My 31st Anniversary with the Feds

Only today did I realize that my bureaucratically formulated service computation date falls on the same day as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address! March 4! Lincoln's address was 150 years ago today! Glad to be working for the same government of, by, and for the people. (My actual first day was May 31, 1983).

We've got a long way to go, Mr. Lincoln. The peoples' power of self-government has been vastly eroded by corporate financial power that tends to write its own rules, regulations, and laws. There are many perverse philosophies abroad in the land to tear at the fabric of the Constitution. (Many funded by the corporate financial power). But you know all about that in your tight-rope walk at the most dangerous hour of our Constitutional survival. Your actions weren't perfect, but they accomplished great good in destroying the cancer of America and its Constitution - the right of property to own humans in bondage. Thank heavens that's gone!

Still with the Prez

Yes, I still like President Obama. With his unfavorables down into "heckuva-job-Brownie" territory, someone needs to stick up for him.

Let's see... Obamacare is working and exceeding expectations in some areas. Even the Governor of Utah has a plan to take the Medicaid expansion if the Munchkin legislature doesn't sink it. It works best in states that have cooperated (funny how that is) with maybe the exception of Oregon where their tech expertise somehow got lost in the woods between the Redmond Valley and Silicon Valley.

Iraq's a disaster. We elected Obama to get us out of there where we never should have been. And he simply followed the W agreement to get us out because Maliki refused to sign one allowing for any US troops to stay. So, that's fine by me. If you want to keep following the Cheney Doctrine, go right ahead. I simply note that their answer is to go into full warrior mode again with no expectation that it won't get worse than they have already made it.

The Bigger the Tea Party, the Smaller the Munchkin

Soon to be former House Majority Leader

¡Hasta la vista, Eric Cantor!

Tea Party Member

A very small percentage of Virginia voters has just thrown out the Republican House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor. He lost his primary to a tea-party challenger.

Yes, the tea party is not dead yet, it's just killin' the party formerly known as the Republicans. Democrats aren't doing so great with terrible approval ratings for the President and a likely 2016 front-runner that a good portion of the country just loves to hate - again.

This all does help establish the ultimate point that if government is the problem, then it must be disrespected and destroyed by any means.

Speaker Boehner's Monkey

Tea Party Caucus Meeting

This is great! The House just passed a clean authorization to allow the US Treasury to keep paying its bills! Yes, it's an increase of the rather arbitrary debt limit. But as our money only has the value of our robust economy under the full faith and credit of the United States, it's generally best, IMO, to keep that faith even with credit.

Speaker of the House, John "Are-you-kidding-me?" Boehner, is fast becoming a hero of mine. No longer beholden to the tea-party minority of his majority (which in no way represents the will of the People), he passed the authorization with very few Republican votes relying on the Democrats instead. Some said he was whistling "Zip-ah-dee-do-dah" today. Roll Call reports that after a brief conference last night in front of befuddled Republicans, he walked back to the podium and said, "You're not even going to clap for me getting this monkey off of our backs?"

Latest News on the Fiscal Cliff

Yesterday, I was at an Eagle Scout Court of Honor and at the refreshment table, some very conservative friends started up a conversation on the fiscal cliff. (Remember, I live in south Davis County, Utah and was at a Boy Scout function). There was no mention made of the President but there was a lot of talk about the irresponsibility of Congress and this rather surprising statement from my friends, "I don't see why there's any problem with raising taxes a little on the rich."

Debt Limit Merging with Fiscal Cliff

Well played, Mr. Geithner, well played!

Secretary of Treasury Giethner just issued a letter to Congress informing of the need to raise the artificial and imaginary debt limit by December 31 (five days from now, for those who are counting). This directly links to the other artificial and unnecessary crisis of the fiscal cliff that Congress created for itself and seems unable to resolve.

Easing over the Fiscal Cliff

So far, the only victim of the fiscal cliff is Speaker Boehner, whose Republican House refused to support him on his "Plan B." Even they saw the phoniness of it. But it does seem that the secret tea party plan to destroy the Republican Party is working just fine.

Today, we got a memo by email about the fiscal cliff and possible effects on the Department of the Interior. I don't see any problem in sharing it here as it appears to be a public document and the Press has the Department of Defense memo which says essentially the same thing.

Presidential Check (maybe Mate)

Republicans are breaking on the edge of the fiscal cliff.

The President set this up very well politically. A few Republicans, having learned some difficult mathematical reality on election night, are now facing reality on the Bush tax cuts. My new hero is a Reality Republican Congressman from Nebraska:

Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., signed Norquist's pledge but says now that he's open to a deal that includes some new tax revenues. . . . “We're screwed either way,” Terry said. “We really have no leverage in these discussions.”

Representative Lee Terry, Republican, Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District

Socialism vs. Social Darwinism

That's how some are describing the 2012 Presidential contest now that Paul Ryan shores up the campaign linkage to his proposed budget. It is a bit of an exaggeration on both sides, but that's how they describe each other, so we can freely use it in our considerations.

They, at least, seem to like each other

"Oh, Honey! We're out of tea. Is the party over?"

Yep. The tea party is so over. Our Constitutional Union is saved yet again as one chamber of one branch of government learns that it doesn't dictate terms to the other branches of government. One small minority of the electorate does not constitute the only "real America." Coming back down to a little reality, I'm sure there will be a lot more silliness to come in this fast-approaching election year, but the teapot dome of the Capitol has cracked.

Compromise is not a four-letter word. It's the most sacred word in our inspired and God-blessed American system--the best Constitution yet established on the earth. Well, actually, the word itself is not written in there, but you don't have to proof-text the Federalist Papers to find it. You just have to recognize it in the obvious structure and intent of the founders, not to mention the very fact that it took major compromise just to get us our inspired Constitution in the first place. It's not some crazy rock-paper-scissors power-play as that idiot Gingrich proposes. It requires the eternal vigilance of compromise to keep it going. The only people I refuse to compromise with are those who refuse to compromise. (Well, duh.)

Utah Legislature Pizza Special: Hold the Pepperoni!

The Utah State Legislature is in special session! Oh, no! Actually, I hate being the eternal optimist, but I just don't think it's as bad as all that. People, especially Congressman Matheson, are pretty upset that they just sliced him out of the Congress with their pizza knife to form a new Congressional District. And that is a shame. Yet he's used to a difficult election every two years. Now he will have his option to go after a state-wide office, maybe Governor, maybe Senator to replace Orrin Hatch. And there's a chance he could even make it.

The gerrymandering charge may be valid. Yet the Republicans seem to have a fool-proof defense in articulating four districts with a mix of rural and urban without having to articulate a Salt Lake/Park City only district that could be a Democratic stronghold. With no extensive racial minority neighborhoods anywhere in the state, except for small, urban pockets of Hispanics and Polynesians in West Valley City, and a real scattering of Indian Tribes throughout the state, there is no clear manipulation that would dilute the vote of suspect classes. For good or ill, mildly progressive, Democratic neighborhoods on the east side of Salt Lake County and up to Park City, don't count as a protected class.

Anti-Earthquake Tea Party Government

I hate hypotheticals. It was probably law school that did me in. I know the point was to create absolutely impossible factual situations to test our reasoning skills when there is no real solution. I just think that reality gives us clearer options in which to act. At least you can appropriately rely on the spirit or instinct when all else fails which is hard to do in a law-school hypothetical.

But I do ponder this question, and it's not entirely hypothetical. How does an anti-government philosophy deal with the real potential of a horrific earthquake? or tsunami? or nuclear reactor disaster? or all three?!! I don't think a free market emphasis, private property, and freedom from governmental intrusion have much relevance from what I see in those videos from Japan.

What's Up with the Budget?

The budget for 2012 proposed by the President doesn't seem to make any sense.

(Insert caveat - as a fed employee my comments here do not reflect any official position of the government or my office.  My office may be OK in the proposed budget. Other agencies of the Department will suffer which will increase our workload as they reduce staff and reorganize priorities. And we will likely not be able to backfill as some of our seasoned attorneys go out on retirement. The pay freeze is OK if not great. We expect to get whacked more in the current budget still not enacted but going to Continuing Resolution probably with across-the-board cuts. How much is the only question. And shutdown is still not out of the question.)

The 2012 budget is a milk-toast proposal. Maybe it's an opening position with much more to move as negotiations with the Republican House get tough. Maybe it's the President's dodge to avoid the hard issues of entitlements and defense in preparation for the 2012 campaign. But as I said in my analysis of the State of the Union Address, the Prez may be stepping to the side to allow the House to perform its constitutional duty to initiate spending (or savings).  It could be a cynical political ploy to force the Republicans to start the discussion on cutting Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and appear bad before the electorate. There is much criticism among the pontificators, on cable and the net, that he is not taking responsibility as a leader. But once again, my theory of a Con-Law Professor attempting to readjust the modern emphasis on the Executive Branch to place more responsibility on the people's representatives in Congress might just fit.

SOTU Scorecard

I pretty much nailed my predictions.  I was right on with Iraq and Afghanistan.  The Theme is "The Future" and the goals are education and innovation for JOBS with education reform being the area where he thinks the Republicans will work with him.  I should have predicted Boehner tearing up because that was the most entertaining and I should have seen it coming earlier.

And, I eat crow only with regard to the failure to adopt the deficit reduction framework of the Debt Commission.  That may be a real failure as I saw it as the President's chance to "appear" responsible in addressing the issue while deflecting blame for the hard stuff on to the Commission.  What he did, though, was almost as good politically, and also rather pragmatic and even respectful of the Constitution..  He did not propose or address specifics but hit the theme and left the responsibility dangling for the Republican House to pick up.  That is where the Constitutional responsibility lies to initiate spending (or debt reduction) measures.  And he has a shield in the Senate (not just by party - but institutional and Constitutional).  So he can sit back to some extent and see what the House can accomplish to be tempered by the Senate and the Prez as necessary.  He probably recognizes, as distasteful as it may be, that not much will be agreed to in the short term.  The new Republican House has to deal with their internal conflicts and contradictions first.  He may just be able to step in and help mediate to "principled compromise" - not just between Dems and Repubs, but among the various factions of the Republican Party (Tea Party, Libertarians, Fiscal Conservatives, and Social Conservatives, not to mention the ingrained career politicians that even they have).

Regardless of what many say, I still think this President is all about the Constitution.  He clearly miscalculated the debate on Health Care to some extent and in what manner is the subject of much debate.  But what I see is that he had a goal, ran on it to be elected, and turned it over to the Congress to work out and legislate the details and compromises that he would ultimately sign and execute according to Art. II.

The Executive Branch has taken far too much out-front responsibility in these modern days both in drafting legislation and proposing budgets.  IMO the Constitution places those responsibilities in the Congress with budgets to originate in the House.  The Congress is We the People through our elected representatives.  Get involved.

Live-Blogging the State of the Union

[Now that I have a little more experience in managing my blogging, I am consolidating these posts on my live-blogging the State of the Union, Tuesday, January 25, 2011.]

I'm already 3 points up.  Justice Alito won't be there, Dems and Repubs are sitting together, and Daniel Hernandez will be sitting with the First Lady!

We're going to give live-blogging a try.  No one may care, but here goes!