Month: October 2007

State

Get Vouchers Right Next Time

Post author By David
Post date October 31, 2007
18 Comments on Get Vouchers Right Next Time

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It’s not often that I get to see Utah featured in a nationally syndicated column about a positive policy debate. Usually when Utah makes the national news it’s for things like a mine disaster, raging wildfires, or polygamy. Today John Stossel wrote about the voucher issue in Utah. Naturally he is in favor of vouchers – like I am, but the Utah legislature was kind enough to give us such a bad proposal that it’s a no-win situation for those who favor parental choice. It’s easy for people outside of Utah to say “take the leap and give parents more options” but those of us inside Utah who have studied the issue know that it’s not that clear-cut.

If we get vouchers (which does not look very likely right now) we will have a poor implementation that will be used to ridicule the idea elsewhere while we pay the price for our mistakes. If we vote against Referendum 1 – as I plan to – our votes will be painted as opposition to parental choice.

Let me clear up the message of the vote I will cast next week on this. I am in favor of parental choice and I think that vouchers can be a useful vehicle to encourage parental choice but HB148 and HB174 do not make for a good implementation of vouchers. I hope that their defeat next week will not discourage those who want more parental choice. I hope instead that it will force them to come up with a much better solution. Besides learning something about crafting good law, they can also learn something about engaging in shady politics. Parents for Choice in Education should clean up their act or be shunned. They need to do a much better job at defending the issue if they are involved and they need to avoid the political trickery that is more a smear on them than a strategy for changing public opinion.

Tags dirty politics, media, position

culture

Put Virtual Politics on the Ground

Post author By David
Post date October 30, 2007
No Comments on Put Virtual Politics on the Ground

I have been thinking about the words of Tom Friedman when he wrote about what he calls Generation Q.

I am impressed because they are so much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be. I am baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be. . .

The Iraq war may be a mess, but I noticed at Auburn and Ole Miss more than a few young men and women proudly wearing their R.O.T.C. uniforms. Many of those not going abroad have channeled their national service impulses into increasingly popular programs at home like “Teach for America,” which has become to this generation what the Peace Corps was to mine.

It’s for all these reasons that I’ve been calling them “Generation Q” — the Quiet Americans, in the best sense of that term, quietly pursuing their idealism, at home and abroad.

But Generation Q may be too quiet, too online, for its own good, and for the country’s own good. . .

America needs a jolt of the idealism, activism and outrage (it must be in there) of Generation Q. That’s what twentysomethings are for — to light a fire under the country. But they can’t e-mail it in, and an online petition or a mouse click for carbon neutrality won’t cut it. They have to get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize them.

Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms. Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall. Virtual politics is just that — virtual.

I am among those who feels right at home in the world of the internet whether I am pursuing my political interests, searching for some bit of information or trying to decide about my next major purchase. I see lots of political dialog on the internet, but I also realize that all the blog posts in the world don’t have the same power as a meeting with candidates or elected officials to discuss an issue. I know that talking about liking one candidate or position will never have the same reach of influence that speaking with my wallet has.

The main stream media is spending more and more time talking about the power of internet based politics and the parties and candidates are getting better at engaging within this new medium of communication. Perhaps it is easy for us “digital natives” to mistake this as evidence that this has become the primary mode for political action. We put ourselves and our views in danger unless we take time to remember that the primary means of achieving political influence is and always will be the same as it was when our country was founded. Writing posts may have replaced writing tracts or pamphlets, but the real power to make things happen comes in gathering together to share ideas so that people will be energized to go out and vote at the ballot box and also lend their resources (time, energy, and money) to bring about the goals that they had previously only talked about.

Tags activism, ideal, media, New York Times

National

Congress – Do Something

A month into the fiscal year and Congress has not presented an appropriations bill for the President to sign because they don’t care enough about making things work when there are accusations to be flung, fights to pick (like SCHIP), and post offices to be named. The New York Times takes issue with the fact that they are putting the 2010 census at risk by failing to fund it.

The sad part of all this dithering in Congress is that there are more funding issues like the census, where there is little disagreement about how much funding it should receive, than there are like SCHIP where there is much disagreement about funding. The other sad thing is that the things where there is little disagreement are generally more important for keeping the government functioning than the bills where there is contention. The New York Times suggests that Congress should fund the census with their emergency appropriations bill for the California fires. They also offer a decent reason to explain the combination.

I agree and I think that Congress should also set about submitting an appropriations bill on all the other issues where there is little disagreement on the funding – at least we could ensure that parts of the government are funded while issues such as SCHIP are being “discussed.”

Tags connections, media, New York Times

culture

Real Life Choose Your Own Adventure

Post author By David
Post date October 28, 2007
7 Comments on Real Life Choose Your Own Adventure

I was surprised by the news that JK Rowling announced that Dumbledore was gay. At first I was annoyed that she would take the time to insert something into the story that was never apparent in any of the books. It sounded like she was going back and writing an alternate ending after everyone had already purchased the book. If she were going to write more books I would be more open to such amove, but with the series over it seemed rather tactless.

As my annoyance festered I looked closer into the news and found that the story is not quite what the headlines made it out to be. Rowling always thought of Dumbledore as being gay – that’s fine, she’s the author and is entitled to think of her characters as she chooses. It was not enough of an issue as she wrote the books to make her write that into the stories so it should not be made an issue after they are done. I suspect that it would not have become an issue if she had not encountered questions related to Dumbledore. Apparently there was reference in some of the screen writing for the movies that have not yet been made in the series to a female romantic interest in Dumbledore’s past. That was not in the book anymore than his being gay and she is perfectly welcome to make sure that it is not inserted into the movies. The fact that it almost was put in the movie proves that his being gay really was not in the books.

She revealed her inner view of Dumbledore in response to a question from the audience where she was speaking. I have no problems with whatever her personal view was on Dumbledore but I hope that they don’t make it more of an issue in the movies than she did in the books.

Tags media, reactions

National

Health Care Suggestions

Michael Cannon, a self-described conservative turned libertarian at the Cato Institute has some very good ideas on what health care reform should look like. (Hat tip Scott) Some of his suggestions seem like they would appeal to most reasonable people (“think freedom, not universal coverage” and “health-savings accounts are not enough”) while others look like they are ripe targets for those who have been working to “reform” our health care system for 15 years already (most notably “don’t ‘improve’ welfare programs — cut them”). It is important to dig deeper into such suggestions before dismissing such libertarian ideas as heartless. In this case, digging deeper means nothing more than reading the rest of the paragraph:

At the behest of conservatives, Jeb Bush and other governors have made Medicaid more consumer-friendly. The only problem is that Medicaid and SCHIP are welfare programs, and making welfare more attractive leads to…more welfare.

After all what is more heartless, finding ways to help people become more self-sufficient, or teaching them to be dependent on the contributions of people they don’t even know? (The second one sounds like a very precarious position to be in.)

Mr. Cannon also throws in gems like “The lefties aren’t always wrong.” Only a libertarian would say that to a conservative – and the conservatives need to hear it. My personal favorite though (because it’s too easy to forget sometimes) is this – “private markets are not necessarily free markets.” That’s the thing that has worried me about so many of the plans proposed by many leading conservatives. They pat themselves on the back for turning to private markets but they do nothing to ensure that the market is actually free. That difference is why “the health-care industry does not want free markets.” They are all for private markets where they can make their private fortunes, but those who are thriving in a market that is not free have little incentive to make the market free.

Some people will argue that the rising cost of health care is driven by the rising costs of running health care related businesses, but rising costs are easy to accept when you know that nothing short of releasing a drug that leads to fatal consequences is going to put you out of business. Health care is probably more stable than real-estate – and almost as stable as alcohol, tobacco, and pornography.

I’ve strayed from my original point – go read the article by Michael Cannon.

Tags connections, free markets, health care, issues

National

Another Reversal

I’ve had another change of position which is sure to make me popular with some people. When I originally looked at endorsing Ron Paul I had some reservations. Over the five months since then those reservations have disappeared. My current position is that Ron Paul is the only candidate in either party that would bring real change to the White House. There are reasons to choose another candidate, but if you are looking for substantial change instead of new approaches to politics as usual then your only option is Ron Paul.

I am not blind to the challenges that he faces, but Ron Paul has been gaining momentum in the form of supporters (converts such as myself) and cash – he is raising as much money as John McCain and spending much less so he is prepared to keep running for a long time. Ron Paul also has something else in his favor – none of his supporters are passive in their support.

It’s funny that the only candidate who would really change things is one who has been in Congress for two decades.

Tags change, position, Ron Paul

culture

Doing the Impossible

I thought it interesting to learn about the blog post from Bobby Calvan – the blog no longer exists – which proves that nothing is impossible. (Hat tip Steve Urquhart) For those who are interested the entire post – and the 197 comments that were generated in just over 3 hours – has been preserved by Doc Weasle.

A brief summary would go like this – Bobby, a reporter, is in a hurry in Baghdad and is delayed by an American soldier because of insufficient identification at a checkpoint. He feels superior to the soldier because this particular soldier has not heard of Knight Ridder (and pronounces the name wrong to boot). He then takes to time to blog about the incident as evidence that the American soldiers, “are the absolute worst.”

In feeling so intellectually superior to this soldier he demonstrates that one bit of trivia is not proof of a great body of knowledge. Apparently he is unaware that Knight Ridder is not a household name (like the Associated Press, or ever Reuters might be) because they don’t publish anything with their name. In other words, they are exactly one step further up the money chain than most readers ever dig into their news sources.

The post proves that even in Baghdad Bobby Calvan felt safe enough to cop an attitude with a soldier and that it doesn’t take long to have almost 200 people tell him off for it.

I’m not sure which is harder – uniting the internet (like Bobby Calvan did) or enforcing democracy as an outsider (like the soldier in Baghdad is trying to do). Hopefully the soldiers will eventually be as successful as Mr. Calvan has been.

Tags connections, media, reactions

culture

Speak Up

I loved seeing How to Get Involved in Political Process at KSL. It talks about how to go beyond voting and pontificating to actually making a difference politically. There are many ways to be involved between the voting and serving in an elected capacity. If you really want to make things happen you can look into being a delegate or a lobbyist. (I know – lobbyists have a bad reputation among some groups.)

Other than primary elections, political analysts say it’s one of the simplest ways to effect politics on the ground level, where anyone can help determine who gets a party’s nomination for president.”Anybody can file to become a delegate,” said Craig Axford, Democratic National Committee party organization director for Utah.

. . . To become a delegate that goes to the national convention, first you have be chosen as a county delegate at party caucus meetings or neighborhood precincts, then get elected as a state delegate. . .

Both parties will hold their caucus meetings March 25. The only difference between the two parties is the Republicans will pick county and state delegates at the same time.

If a particular bill is more important to you than a specific candidate, then maybe becoming a lobbyist is more for you.

I also learned a lot from a presentation at the American Solutions conference by Stephen Goldsmith titled Citizenship and Local Government: You Can (and Must) Make a Difference. (download his presentation and the transcript of the Q&A portion of the session.)

The overall lesson from these seems to be that we have to speak up to affect change. Anyone who tells you to pipe down does not trust democracy. Just remember that speaking up does not mean shouting down those who disagree with you. People should express their diverse opinions. If you think the prevailing message is not accurate then track down the facts and learn how to make yourself heard. If after you do that people vote differently than you, they are only exercising the very freedom that made this country great.

Tags citizenship, community, media

culture life

Are We Willing to Change?

Post author By David
Post date October 23, 2007
No Comments on Are We Willing to Change?

We took the kids to Timpanogos Cave a couple of weeks ago. One of the people on our tour with us was a soldier who we learned was recently back from a tour in Iraq. At the end of our cave tour Laura took a moment to point him out to our girls and told them “He’s a soldier, he has been fighting for our country.”

He overheard her saying this and commented “Right, fighting for oil.”

This obviously stuck with Laura more than me because she brought it up again recently with this insightful observation, “What is he willing to do about it?”

This is not an indictment against this soldier, or any who feel as he does. This is a legitimate question for all of us, especially those who complain about our war for oil. Al Gore won a Nobel Prize for his crusade about the environment. He has obviously determined that he is willing to give speeches, make movies, and organize concerts to raise public awareness. So far he has not been willing to reduce his own consumption. (Purchasing carbon offsets is nice, but it does not actually reduce consumption – it’s like buying indulgences.)

It’s fun and easy to participate in publicity stunts like Live Earth or Lights Off Utah but beyond their potential for raising awareness, these events are insignificant unless we change our lifestyles to match our rhetoric. We may want to see the state go dark, or attend a popular concert, but are we willing to drive less, use public transit, bike more, walk more, turn off unused lights at home, and use CF light bulbs or other energy efficient alternatives where we do consume natural resources.

I’m not saying that everyone has to do all those things. We have done many of them in our lives, but the real point is that there is no reason to believe someone is serious about the environment so long as they continue to consume as if they are not part of the solution.

Tags environment, issues, thoughts

State

Turning a Corner

I have been a vocal supporter of vouchers previously, but I have been less than pleased with some of the tactics of those behind vouchers. My support was wavering because of my displeasure but then as I stared at the conclusion of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Report that vouchers would be draining more than 40 million dollars per year once all students have become eligible for them I realized the magnitude of the flaws in our current voucher laws. In my opinion, that’s too much of a drain for an experiment. I also firmly believe that it’s much harder to change a law once it is implemented than it is to just let 40 million dollars get siphoned off from our state budget each year.

Between that financial drain and the gutter-politics associated with voucher support I can not support Referendum 1 in good conscience. I still support the idea of vouchers, and would be supportive of future efforts to implement a better implementation later. Good suggestions include using tax credits or requiring that students attend a minimum amount of time in public school before accepting vouchers. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I have one answer – I have to vote “no” on Referendum 1 in November.

Tags Education, issues, position, State, vouchers