E!!

The Conservative Muse amuses with a clever poem entitled “An Open Letter to Comrade Obama.”

Don’t miss this Washington Times piece by Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (and thanks to Stephen Dreikorn @ The Pinkston Group for bringing it to my attention).

Shaprio rightly points out that the card check issue is even bigger than worker coercion and forced unionization through the deprivation of secret ballot votes in union elections.  Also at stake are the integrity of our labor laws, the balance of power in American labor-management relations, and possibly our entire economy.

Shapiro reminds us that unions once existed primarily to ensure worker safety, but protections for our labor force are now the law of the land.  Unions today have become more concerned with negotiating above-market wages and benefits for their members, lobbying to block free trade agreements at every turn, and protecting their own power.

When achieved, these three things make companies less competitive.  And companies that cannot compete will flounder or fail, hurting the shareholders and driving jobs overseas while dumping their newly unemployed into the American economy.

Shapiro reminds us that creative innovation is the American way and the best way out of the present situation.  He asks us to realize that the big union bullwhips and our mounting personal and national debt are driving us all into a deep pit that may soon become a mass grave.

Rather than burden companies with heavy tarrifs, big taxes, and too cumbersome regulatory and union restrictions, we should be doing our best to lighten their load so they can be faster and more flexible.  In a global economy that can often turn on a dime, getting around the corner quickly is the difference between keeping up with the pack or being left in the proverbial dust.

Patrick Gibbons, a staff researcher at the Nevada Policy Research Institute, has a good column on higher education costs in the Reno Gazette-Journal.  He cuts through the hype and runs down the realities of the present budget crunch and then offers some viable cost-saving solutions based on success stories from Virginia Tech and other universities. 

Gibbons says Nevada needs to become better educated about delivering efficient, effective higher education services so rising costs (and fees) do not exceed inflation and income growth.

Jim Rogers and others need to leave the Stone Age behind and get with a financially responsible, 21st century program. 

If you are interested in learning more or becoming involved in education reform in Nevada, consider attending this conference on Wednesday, January 14.  E!! will be there to listen and learn along with many business and community leaders.

My friend over at Blue Collar Muse has made the Finalists list for the 2008 Weblog Awards in the category of Best Conservative Blog. It is well deserved, and I am just delighted for him.

When added to the joy of being married to the dazzling and intelligent Much Younger Trophy Wife, BCM’s cup surely overfloweth.

“[R]eligion, or the duty which we owe to our creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and this is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other.”

–Virginia Bill of Rights, Article 16

Source:  Founder’s Quote Daily, a service of The Patriot Post.  To subscribe, link to http://patriotpost.us/subscribe.php.

E!! will be off for the next few days and then (probably) posting only sporadically through Jan. 3rd.

Great post, Paul. I’m grateful Nevada has both already, but 26 states do not.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection provides a map and photos showing the current status of The Fence between the U.S. and Mexico.

Hat Tip: Mark Krikorian @ The Corner

Patrick Gibbons, a researcher-analyst at the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI), has a new piece up.

It’s worth the read if you want to (1) understand where Nevada REALLY is with its budget issues, (2) be informed about the questions that remain unanswered, and (C) be reminded that when it comes to politics and money, the devil is always in the details.

Gibbons points out that depending on which newspaper, pundit or politician you believe, you might think Nevada has a budget shortfall of $5.6 billion, $4.5 billion, $2.5 billion, $1.2 billion – or no real shortfall at all. And so you might think we need to cut between 34% and 0% of the budget in order to cover the shortfall.

The questions are: Who is right, and what accounts for the differences in math? And how can the public (or our elected officials) have intelligent policy discussions if we can’t even agree on the basis basics?

In order to wade through it all, one first needs to understand that the General Fund (GF) is not the same as the total state budget. In fact, the GF makes up only 37.5% of the overall budget. The recommendation for the General Fund for the current biennium (FYI: we do our state budgets two years at a time, if you didn’t know that) was $5.8 billion, but the overall recommendation for the state budget was $18 billion.

The other thing to know (ask!) when talking about either the General Fund or the overall state budget is whether people are extrapolating their numbers from (1) the originally projected and appropriated sums or or the currently projected sums, and (2) ditto on the revenue.

Read the NPRI piece and see for yourself!

(And if you have any questions, submit them here and we’ll see if we can get Patrick to stop by and explain things.)

In the midst of all the in-fighting over whether social conservatives and the religious right have ”ruined” the Republican party, the American Conservative Union has re-published an interesting piece by Randall Hoven (originally printed at American Thinker).

I don’t talk much about my faith here on E!!  but as a Christian conservative with a libertarian streak, I am always interested in these kinds of debates.  Generally speaking I’m a social and cultural conservative, but I am cautious about state-mandated morality (because it can cut both ways) and often find myself defending freedom itself as an important right and virtue.

This is because I believe that (1) God grants us freedom and free will, (2) God grants us free will for a reason, and (3) Jesus Christ was not an Authoritarian. 

Free will is meaningless if people aren’t free to choose wrong as well as right, evil as well as good.  (Please don’t interpret this to mean I support anarchy; I don’t.)  We can and should legislate behavior to keep people from unduly harming one another, but we really can’t legislate matters of morality and conscience and spirit.  A man’s heart and mind cannot be taken by force; he must give it freely.

Jesus never strong-armed or forced anyone into listening to him, following him, or believing in him.  He spoke the truth with grace, closed his remarks with something pithy like “go and sin no more,” and that was basically it.  You were either touched and moved by what he said or not – but he didn’t chase you down the street, and he didn’t appeal to Rome to turn the Beautitudes into the law of the land. 

Anyway, check out Hoven’s piece and let me know what you think about his views.  I’d be interested to hear from so-cons as well as libertarians.

Geoff Lawrence at the Nevada Policy Research Institute forwarded me this 64-question quiz that evaluates your Libertarianism. 

Answers are “Yes” or “No” and the questions are very simple.

I scored an 82 which apparently makes me a “medium-core” libertarian.  (Exactly what I would have expected.)

Geoff scored 144 and challenges anyone (who is being honest) to score higher.

Take the test and report back in the comments; I’d love to hear how some of you do on this (you know who you are)!

Three readers have asked me to provide links to my posts on other blogs/sites.

I hope it is not too bold to assume these readers do not find those other blogs/sites as completely riveting as E!! and so do not wish to visit them and scroll and click through their content.

(But in fairness and all seriousness, my lady readers should try to read LadyBlog. It’s pretty interesting most of the time, very funny some of the time, and somewhat controversial once in awhile ~ as it was this week.)

Anyhooha (for that joke, see here in the Comments), here are my most recent other posts:

Pimp My Corpse

Cardboard Controversy

This test is pretty interesting.  (Thanks goes out to Dr. Michael Clifford for pointing me to it.)

I’ve taken the Pew Research Center political spectrum test and others in the past, but this one is a little different.  This not only shows you where you are on the Left/Right axis but also charts you on the spectrum between Authoritarian/Libertarian.  (You’ll see what I mean after you take the test and have your “dot” plotted.)

You can also see where other famous and notorious persons fall on the chart, which is interesting in and of itself.  (For example, I would have thought I was sort of a Maggie Thatcher type, but it turns out I am way more libertarian than she.  I am at exactly the midpoint between the two extremes; she was more to the authoritarian side.)

I’d love to hear where everyone ends up (especially those of you I know either personally or via the blogosphere).  Takes 5 to 10 minutes to answer the questions and the results are instant.

UPDATE:  Getting lots of feedback that people are dissatisfied with the quality and/or clarity of the questions in the test.  The Venerable Mr. Crum says he came out a “centrist” on both the “x” and “y” axis – but rightly points out that on the issues he is often more to the right than me (who came out 6 squares right of center).

If you are a word-smither, political junkie, media critic (professonal or homegrown) or even an avid reader, don’t miss this great satirical piece by Iowahawk on Joe the Plumber’s foray into the publishing world.

State Assemblyman James Settelmeyer (R-Gardnerville) is looking for ways Nevada can tighten the budgetary belt.  He says the state could save over a million dollars a year if it stopped serving hot breakfast to its prison inmates.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Greg Smith, a spokeperson for the Department of Corrections, admits hot breakfasts – like pancakes and eggs – are indeed being served but says Nevada spends just $2.17 per day per inmate on meals. He further defends the hot plate practice by saying the eggs are “not cooked to order.”

With or without the pancakes, E!! fully endorses the punishment of felons through egg choice deprivation.  The fear of losing one’s autonomy on the question of “scrambled” or “sunny side up” is no doubt a frightening and therefore effective deterrent for those who might otherwise be tempted to a life of crime.

Whatever your personal egg prejudice, please communicate your support for the “No Pancakes for Prisoners” campaign to Assemblyman Settelmeyer.

Write:

770 Hwy 395 N
Gardnerville, NV 89410-7813

Call:

Office:  775-684-8843

Cell:  775-450-6114

Email:

jsettelmeyer@asm.state.nv.us

Iain Murray recently had a good post on the general arguments for them, and for meddling or not meddling with them.

At a recent meeting of Nevada conservative and libertarian leaders it was interesting to note that although we each came from different points on the political spectrum and disagreed on some things, we found one general policy area in which we all agreed:  fiscal policy.  Namely:  free market, small (and transparent) government, low tax, balanced-budget approaches.

My sister was reported missing 30 days ago today.  The investigation continues.  My family is very grateful to all who have inquired and sent their well wishes as well as those at Michigan State who organized the recent candle light vigil for her.

You can continue to email me or Google “Krista Lueth” for the latest news from Michigan, but – sad as I am – I both need and want to get back to E!! 

Krista’s gifting and passion was plants, gardens and horticulture.  Mine is reading, researching and writing.  Many years ago as we talked about Life and Meaning, she quoted an approximated adage: “If we make our play and our passions our work, we’ll never grow tired.”  

At the time we thought we had many years of “playing” and exchanging stories ahead, but I guess growing old together was not meant to be.  I’ll so miss hearing about her victories and joys and/but I know that she would want me to move forward and try to have mine.

She was that kind of sister.