Catching Up With the News

I have been under the weather more often than not lately and have fallen behind on my comments. I am going to try to catch up with this post. Certainly there has been much to comment on.

Taking the kids to school this morning it is raining very hard, we are told that some snow is falling deep in the mountains, this is not fun weather for the end of April.

Spain, they of the 25 percent unemployment, is officially in a recession. Greece and Italy teetered and continue to do so but if Spain's economy fails, if they default then you could see the entire Euro-zone go down in flames.

Somebody need to ask if at some point the upheaval in the European economy will soon lead to political changes. Usually when economies fail, when societies stratify, the next thing to happen is political upheaval with a sharp turn to the far right or left being very possible.

This just in. President of France Sarkozy gained 28 Percent of the vote in this weekend's election. The Socialist candidate gained 28 percent. A runoff election is scheduled. Who will then decide the next President. How about the eighteen, that is eighteen just ten points less than the sitting President, percent of the electorate who voted for the Far Right anti immigrant party. Social upheaval, couldn't happen. Do not believe it.

Chuck Colson died this past weekend. Colson, known as a member of President Nixon's dirty tricks squad spent seven months in prison as a result of his Watergate crimes. During that time Colson had a conversion to Christianity. More importantly he never forgot it. He founded Prison Fellowship, an organization that has served both prisoners and their families over the last forty years. The outreach program that he founded has made a difference in countless lives. Colson made this his life's mission for the rest of his life. He was a genuine hero. History is littered with those whose lives were changed by a midlife conversion beginning with Paul himself. Look into what Charles Colson did over the last forty years, then realize that heroes do still exist.

Orrin Hatch could not gain his party's nomination free and clear in the state of Utah this weekend. He will face a challenger from his right in a primary next month. While it is considered that he might well gain the victory it is a worry for the Republicans that a man of Hatch's stature can be reduced this way. In Indiana Richard Lugar faces the same potential fate. What does this mean? It means that moderation and the ability to work across the aisle becomes even more in danger. Why? It becomes dangerous to your career.

John Cassidy wrote a comment recently talking about income equality. In so many ways the numbers are staggering. Not since the Gilded Age of the 1890's and the Roaring Twenties have we been at the point we are now. The article is long and the similarities are astounding but if one takes anything one thing away from the article they should take this one illustration. In those times and in our current generation if one was to chart the growth in income amongst the different income classes they would see a stepladder. That is they would see that the wealthiest people's income grew exponentially in comparison with the stagnant or negative growth of the lower and middle classes. Comparing this with the period from the mid thirties to the mid seventies, what is known as the Golden Age of the American Economy and a comparison of income growth would look like a picket fence. Everyone's income was growing at close to the same rate. How was this done, with a consistent, progressive tax system.

Stratification of society in the extreme does lead to social turbulence. We have been fortunate in the past to have reformers like Teddy Roosevelt and FDR appear at the right times. Is there one waiting in the wings right now? One thing we know for certain. Obama is not him.

Walmart, known in my home as the Evil Empire, is caught in a scandal in Mexico. It appears that they bribed their way top to bottom to expand in Mexico. The kicker is that Wal Mart executives found out in 2005 about the wide scale corruption in their Mexican operations they ordered an internal investigation. When the investigation proved that the problems were real Walmart stopped and stifled the investigation and attempted a cover up. This is going to be a very bad story for Walmart. Should we be surprised at anything this company does. I think not.


Mitt Romney in a long article this weekend reviewed his health care plan. The admitted truth is scarier than the fiction. He would do away with employer based health insurance making instead tax credits available for the purchases of health care. Raise your hand if you think that the savings businesses get from not contributing to health care costs of their employees will find their way in any meaningful measure to their employees.

Romney also believes that Medicare should become a voucher system much like the Ryan plan. Worse yet he would give all Nedicaid money to the states in block grants. The states could then spend the money as they determine best. This sounds good in practice but when a Republican administration is granting the federal waivers to the states where this Medicaid money is spent becomes a true question.


In Maine Governor LePage said something right this weekend. As the state government starts to consider budget issues and potential bond issues LePage said the state should pass a budget before considering bond issues. He is correct. I always feel that bond issues are an abrogation of the responsibilities we elect our legislators to perform.

That seems to catch us up.