From Preparedness to Appeasement

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." – George Santayana

Victor Davis Hanson writes:

… the evangelical Jimmy Carter called for defense reductions and an end to our "inordinate" fear of Communism. He put confidence instead in the United Nations, good will among men, and a new emphasis on global human rights, rather than, yet again, reactionary deterrence.

But after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Communist intrusions into Central America, the rise of radical Islam, and the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran, Carter ended his presidency in disillusionment about the efficacy of the United Nations, and about the supposedly benign intentions of the Soviet Union and radical Islam.

…

So here we are in yet the latest round of perpetual peace, this time overseen by a postnational, messianic Barack Obama. Serial apologies, engagement with dictators, the trashing of his predecessor, and calls for a newly empowered United Nations are all part of a sophisticated soft power that has replaced the old Bush "smoke 'em out," "dead or alive" reductionism.

We are more likely now to put CIA interrogators on trial than to arrest and berate new terrorists. Dick Cheney, not Osama bin Laden, has become the new national threat. George W. Bush has been reduced to Orwell's Emmanuel Goldstein, the "He did it" collective menace at whom we are supposed to yell out in hatred each morning. We now live in an era of renewed appeasement, faith in the United Nations, no "inordinate fear," and all the usual tired slogans…

More »

-30-

From Russia with No Love

Andie Brownlow writes:

A misguided ideology has taken root in America and has brought this nation to the brink of collapse. A battle of two ideals has ensued, both of which have a significant impact on our national security and ultimate fate of the nation. Can America return to conservative values and save itself from the jaws of Marxism, or will it spiral down a path of self destruction guided by none other than the former Soviet Union?

More »

-30-

The Democrats' Bogus Bogeyman

Dan Gerstein writes:

… Therein lies the nub of the Democrats' delusion on health care. The 'public option' has been litigated in the court of public opinion and the left lost. You could argue that it has not been a fair fight and a smart, sustained case was never made. But nonetheless, the center of the electorate, which is going to determine the fate of health care (like any other foundational policy change), has rejected it, and all the polling trends suggest dim prospects for a last-minute conversion. Yet Pelosi and company cling to the belief that they have a mobilization problem rather than a persuasion problem. If we can just get our base angry enough, they seem to think, we'll turn this around.

This misreading of the political moment should trouble Democrats for several reasons…

More »

-30-

Michael Ramirez Cartoon for June 8, 2009

Just keep on saying we have not turned our backs on the ghosts of Normandy and we might come to think it true.

-30-

TAGS: D-Day, DDay, Normandy, Obama

Treasury Secretary's Secret Talking Points Reveal That Banks Were Forced to Surrender Ownership Stakes to Government

By Monica Gabriel / CNSNews.com | Link

Judicial Watch, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a copy of the internal Treasury Department "talking points" that were prepared for Paulson to use at his Oct. 13, 2008 meeting with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the nine banks…

"According to the treasury secretary's confidential talking points, the nine banks were not failing financial institutions that had come to the federal government in desperate need of a bailout from the taxpayers to stay in business.

"Instead, they were healthy institutions that were being compelled to surrender ownership stakes to the government in order to help the government carry out a government policy."

...

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton – in announcing release of the document – said that "despite promises of transparency as part of TARP legislation, the Treasury Department has been evasive regarding the meeting on October 13, 2008."

-30-

Link: CNSNews.com

TAGS: Bank_of_America, Bank_of_New_York, Citigroup, Goldman_Sachs, Henry_Paulson, JP_Morgan, Morgan_Stanley, Richard Kovacevich, State_Street_Bank, TARP, Treasury_Department, Treasury_Secretary, US_Treasury, Wells Fargo

Land-Value Taxation

Make NL tax trailblazer
The Day: 29 May 2009

New London may soon have the opportunity to act as a state trailblazer in the use of innovative taxing policy to generate redevelopment.

The state Senate, by a 30-6 vote on Tuesday, approved legislation that would allow New London to implement land-value taxation (LVT) on a trial basis. As of this writing, the House of Representatives had not voted on the bill but will likely give approval. The bill would then head to Gov. M. Jodi Rell. We urge her to sign it into law when given the opportunity.

Municipalities using LVT assess taxes either entirely or predominately on the land. Under LVT, an owner can undertake building improvements without having his or her property taxes increase.

In a booming city, customary taxation is not a problem. Confident that improvements will generate increased revenues through higher residential or commercial rents or the sale of the property, owners undertake them without concern for the resulting increase in taxes. But in struggling urban areas such as downtown New London, with high commercial vacancy rates, owners are reluctant to invest in improvements and confront higher taxes because they cannot be confident of success.

LVT would not only remove the tax penalty for improvements, but would provide an incentive to renovate. If the city passes an LVT ordinance it would phase in the new system, gradually shifting the assessment from buildings and land to the land only. Owners holding vacant buildings would eventually find they are paying the same taxes as owners of neighboring building with improved property and tenants. At that point, the obvious choice would be to repair the property or sell it.

Trying LVT on a trial basis in New London, where the City Council has already voted in support of the idea, makes sense.

If the legislation becomes law, we would encourage the council to utilize the LVT only in the downtown commercial district. The timing could not be better. Renovations to the Parade are nearing completion, visually reconnecting the business district with the waterfront. A study looking at ways the city can more effectively benefit from its ferry, train and bus transportation hub is almost finished. A new city manager will soon be in place, and most economists predict the recession is nearing an end.

Led by the Re-New London group, the city has spearheaded the effort to give LVT a chance. It could prove a vital tool in New London's renewal.

-30-

TAGS: land-value_taxation, LVT, municipal_tax, property_tax, tax, taxes

Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Post-Racialist Nominee

A bromide attributed to the retired U.S. Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor suggests that when deciding cases, a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion. President Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, sought to expand on this notion during a 2001 law school lecture when she spoke of her hope that a wise Latina woman like her "would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male." She could have gone for "better than a three-toed sloth" but didn't because her chosen "gold standard" of success is to come off better than "a white male." But that's just wrong. Everybody knows that the Asian male is smarter and more diligent. Has Judge Sotomayor so little faith in her own abilities and such meager hopes for audacity? I am a mere middle-aged male; American and, truth be known, more blotchy than white; so I am just asking here: is there something about this post-1/20 post-racialist thing that I am missing?

-30-

TAGS: SCOTUS, Sotomayor