Boogeymen and Monsters Under The Bed

Far be it from me to give advice to in an arena I have no experience in (you may laugh) and have very little interest in gaining such experience, but what he said.

I have to wonder how it was that I managed to survive my childhood. Not just me either, but my brothers and all the kids I knew.

The typical summer day would see us run outside early in the morning. We’d find our way home for lunch and then disappear again. We hiked through woods, and fields. We caught snakes and used them to terrorized girls who dared follow us. We were outside the view of any parent for much of the time. And, in a utopia without cell phones, our parents couldn’t call us every 15 minutes or use a GPS system to track our moves.

If they wanted to reach us they had to stand on the front porch and call out our names. And, if we felt like it, we answered. But, truth be told, we often heard them and didn’t answer

...

Here’s the thing: Crimes against children have been declining. But the safer we get the more paranoid we, as a society become. From 1990 to now substantiated cases of child sexual abuse has dropped in half. Cases of physical abuse have dropped in half as well. Assaults on teens have also dropped by about 50%. In some states the declines were closer to 80-90%. (Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Washington)

But as kids have become safer parents have become more paranoid, a paranoia that politicians are always ready to exploit. In the world of politics the best problems to address are the imaginary ones, you always succeed at slaying monsters that don’t exist.

 This goes to something I've mentioned before.  Criminal activity is down and has been declining for years.  CLS's comment about slaying monsters (highlighted) really rings true to me.

Right Sizing

Papa Bear's government is too big.
Mama Bear's government is too small.
Baby Bear's is just right.

This should be essential reading for every one who registers to vote.  They should have to read it again every time they show up at the polls.

Today's Stat

0.4%
Is the amount of the federal budget the GOP has proposed cutting.
For reference, the deficit is about 33% of the budget.  The amount of the cut doesn't even amount to a hill of beans.

And what are they looking to cut?  Job training programs, the EPA, the Office of Science are three of the items on their list.

Gin and Tacos does the yeoman work to break this down in easy to understand graphs and concludes

You could almost respect their misguided zeal – rhetorically, if not in practice – for "cutting spending" if it was not such an obvious smokescreen for partisan hackery.

Yep.

Elections Have Consequences II

At Ezra:

Republicans wanted to [pay for the tax cut] by cutting public-health subsidies for the poor. Democrats said no. Democrats wanted to do it by cutting subsidies for oil and gas companies. Republicans said no. Democrats came up with another way to do it, this time by closing a tax loophole that allows hedge-fund managers to be taxed at a much lower rate than people in other professions. Republicans don't like this, either.

Who are you voting for in November?

Obama's Accomplishments

Erik Loomis at Alterdestiny links to a list of Obama's accomplishments in the first 10 months of his administration. It is an impressive list. I'm still gathering my thoughts about the Afghan plan. My gut, although it may be necessary I don't like it. But, even when one disagrees with specific policy decisions of any politician it is good to keep in mind the good they've done as well.

Joe Klein Unloads

On Bush flunkies

The constant sniping from Rove, Wehner and the others during Obama's first 100 days is a deeply neurotic reaction to the enormity of their own cockups in office. It shows a profound lack of class or grace, but then, that's no surprise with these guys, is it? They ran the country like thugs, and thugs they remain.

Klein wasn't much of a critic during most of the Bush administration. Over the past year though I find he is making more sense. What I haven't figured out is if he's seen the light or is just on the next bandwagon.

Still, what he says is right IMO.

MSNBC and Shuster Bring The Funny

via Balloon Juice.

It Was All Predicted

In 1993.

Sixteen years ago, two economists published a research paper with a delightfully simple title: “Looting.”

The economists were George Akerlof, who would later win a Nobel Prize, and Paul Romer, the renowned expert on economic growth. In the paper, they argued that several financial crises in the 1980s, like the Texas real estate bust, had been the result of private investors taking advantage of the government. The investors had borrowed huge amounts of money, made big profits when times were good and then left the government holding the bag for their eventual (and predictable) losses.

. . .

Mr. Akerlof and Mr. Romer finished writing their paper in the early 1990s, when the economy was still suffering a hangover from the excesses of the 1980s. But Mr. Akerlof told Mr. Romer — a skeptical Mr. Romer, as he acknowledged with a laugh on Tuesday — that the next candidate for looting already seemed to be taking shape.

It was an obscure little market called credit derivatives.

Via John Cole.

In another post on the financial industry John said, "And for the record- I want so much regulation of the financial sector that if someone at Goldman Sachs wants to take a piss, he has to get a hall pass from Dennis Kucinich."

Overkill but I know how he's feeling.

The Letter Not Written

Exactly!

Don't Enjoy it In Your Own Home

If the government does it for real that's OK. When someone fakes it and puts it on film and distributes it through AMC theaters that's OK. When someone fakes it and puts it on film for someone to stroke to that's a felony!

More On The Bail Out

Matt Yglesias has a couple of good posts up today. First he outlines Hank Paulson's bungling of the problem. Essentially, he lays the time line of Paulson saying everything is fine until he decided to blow up the economy by crying wolf.

Second, Matt rightly asks where is corporate American on the bail out. And he's right. I haven't heard anything from corporations other than those in the banking industry (and Detroit auto makers sneaking in their own bail out under the RADAR). If things were that bad out there and they needed this I think we'd be hearing from them and Congress most certainly would be.

James Fallows on the Palin Interview

Ssssssssmack!

That's going to leave a mark.

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran Russia

Sully puts it well.

McCain sees everything in terms of the Cold War and is looking for the next place to fight. He is fully a citizen of the past. He is not ready to lead us forward because he is still fighting the past. And it is not just McCain. He belongs to an influential group that dominates in the Republican party.

Fannie and Freddie

Exactly!

It seems that the people who spend the most time trying to impose accountability on others do the utmost to avoid it themselves.

Charting The Danger

Crazy Joe Lieberman is extolling the existential threat posed by Iran. Hmmm, let's take a look.

The question that remains: Is Joe intentionally lying to lead us towards war or does his supplier spike his magic mushrooms and he actually believe this shit?


UPDATE: Iran poses a severe threat to our media with their slick use of PhotoShop.

Not a Lesser of Two Evils

Another big sigh.

That doesn't mean I'm not feeling more disappointment. Yes, Obama needs to move to the center now that the general election is on. Still, there are things that just don't need to be done. First there was his tacit endorsement of the FISA reform bill that granted retroactive immunity to the telecoms. That probably is the most major issue. He also has criticized the SCOTUS decision to ban the death penalty for child rapists. From a practical stand point that is more or less a non-issue. I mentioned those here.

Yesterday he out and out pissed me off. His endorsement of and proposal to expand and reform Shrub's Faith Based Initiatives is out and out wrong. Yes this is coming from an atheist but there's a reason that the founders of this nation wanted a separation of church and state. Any money given by the government to any religious organization allows that organization to spend more money on its religious mission. No matter how you build the spreadsheet to "prove" the gov't money is not used for religious missions, the money all goes into and out of the same pool of cash. See Michael D. at Balloon Juice.

The Heller Case

Publius at Obsidian Wings takes on Originalism as a method of deciding constitutional questions. Ultimately, I agree with the outcome of the court's decision but I 100% agree with Publius on the validity of Originalism.