Hillary Clinton: Babysitter in Chief

Posted on 2008-05-05 by David

Here is another gem from Laura. She came in to my office this afternoon and told me that she had just seen a bit of a speech by Senator Clinton. She thought it very important that I be aware that Hillary Clinton had just told her audience that they wanted a President who would solve their problems, take care of their families and watch out for their children. (I don’t claim that to be verbatim.)

Of course my first thought is that I would prefer a president who would enforce the laws of the land, defend the Constitution, and tell the truth to the American people. I don’t need someone to keep pushing the lies that there are painless, if complex, solutions to the problems we have been busy creating for ourselves.

Upon reflection I realized that maybe Senator Clinton is really making a good offer – free babysitting of my kids. I’ll bet she’s a lot more dependable than many a teenage babysitter. Of course by the time I finished writing this I realized that she never said she would babysit for free – or even for cheap.

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Willing Suspension of Disbelief

Posted on 2008-05-03 by David

Reports from the CBO that a Universal Health Coverage Bill would be budget neutral are obviously based on the third kind of lie (namely statistics). Commonhealth sums up the effects of the bill like so:

The legislation:

  1. gets rid of employer based insurance (employers that contribute to coverage would give employees that money at first, and eventually shift to a federal health coverage tax)
  2. requires all Americans to have health insurance
  3. offers subsidized coverage up to 400% FPL (Mass is up to 300%)
  4. sets up purchasing pools (like the Connector)

Could someone please point out to me where this plan gives health care providers an incentive to provide efficient, high-quality care? It seems to me that insuring all our uninsured citizens will never pay for itself in a system that thrives on inefficiency – as the current system does. Adding inefficiency couldn’t possibly pay for itself.

Ending employer based insurance is potentially a good thing. Requiring everyone to buy insurance looks like an incentive for more inefficiency and even price gouging. And one of my senators is sponsoring this. I think he should have his head examined.

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A Thin Red Line

Posted on 2008-05-03 by David

I stumbled upon a great statement on the line that separates civilization from anarchy. Timothy Gatto writes this in response the the FLDS situation:

While you might not agree with what the FLDS is doing, it doesn’t warrant any civil authorities to act outside of Constitutional law. When civil authorities bypass or ignore the Constitution, we are all put in jeopardy, and we are that much closer to living under a totalitarian government that makes up its own laws as it goes along. Sometimes the issues are larger than the crimes. I think I can safely say that most Americans abhor the practice of using young girls as ‘breeders” and in the process satisfy the lust of old men, but that issue isn’t as important as civil authorities acting outside the law. We are supposed to be a nation that believes in the rule of law. That premise is behind the definition of a civilized state. The law is for everyone to obey, the governors as well as the governed. Once the line that separates civilization from lawlessness is crossed, the result is anarchy, no matter who crosses that line first. There were other ways of stopping what was happening to these young girls. The authorities didn’t have to violate anyone’s constitutional rights.

While he is speaking specifically to that one case, the line he draws – the respect for law by those who govern and those who are governed – is a universal line. It’s a line we really can’t afford to cross.

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Wired for Authoritarianism

Posted on 2008-05-01 by David

Starting by referring to two posts I wrote back in January, Obi wan Liberali posts More Thoughts on Authoritarian Thinking. I have to say that, like Obi wan, I am deeply concerned about our shift towards a more authoritarian society. I also agree that the positions publicly identified as conservative are tending towards greater social authoritarianism although I’m not sure they are becoming more authoritarian economically. On the other hand, the positions publicly identified as liberal have always been likely to take an authoritarian stance economically while remaining libertarian in the social arena.

I believe that Obi wan is correct in identifying two classifications of authoritarians – most being authoritarian followers, and the minority being authoritarian leaders (he calls them dominators). Obi identifies religion as being naturally authoritarian in structure. While I agree that religion is generally authoritarian I don’t believe that this is peculiar to religion – I believe that authoritarianism is human nature.

People who strive for power are naturally going to be authoritarian leaders. Leadership based solely on logic and persuasion is not a dependable way to maintain authority. Those who rely on persuasion are not concerned about their personal authority. The reason that so many people qualify as authoritarian followers is a combination of short-sightedness and laziness. Some people are unwilling to do the work necessary to form their own opinions so they follow whatever authoritarian leader they are inclined to follow. Others are willing to do the work to form their own opinions, but they fail to foresee the dangers of supporting the authoritarian pursuits of those who are ideologically in line with the positions they have chosen.

The reason that authoritarian systems are so worrisome to me is that I view personal responsibility to be the foundation and the working definition of liberty. Authoritarianism is antithetical to personal liberty and personal responsibility. People who are unwilling to take the time to gather the information to form their own opinions will always be seeking for someone to follow politically, religiously, or in any other arena. People who will put forth that effort will enjoy the fruits of their personal liberty only to the extent that they are allowed to – meaning that they cannot enjoy the fruits of liberty in a situation where their opportunity to make choices is cut short by the system. This applies to equally economic, political, and religious systems.

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Federalist No. 9

Posted on 2008-04-30 by David

Federalist No. 9 can be almost completely reduced to this extended quote by Montesquieu:

a CONFEDERATE REPUBLIC. . . is a convention by which several smaller STATES agree to become members of a larger ONE, which they intend to form. It is a kind of assemblage of societies that constitute a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, till they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of the united body. . .

The form of this society prevents all manner of inconveniences.

If a single member should attempt to usurp the supreme authority, he could not be supposed to have an equal authority and credit in all the confederate states. Were he to have too great influence over one, this would alarm the rest. Were he to subdue a part, that which would still remain free might oppose him with forces independent of those which he had usurped and overpower him before he could be settled in his usurpation.

Should a popular insurrection happen in one of the confederate states the others are able to quell it. Should abuses creep into one part, they are reformed by those that remain sound. The state may be destroyed on one side, and not on the other; the confederacy may be dissolved, and the confederates preserve their sovereignty. (“Spirit of Lawa,” vol. i., book ix., chap. i.)

Ever since the United States made the transition from being a plural noun (ex. “the United States are . . .”) to being a singular noun (ex. “the United States is . . .”) it seems that the individual sovereignty and identity of the states is becoming more of a formality than a reality. Contrary to the argument made in Federalist 9, I am not convinced that “So long as the separate organization of the members be not abolished; so long as it exists, by a constitutional necessity, for local purposes; though it should be in perfect subordination to the general authority of the union, it would still be, in fact and in theory, an association of states, or a confederacy.”

It seems that the last half century or more have shown that when the states become fully subordinate to the federal government the balancing of interests that are present in a confederacy are minimized and the Federal authority begins to act more like a monarchy with an ever-changing head.

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Government is a Tool

Posted on 2008-04-30 by David

LaVarr Webb asks Utah Policy readers if they think government is always a necessary evil or if it can be a force for good. Since my answer to that question goes directly to the heart of what my blog is about I thought I’d share my answer here.

Government is not always necessary (an isolated group of people who were respectful of each other would not need any government – if it were possible to be really isolated anymore), and it is certainly not always evil. Can it be a force for good? The answer depends on what you mean by “force.” It is not possible to force people to be good so when government is being used to force people to act a certain way then you can be sure that it is not good.

Government, like any tool, is good so long as it is being used for its proper purpose. The purpose of government is to protect individual rights. Once people start using government as a force to mandate the will of the majority on the minority, or even the will of the minority on the majority, then government is not good. Unfortunately that is how too many people view government today, as a force to promote their own view on society as a whole.

No matter how well intentioned (and most of them are well intentioned) an activist is in their efforts to make the world better through some government action, they are using the tool of government incorrectly and there will be undesirable consequences.

Take the example of racism. Government cannot be used as a force to make people be not racist. It can be used to force students of different skin colors to attend the same school building, but that is not the underlying problem. The underlying problem can only be solved by using a different tool.

Racism is not right or good, but it is the right of each individual to be racially fair-minded or racially biased. Where racism is concerned, the proper place of government is to ensure that appropriate action is taken when one person tramples the rights of another. In fact, the government need not even consider whether racism was the cause of that infringement of rights, only that the rights were infringed and what the appropriate response is towards the person or persons who did the infringing.

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Embracing Broad Perspectives

Posted on 2008-04-28 by David

I was listening to a story on NPR about young Indians abroad returning to help their country. One statement that caught my attention was the assertion that Indians who have lived in Western cultures have experienced the problems and some of the attempts to fix problems that the West has been dealing with for decades and which the Indian culture and economy are just beginning to experience as the economy there expands. Because of their perspectives from other nations they have a unique ability to help India avoid some pitfalls that the West has seen – if enough people will listen to them.

Later I was having a conversation about transportation issues in Utah and it occurred to me that the same phenomenon applies here. People in Utah who have spent appreciable time back East in areas of higher population density are much more likely to be supportive of mass transit options, tolling, and other transportation options that are often distasteful to those who have lived in the sprawling west all their lives. If those with the perspective of having lived back East are heard we might be able, as Utah continues in its rapid population growth, to avoid some pitfalls such as becoming another concrete urban jungle like Los Angeles. Only if we start making better use of transportation infrastructure options besides increasing amounts of asphalt.

Trax is good, FrontRunner is good, but lets try to make sure that such transportation options are part of the fabric of the area, not just an anomaly that feeds people into the downtown Salt lake City area.

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Spinning Our Wheels

Posted on 2008-04-25 by David

I have been expressing my frustration in comments about the way the federal government seems to be doing little or nothing useful in the way of increasing our homeland security. At the same time, our president is demanding more leeway to ignore the protections guaranteed by the Constitution. I found a very good statement of what is happening from Glenden Brown in his post Problem Solving (again!).

. . . many people seem to believe that doing something is the same as solving problems. The thinking seems to be “If I’m taking action, I must be solving the problem.” Such thinking misleads people into frantic activity when confronted by a challenge, activity that as often as not accomplishes nothing other than keeping them busy.

That is a perfect explanation of how our legislative bodies work. When they identify an issue they rush to do something in an effort to ensure that they are not accused of laziness or neglect. With that kind of mentality it’s no wonder that government would be known for overreacting anytime they chose to do something about an issue.

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A Reasonable Proposition

Posted on 2008-04-24 by David

I think Tim Lynch has outlined a good idea for moving forward from the FLDS Texas Nightmare. This is what the Texas CPS would do if they were serious about upholding the law and pursuing justice.

    • Send the 300 children under age 4 home since there has been no evidence of abuse and they are a decade from being forced into underage marriage.
    • Send the boys over the age of 4 home because there is no evidence of abuse toward them.
    • Allow the police one more week (since it’s already been three) to present evidence of abuse. Absent that evidence they should send the rest of the girls home as well.

Tim suggests that the investigations can continue past the next week, and prosecutions can come whenever there is evidence for a trial, but holding innocent children in detention, away from their parents for three weeks, without being able to present any evidence of abuse is a slap in the face of justice.

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Outstanding News

Posted on 2008-04-23 by David

The news today that UDOT puts Lehi freeway on hold is incredible.

Teri Newell of UDOT said the state agency, hearing concerns from Lehi, had agreed to cut in half the width of the road, going from 680 feet wide to something closer to 350 feet wide.

That plan will preserve a corridor wide enough to build a freeway if necessary, but beyond that, all bets are essentially off the table.

Newell said that “if” a freeway ever needs to be built — and that word alone represents a change in tone — UDOT has now agreed that negotiations must begin again at some future date . . . Instead of planning for a freeway now, a new east-west connector at 2100 North will be built as soon as possible, with two lanes and traffic signals in each direction.

I knew that the city officials had not given up on finding a resolution, and the article makes it clear that they still want to see a 2100 North freeway removed from the table of future possibilities, but I really had not expected that they would be able to make even this much progress with UDOT.

An east-west connector being built soon will do much more good for north-west Utah county than 10 more years of wrangling over the alignment without building anything. Combined with the east-west connector on 1000 South (where construction should begin sometime next year) we will have nearly the equivalent of a new east-west freeway, and 3 east-west routes (1000 S, Main, and 2100 N) through Lehi in 5 years rather than 10 more years of talk and gridlock – which is what we would have had before even if Lehi had not opposed the 2100 North freeway.

Kudos to the Lehi City officials who continued to advance the city’s interests in the face of long odds.

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