Right Opposition

The much heralded Obama jobs plan is going nowhere fast. It’s long on fluff and sound bites but terribly short on meaningful change. The White House doesn’t understand that the environment for job growth demands permanent repair, not short term policies that change in a year or so. Business needs a stable environment in which to grow. Business leaders, unlike the political class, know that planning is critical to success. Temporary breaks and improvements do not allow for long term planning and development.

Tom Donohue at the Journal has a fine piece on the shortcomings of the Obama plan. It’s worth your time.

Baldwin County Schools Superintendent Dr. Alan Lee should be applauded for demonstrating solid leadership of the local school system. After years of malaise it’s nice to see someone taking charge. Of course leadership comes with headaches and Lee has a few.
His decision to close the K-1 center in Fairhope angered many parents and they will likely not soon forget it. K-1 is a historical landmark that means a lot to the people of the colony but it is proving expensive. It’s disappointing that it needs to close but not surprising. Lee could have ignored K-1 but then that wouldn’t be leadership.

His next big project seems to be a reconfiguring of the elementary and intermediate schools in the county to drop student/teacher ratios. In some cases class sizes for a single teacher would drop from 35 to 22. That’s a 37% drop in the ratio. He deserves much praise if it pulls it off. It will take a year and you can bet there will be extreme controversy over the plan. Attendance zones will have to be reconfigured. Watch for loud complaints about this one. But in the end, Lee’s plan should be approved.
Leadership is never easy and it always brings trouble. We think Lee is to be applauded for his work.

The United States Department of Justice, the supposed legal watchdog for all Americans is not watching for all but for a selected class of victims. Kerry Picket, writing in the Washington Times says President Obama’s recent speech on bullying which promises federal protection against bullying, only protects certain people. A white male who is heterosexual would not fall under any provision of the protection, according to Picket. We suggest you read the linked article for specifics.

This is similar to DOJ’s decision to drop prosecution of a black activist who was caught on tape shouting racial epitaphs and taking a confrontational stance against white people while standing in front of a polling location.

It’s time for the President and Attorney General Eric Holder to read a few lines of the country’s founding document. The Constitution proclaims equal protection under law – not just protection for those who most supported the President in the last election.

What do you think?

Libya blinked.
The regime of Muammar Qaddafi has ordered an immediate stop to military actions against protesters. For days and days the unstable ruler has used his military, including fighter jets, to assault rebels throughout his country. The north African nation has been awash in blood as he fought back those who sought to eject him from power.

What happened to bring this sudden cease to military actions?

It wasn’t the United States. We have been content to ride along in the backseat of the car while Britain and France led the way toward a military no-fly zone. We were happy to let the most ineffective organization on earth, the United Nations, declare that force could be used to enforce the no-fly zone.

It wasn’t President Obama’s leadership that stopped Qaddafi in his tracks for there has been no leadership. Aside from a late speech to two our President has not stepped up to the plate. He made no decision and waited for someone else to lead.

Now here is the burning question: What if our President was a leader and stepped up two weeks ago and ordered a unilateral no-fly zone? How many lives would have been saved? How quickly would this human disaster has ended if Barack Obama could make a decision?

Does this mean that Britain and France are in the ascendancy or that America is in the decendancy?

Harry Reid is a walking, talking example of what is wrong with Congress. The Nevada Senator is more interested in scoring points politically than in putting Americans to work. This piece from CNBC details efforts to reach a compromise on the Bush era tax breaks that will soon expire. Reid wants a vote on a partial package of reforms that will almost certainly not pass just so he can do damage to the Republicans.

Hey Harry! Get a clue. Voters want solutions not retread Senators more interested in politics than jobs.

“Alabama” and “socialism” don’t seem to belong in the same sentence. But a blog over at CNBC suggests that Alabama is the third most socialist state in the union. TheStreet blog lists The Most Socialist States in America. The top 10 are surprising along with who is not in the list, there’s no mention of Massachusetts or California. But Alabama sits in the third spot. Alabama is the third most socialist state in the nation, topped only by Alaska and West Virginia!

The methodology is in the numbers themselves. Since socialism is concisely defined as state ownership of the means of production, none of these states are actually socialist. They do all share confiscatory tax policies however. In the case of Alabama, state budget spending exceeds 27.4% of Alabama’s GDP. It’s that number that causes Alabama to rank so high. Mississippi and Arkansas join Alabama on the list at 6 and 8 respectively.

It points out that people like their government services regardless of what it takes to get them. For most people in Alabama we hold to two of the three triads of conservatism: Social issues and Military strength. Conservative economic issues are often overlooked. Remember, it was a Republican governor, Bob Riley, who proposed the single biggest tax hike in state history in 2003. It would have been a whooping $1.2 billion bonanza for state coffers. Alabama is also largely union controlled through efforts of the teachers union, AEA and what could be called the farmers union, ALFA. Fortunately for Alabama the two groups often work at cross purposes or else there would be trouble.

Given Alabama’s often low ranking on various measures, one wonders where the state would rank if all of the inefficiencies were removed. That would mean cutting waste, dropping taxes,slicing programs and letting people rediscover the art of self-sufficiency. Just my thoughts. Yours?

Alabama’s junior senator, Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, voted to give the United States Attorney General the power to  shutdown websites, using a court order, if  that website makes copyright infringement central to its activities. This is a huge bow to the Hollywood recording industry and places tremendous power in the hands of a single person.

Copyright infringement is serious business and strong laws are already in place to prevent it. Originators of content have every right to protect and use their work as intended and to be paid when that work is used by others. However the unanimous decision to vote out the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) is extreme and draconian.

The bill, which must still be approved by the full Senate and the House before arriving on the President’s desk, is unlikely to become law. But it points to a serious flaw in Sessions armor and a greater flaw in his wisdom.

The federal government is not authorized to act as a private security cop for the recording industry. No such law, which could deprive one of their means of employment, should be predicated on only a simple court order. Only after due process should any business face closure. If the recording industry can make their case and if other, less onerous methods cannot be applied, then let the court order the closure. But we should never entrust government to take the lead and make such decisions apart from due process.

Bad judgment Senator. I don’t think you were well advised.

President Obama put his foot in his mouth this weekend while speaking to a gathering of Muslims at the White House. He argued that  a mosque should be built in lower Manhattan near the site of the collapsed World Trade Centers. Today he tried to take back the words in a poor attempt cover up his clueless, off the teleprompter speech.

Politico has the mosque story.

While the government should and must stay out of the fray officially, it can and should point out the obvious. Building this mosque near the World Trade Center is mean, divisive and a slap in the face to the memory of those who died at the hands of Muslim terrorists. Politicians and community leaders should point out the obvious and demand a stop. Not because the government stops it – it cannot – but because it’s just wrong.

President Obama has again shown his naivete. With his stumbling retraction he appears more and more silly. He no longer has any appearance of wisdom or leadership. He is just silly and embarrassing.

Deficit government spending is front and center now. Supporters of the Obama stimulus argue that deficit spending is needed to restore the strength of the economy. Opponents disagree. They say the deficits are staggering and crippling the economy. But at the same time those who oppose Obama are themselves arguing for deficits. They want an extension of the so-called Bush tax cuts. Obviously more money in would mean a smaller deficit.

Obama supporters argue that either way you have deficits. They are correct but incomplete in their analysis.

Some deficits are better than others.

Money that flows to Washington in the form of taxes represents a leakage from the economy. Even though the government will spend that money it will do so inefficiently and that’s the rub. Money spent by business is far more efficient than tax money doled out by Uncle Sam. Money can be spent on needed resources which directly impact the local business owner. This fully decentralized stimulus avoids politics, avoids unneeded handouts, avoids administrative overhead and places the money where it will do the most good.

And that deficit? It will rapidly disappear as revenues and incomes rise. It will also allow businesses to hire the unemployed and underemployed.

So why does the government seem so fixated on taking your money and spending it for you? It’s all about power and politics. Power over your labor and your money and gaining political goodwill by spending money where it buys the most votes.

For a thinking person devoid of political desires, the only answer is to extend the Bush tax cuts.

President Obama has many weaknesses and blind spots. Terrorism is probably the biggest. The President’s administration has already shown itself to be either impotent or too ignorant to keep our nation safe. But the stakes are far higher when it comes to nuclear proliferation.

Former UN Ambassador John Bolton, himself an arms control expert, argues forcefully that the Obama Administration is taking the wrong track in negotiations with Russia, Iran and North Korea. He is especailly wary of attempts to appease the Russians.

Reducing our nuclear arsenal will not somehow persuade Iran and North Korea to alter their behavior or encourage others to apply more pressure on them to do so. Obama’s remarks reflect a complete misreading of strategic realities.

The President’s naivete is on display as he tinkers with the economy but his dalliance with nuclear powers has profound implications for our future – - or the lack of it.