that when words leave the mouth of Barack Obama, he no longer shares any ownership with them.
The whole "date night" aspect of the two parties sitting next to one another caused me to think Coyote Ugly, especially after seeing the shot of New York reps Anthony Weiner (D) and Peter King (R) sitting together. These two were obviously not digging each others' company. While Sen. Marco Rubio's (FL-R) date was fellow Floridian Sen. Bill Nelson (D), on the other side of Rubio sat Sen. Al Franken (MN-D). Just guessing, but I bet Al Franken felt more like his SNL character Stuart Smalley during the speech. His running affirmation being, "Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, the courts said I won the election."
Black and White and Red All Over, refers to the black and white lapel ribbons worn by everyone in the room to honor those who lost their lives in the tragic shooting in Tucson. Apparently these are the colors that symbolize unity and hope for the Tucson community. Red is for the the collective deficits run up by our nation, states, and local governments. There's no joke here, it was just the first thing I thought of when I first saw that packed House chamber.
Back to the Future. It wasn't long into the president's speech before I thought to myself, this all sounds very familiar. In fact, the longer it went on it occurred to my that I have. Bill Clinton made this same speech some twenty years ago. President Clinton called for a hundred thousand new teachers. Or was it cops? Probably both. President Clinton charged Vice President Al Gore to reinvent federal government, streamline its processes, root out waste and duplication, and modernize it to meet the needs of a new generation. I don't think Mr. Gore was very successful and I don't believe President Obama, in this latest reiteration, will fair any better.
I think it was also Bill Clinton who first recognized that the term "investments" is a better euphemism for more spending and higher taxes, its focus group tested and has become standard lexicon in the progressive arsenal. Mr. Obama's much heralded march to the middle stops here. You can't spend masses amounts of new money and expect the deficit to go down. Unless perhaps you intend on massive cuts to offset the new spending, and once again Obama falls far short of that mark. By the way, what has all this ramped up spending over the past twenty or more years gotten us? According to the president, America lags the rest of the developed world in practically every indicator. How come we have fallen behind?
President Obama said that this is our "Sputnik moment." He spoke glowingly about President Kennedy's ambitious call in 1961 to land a man on the moon before the decade expired. That goal was accomplished in just eight years. Consider then Obama's goal of "80% of America's electricity will come from clean energy sources" by 2035. That's twenty-five years from now. That's really throwing down the gauntlet wouldn't you say?
As for increased spending on our nation's infrastructure, for my money, this was the best use of any of the stimulus funds. At least we have tangible evidence by driving on smoother roads. And there's no denying the fact that we need to maintain our roads, bridges, airports and power grid to keep up with the modern movement of goods and services that will attract additional job creation. But let's agree to do it without the yoke and chain of prevailing wage requirements set by Davis-Bacon. This federal relic from the past artificially and unnecessarily inflates the price of public works, thereby limiting the amount of work that can be done.
My disingenuous meter lit up when the president announced his support to lower the corporate income tax. It registered a little higher when he said that his administration had already made cuts to some of his favorite programs, such as community action groups. Read ACORN here, and only because of the extreme blowback from the public. But the one that really sent my meter into overdrive was his call, yet again, to veto any legislation with earmarks. I suppose he thinks that if he repeats this canard often enough he just might grow a pair and actually do it. I have thought for some time now that when words leave the mouth of Barack Obama, he no longer shares any ownership with them.
The whole "date night" aspect of the two parties sitting next to one another caused me to think Coyote Ugly, especially after seeing the shot of New York reps Anthony Weiner (D) and Peter King (R) sitting together. These two were obviously not digging each others' company. While Sen. Marco Rubio's (FL-R) date was fellow Floridian Sen. Bill Nelson (D), on the other side of Rubio sat Sen. Al Franken (MN-D). Just guessing, but I bet Al Franken felt more like his SNL character Stuart Smalley during the speech. His running affirmation being, "Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and, doggonit, the courts said I won the election."
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Revenge of the Nerd
Last night I posted on Facebook my top six initiatives as proposed by Governor Rick Snyder in his first State of the State speech. The are; 1) Incentivize revenue sharing to local municipalities based on best-management practices, 2) End the process, and do not adopt new ergonomic rules, 3) Revise Public Act 72 to speed the recovery of cities in financial distress, 4) End the practice of retail establishments pricing each item individually, 5) Revise and improve the implementation of the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP), and 6) Fully fund the Pure Michigan ad campaign. After reading it this morning it occurred to me that these things, while good for the state in general, might not sound so bold to someone outside of Michigan, or to others expecting to hear the reverberations of the populace rhetoric from the fall campaigns. It also occurred to me that my choices for the top six initiatives might only be appreciated by a fellow policy nerd. Nevertheless I can assure you that these are important measures, with short and long-term implications, and yes in addition to these, the governor did begin the conversation of implementing new and radical change for Michigan.
As a newly minted county commissioner, I applaud the governor's efforts to try and incentivize (and therefore modernize) our state's revenue sharing plan. For most municipalities across Michigan, struggling with increasing costs and declining tax revenues, the word on the street was that revenue sharing would be one of the first expenditure items to be eliminated from the state budget. Sadly, the idea of having to adopt best-practices at the local level in order to obtain precious funds from the state, may be, for some, more scary than an outright cut. Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, I know it will be difficult for a majority of the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners.
Over the course of the last few years under the Granholm administration, eager bureaucrats intent on slowing the wheels of commerce have been trying to write and adopt new rules for ergonomics in the workplace. The rules they had been fashioning, if adopted, would have cost millions for businesses to comply, further eroding our state's abilities to retain and attract new business.
Michigan is one of just two states that still require every item on a store shelf to be individually labeled with a price tag. Given bar coding and modern technology, this relic from the past is simply archaic. While it may mean a loss of some jobs, the money it will save in the end could open the door for more and better jobs.
Under the original construct of the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, designated farms were given a pass from over zealous environmental regulators. The designation stipulated and fortified the position that the bearer was perhaps a better steward of the land being farmed, than the Lansing bureaucrats who claimed to know better. Once again, over the course of the last decade, Granholm's environuts ran roughshod over Michigan's agriculture community.
While the above items caught my initial attention, I am also very excited by the rest of the governor's agenda. I believe his "Dashboard", comprised of important and relevant data points, will prove to be an integral component in measuring our state's (and his) progress on our race back to prosperity. A refocused Michigan Economic Development Corporation, with a broader view and egalitarian perspective, should serve our state well in the coming years. The establishment of a two-year budget, to replace the parochial and outdated annual budgets of the past, and to deliver such by the end of May, fully four or five months earlier than in previous years, should enable our lawmakers to be more circumspect in deciding how to spend our money. Lastly, the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax and replacement with a flat 6% corporate income tax.
While some of us conservatives may have felt gypped that we didn't get the tough talk about reigning in public employee compensation and benefits, right-to-work, or an end to redistributive practices and policies, I am confident that some of that will appear in the governor's budget proposals, as well as future messages to the legislature as mentioned in his speech. All in all, I think it was a great start for Governor Snyder, and I look forward to doing my part in helping him to realize our Michigan dream.
As a newly minted county commissioner, I applaud the governor's efforts to try and incentivize (and therefore modernize) our state's revenue sharing plan. For most municipalities across Michigan, struggling with increasing costs and declining tax revenues, the word on the street was that revenue sharing would be one of the first expenditure items to be eliminated from the state budget. Sadly, the idea of having to adopt best-practices at the local level in order to obtain precious funds from the state, may be, for some, more scary than an outright cut. Unfortunately, and much to my chagrin, I know it will be difficult for a majority of the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners.
Over the course of the last few years under the Granholm administration, eager bureaucrats intent on slowing the wheels of commerce have been trying to write and adopt new rules for ergonomics in the workplace. The rules they had been fashioning, if adopted, would have cost millions for businesses to comply, further eroding our state's abilities to retain and attract new business.
Michigan is one of just two states that still require every item on a store shelf to be individually labeled with a price tag. Given bar coding and modern technology, this relic from the past is simply archaic. While it may mean a loss of some jobs, the money it will save in the end could open the door for more and better jobs.
Under the original construct of the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, designated farms were given a pass from over zealous environmental regulators. The designation stipulated and fortified the position that the bearer was perhaps a better steward of the land being farmed, than the Lansing bureaucrats who claimed to know better. Once again, over the course of the last decade, Granholm's environuts ran roughshod over Michigan's agriculture community.
While the above items caught my initial attention, I am also very excited by the rest of the governor's agenda. I believe his "Dashboard", comprised of important and relevant data points, will prove to be an integral component in measuring our state's (and his) progress on our race back to prosperity. A refocused Michigan Economic Development Corporation, with a broader view and egalitarian perspective, should serve our state well in the coming years. The establishment of a two-year budget, to replace the parochial and outdated annual budgets of the past, and to deliver such by the end of May, fully four or five months earlier than in previous years, should enable our lawmakers to be more circumspect in deciding how to spend our money. Lastly, the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax and replacement with a flat 6% corporate income tax.
While some of us conservatives may have felt gypped that we didn't get the tough talk about reigning in public employee compensation and benefits, right-to-work, or an end to redistributive practices and policies, I am confident that some of that will appear in the governor's budget proposals, as well as future messages to the legislature as mentioned in his speech. All in all, I think it was a great start for Governor Snyder, and I look forward to doing my part in helping him to realize our Michigan dream.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Until Tuesday
The mainstream media is still agog over "the speech", and the era of civility ushered in behind its delivery by the President Wednesday night in Tucson. "If only it could last", is their collective prayer. The Morning Joe crowd were all about "the speech" and "this moment" on today's program. John Meacham asked "how long can we keep this moment going?" According to him, "Obama has seized the initiative" with the speech, and "if we can get a couple of years of a better tone and a more constructive political dialogue, then we take it." At least until next Tuesday Mr. Scarborough warned. What happens next Tuesday you might ask? The Republican majority in the House of Representatives will vote on the repeal of Obamacare.
In other words, a mood of national unity will persist and prevail until those nasty Republicans start fiddling with our God-given rights to medical care, resist liberal efforts to curb gun rights, as a result of the tragedy in Tucson, or fight the left on trying to curb the tongues of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck, through the FCC and the Fairness Doctrine. The mantle of decency, tolerance, and civility rests squarely, and singularly, on the right. Those are the parameters as ascribed by the mainstream media. Ironically, yet consistent with those parameters, the crawl underneath the talking heads of the Morning Joe crowd, as they discussed this new wave of civility, was this: "Sarah Palin accuses journalists and pundits of inciting hatred in wake of deadly Tucson shootings." Further irony, but again consistent with the above parameters and rules for debate as prescribed by the left, host Joe Scarborough blasted Palin for making her remarks on Wednesday morning "all about her." Funny, listening to Morning Joe, the remarks about Tucson were less about the poor souls and victims of the shooting, but more about how the whole event has elevated the status and future prospects of Barack Obama.
In other words, a mood of national unity will persist and prevail until those nasty Republicans start fiddling with our God-given rights to medical care, resist liberal efforts to curb gun rights, as a result of the tragedy in Tucson, or fight the left on trying to curb the tongues of Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck, through the FCC and the Fairness Doctrine. The mantle of decency, tolerance, and civility rests squarely, and singularly, on the right. Those are the parameters as ascribed by the mainstream media. Ironically, yet consistent with those parameters, the crawl underneath the talking heads of the Morning Joe crowd, as they discussed this new wave of civility, was this: "Sarah Palin accuses journalists and pundits of inciting hatred in wake of deadly Tucson shootings." Further irony, but again consistent with the above parameters and rules for debate as prescribed by the left, host Joe Scarborough blasted Palin for making her remarks on Wednesday morning "all about her." Funny, listening to Morning Joe, the remarks about Tucson were less about the poor souls and victims of the shooting, but more about how the whole event has elevated the status and future prospects of Barack Obama.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The New Sophists
Excellent article by Victor Davis Hanson, from Investor's Business Daily.
The New Sophists