The Florida Masochist runs a daily knucklehead award and has distilled those daily awards down to an annual winner with the help of his panelists Jo at Jo's Cafe, Don Surber, John in Carolina, and Greta aka Hooah Wife.
And the award goes to.... The Justices of the Supreme Court who decided Kelo v. City of New London. That would be - Anthony Kennedy, John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsberg and David Souter.
Tell 'em what they've won - they've won the right to have their homes and businesses seized in order to make way for a Quik-e-mart because you can never go home again. Oh, and the fact that a private company can get government to seize your property so that the private company can turn around and build condos or strip malls because they can claim economic improvements is something that the Founding Fathers never ever contemplated.
It's an interesting choice, but considering that many states and locales are already negating the effects of this decision with legislation to prohibit the kind of transaction involved in Kelo, it would not have been my choice.
A late dark horse candidate might be the South Korean scientists who apparently fudged all of his results on cloning. As if no one would ever notice the crayons and bad math involved (1+1=5)?
However, my choice would have to go to the ACLU. They've been an early and obvious favorite but several episodes stand out.
In July, the ACLU and its New York chapter sued the City of New York after it implemented random bag searches due to the subway bombings in London, England. The NYCLU lost its cases, but it made it clear that they were siding with terrorists over common sense.
At the end of the year, it has come to light that the ACLU opposed the FISA statutes as being unconstitutional (as set forth in amicus briefs in 2002). They now claim that the current sitting President acted unconstitutionally in bypassing the court altogether. Yet the ACLU didn't act with nearly so much horror when President Carter, President Reagan, President Bush, or President Clinton utilized the FISA courts. No full page ads in the New York Times for them.
Oh, and the ACLU wants an investigation into who leaked the NSA programs to the New York Times called off. Because it isn't a crime if you agree with the outcome and despite the fact that the law doesn't care about outcomes - only about the violations themselves, which in this case is the systematic leaking of classified programs.
Pretzel logic is a wonderful thing.
For standing on the side of terrorists and seeking to embue them with all the rights that US citizens take for granted, the ACLU is my clear winner for Knucklehead of the Year.
Posted to Jo's Cafe
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
John Hinckley, Jr., who attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan and succeeded in permanently maiming James Brady, will now be allowed to spend quality time with his folks outside the psychiatric facility where he's been confined for the last 25 years.
U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman ruled Hinckley could be allowed initially three, three-night visits and later another four, four-night visits. It was not known Friday when Hinckley will make the visits.Are his parents capable of controlling Hinckley should he act out against someone? Has Hinckley's medical condition truly been brought under control that he can be trusted in public situations? Apparently the doctors seem to think so, but I'm not so sure.
The Justice Department could appeal the decision. Justice Spokesman John Nowacki said the order was being reviewed.
Friedman said Hinckley, 50, "is not permitted to leave one or both parents' supervision at any time during the course of the conditional release" except when specified under a hospital-administered treatment plan — and then the separation may be no longer than 90 minutes.
The government had opposed Hinckley's requests to visit the gated community where his parents live in Williamsburg, a three-hour drive from the forensic hospital where he has been held since 1982.
Getting Around To Adult Supervision
With all the leaks about previously secret and classified programs designed to gather intel on terrorist operations worldwide and those that may have contacts in the US, someone ought to lay down the law against these leakers.
Who do they think they are? Are they above the law? The leakers certainly think that's the case.
Someone better disabuse them of this notion, and quick.
Before lives are lost in a terrorist attack that could have easily been prevented had the programs not been exposed and the terrorists altered their methods accordingly.
And another question that ought to be asked is what exactly was the purpose for these leaks in the first place? Was it to discredit and undermine a President and his Administration for political gain? Were there truly legal concerns that outweigh even the war effort? From what I've read of FISA, the applicable law, and the legal arguments, unless the leaker was a legal scholar and intimately knowledgable in all the applicable law, it is not a slam dunk case of illegal actions despite the media claims to the contrary. For every expert trotted forth by the media, there are others who can provide cogent analysis showing that the Administration was well within its legal rights to take these actions. Or, was it because the leakers thought that they could become the Ellsberg of this generation and gain the notoriety that comes with exposing secret efforts to prosecute and win a war?
After all, Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, which quickly undermined Nixon's war effort and became an instant hero to the Left despite the fact that the documents themselves catalogued the extent to which Lyndon Johnson prosecuted and expanded the war despite his claims to the contrary. It showed the levels to which the US and the Pentagon went to prosecute the war in Vietnam - including escalating the conflict to include incursions into Laos and Cambodia.
The release of those documents - and published in the New York Times (which was later sued and became the seminal case New York Times Co. v. US. The S.Ct. held in a 6-3 decision that the injunctions to cease publication were unconstitutional prior restraints and that the government had not met the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint. Expect the Times to reiterate the same arguments in its defense of publication and of the journalists themselves.
This is sure to be one of the hot topic bloggings of the early new year. And be sure to read AJ Strata (who should be a daily read - and on some days, hourly), Captain's Quarters, Michelle Malkin, Powerline (who wonders about the political overtones of these revelations), and Big Lizards (another daily read). Others blogging the subject: Ace of Spades, The Jawa Report, Stop the ACLU, Atlas Shrugs, Prawfsblawg, NewsHog, PunditGuy, Blackfive, MacsMind (who is another in the know source), and Flopping Aces.
UPDATE:
Still more bloggers covering the NSA leak investigation: Sister Toldjah, Baldilocks, Don Singleton, The Political Pit Bull, Mark Tapscott, Outside the Beltway, Jeff Goldstein (a must read - and has links to Clinton era program that did substantially the same as Bush is now accused of doing illegally), Enlighten NJ, Small Town Veteran, Cassandra at Tigerhawk provides a history lesson, and Gateway Pundit.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog, Adam's Blog, Conservative Cat, and Don Surber, and TMH Bacon Bits.
UPDATE 12/31/2005:
Submitted to Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks.
Who do they think they are? Are they above the law? The leakers certainly think that's the case.
Someone better disabuse them of this notion, and quick.
Before lives are lost in a terrorist attack that could have easily been prevented had the programs not been exposed and the terrorists altered their methods accordingly.
And another question that ought to be asked is what exactly was the purpose for these leaks in the first place? Was it to discredit and undermine a President and his Administration for political gain? Were there truly legal concerns that outweigh even the war effort? From what I've read of FISA, the applicable law, and the legal arguments, unless the leaker was a legal scholar and intimately knowledgable in all the applicable law, it is not a slam dunk case of illegal actions despite the media claims to the contrary. For every expert trotted forth by the media, there are others who can provide cogent analysis showing that the Administration was well within its legal rights to take these actions. Or, was it because the leakers thought that they could become the Ellsberg of this generation and gain the notoriety that comes with exposing secret efforts to prosecute and win a war?
After all, Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, which quickly undermined Nixon's war effort and became an instant hero to the Left despite the fact that the documents themselves catalogued the extent to which Lyndon Johnson prosecuted and expanded the war despite his claims to the contrary. It showed the levels to which the US and the Pentagon went to prosecute the war in Vietnam - including escalating the conflict to include incursions into Laos and Cambodia.
The release of those documents - and published in the New York Times (which was later sued and became the seminal case New York Times Co. v. US. The S.Ct. held in a 6-3 decision that the injunctions to cease publication were unconstitutional prior restraints and that the government had not met the heavy burden of proof required for prior restraint. Expect the Times to reiterate the same arguments in its defense of publication and of the journalists themselves.
This is sure to be one of the hot topic bloggings of the early new year. And be sure to read AJ Strata (who should be a daily read - and on some days, hourly), Captain's Quarters, Michelle Malkin, Powerline (who wonders about the political overtones of these revelations), and Big Lizards (another daily read). Others blogging the subject: Ace of Spades, The Jawa Report, Stop the ACLU, Atlas Shrugs, Prawfsblawg, NewsHog, PunditGuy, Blackfive, MacsMind (who is another in the know source), and Flopping Aces.
UPDATE:
Still more bloggers covering the NSA leak investigation: Sister Toldjah, Baldilocks, Don Singleton, The Political Pit Bull, Mark Tapscott, Outside the Beltway, Jeff Goldstein (a must read - and has links to Clinton era program that did substantially the same as Bush is now accused of doing illegally), Enlighten NJ, Small Town Veteran, Cassandra at Tigerhawk provides a history lesson, and Gateway Pundit.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog, Adam's Blog, Conservative Cat, and Don Surber, and TMH Bacon Bits.
UPDATE 12/31/2005:
Submitted to Wizbang's Carnival of Trackbacks.
Scoring Old Predictions and Issuing New Ones
I did this a few months ago, and it's time to revisit my predictions before I go ahead and provide a few new ones. I have come to the realization that I really need to go out on a limb in order to really score the big points. How can I get noticed in the din of year end postings and prognostications?
My 2005 final score? Out of 15 predictions, I got about 50%. Not bad, but a dartboard could have been more useful. I'll try harder this time. To wit, the 2006 predictions:
1) The Yankees will win the Pennant, the Red Sox will not make the playoffs, and the Dodgers will continue to suck despite becoming the West Coast version of the Red Sox.
2) Osama bin Laden will still be missing in action, but his neice will be found in action at Scores. A fatwa will be issued.
3) The misunderestimation of President Bush will continue unabated in 2006. The NSA eavesdropping case will result in criminal prosecutions of several disgruntled NSA operatives who thought that they could get in the good graces of the DNC. Apparently, Joe Wilson was their advisor before going public.
4) Iran will claim that they have the bomb, though their public acknowledgment will be puncuated by the detonation of epic proportions at the nuclear facilities where said bombs are being made. It will turn out that the Russians had been working with the US all along, and simply built in a failsafe so that the moment the facility went critical, so would the built in bomb. To be sure, another bomb goes off at the headquarters of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. It will later be determined that a special forces unit was in position at several locations to support the overall mission. Israel breathes a sigh of relief.
5) Terrorists will continue to try and attack the US, and one gets as close as being in position for an attack, but a sharp-eyed cop thwarts the attack. It is later determined that the terrorist would have been picked up by an NSA program had it been allowed to continue after the program became public in 2005 by leakers.
6) Rudy will declare his candidacy.
7) Roe v. Wade will not be an issue in 2006. Or 2007. Or 2008.
8) Alito will be confirmed, but Joe Biden's intelligence (or lack thereof) will similarly be confirmed. It wont be pretty.
9) Lawhawk and Mrs. Lawhawk will continue looking for a house in North Jersey - and interest rates plus an increase in home prices will still make it next to impossible to find a house. However, we will find one this year - only to find that the market crashes the day after closing. [If this one looks familiar, you're right - I made this prediction last year and nearly came true so why should I mess with a good thing.]
10) The New York Times share price will finally bottom out at $12 per share and Pajamas Media will IPO at the end of the year with a higher per-share price.
11) Google! will look at both NYT and Pajamas Media as growth opportunities and purchase both. Microsoft will go to the Justice Department demanding an investigation into anti-trust violations by Google in its cornering of the media market, especially when Google invents a way to not only distribute preferred Blogspot blogs, but makes money from the endeavor.
12) Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton realize that their stars have been eclipsed by Barack Obama and therefore must be destroyed. They will resort to chicanery and outright slander in order to undermine Obama's potential running for national office. And fail mightily when they are found out. Cheney and Rove will snicker into the night.
13) Speaking of Cheney and Rove, neither will be indicted as part of Fitsmas. Wilson, however, will be. As will Joe Wilson's five year old son.
14) Howard Dean will be sacked by the DNC six months too late [in December] when the fundraising campaign runs into such hardship that they will be forced to go to Charles Schumer to run the fundraising campaign. This too will be problematic as Schumer's aides use Michael Steele's SSN on their employment forms.
15) The NSA leak probe will result in more criminal prosecutions than any other prosecution in the Bush Administration. It will turn out that career bureaucrats that are registered Democrat in both the NSA and CIA are involved. One turns out to have contacts with Joe Wilson [see above].
* Bonus prediction #16: A natural disaster will once again show that the UN is completely incapable of acting decisively, except to blame the US for a slow response. Of course, this natural disaster is in the US - where Mt. Rainier rumbles back to life for the first time in recent history. Thankfully, I'll have pictures to remember what it looked like before the Eruption of 2006 takes out 5,000 feet of the summit. And I get partial credit if any of the nearby volcanoes rumble back to life and blow their stacks.
There you have it.
UPDATE:
Upon further consideration, I have another prediction - Able Danger will make a major splash in the news, especially as the NSA spycraft story takes hold.
My 2005 final score? Out of 15 predictions, I got about 50%. Not bad, but a dartboard could have been more useful. I'll try harder this time. To wit, the 2006 predictions:
1) The Yankees will win the Pennant, the Red Sox will not make the playoffs, and the Dodgers will continue to suck despite becoming the West Coast version of the Red Sox.
2) Osama bin Laden will still be missing in action, but his neice will be found in action at Scores. A fatwa will be issued.
3) The misunderestimation of President Bush will continue unabated in 2006. The NSA eavesdropping case will result in criminal prosecutions of several disgruntled NSA operatives who thought that they could get in the good graces of the DNC. Apparently, Joe Wilson was their advisor before going public.
4) Iran will claim that they have the bomb, though their public acknowledgment will be puncuated by the detonation of epic proportions at the nuclear facilities where said bombs are being made. It will turn out that the Russians had been working with the US all along, and simply built in a failsafe so that the moment the facility went critical, so would the built in bomb. To be sure, another bomb goes off at the headquarters of Iranian President Ahmadinejad. It will later be determined that a special forces unit was in position at several locations to support the overall mission. Israel breathes a sigh of relief.
5) Terrorists will continue to try and attack the US, and one gets as close as being in position for an attack, but a sharp-eyed cop thwarts the attack. It is later determined that the terrorist would have been picked up by an NSA program had it been allowed to continue after the program became public in 2005 by leakers.
6) Rudy will declare his candidacy.
7) Roe v. Wade will not be an issue in 2006. Or 2007. Or 2008.
8) Alito will be confirmed, but Joe Biden's intelligence (or lack thereof) will similarly be confirmed. It wont be pretty.
9) Lawhawk and Mrs. Lawhawk will continue looking for a house in North Jersey - and interest rates plus an increase in home prices will still make it next to impossible to find a house. However, we will find one this year - only to find that the market crashes the day after closing. [If this one looks familiar, you're right - I made this prediction last year and nearly came true so why should I mess with a good thing.]
10) The New York Times share price will finally bottom out at $12 per share and Pajamas Media will IPO at the end of the year with a higher per-share price.
11) Google! will look at both NYT and Pajamas Media as growth opportunities and purchase both. Microsoft will go to the Justice Department demanding an investigation into anti-trust violations by Google in its cornering of the media market, especially when Google invents a way to not only distribute preferred Blogspot blogs, but makes money from the endeavor.
12) Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton realize that their stars have been eclipsed by Barack Obama and therefore must be destroyed. They will resort to chicanery and outright slander in order to undermine Obama's potential running for national office. And fail mightily when they are found out. Cheney and Rove will snicker into the night.
13) Speaking of Cheney and Rove, neither will be indicted as part of Fitsmas. Wilson, however, will be. As will Joe Wilson's five year old son.
14) Howard Dean will be sacked by the DNC six months too late [in December] when the fundraising campaign runs into such hardship that they will be forced to go to Charles Schumer to run the fundraising campaign. This too will be problematic as Schumer's aides use Michael Steele's SSN on their employment forms.
15) The NSA leak probe will result in more criminal prosecutions than any other prosecution in the Bush Administration. It will turn out that career bureaucrats that are registered Democrat in both the NSA and CIA are involved. One turns out to have contacts with Joe Wilson [see above].
* Bonus prediction #16: A natural disaster will once again show that the UN is completely incapable of acting decisively, except to blame the US for a slow response. Of course, this natural disaster is in the US - where Mt. Rainier rumbles back to life for the first time in recent history. Thankfully, I'll have pictures to remember what it looked like before the Eruption of 2006 takes out 5,000 feet of the summit. And I get partial credit if any of the nearby volcanoes rumble back to life and blow their stacks.
There you have it.
UPDATE:
Upon further consideration, I have another prediction - Able Danger will make a major splash in the news, especially as the NSA spycraft story takes hold.
The Office Pool - Predictions and Prognostications
William Safire puts forth a list of predictions in multiple choice format, so here are my responses:
1) c - 90,000 troops will be in Iraq at the end of 2006. And we'll further learn about the continuing cross-border raids by terrorist proxies from Syria and Iran, which will demand continued attention.
2) e - Tom DeLay will be back in the saddle. Pelosi will continue to be a back bencher.
3) None of the above - none of these movies resonates with moviegoers, no matter how well made they may be. Walk the Line would be my pick, but it's too much like last year's Ray to win. Reese will win best actress though.
4) c - The Roberts court will rule that law schools can be denied federal funds if they do not permit military recruiters.
5) c - Like the SAT, C is the probable answer more often than not
6) c - Like the SAT, C is the probable answer more often than not
7) c - Ariel Sharon will not be as slim as he should, but Kadima does win to form coalition with Labor
8) a - The Barrett report will be quashed on behalf of the Clintons, but some details will leak. The same can't be said of the Able Danger investigations, which will show just how poorly the 9/11 Commission did its job.
9) c - The stock market will break through it's treading water phase, especially as oil prices trend down.
10) c - All the major parties will realize that governments are transitory things, and that taking up arms to suit their needs is unnecessary. The looming battles will be political, not military as accomodation and dealmaking creates a somewhat stable political situation.
11) e - none of the above. The key issues will be the continuing problems with Gulf Coast redevelopment.
12) d - That's what I've been saying all along. It would be a grand fight, but I really doubt Condi wants to go for the top slot.
13) None of the above. Rudy is my choice for the GOP, and the Democrats would likely put forth Hillary (a rematch of the abortive Senate race where Rudy had to withdraw due to being diagnosed with prostate cancer).
14) d - Reagan. He did unpopular things at the time, but is remembered for holding the line and declaring that the only choice in fighting war is victory. Anything less is a recipe for disaster.
The Anchoress also put forth her predictions, and some are quite interesting. I'll focus on a few:
1) After a few off-years, due to A-Rod’s disingenuity (I still say he broke the curse when he slapped a ball out of the first baseman’s glove and then tried to lie about it - Fie on A-Rod!) The NY Yankees will reclaim their rightful spot as World Champions. While I'm a big Yankee fan (and have been since 1977), I don't see the Yankees doing it this year. Maybe it's the Damon factor, or maybe it's that A-Rod is simply too consumed with statistics and not winning the big games. But have no fear, because the BoSox wont win either. In fact, they wont make the playoffs.
9) Somebody’s gotta get serious with Iran. W will do it. Ungrateful Europe and leftists will curse him for it, while wiping their brows in relief before driving to their next Bush-bashing engagement. Israel may be the US to the punch, though US assistance may be involved (or at least tacit approval).
10) Paris will burn, coverage will be scant. Paris has been burning for more than a decade at a low simmer. It's now background noise.
13) Rudy Giuliani and Jeb Bush will both say they’re not running for president in ‘08. One of them will be telling the truth. Both will run, but Rudy will be in a better position to attract Conservatives - and the Bush brand will be tiresome to some at GOP central. Rudy's Mayor of America schtick will lead the way, and while his stance on abortion and other social issues may grate on religious conservatives, the law and order no nonsense brand of politics will appeal to them all the same.
21) At the end of ‘06, the big hole at Ground Zero will still be a big hole - a testament to the serious void in real leadership which both encouraged Al Qaeda and dogs our nation, still. While that's been the case thus far, real progress should begin in March as the transit hub and Freedom tower will begin construction. We wont see completed structures, but it may take a year before the construction reaches street level. Gov. Pataki has to leave behind a legacy, and getting things underway at Ground Zero will be crucial.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog. Others noting The Anchoress's predictions: Dr. Sanity, Polipundit, and All Things Beautiful.
1) c - 90,000 troops will be in Iraq at the end of 2006. And we'll further learn about the continuing cross-border raids by terrorist proxies from Syria and Iran, which will demand continued attention.
2) e - Tom DeLay will be back in the saddle. Pelosi will continue to be a back bencher.
3) None of the above - none of these movies resonates with moviegoers, no matter how well made they may be. Walk the Line would be my pick, but it's too much like last year's Ray to win. Reese will win best actress though.
4) c - The Roberts court will rule that law schools can be denied federal funds if they do not permit military recruiters.
5) c - Like the SAT, C is the probable answer more often than not
6) c - Like the SAT, C is the probable answer more often than not
7) c - Ariel Sharon will not be as slim as he should, but Kadima does win to form coalition with Labor
8) a - The Barrett report will be quashed on behalf of the Clintons, but some details will leak. The same can't be said of the Able Danger investigations, which will show just how poorly the 9/11 Commission did its job.
9) c - The stock market will break through it's treading water phase, especially as oil prices trend down.
10) c - All the major parties will realize that governments are transitory things, and that taking up arms to suit their needs is unnecessary. The looming battles will be political, not military as accomodation and dealmaking creates a somewhat stable political situation.
11) e - none of the above. The key issues will be the continuing problems with Gulf Coast redevelopment.
12) d - That's what I've been saying all along. It would be a grand fight, but I really doubt Condi wants to go for the top slot.
13) None of the above. Rudy is my choice for the GOP, and the Democrats would likely put forth Hillary (a rematch of the abortive Senate race where Rudy had to withdraw due to being diagnosed with prostate cancer).
14) d - Reagan. He did unpopular things at the time, but is remembered for holding the line and declaring that the only choice in fighting war is victory. Anything less is a recipe for disaster.
The Anchoress also put forth her predictions, and some are quite interesting. I'll focus on a few:
1) After a few off-years, due to A-Rod’s disingenuity (I still say he broke the curse when he slapped a ball out of the first baseman’s glove and then tried to lie about it - Fie on A-Rod!) The NY Yankees will reclaim their rightful spot as World Champions. While I'm a big Yankee fan (and have been since 1977), I don't see the Yankees doing it this year. Maybe it's the Damon factor, or maybe it's that A-Rod is simply too consumed with statistics and not winning the big games. But have no fear, because the BoSox wont win either. In fact, they wont make the playoffs.
9) Somebody’s gotta get serious with Iran. W will do it. Ungrateful Europe and leftists will curse him for it, while wiping their brows in relief before driving to their next Bush-bashing engagement. Israel may be the US to the punch, though US assistance may be involved (or at least tacit approval).
10) Paris will burn, coverage will be scant. Paris has been burning for more than a decade at a low simmer. It's now background noise.
13) Rudy Giuliani and Jeb Bush will both say they’re not running for president in ‘08. One of them will be telling the truth. Both will run, but Rudy will be in a better position to attract Conservatives - and the Bush brand will be tiresome to some at GOP central. Rudy's Mayor of America schtick will lead the way, and while his stance on abortion and other social issues may grate on religious conservatives, the law and order no nonsense brand of politics will appeal to them all the same.
21) At the end of ‘06, the big hole at Ground Zero will still be a big hole - a testament to the serious void in real leadership which both encouraged Al Qaeda and dogs our nation, still. While that's been the case thus far, real progress should begin in March as the transit hub and Freedom tower will begin construction. We wont see completed structures, but it may take a year before the construction reaches street level. Gov. Pataki has to leave behind a legacy, and getting things underway at Ground Zero will be crucial.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog. Others noting The Anchoress's predictions: Dr. Sanity, Polipundit, and All Things Beautiful.
Targeting Assistance At Those Who Need It
Let this be a lesson to you. Anytime a government program doesn't specifically target a group for assistance, anyone and everyone will try to share in the wealth. The loan programs set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks are a prime example. People and businesses that were completely unaffected by the terrorist attacks were able to take advantage of loan programs through the SBA because the SBA did such a poor job making sure that those businesses were actually affected by the terrorist attacks.
That's taxpayer money going to help a Dunkin Donuts on the West Coast. Or a funeral parlor in Oregon. Those businesses themselves probably did nothing wrong when going to the SBA for loans, but someone should have done a better job making sure that the money was going where it was supposed to.
With similar programs expected to assist in the Gulf Coast recovery, will we see any better oversight or demands for proper documentation? Red flags should have been raised on any business outside the affected areas relating to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but weren't. Will the SBA do a better job this time around?
I'm not holding my breath.
That's taxpayer money going to help a Dunkin Donuts on the West Coast. Or a funeral parlor in Oregon. Those businesses themselves probably did nothing wrong when going to the SBA for loans, but someone should have done a better job making sure that the money was going where it was supposed to.
With similar programs expected to assist in the Gulf Coast recovery, will we see any better oversight or demands for proper documentation? Red flags should have been raised on any business outside the affected areas relating to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but weren't. Will the SBA do a better job this time around?
I'm not holding my breath.
The Cowardly Lion
The deal worked out between the MTA and the TWU includes a huge sweetener provision - giving a one-time 'refund' to more than half the transit workers for pension contributions made at a time when the transit workers were required to contribute a percentage of their income towards the pension fund.
Governor Pataki should make sure that this aspect of the deal is killed. There is no justifiable reason for the transit workers to get this money back. It not only undermines the solvency of the pension fund, but it reduces the burden of the Taylor Law fines imposed when the union went on an illegal three-day strike.
I just don't see him having the courage to stand up and do the right thing fiscally or politically. Even though he's not running for Governor again, he has to provide political cover to other politicians not to mention his own potential ambitions for higher office.
Prior coverage: Dissecting the Transit Deal
Awaiting a Deal
A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
Governor Pataki should make sure that this aspect of the deal is killed. There is no justifiable reason for the transit workers to get this money back. It not only undermines the solvency of the pension fund, but it reduces the burden of the Taylor Law fines imposed when the union went on an illegal three-day strike.
I just don't see him having the courage to stand up and do the right thing fiscally or politically. Even though he's not running for Governor again, he has to provide political cover to other politicians not to mention his own potential ambitions for higher office.
Complicating the matter is confusion over the cost. The authority believes the refunds will cost about $132 million up front, or the equivalent of about $13 million a year over 11 years. Union negotiators have asserted that total refunds could exceed $200 million.
In 2001, when Mr. Pataki vetoed a bill that would have provided the refunds, an actuary hired by the union estimated that the refunds would cost the authority $7.5 million a year, and the authority put the figure at $165 million in total.
The question of cost is complex because the New York City Employees' Retirement System would pay most of the refunds and be reimbursed by the authority. The ultimate cost will be determined by actuaries, who make estimations using such variables as the longevity of pensioners and the amount workers have borrowed from the pension plan.
Neither the authority nor the union would publicly comment on the pension proposal yesterday, citing an agreement that neither side would gloat about the deal or portray it as a clear-cut victory for either side.
In his veto message in 2001, Mr. Pataki wrote that "the costly benefit that this bill would confer should be the project of collective bargaining negotiations" and that "imposing unbudgeted costs of this magnitude on the M.T.A. would not be prudent in light of the budgetary and fiscal challenges that the M.T.A. currently faces." In the settlement, the authority and the union agreed to "make every effort" to have such a bill enacted by the first week of July.
Prior coverage: Dissecting the Transit Deal
Awaiting a Deal
A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
From the Mouths of Babes
"My daddy's famous, my mommy's a secret spy," declared the 5-year-old of his parents, former diplomat Joe Wilson and retired CIA operative Valerie Plame.Gotta love kids. They say the darndest things.
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin
Rushing Headlong Towards Nuclear Midnight
As Russia continues to woo Iran into pursuing its nuclear ambitions with Russia providing the nuclear materials that will somehow remain in Russian hands, other reports suggest that Iran is far closer to obtaining nuclear weapons than anyone should find acceptable.
After all, Iran has called for the politicide of Israel - wiping it from the face of the earth. Iran's mad mullahs have every intention of using the nuclear weapons on their multiple enemies - the US, Israel, and the various Sunni-dominated Arab and Muslim countries around the world. Iran already has the missile technology to deliver nuclear weapons to Europe and throughout the Middle East.
The Doomsday Clock was last adjusted in 2002 to 7 minutes to midnight. It's high time that the clock be adjusted. And not for the better. We're seeing additional proliferation of nuclear technologies (as undercovered by the PSI and the AH Khan network) and Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons materials.
My sense of things is that we're inching towards midnight and Russia is aiding and abetting a rogue nation obtain the very materials necessary to destroy or hold hostage more than a billion people along with the bulk of the world's petroleum reserves.
And those nations most threatened by the Iranians aren't likely to stand by and do nothing. Israel certainly can't be expected to idly watch as Iran obtains weapons that it has quite publicly said would be used against Israel.
Atlas Shrugs also notes that Russia is busy cozying up with Syria as well. Considering that many of the terrorists and insurgents engaging American and coalition forces are coming into Iraq from Syria and Iran, the situation deserves more than just closer attention. These two countries are engaging the US in a war with the terrorists as their proxies.
After all, Iran has called for the politicide of Israel - wiping it from the face of the earth. Iran's mad mullahs have every intention of using the nuclear weapons on their multiple enemies - the US, Israel, and the various Sunni-dominated Arab and Muslim countries around the world. Iran already has the missile technology to deliver nuclear weapons to Europe and throughout the Middle East.
The Doomsday Clock was last adjusted in 2002 to 7 minutes to midnight. It's high time that the clock be adjusted. And not for the better. We're seeing additional proliferation of nuclear technologies (as undercovered by the PSI and the AH Khan network) and Iran continues to seek nuclear weapons materials.
My sense of things is that we're inching towards midnight and Russia is aiding and abetting a rogue nation obtain the very materials necessary to destroy or hold hostage more than a billion people along with the bulk of the world's petroleum reserves.
And those nations most threatened by the Iranians aren't likely to stand by and do nothing. Israel certainly can't be expected to idly watch as Iran obtains weapons that it has quite publicly said would be used against Israel.
Atlas Shrugs also notes that Russia is busy cozying up with Syria as well. Considering that many of the terrorists and insurgents engaging American and coalition forces are coming into Iraq from Syria and Iran, the situation deserves more than just closer attention. These two countries are engaging the US in a war with the terrorists as their proxies.
What Do Those Polls Really Mean?
It all started with a Rasmussen Reports poll that shows that 64% of Americans support eavesdropping on terrorists, even when that eavesdropping includes warrantless searches. Ace of Spades was quick to point out the significance of the polling. Despite big media outlets pounding the message that these searches constitute a grave and gathering threat to civil rights of Americans and potentially impeachable offenses against the President of the US, most Americans realize that the President is simply doing his Constitutional duty to protect and defend the citizens of the United States against threats both foreign and domestic.
While there are many folks who are showing that the actions taken by the President are legal (Mark Levin and Powerline come to mind, though Cass Sunstein, John Schmidt, and Jaime Gorelick are also on the record as finding the Administration's use of warrantless searches within the powers of the President despite those searches not going through the FISA court), the big media outlets continue to pound away that these searches are illegal and that the Administration should be held accountable for those illegal actions.
What gets lost in the NYT and media coverage is that similar efforts have been undertaken by every President since Jimmy Carter was first constrained by the creation of FISA in 1978. President Carter knew that there were situations that the FISA process couldn't deal with swiftly enough for national security purposes, and therefore went ahead with warrantless searches anyway. Every president since then engaged in similar methods though President Clinton even extended the warrantless search to certain wholly domestic operations.
Yet the big media outlets, and specifically the New York Times have not shed light on how they actually obtained information about the NSA wiretapping and similar eavesdropping programs in the first place. Considering that the programs described in the NYT were classified programs, the leaks are violations of numerous federal laws and those leakers are criminals. These leaks threaten national security in a real and tangible way. It shows terrorists potential loopholes for exploitation and may cause some to change means of contacting cells in the US. Apparently, those concerns were not sufficient to keep this story out of the limelight.
The Times says that they sat on this story for more than a year, and that's troubling in and of itself. If this was such a violation of civil rights, don't you think that they would have released details of the program much sooner. Instead, we've learned that one of the journalists involved in the story, Eric Risen, is touting a new book and it appears that the Times was concerned about being scooped by one of its own journalists on an 'exclusive.'
This was a concerted effort to undermine the war effort, and the polling reflects this - both in terms of the pragmatic result and why the numbers weren't even higher.
Despite the media play, even 51% of Democrats support the continued surveillance of terrorists that includes warrantless eavesdropping. We're talking about communications intercepts between foreign terrorists with individuals domestically. This isn't about a political spy operation against political opponents or using the IRS to bully political opponents, but a natural and logical outgrowth over the need to protect the US against further terrorist attacks domestically by intercepting communcations between terror cells domestically and their international cohorts.
And we’re seeing some leftist bloggers complaining that the polling isn’t actually good news, but bad news. They think that support for this kind of eavesdropping should be even higher than it currently is. Do these bloggers and pundits not realize that the biased media coverage of the eavesdropping stories in the Times and elsewhere affects and skews the polling results? If all people read and hear is bad news, don’t these leftist bloggers realize that the polling will reflect the bad news.
Yet, despite the negative press in the Times and other big media sources, the high level of support for these kinds of warrantless searches against terrorists who are communicating with individuals inside the US shows that most folks still have some kind of functional common sense. Now, if the big media outlets actually noted that these kinds of warrantless searches are constitutional and justifiable on national security grounds, support would be much higher.
UPDATE:
And don't get me started on the repercussions of this information on all current and past terrorism investigations and convictions for terror-related charges. These revelations will inevitably spark challenges to every single terrorism case pursued by the Justice Department. It's yet another attempt to hamstring the war on terror.
Others blogging this important story are: Confederate Yankee, Rob at Say Anything, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, Captain Ed, Blogs For Bush, Jeff Goldstein, Political Teen, Decision ‘08, Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive’s, [and] Junkyard Blog.
UPDATE:
Generation Why wonders when the media will understand the definition of mainstream as most Americans favor this kind of spycraft to keep this nation safe from terror plots.
Also noting the polling data on approval of eavesdropping on terrorists: The Right Nation.
While there are many folks who are showing that the actions taken by the President are legal (Mark Levin and Powerline come to mind, though Cass Sunstein, John Schmidt, and Jaime Gorelick are also on the record as finding the Administration's use of warrantless searches within the powers of the President despite those searches not going through the FISA court), the big media outlets continue to pound away that these searches are illegal and that the Administration should be held accountable for those illegal actions.
What gets lost in the NYT and media coverage is that similar efforts have been undertaken by every President since Jimmy Carter was first constrained by the creation of FISA in 1978. President Carter knew that there were situations that the FISA process couldn't deal with swiftly enough for national security purposes, and therefore went ahead with warrantless searches anyway. Every president since then engaged in similar methods though President Clinton even extended the warrantless search to certain wholly domestic operations.
Yet the big media outlets, and specifically the New York Times have not shed light on how they actually obtained information about the NSA wiretapping and similar eavesdropping programs in the first place. Considering that the programs described in the NYT were classified programs, the leaks are violations of numerous federal laws and those leakers are criminals. These leaks threaten national security in a real and tangible way. It shows terrorists potential loopholes for exploitation and may cause some to change means of contacting cells in the US. Apparently, those concerns were not sufficient to keep this story out of the limelight.
The Times says that they sat on this story for more than a year, and that's troubling in and of itself. If this was such a violation of civil rights, don't you think that they would have released details of the program much sooner. Instead, we've learned that one of the journalists involved in the story, Eric Risen, is touting a new book and it appears that the Times was concerned about being scooped by one of its own journalists on an 'exclusive.'
This was a concerted effort to undermine the war effort, and the polling reflects this - both in terms of the pragmatic result and why the numbers weren't even higher.
Despite the media play, even 51% of Democrats support the continued surveillance of terrorists that includes warrantless eavesdropping. We're talking about communications intercepts between foreign terrorists with individuals domestically. This isn't about a political spy operation against political opponents or using the IRS to bully political opponents, but a natural and logical outgrowth over the need to protect the US against further terrorist attacks domestically by intercepting communcations between terror cells domestically and their international cohorts.
And we’re seeing some leftist bloggers complaining that the polling isn’t actually good news, but bad news. They think that support for this kind of eavesdropping should be even higher than it currently is. Do these bloggers and pundits not realize that the biased media coverage of the eavesdropping stories in the Times and elsewhere affects and skews the polling results? If all people read and hear is bad news, don’t these leftist bloggers realize that the polling will reflect the bad news.
Yet, despite the negative press in the Times and other big media sources, the high level of support for these kinds of warrantless searches against terrorists who are communicating with individuals inside the US shows that most folks still have some kind of functional common sense. Now, if the big media outlets actually noted that these kinds of warrantless searches are constitutional and justifiable on national security grounds, support would be much higher.
UPDATE:
And don't get me started on the repercussions of this information on all current and past terrorism investigations and convictions for terror-related charges. These revelations will inevitably spark challenges to every single terrorism case pursued by the Justice Department. It's yet another attempt to hamstring the war on terror.
Others blogging this important story are: Confederate Yankee, Rob at Say Anything, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, Captain Ed, Blogs For Bush, Jeff Goldstein, Political Teen, Decision ‘08, Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive’s, [and] Junkyard Blog.
UPDATE:
Generation Why wonders when the media will understand the definition of mainstream as most Americans favor this kind of spycraft to keep this nation safe from terror plots.
Also noting the polling data on approval of eavesdropping on terrorists: The Right Nation.
Rising From Ruins
More than four months after a string of deadly hurricanes ripped into the Gulf Coast, people are still coming to grips with the massive and daunting task of rebuilding thousands of communities along the coast. In some instances, we're seeing businesses preparing plans for entirely new communities (Shaw Homes for example outside New Orleans).
In other cases, we're seeing charitable groups proposing to purchase tracts of land to build new communities. Habitat for Humanity is one such charitable group that is tackling this huge task. Corporate donations are assisting in providing materials and support in this endeavor, but it will still take time to prepare sites, arrange materials, and build the structures.
Among the challenges for the builders, regardless of whether they're for-profit or not-for-profit, is finding sites that are suitable for construction that will not diminish the local communities fundamental nature. Further, sites need to be obtained that are away from flood zones and are on higher ground.
Meanwhile, critical services are still trying to recover themselves. Local fire and police departments found many of their facilities and equipment ruined by the storm surge along the coast. Some are still awaiting new equipment because of bureaucratic snafus or other problems. Without these critical services, localities are imperiled should there be fires or other calamities that require immediate attention and outstrip the ability of the localities to deal with them where they would have had no such problems before the hurricanes hit.
While FEMA aid to Mississippi has topped $1 billion, the practical effects of that aid are still spotty. FEMA aid went to clearing debris and temporary shelter, as well as reimbursement of local emergency response. Tens of thousands of people who were displaced also received some FEMA aid, but we're at the point where the federal government has to look at permanent solutions - not just aid. And FEMA gets mixed reviews:
Battling insurance companies is a continuing problem, where the companies repeatedly try to point to flood damage as the cause of the losses, which in some cases is really impossible to tell because nothing remains of the homes except the foundation. Wind damage may have been the proximate cause of the destruction, and permitted other storm forces to damage or destroy homes, but the companies know that such kinds of damage would result in paying out to the insured. Flood damage is largely excluded from most homeowner policies. Thus, many people find themselves battling insurance companies over how and why their homes were damaged or destroyed.
However, under a recently approved federal aid program, residents of the Gulf Coast can apply for grants of up to $150,000 to rebuild homes that were flooded outside federally designated flood zones.
People are also using the holiday vacation to volunteer along the Gulf Coast and helping with the rebuilding.
UPDATE:
Confederate Yankee also notes the four-month anniversary of Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast.
UPDATE:
The NYT tries to put out a more flattering picture of Gov. Blanco four months after Katrina came ashore and devastated much of Southern Louisiana, including New Orleans. And the comparisons to Rudy Giuliani don't help. In the aftermath of 9/11, Rudy was a calming presence and commanded attention and leadership - both in how he responded to questions on the death toll to how he focused on the tasks at hand. None of those characteristics are present in Blanco, who at turns feuded with Mayor Whiplash Nagin, President Bush, and even her own staff (who had to give advice on what to wear). Her frazzled demeanor and inability to make command decisions continues to plague the hurricane response and recovery.
And moves to consolidate the levee boards to eliminate graft and corruption that diverted monies away from levee maintenance and construction have been deferred into the new year because of continuing questions over how the boards should be consolidated. Leadership is still wanting in Louisiana and it starts with the top.
UPDATE:
It would seem that Congress has hewed closer to Don Surber's idea of issuing a $100,000 grant to the hurricane victims instead of creating a massive new bureaucracy. In the long run, it might save the government billions. The plan Congress has approved would provide grants up to $150,000 to rebuild, and the details remain to be worked out, but this is clearly designed to help speed and spur reconstruction along the devastated Gulf Coast.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; relief; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
In other cases, we're seeing charitable groups proposing to purchase tracts of land to build new communities. Habitat for Humanity is one such charitable group that is tackling this huge task. Corporate donations are assisting in providing materials and support in this endeavor, but it will still take time to prepare sites, arrange materials, and build the structures.
Among the challenges for the builders, regardless of whether they're for-profit or not-for-profit, is finding sites that are suitable for construction that will not diminish the local communities fundamental nature. Further, sites need to be obtained that are away from flood zones and are on higher ground.
Meanwhile, critical services are still trying to recover themselves. Local fire and police departments found many of their facilities and equipment ruined by the storm surge along the coast. Some are still awaiting new equipment because of bureaucratic snafus or other problems. Without these critical services, localities are imperiled should there be fires or other calamities that require immediate attention and outstrip the ability of the localities to deal with them where they would have had no such problems before the hurricanes hit.
While FEMA aid to Mississippi has topped $1 billion, the practical effects of that aid are still spotty. FEMA aid went to clearing debris and temporary shelter, as well as reimbursement of local emergency response. Tens of thousands of people who were displaced also received some FEMA aid, but we're at the point where the federal government has to look at permanent solutions - not just aid. And FEMA gets mixed reviews:
"The government can spend a billion dollars a day in Iraq, but they can't take care of this?" he asked.Permanent solutions shouldn't come from the federal government alone. However, the federal government, working with state and local officials should ease the way for people to rebuild where the situation dictates or help those who shouldn't rebuild on their former sites find new suitable locations nearby. Areas where rebuilding might not be suitable include certain locations along the coast that were completely devastated by the storm surge, or will now be susceptible to further storm surge damage from even minor storms. Buffer zones along the coast may need to be developed and implemented so that coastal communities can escape the worst of the damage from storm surges, while retaining at least a portion of their former locations. Not only would this reduce the risk of loss of life due to storms going forward, but it would also reduce insurance and government payouts in the future as smarter and stronger building codes would make structures better able to withstand punishing storms.
Hereford is grateful he is among the 450,000 people who have received financial assistance from the agency so far and to live in one of the 29,000 trailers provided to house hurricane victims in the state. Every little bit helps, Hereford said, but he is growing frustrated he is no closer to being able to rebuild his home.
However, Crystal Dedeaux, formerly of Gulfport and now living in Overland Park, Kan., said she's happy with her experience thus far.
"They've done everything for us they said they would do," Dedeaux said. "They're helping us start our lives over."
Dedeaux said she received a trailer shortly after the storm. When it proved to be too small, she said the agency helped her relocate to Kansas with her four children and provides rental assistance.
FEMA also started picking up the hotel tabs of hurricane evacuees after Katrina.
Eugene Brezany, a FEMA spokesman based in Jackson, said the agency is paying for about 2,400 hotel rooms in the state and close to 40,000 others.
Last month, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order forcing FEMA to extend its deadline for ending its hotel reimbursement program from Jan. 7 to Feb. 7.
Brezany said the agency is "working in recognition of that ruling." But Brezany said the agency expects the number of hotel dwellers to dip further next month as it fills more trailers.
Battling insurance companies is a continuing problem, where the companies repeatedly try to point to flood damage as the cause of the losses, which in some cases is really impossible to tell because nothing remains of the homes except the foundation. Wind damage may have been the proximate cause of the destruction, and permitted other storm forces to damage or destroy homes, but the companies know that such kinds of damage would result in paying out to the insured. Flood damage is largely excluded from most homeowner policies. Thus, many people find themselves battling insurance companies over how and why their homes were damaged or destroyed.
However, under a recently approved federal aid program, residents of the Gulf Coast can apply for grants of up to $150,000 to rebuild homes that were flooded outside federally designated flood zones.
The package includes $11.5 billion to assist homeowners, with grants capped at $150,000 for owner-occupied homes.
The state will deduct any money paid on private insurance claims or by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"It's great. I still think the insurance companies should be taking care of it,'' Waveland resident Paul Phillips said. "But wherever it comes from, we won't be complaining.''
Phillips spent Christmas in a FEMA trailer on his property after he lost his home to Katrina's record storm surge. He and wife Polly dropped their flood insurance in the late 1990s after they were told it was unnecessary.
Under the plan, the state will use the money to offer $150,000 grants to people whose houses flooded but were outside federally designated flood zones. Recipients must rebuild according to stricter building codes and new flood maps, and they must carry flood insurance on the rebuilt structures.
State officials say the program will take several weeks to implement.
Gov. Haley Barbour pushed Congress for it and said it will be an "enormous organizational and administrative task.''
He warned that it will take several weeks for the state to receive federal guidelines on how to spend the money, and could take months after that to launch the program.
"This is the equivalent of establishing a financial institution from scratch that has the ability to accept and review between 50,000 and 75,000 applications in a matter of weeks,'' Barbour said.
People are also using the holiday vacation to volunteer along the Gulf Coast and helping with the rebuilding.
UPDATE:
Confederate Yankee also notes the four-month anniversary of Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast.
UPDATE:
The NYT tries to put out a more flattering picture of Gov. Blanco four months after Katrina came ashore and devastated much of Southern Louisiana, including New Orleans. And the comparisons to Rudy Giuliani don't help. In the aftermath of 9/11, Rudy was a calming presence and commanded attention and leadership - both in how he responded to questions on the death toll to how he focused on the tasks at hand. None of those characteristics are present in Blanco, who at turns feuded with Mayor Whiplash Nagin, President Bush, and even her own staff (who had to give advice on what to wear). Her frazzled demeanor and inability to make command decisions continues to plague the hurricane response and recovery.
The question now is whether Ms. Blanco can regain enough political traction to lead her state out of its trauma. A post-hurricane poll showed that only 19 percent of voters would definitely support her for re-election in 2007. The depopulation of New Orleans, her party's base, has emboldened Republicans. And some Democrats question whether she has a vision for reconstruction, beyond the laundry list of needs she ticks off in news releases.There's good reason that her support has dwindled. In the first comprehensive plan for Louisiana recovery provided to Congress, the Governor and state representatives in Congress put forth a laundry list of projects so crammed with pork that it threatened to kill any remaining support for Blanco. When key infrastructure improvements were overlooked in favor of pet projects, you know that the dysfunctional state government is still getting it wrong.
And moves to consolidate the levee boards to eliminate graft and corruption that diverted monies away from levee maintenance and construction have been deferred into the new year because of continuing questions over how the boards should be consolidated. Leadership is still wanting in Louisiana and it starts with the top.
Still, Ms. Blanco has come under fire for not throwing her weight behind legislation proposed by State Senator Walter J. Boasso, a Republican from Arabi, that would consolidate levee boards in the New Orleans area. The boards, which oversee levee maintenance, are considered corrupt and inefficient, and many experts believe they must be revamped or combined before the levee system can be improved.
Angered by inaction on Senator Boasso's bill, a grass-roots organization in New Orleans gathered 45,000 signatures demanding a special session to enact levee consolidation. And the New Orleans Business Council took out full-page newspaper advertisements advocating the bill's passage.
Many political analysts viewed Ms. Blanco's failure to support Senator Boasso's bill as evidence of her plodding, cautious approach to government.
"There really is this growing sense that there is this absolutely terrible lack of leadership in the state that is hurting us at every turn," said Elliott B. Stonecipher, a nonpartisan pollster from Shreveport.
UPDATE:
It would seem that Congress has hewed closer to Don Surber's idea of issuing a $100,000 grant to the hurricane victims instead of creating a massive new bureaucracy. In the long run, it might save the government billions. The plan Congress has approved would provide grants up to $150,000 to rebuild, and the details remain to be worked out, but this is clearly designed to help speed and spur reconstruction along the devastated Gulf Coast.
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; relief; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
Dissecting the Transit Deal
Apparently the one-time payout to certain workers who paid into the pension plan before the worker contribution portion was phased out may actually harm the solvency of the entire plan. Go figure. The one-time $110 million payout will pay only a fraction of the entire workforce payments of $1,000 to $10,000, and the cost may actually be as high as $165 million:
Once again, commuters and taxpayers are going to end up paying for this deal. Oh, and those workers in the pension plan have to wonder whether they've really gotten anything when the pension's solvency remains questionable.
UPDATE:
The Gothamist seems to be positive about the deal between the TWU and MTA - and thinks that the MTA can be trusted with figuring out its budget and its workers. Gothamist's writer, Jen Chung, couldn't be more hopelessly wrong. After all, the MTA apparently found $1 billion in unrealized revenues only a few weeks before the strike, and has repeatedly been found to screw with the books. Oh, and the union repeatedly claims that the MTA doesn't respect the workers. Meanwhile, the NY Daily News thinks that commuters and taxpayers just got royally hosed. Despite the fact that the union engaged in an illegal strike, it appears that nearly half of the union employees are going to be rewarded with pension refunds.
Prior Coverage: Awaiting a Deal
A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
McMahon and other experts were fuming about the MTA's agreeing to special payments of up to $10,000 for more than half the Transport Workers Union's members to settle the contract dispute with the 33,400-member Local 100, which conducted an illegal three-day strike that shut down the transit system.Considering that the MTA recently took half of the $1 billion in unanticipated revenues and put it towards the underfunded pension plan, this seems to be a bit of double dipping. It's a way to say that the MTA provided monies to the union workers out of the $1 billion, even though none of this money actually existed.
The money for the windfall, which must be approved by the state Legislature, will come from so-called past "overpayments" by workers into their pension system.
Norman Rosenfeld, a former pension adviser to the TWU, estimated the cost of the whopping giveback could be as much as $165 million.
"I never thought the MTA would give it back," Rosenfeld said.
The bonuses for up to 20,000 of the TWU's members come at a time when officials have warned that the MTA's pension obligations are already seriously unfunded.
Once again, commuters and taxpayers are going to end up paying for this deal. Oh, and those workers in the pension plan have to wonder whether they've really gotten anything when the pension's solvency remains questionable.
UPDATE:
The Gothamist seems to be positive about the deal between the TWU and MTA - and thinks that the MTA can be trusted with figuring out its budget and its workers. Gothamist's writer, Jen Chung, couldn't be more hopelessly wrong. After all, the MTA apparently found $1 billion in unrealized revenues only a few weeks before the strike, and has repeatedly been found to screw with the books. Oh, and the union repeatedly claims that the MTA doesn't respect the workers. Meanwhile, the NY Daily News thinks that commuters and taxpayers just got royally hosed. Despite the fact that the union engaged in an illegal strike, it appears that nearly half of the union employees are going to be rewarded with pension refunds.
Prior Coverage: Awaiting a Deal
A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 82
So, the site plan for the Ground Zero reconstruction is still up in the air, which means that the master plan still isn't set in stone. As it stands, the Freedom Tower is set to go up beginning early next year and Sir Norman Foster has been chosen to design the second office tower to go up on the site.
A key premise of Mr. Libeskind's plan is that office towers will ring the memorial like a "three-dimensional spiral," descending in height from the Freedom Tower, or Tower 1, to the southernmost building off Liberty Street, Tower 5. (In this array, 200 Greenwich Street is Tower 2.)What does this say about the master plan and Libeskind's design? Simply that nearly every single aspect of the plan has been abandoned or highly modified by others because of practical, security, and engineering concerns.
Originally, Mr. Libeskind wanted every rooftop to slope toward the memorial. In the October 2003 draft of the guidelines, he even proposed a formula with precise ratios to ensure "increasingly canted profiles."
By February 2004, that exacting formula had been replaced with this injunction: "Each roof should inflect toward the memorial and the slopes should increase beginning with Tower 5's roof as the shallowest and Tower 1's as the greatest."
A November 2004 development agreement softened the idea further. "Each tower top should acknowledge the memorial in a meaningful and appropriate way," the revision stated. "For example, each roof could inflect toward the memorial and the slopes could decrease, beginning with Tower 1's roof as the greatest slope." Since then, the Freedom Tower has lost its sloping roof altogether.
At a news conference concerning 200 Greenwich Street on Dec. 15, Mr. Silverstein was asked whether the building would follow the design guidelines. He replied that it would follow the master site plan; a different document that lays out building locations and footprints. And he added, "Rooftops are not part of a master site plan."
Not For Lack of Trying
Israel suffers yet another suicide bombing attack. This time, the suicide bomber was caught at a checkpoint, but killed an Israeli and four Palestinians at the checkpoint. The NYT headline only says that one Israeli was killed. Why would they reduce the body count of Palestinians killed by the suicide bombing unless they're worried that people might get the idea that the terrorists could care less who they kill as long as they kill as many people as possible. Palestinian or Israeli, it doesn't really matter.
The suicide bomber blew himself up as he was trying to enter Israel to carry out an attack.
Meanwhile, the search for three British citizens kidnapped in Gaza goes on. Kate Burton and her parents were kidnapped yesterday. Burton works for the al Mezan human rights group, and according to Debka, one of the many Fatah offshoots denies responsibility for taking the three hostage.
The suicide bomber blew himself up as he was trying to enter Israel to carry out an attack.
An IDF officer was killed and around 10 people were wounded in a suicide bombing in the West Bank on Thursday morning.Islamic Jihad took credit for the attack. IDF officials noted that they had received information about a planned suicide bombing and set up the checkpoint to prevent the bomber from attacking within the Green Line. Islamic Jihad receives support from Syria.
A suicide bomber detonated himself at a surprise IDF roadblock south of Tulkarm, near Shavei Shomron. The bomber was driven in a taxi to the area, and when he exited the vehicle, soldiers asked him to open his coat. He refused, and set off his explosives.
Four Palestinians - including the taxi driver - were also killed in the attack. It was unclear whether there were other Palestinian fatalities.
Three soldiers were wounded in the attack as well.
Seven Palestinians, including a child, were reportedly wounded, and were taken to Dr. Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm.
MDA teams arrived at the scene and evacuated the wounded. One soldier, in critical condition, was taken to the hospital by helicopter. Another two that were listed in light to moderate condition were evacuated as well, MDA reported.
Meanwhile, the search for three British citizens kidnapped in Gaza goes on. Kate Burton and her parents were kidnapped yesterday. Burton works for the al Mezan human rights group, and according to Debka, one of the many Fatah offshoots denies responsibility for taking the three hostage.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Learn This Lesson Well
Once again, greed has crept into the darkest hours that this nation has faced in the last generation. Many businesses that applied for, and received, loans and aid following the 9/11 terrorist attacks were completely unaffected by the economic fallout.
I doubt it.
Businesses will take advantage of the program if they're saavy enough to learn about them and apply in a timely fashion.
Many of the most affected businesses are not necessarily able to take advantage of these programs because they're still simply trying to get their own lives in order. Records for thousands of businesses were simply destroyed because of the storm damage. This includes insurance information, everyday business records necessary to reconstitute business activities for the past several years, and other documents that lenders often require.
This doesn't mean that these loan programs aren't worthwhile. It means that a better job vetting the companies that seek the aid under these programs must be accomplished so that those companies most affected can obtain the aid. Inevitably, we'll hear horror stories of businesses in the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast unable to receive aid because the monies went elsewhere. It would be criminal to learn that it was some business in Omaha, Nebraska that got $20,000 which could have helped restart a construction business in Waveland or Bay St. Louis.
The investigative report substantiates key findings of an Associated Press story in September that found similar problems with the SBA's Supplementary Terrorist Activity Relief (STAR) program.With numerous aid programs proposed for the Gulf Coast to aid in the reconstruction, will the feds get it right?
The AP found that terrorism recovery loans went to businesses including a South Dakota radio station, a Virgin Islands perfume shop, a Utah dog boutique, and more than 100 Dunkin' Donuts and Subway sandwich shops in various locations.
Meanwhile, small businesses near Ground Zero in New York couldn't get the assistance they desperately sought.
SBA Administrator Hector Barreto put the best face on the findings, saying the audit did not find that loan recipients were unqualified for the program, although he did note that lender documentation could have been better.
His statement, however, was contradicted by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R- Maine, chairwoman of the Senate committee that oversees the Small Business Administration.
"These initial findings are troubling and the committee ... will continue with its own investigation of the STAR program to get at the truth and inform Congress for the future," she said.
I doubt it.
Businesses will take advantage of the program if they're saavy enough to learn about them and apply in a timely fashion.
Many of the most affected businesses are not necessarily able to take advantage of these programs because they're still simply trying to get their own lives in order. Records for thousands of businesses were simply destroyed because of the storm damage. This includes insurance information, everyday business records necessary to reconstitute business activities for the past several years, and other documents that lenders often require.
This doesn't mean that these loan programs aren't worthwhile. It means that a better job vetting the companies that seek the aid under these programs must be accomplished so that those companies most affected can obtain the aid. Inevitably, we'll hear horror stories of businesses in the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast unable to receive aid because the monies went elsewhere. It would be criminal to learn that it was some business in Omaha, Nebraska that got $20,000 which could have helped restart a construction business in Waveland or Bay St. Louis.
Doing My Part to Make The Invisible Coast More Visible
Since Hurricane Katrina first struck, I've made a conscious effort to keep attention focused not only on New Orleans, but on the hundreds of coastal communities that were thrashed by Katrina and Rita (including Pascagoula, Waveland, Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, and Lakeland, among others). They may not be as well known as New Orleans, but that doesn't mean that they don't need our continued help and assistance any less. The combination of hurricanes affected hundreds of miles of coastline, and Mississippi was actually harder hit by Katrina than New Orleans. It was in Mississippi that the largest storm surges were felt and the highest winds lashed the coast.
A guest poster at Blackfive, Karen, relates her views that Mississippi's plight has been forgotten by the national media. Her comments echo an earlier editorial by the Biloxi Sun Herald entitled the Invisible Coast, which she includes in her posting. The key grafs:
Others blogging this story: Dummocrats, Sgt. Hook, and Small Town Veteran.
UPDATE:
Quite a few bloggers noticed the Sun Herald story and blogged it over the past few days including: Basil's Blog, Dean Esmay, The World According to Carl, sugarfoot, Did we survive Hurricane Katrina or not?, and Sister City Support Network
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; relief; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
A guest poster at Blackfive, Karen, relates her views that Mississippi's plight has been forgotten by the national media. Her comments echo an earlier editorial by the Biloxi Sun Herald entitled the Invisible Coast, which she includes in her posting. The key grafs:
The awful tragedy that befell New Orleans as a consequence of levee failures at the time of Katrina, likewise, taken by itself, also represents a monumental natural disaster. But, of course, the devastation there, and here, were not separate events, but one, wrought by the Aug. 29 storm.Thankfully, big media isn't the sole source of information these days. Bloggers and local media outlets can generate stories and attention on the continuing problems associated with the cleanup and rebuilding efforts. The Sun Herald is particularly crucial in getting information out about the situation in Mississippi and even the Times-Picayune in New Orleans isn't just covering the situation in New Orleans but the problems throughout the Gulf Coast (albeit with a NOLA bent).
There is no question that the New Orleans story, like ours, is a compelling, ongoing saga as its brave people seek to reclaim those parts of the city lost to the floods.
But it becomes more and more obvious that to national media, New Orleans is THE story - to the extent that if the Mississippi Coast is mentioned at all it is often in an add-on paragraph that mentions "and the Gulf Coast" or "and Mississippi and Alabama."
The television trucks and satellite dishes that were seen here in the early days have all but disappeared.
Others blogging this story: Dummocrats, Sgt. Hook, and Small Town Veteran.
UPDATE:
Quite a few bloggers noticed the Sun Herald story and blogged it over the past few days including: Basil's Blog, Dean Esmay, The World According to Carl, sugarfoot, Did we survive Hurricane Katrina or not?, and Sister City Support Network
Technorati: flood aid; hurricane katrina; katrina aid; hurricane rita; relief; biloxi; gulfport; pascagoula; nagin; blanco; barbour; hurricane rita; hurricane wilma.
Calm Like a Bomb
The French riots are but a recent memory, but the rage still lingers. It needs only a spark to roar back into life. Too bad the French are doing their best to ignore the reality, and the media is doing its best to make like the riots never happened. And don't say that the riots had nothing to do with Islam - or that Muslims didn't make up a large component of the rioters:
Atlas Shrugs reports that the car torchings continue, but at the 'normal rate.' Is that the new normal? Nope - just the normal torchings that happen every Christmas:
UPDATE:
Erik at No-Pasaran notes that instead of France coming together in the weeks after the rioting died down to acceptable levels, we're seeing the recriminations and grievances unanswered. It's not going to end well for the French.
Technorati: french riots.
They sing about the riots that erupted two months ago, about being Muslim and about not feeling French in France. For them the unrest is not over, it is waiting to break loose again.Many in France wait with bated breath for the results into an investigation into the death of two teenagers who were electrocuted in a Paris surburb. It was their deaths that sparked the three week riots that trashed nearly 10,000 cars, hundreds of businesses, and resulted in countless injuries and thousands of arrests. If the investigation results in the exoneration of the police - many fear that the rioters will take to the streets once again.
"The quiet is deceptive," said Bala "Balastik" Coulibaly, 24, of nearby Clichy-sous-Bois, his eyes scanning the deserted parking lot from deep inside his sweatshirt as he took a break between two songs. It was in Clichy that the accidental death of two teenagers on Oct. 27 set off three weeks of rioting in immigrant neighborhoods across France.
Since then, the whiff of gasoline and tear gas has disappeared. But the calm is fragile, impatient and tinged with the cynicism of youths who fear being let down again by a political class that allowed mass unemployment and social exclusion to accumulate over three decades in the poor suburbs ringing France's big cities.
"The rage in the suburbs is only asleep," said Balastik, a French youth of Mauritanian origin who has been jobless since dropping out of school seven years ago and is dreaming of a career as a rapper with his band, Styladone. "It wouldn't take much to wake it up again."
Atlas Shrugs reports that the car torchings continue, but at the 'normal rate.' Is that the new normal? Nope - just the normal torchings that happen every Christmas:
National Police spokeswoman Catherine Casteran said Sunday that about 100 cars were reported burned overnight on Christmas Eve, which was equivalent to ''an ordinary weekend'' and the number of vehicles burned last Christmas.
UPDATE:
Erik at No-Pasaran notes that instead of France coming together in the weeks after the rioting died down to acceptable levels, we're seeing the recriminations and grievances unanswered. It's not going to end well for the French.
Technorati: french riots.
UN Calls Iraq Elections Credible
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Let's just say that I couldn't care whether the UN called the elections credible or not. They had no problem finding the Venezuelan elections credible even though there was widespread corruption and fraud. There are ongoing demonstrations by some Sunni groups that think the elections were fraudulent:
Omar at Iraq the Model does more reporting on the situation in Iraq than MSNBC. Iraq the Model should be on your daily reading list if you want to keep up to date on events in Iraq. Omar had earlier reported the following:
The Shiite bloc held talks with Kurdish leaders about who should get the top 12 government jobs, as thousands of Sunni Arabs and secular Shiites protested what they say was a tainted vote.It's important to note that these people are demonstrating in protest marches - not taking up arms and blowing stuff up. That's a significant step. Hopefully the Iraqis will take steps to reassure the Sunnis that are protesting that the elections were not fraudulent, but I think that there are going to be problems from these Sunni groups for years to come if the American experience is anything to go by. After all, there are some who think that President Bush was fraudulently elected in 2000 and 2004. For some folks, there's no amount of proof that will suffice.
Two Sunni Arab groups and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqi National List have threatened a wave of protests and civil disobedience if fraud charges are not properly investigated.
In another of continuing political demonstrations across the country, more than 4,000 people rallied Wednesday in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, in favor of the major Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Accordance Front. Demonstrators carried banners say “We refuse the election forgery.”
Omar at Iraq the Model does more reporting on the situation in Iraq than MSNBC. Iraq the Model should be on your daily reading list if you want to keep up to date on events in Iraq. Omar had earlier reported the following:
The election commission announced the results of voting that took place in military bases and 15 countries outside Iraq. The four major lists scored the following numbers:
Kurdish alliance: 176,361 (36.56%)
United Iraqi Alliance: 146,191 (30.28%)
Iraqi list (Allawi): 53,576 (10.11%)
Iraqi Accord Front: 23,409 (4.85%)
What Took Them So Long?
The Chicago Tribune debunks the Bush lied meme. Too bad it took them this long to get around to doing it. And the facts are that on some of those issues, the verdict is out whether exaggerations took place or that we're still in an information gathering phase. Does anyone honestly think that Saddam wouldn't try to destroy evidence of his ties to international terrorists like al Qaeda or bury his WMD programs (or ship them out of the country?)
On Nov. 20, the Tribune began an inquest: We set out to assess the Bush administration's arguments for war in Iraq. We have weighed each of those nine arguments against the findings of subsequent official investigations by the 9/11 Commission, the Senate Intelligence Committee and others. We predicted that this exercise would distress the smug and self-assured--those who have unquestioningly supported, or opposed, this war.Count on the fact that the anti-Administration folks are going to weigh some of those issues more heavily than others. They're going to scream and yell that Bush lied about the WMD and the terrorist threat, but the fact is that Saddam did harbor international terrorists, it did aid and abet international terrorist groups, though most operated against Israel, not against the US. Saddam did seek to obtain WMD, but the final verdict on his capabilities may yet be written. There are still details that have not been fleshed out - the convoys of trucks heading into the Syrian Beka'a Valley from Iraq and years worth of reports that Iraq was developing and constituting a WMD program.
The matrix below summarizes findings from the resulting nine editorials. We have tried to bring order to a national debate that has flared for almost three years. Our intent was to help Tribune readers judge the case for war--based not on who shouts loudest, but on what actually was said and what happened.
The administration didn't advance its arguments with equal emphasis. Neither, though, did its case rely solely on Iraq's alleged illicit weapons. The other most prominent assertion in administration speeches and presentations was as accurate as the weapons argument was flawed: that Saddam Hussein had rejected 12 years of United Nations demands that he account for his stores of deadly weapons--and also stop exterminating innocents. Evaluating all nine arguments lets each of us decide which ones we now find persuasive or empty, and whether President Bush tried to mislead us.
Awaiting Approval
The TWU board approved a tentative agreement with the MTA, which included the following terms:
I think not.
Sure, the MTA didn't get the union to budge on adjusting the pension or retirement age, but the MTA did get the union to agree to kick in a higher percentage of health care costs. The union did get the MTA to agree that Martin Luther King Jr. day is a paid holiday, and women will not be forced to take sick time for pregnancies.
Most of all, most New Yorkers realized that the union was already well compensated for their jobs, and the griping about the pensions and retirement ages didn't wear well among most New Yorkers who would kill to have those kinds of benefits.
The New York Post reports that some workers hired in the 1980s may receive a one-time cash payout for contributions made to the pension before changes were enacted by the Legislature to eliminate the worker contributions. The payout is dependent upon Legislative action.
A Post op-ed notes that the health care contributions are a huge win for the State and City because it sets the groundwork for finally requiring other union workers to kick in contributions towards health care and their benefits.
Sometimes it takes baby steps before fiscal sanity can be imposed on the unions and government agencies involved, but the strike was still a loser for all involved. The union could potentially have gained more through additional negotiations than by striking for three days - the lost wages, penalties, and fines will cut into whatever raises are seen by workers and the ill-will generated by the strike will carry over. In fact, Toussaint and the union bosses screwed over their current workers bigtime:
UPDATE:
The NYT is doing its best to analyze the transit strike news to give the union favorable treatment.
Let's get this straight. Toussaint led the union into an illegal strike - and triggered mandatory penalties and fines under the Taylor Law. These fines, which amount to at least $3 million for the union itself, taps out the union's strike fund. Workers are going to get hit in the pocketbook for six days worth of wages lost (a 2 for 1 penalty for each day off the job). And there's no telling just how much the health care contribution will end up costing workers over time, especially in future negotiations. Further, it sheds new light on the extravagent pension and retirement benefits afforded to transit workers and the Legislature may come under new pressure to reform the system though it's a longshot given union pressure on politicians.
Prior Coverage: A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
The agreement calls for transit workers to pay 1.5 percent of their wages toward the premiums, cutting into the raises they receive. That comes on top of the fines of slightly more than $1,000 that most transit workers face for participating in last week's illegal transit strike.The 37-month deal would push the deadline for the next contract into Jan. 15, 2009 - after the holiday shopping season. That's a significant step, but was the strike worth it given what was approved through continued negotiations?
The settlement calls for raises of 3 percent in the deal's first year, 4 percent in the second year and 3.5 percent in the third year. The subway and bus workers' current base pay averages $47,000 a year, and with overtime, their average yearly earnings total $55,000.
I think not.
Sure, the MTA didn't get the union to budge on adjusting the pension or retirement age, but the MTA did get the union to agree to kick in a higher percentage of health care costs. The union did get the MTA to agree that Martin Luther King Jr. day is a paid holiday, and women will not be forced to take sick time for pregnancies.
Most of all, most New Yorkers realized that the union was already well compensated for their jobs, and the griping about the pensions and retirement ages didn't wear well among most New Yorkers who would kill to have those kinds of benefits.
The New York Post reports that some workers hired in the 1980s may receive a one-time cash payout for contributions made to the pension before changes were enacted by the Legislature to eliminate the worker contributions. The payout is dependent upon Legislative action.
A Post op-ed notes that the health care contributions are a huge win for the State and City because it sets the groundwork for finally requiring other union workers to kick in contributions towards health care and their benefits.
Sometimes it takes baby steps before fiscal sanity can be imposed on the unions and government agencies involved, but the strike was still a loser for all involved. The union could potentially have gained more through additional negotiations than by striking for three days - the lost wages, penalties, and fines will cut into whatever raises are seen by workers and the ill-will generated by the strike will carry over. In fact, Toussaint and the union bosses screwed over their current workers bigtime:
Ironically, it requires all transit workers to chip in for health insurance, while the offer on the table before the strike — hiking pension contributions to 6 percent from 2 percent — would have applied only to new hires.No wonder folks first learning of this deal are wondering what they actually gained by striking. Transit workers at TWU Local 100 really need to reconsider their leadership going forward. Is this the kind of leader that you want representing you at the bargaining table? One that not only can't deliver on his promises (and Roger repeatedly said "trust me" to his union), but that actually costs all of his workers more in out of pocket costs now and in the future.
So: Under the old offer, no current transit worker would have lost any benefits; now, they'll be forced to cough up something for their health costs.
Nice work, Roger.
UPDATE:
The NYT is doing its best to analyze the transit strike news to give the union favorable treatment.
But now, a day after details of an agreement between the transit workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were spelled out, Roger Toussaint, the union's president, seems to have emerged in a far better position than seemed likely just a few days ago.Only problem is that there's plenty of tangible evidence that the paper itself has reported that shows that the union leadership screwed up royally and did no one any good by striking.
Mr. Toussaint, whose back appeared to be against the wall last week, can boast of a tentative 37-month contract that meets most of his goals, including raises above the inflation rate and no concessions on pensions. Indeed, several fiscal and labor experts said yesterday that Mr. Toussaint and his union appeared to have bested the transit authority in their contract dispute.
The authority did not come away empty-handed, however, as it obtained a major concession: For the first time, the 33,700 transit workers will pay a portion of their health insurance premiums.
But if there is a real winner in the walkout that hobbled the city at the height of the holiday season, it is the union members who went out on strike, and the man who led them.
In fact, many of the workers said the contract only deepened their ambivalence about the 60-hour transit strike last week, which ended when the union president, Roger Toussaint, agreed to resume talks with the authority. Outside the Michael J. Quill Depot in Manhattan, named for the man who led the union from 1934 to 1966, workers debated whether the strike had been effective.No, it doesn't help the rank and file one bit. It didn't help the rank and file to send them on strike right before the holiday either. But we'll never know what could have been negotiated between the union and the MTA.
"It's a bum deal," said Richard Smith, 37, a bus cleaner. "We are still stuck, staying right above the rising waters with inflation."
Mr. Smith and several other workers said they collected substantial overtime pay. He said that the health care contribution should be only a proportion of base pay based on a 40-hour week, and not net income, as the proposed contract now calls for.
Michael Tutrone, who represents bus workers in Manhattan and the Bronx as one of 15 division chairmen in Local 100, noted that most workers would pay at least $1,000 in fines for engaging in an illegal strike. He also noted that on the eve of the strike, the authority offered the same wage package as the one in the final settlement, and asserted that the new health care contribution opens the door for future increases.
"What we came back for was everything that was on the table before the strike," he said. "These guys are only interested in the food on the table for their families, and this deal doesn't help them with any of that."
Let's get this straight. Toussaint led the union into an illegal strike - and triggered mandatory penalties and fines under the Taylor Law. These fines, which amount to at least $3 million for the union itself, taps out the union's strike fund. Workers are going to get hit in the pocketbook for six days worth of wages lost (a 2 for 1 penalty for each day off the job). And there's no telling just how much the health care contribution will end up costing workers over time, especially in future negotiations. Further, it sheds new light on the extravagent pension and retirement benefits afforded to transit workers and the Legislature may come under new pressure to reform the system though it's a longshot given union pressure on politicians.
Prior Coverage: A Deal In Sight?
Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Aid Isn't Enough In Dafur
Barack Obama and Sam Brownback wrote an editorial in the Washington Post that highlights the ongoing misery in Dafur, Sudan. They note that the US has spent more than $1 billion on aid to relieve the suffering in Dafur, and yet the situation is continuing to deteriorate.
The policy of providing aid is a band aid. It doesn't attack the underlying problems and while it makes the donors feel good about providing aid, it doesn't prevent the situation from continuing. Other dictators take note of the situation and apply the lessons to their own populations. They know that they can act with impunity from the UN and other human rights organizations because they simply can't or wont interfere to stop the carnage.
The solution is peacemaking - eliminating bad regimes and failed states that engage in genocide, ethnic cleansing, and otherwise spread misery to millions of people. Sudan is one such failed state. And that's along the lines of what Obama and Brownback are proposing, though they're hoping for a multilateral approach. I'm not so optimistic that a multinational group can hold the line in Sudan (or elsewhere for that matter). The African Union is incapable of handling the situation on its own and lacks the manpower, not to mention the logistics, to handle the situation on its own. The Chinese and Sudanese governments are opposed to any intervention as it would disrupt China's oil deals with Khartoum (and once again bad actors are reinforcing other bad actors).
While the 7,000-strong African Union force in Darfur has undoubtedly reduced the violence, it has become clear in recent weeks that it lacks the resources and manpower to secure a region the size of France. Indeed, the African Union force itself is increasingly being targeted and harassed. Five of its soldiers were killed and 34 were kidnapped in October. As one AU colonel recently said, "We are sitting ducks." Administration officials have publicly expressed doubts that African countries will provide the additional troops needed to create a stable security environment. The African Union also lacks the communications, airlift, logistics and intelligence capabilities to challenge the aggressors in Darfur. A political settlement is clearly critical to resolving these challenges. Unfortunately, the U.S.-facilitated political negotiations are at best sputtering. Having brokered the landmark peace accord between Khartoum and rebels in the south, senior administration officials had hoped that the integration of southerners into the Sudanese government would change Khartoum's stance on Darfur. But there is no balance of power between the rebels, who are disorganized and wracked by infighting, and the Sudanese authorities, who have no incentive to compromise. As a result, the talks are entering their seventh round with no consensus in sight.I could have told them this more than a year ago. Peacekeeping and aid in and of themselves will not solve the problems in Sudan (or elsewhere).
Meanwhile, large numbers of vulnerable people in Darfur are confined to camps surrounded by a variety of hostile armed elements, with no effective security force or political process in which to invest hope. Absent a drastic change of course, many Darfurians will take up arms, and far more will die.
It is essential that the Bush administration shift its approach to confront the new and mounting challenges. Only the United States, working in concert with key nations, has the leverage and resources to persuade Khartoum to change its ways
The policy of providing aid is a band aid. It doesn't attack the underlying problems and while it makes the donors feel good about providing aid, it doesn't prevent the situation from continuing. Other dictators take note of the situation and apply the lessons to their own populations. They know that they can act with impunity from the UN and other human rights organizations because they simply can't or wont interfere to stop the carnage.
The solution is peacemaking - eliminating bad regimes and failed states that engage in genocide, ethnic cleansing, and otherwise spread misery to millions of people. Sudan is one such failed state. And that's along the lines of what Obama and Brownback are proposing, though they're hoping for a multilateral approach. I'm not so optimistic that a multinational group can hold the line in Sudan (or elsewhere for that matter). The African Union is incapable of handling the situation on its own and lacks the manpower, not to mention the logistics, to handle the situation on its own. The Chinese and Sudanese governments are opposed to any intervention as it would disrupt China's oil deals with Khartoum (and once again bad actors are reinforcing other bad actors).
Anti Idiotarian Awards of the Year
Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs runs an annual Idiotarian of the Year Award (The Robert Fisk Award - the Fiskie). This year, he's expanded the awards show lineup to include an Anti-idiotarian Award.
Here are my suggestions, in no particular order:
Claudia Rossett: For trolling in the fever swamps of the UN to uncover the UNSCAM (oil for food scandal), which siphoned off billions of oil monies - to Saddam's cronies.
Michael Yon: for his photo essays showing how and why the US military does what it does.
Ed Morrisey (Captain Ed): for refusing to be cowed by the Canadian government and uncovered a huge scandal that laid the Canadian government low.
The Iraqi [and Afghan] voters: Who once again showed that they had more common sense, intelligence and understanding of the events that were shaping their respective nations than the so called intelligensia in the big media outlets (the doom and gloomers).
Rafik Harari (posthumous) and the Lebanese people: In his death, Harari succeeded in shedding more light on the nefarious and pervasive Syrian control over Lebanon, which stifled the Lebanese people and presents a constant threat to all Lebanese people. His assassination awoke a dormant nationalism and need for freedom that was subjugated by the Syrian thugs who use assassination and violence to control Lebanon from Damascus. Even the UN had to recognize that Syria was up to no good with the highest levels of Syria's totalitarian government involved.
Rep. Curt Weldon and the Able Danger Bloggers: While the NYT and WaPo seem to be completely focused on classified information leaked to them from sources that have an agenda other than seeking to maintain operation security on classified projects that are central to national security, a group of bloggers have been keeping the story of Able Danger alive. Able Danger came to light when Rep. Curt Weldon took to the floor earlier this year to discuss this data mining project. Since then, explosive allegations that the 9/11 Commission failed to properly investigate the Able Danger findings that apparently included uncovering members of one of the 9/11 hijacking cells (including the name of Mohammed Atta) but no action was taken because of a combination of factors. None of this information found its way into the 9/11 Commission report on the terrorist attacks, but hearings will be held in 2006 to examine what happened and what was gathered. Bloggers on that beat: QT Monster, Able Danger Blog, Captain Ed (again), AJ Strata, and MacsMind.
John Bolton: Over the opposition of Democrats in Congress, John Bolton was appointed as Ambassador to the UN and provided a dose of clear thinking morality that called out evil for what it is and pushed forward an agenda of reform that got people's attention. But he vigorously advanced US interests at the UN, which is his job - and did so without making any apologies.
Feel free to add your own to this list in the comments here and over at LGF.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog
Technorati: list, award, anti-idiotarian, idiotarian, fiskie.
Here are my suggestions, in no particular order:
Claudia Rossett: For trolling in the fever swamps of the UN to uncover the UNSCAM (oil for food scandal), which siphoned off billions of oil monies - to Saddam's cronies.
Michael Yon: for his photo essays showing how and why the US military does what it does.
Ed Morrisey (Captain Ed): for refusing to be cowed by the Canadian government and uncovered a huge scandal that laid the Canadian government low.
The Iraqi [and Afghan] voters: Who once again showed that they had more common sense, intelligence and understanding of the events that were shaping their respective nations than the so called intelligensia in the big media outlets (the doom and gloomers).
Rafik Harari (posthumous) and the Lebanese people: In his death, Harari succeeded in shedding more light on the nefarious and pervasive Syrian control over Lebanon, which stifled the Lebanese people and presents a constant threat to all Lebanese people. His assassination awoke a dormant nationalism and need for freedom that was subjugated by the Syrian thugs who use assassination and violence to control Lebanon from Damascus. Even the UN had to recognize that Syria was up to no good with the highest levels of Syria's totalitarian government involved.
Rep. Curt Weldon and the Able Danger Bloggers: While the NYT and WaPo seem to be completely focused on classified information leaked to them from sources that have an agenda other than seeking to maintain operation security on classified projects that are central to national security, a group of bloggers have been keeping the story of Able Danger alive. Able Danger came to light when Rep. Curt Weldon took to the floor earlier this year to discuss this data mining project. Since then, explosive allegations that the 9/11 Commission failed to properly investigate the Able Danger findings that apparently included uncovering members of one of the 9/11 hijacking cells (including the name of Mohammed Atta) but no action was taken because of a combination of factors. None of this information found its way into the 9/11 Commission report on the terrorist attacks, but hearings will be held in 2006 to examine what happened and what was gathered. Bloggers on that beat: QT Monster, Able Danger Blog, Captain Ed (again), AJ Strata, and MacsMind.
John Bolton: Over the opposition of Democrats in Congress, John Bolton was appointed as Ambassador to the UN and provided a dose of clear thinking morality that called out evil for what it is and pushed forward an agenda of reform that got people's attention. But he vigorously advanced US interests at the UN, which is his job - and did so without making any apologies.
Feel free to add your own to this list in the comments here and over at LGF.
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog
Technorati: list, award, anti-idiotarian, idiotarian, fiskie.
Consideration Given To Rebuilding Further Away From Coastline
Between the scenes of horror from the South Asian tsunami last year and the hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast this year, many communities are looking at creating buffers between their communities and the adjacent bodies of water. Around the Indian Ocean, countries are debating whether to permit reconstruction within a set distance of the high water line, while in the US, the debate is whether some communities want to completely relocate further inland.
Now Louisiana planners are proposing an idea that would have been unimaginable here a few months ago: moving an entire string of seaside towns and villages - and the 4,000 longtime residents who live in them - 15 or 20 miles inland to higher and presumably safer ground.There's quite a few people who are resistent to the idea of relocating their communities. This is a situation that has periodically arisen after catastrophic flooding incidents. One Mississippi River town that had been flooded repeatedly over the years relocated several miles away to higher ground. This is a situation that bears close watch.
"If we could get 100 percent participation, which admittedly is extraordinarily difficult, if possible at all, we could conceivably take the entire population of Cameron Parish largely out of harm's way for future events," said Drew Sachs, a consultant to the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He has been asked to develop bold suggestions for rebuilding the state's coastal region in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Did The UN Think No One Would Notice?
We're still coming to grips with the horrors that unfolded last year when the tsunami triggered by a 9.1 earthquake killed hundreds of thousands of people throughout South Asia and one has to wonder just how effective the charitable efforts were. The UN called for urgent relief aid to be collected and the UN itself collected nearly $600 million. Yet, 30% of the amount the UN itself collected never got to its intended recipients. It got consumed in the UN - in overhead. Most charities strive to keep overhead to a minimum - under 10%. Some do exceedingly well. The UN is at the other end of the spectrum.
Considering the UN's inability to account for billions in the oil for food scandal, plus their inability to deliver on their aid committments to tsunami victims, is it any wonder that the UN finds itself getting hammered by those who think that it is a den of thieves and that it has outlived its usefulness?
Others blogging the UN perfidy: Mister Snitch.
UPDATE:
Discerning Texan who comments on the Mark Steyn flaying of the UN and those critics who considered the US efforts stingy. If only those at the UN were somehow more stingy with how much they took out of the pot before sending it on to the South Asians who needed the money to rebuild.
UPDATE:
Wizbang also notices the UN perfidy and Jay Tea considers that the UN is acting like a protection racket that takes a 1/3 of all monies as 'protection.'
UPDATE 12/28/2005:
Six Meat Buffet also notices the UN thievery and says people should never give money to a UN run charity.
Considering the UN's inability to account for billions in the oil for food scandal, plus their inability to deliver on their aid committments to tsunami victims, is it any wonder that the UN finds itself getting hammered by those who think that it is a den of thieves and that it has outlived its usefulness?
Others blogging the UN perfidy: Mister Snitch.
UPDATE:
Discerning Texan who comments on the Mark Steyn flaying of the UN and those critics who considered the US efforts stingy. If only those at the UN were somehow more stingy with how much they took out of the pot before sending it on to the South Asians who needed the money to rebuild.
UPDATE:
Wizbang also notices the UN perfidy and Jay Tea considers that the UN is acting like a protection racket that takes a 1/3 of all monies as 'protection.'
UPDATE 12/28/2005:
Six Meat Buffet also notices the UN thievery and says people should never give money to a UN run charity.
A Deal In Sight?
The TWU workers will get a 11.5% to 12% raise over three years, the pension changes will be taken off the table, but workers will be required to pay up to 6% of their health care costs (currently 0%).
Welcome to the real world where these items have real costs and those costs are borne by the taxpayers and commuters who use the transit system. Yet the problems with the pension system aren't just isolated to the TWU/MTA. All the public unions have similar pension troubles, and containing these costs will mean that future generations of teachers, police, fire, and transit workers will not have as generous benefits as those in the past. The system simply can't afford that kind of extravagence.
At the same time, more must be done to rein in the public authorities and transparency of public finances so that the books can't be cooked. The MTA is especially dubious at using double books. That must end. And GAAP should be required for all public authorities, which are currently using cash accounting.
UPDATE:
Both Mark Tapscott and Don Surber note that the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the fiscal prudence of pensions (defined benefits as opposed to defined contribution plans or 401k). The pension issue was apparently taken off the table, but its fiscal impact will be felt for years to come. Who wins if taxpayers and commuters are saddled with higher taxes and fares just to cover the pension fund and not long-term capital projects or operating revenues?
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog.
Prior Coverage: Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
As part of the tentative deal, the MTA will scrap its controversial pension proposal that would have required all new hires to contribute 6 percent of their income toward their retirement.Oh, the horror of actually paying for a benefit in order to keep the entire pension system solvent. The union has absolutely no stake in the solvency of the system because they know that shortfalls will be covered by the state and city. They're concerned that they may be required to put an increasing percentage of their wages towards benefits like pensions or health care.
TWU president Roger Toussaint vehemently opposed creating a new pension tier, which he charged would have forced "the unborn" workers to put up three times more of their income to finance their pensions than current employees who pay 2 percent.
But the tradeoff is that the city's transit workers will be required to finance more of the escalating cost of their health coverage, either by contributing a certain percentage of their income toward health insurance or through higher co-payments for medical services.
TWU members currently pay nothing toward health care premiums.
Welcome to the real world where these items have real costs and those costs are borne by the taxpayers and commuters who use the transit system. Yet the problems with the pension system aren't just isolated to the TWU/MTA. All the public unions have similar pension troubles, and containing these costs will mean that future generations of teachers, police, fire, and transit workers will not have as generous benefits as those in the past. The system simply can't afford that kind of extravagence.
At the same time, more must be done to rein in the public authorities and transparency of public finances so that the books can't be cooked. The MTA is especially dubious at using double books. That must end. And GAAP should be required for all public authorities, which are currently using cash accounting.
UPDATE:
Both Mark Tapscott and Don Surber note that the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the fiscal prudence of pensions (defined benefits as opposed to defined contribution plans or 401k). The pension issue was apparently taken off the table, but its fiscal impact will be felt for years to come. Who wins if taxpayers and commuters are saddled with higher taxes and fares just to cover the pension fund and not long-term capital projects or operating revenues?
UPDATE:
Posted to Basil's Blog.
Prior Coverage: Tallying the Toll
Winners and Losers
Strike Over?
Seeing The Humor in Striking
Three Strikes and You're Out?
Rogering New York
A Pox On Both Their Houses
The Pension Gap
The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike
Taking Sides in the Transit Strike
Technorati: toussant, toussaint, strike, nyc, transit strike.
Monday, December 26, 2005
The Slow Pace of Reconstruction
One year ago, the world was coming to grips with the South Asian earthquake and tsunami. More than 270,000 people were killed. In the year since the disaster struck, billions of dollars were pledged by member nations of the UN, private charities and businesses, and yet many are still in desperate need.
Why?
Well, for one thing, monies that were supposed to flow through the UN have gone to overhead, and not to the needy nations affected by the tsunami. Go figure.
Some charities haven't done well either. Monies donated to some British charities has gone unspent.
As we see with the slow reconstruction in the US following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, critical infrastructure is often overlooked or overshadowed by other needs, and the consequences of that oversight will be unrealized until another disaster occurs. In South Asia, the tsunami detection system should take priority, and yet the countries can't agree on how a regional system would operate. So, a piecemeal approach is going forward with predictable mixed results. Those countries that field better systems will be better capable of warning their populations should another tsunami occur. A nation that deploys a less sophisticated system may end up costing lives.
Why?
Well, for one thing, monies that were supposed to flow through the UN have gone to overhead, and not to the needy nations affected by the tsunami. Go figure.
Some charities haven't done well either. Monies donated to some British charities has gone unspent.
Unwanted piles of clothes still sit rotting in the rain in a Thai fishing village; tin-roofed temporary shacks for refugees were too hot for anyone to live in; water tanks leaked; new boats were not seaworthy; and some medical supplies were out of date, but aid agencies insist that their successes outweigh the errors.And yet, South Asia is still without a tsunami warning system. Should this be a surprise? People are moving back into the areas devastated by the tsunami but governments are behind the curve in obtaining tsunami warning systems. The MSNBC report indicates that many of the systems being deployed do not provide sufficient lead-time should a tsunami occurs, do not provide daily data streams, or are not linked to other systems. The best system, made in the US, can't be made quickly enough because the facility that builds them was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The DEC has spent £40 million on projects in both Indonesia and Sri Lanka, another £31 million in India, and £17 million has been split between four other countries, including Thailand. It plans to spend a further £190 million in the coming year, mainly building 20,000 new homes for 100,000 people. Experts say that constructing all the houses needed is the equivalent of building Glasgow and Birmingham from scratch in less than 12 months.
Ms Cohen said: “Progress has been impressive. A year after Hurricane Ivan in Florida, hundreds of people are still in temporary accommodation. It took the Japanese seven years to repair the damage done by the Kobe earthquake. The tsunami caused far greater destruction. The public’s expectations were raised after such a remarkable fund-raising operation, and that brings its own pressures for us. The last thing we want is the accusation that we didn’t spend this cash properly.”
As we see with the slow reconstruction in the US following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, critical infrastructure is often overlooked or overshadowed by other needs, and the consequences of that oversight will be unrealized until another disaster occurs. In South Asia, the tsunami detection system should take priority, and yet the countries can't agree on how a regional system would operate. So, a piecemeal approach is going forward with predictable mixed results. Those countries that field better systems will be better capable of warning their populations should another tsunami occur. A nation that deploys a less sophisticated system may end up costing lives.
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