Foreign Policy wonks & observers would do well to keep up with William Lind. His latest looks at non-state entities and the flow of drugs.
Category: Politics
Feeding at the Trough: Sensenbrenner, Obey & Others
Bill Christofferson summarizes Wisconsin members of Congress who had their travel expenses paid for by private corporations & non-profits:
- Jim Sensenbrenner: 19 trips; 168K
- David Obey: 13 trips; 73K
- Paul Ryan: 6 trips: 25K
- Tammy Baldwin; 12 trips: 29K
Hard to see how any of this benefits Wisconsinites. Sensenbrenner’s trips were paid for by many special interests, including the Hollywood Lobbyists (Sensenbrenner’s committee has jurisdiction on copyright issues).
Who’s the Biggest Bell of Them All?
There appears to be an anomaly in the relative market valuations of SBC and Verizon due to differences in how they report wireless results.
I am challenging anyone to account for the 25% premium enjoyed by Verizon
shares over SBC.Everyone seems to think Verizon is the larger company, but SBC is larger by
revenues and customer counts for celluar, LD, DSL, and Data. The two report
the same number of total access lines. SBC has somewhat better overall
margins.
Falk vs. Lautenschlager? Why bother?
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk surely had her eye on Herb Kohl’s U.S. Senate seat until Kohl indicated he’ll seek re-election next year.
Now Falk may be contemplating a bid for attorney general — even if incumbent Peg Lautenschlager wants to keep the job.
When I asked Falk recently if she might challenge Lautenschlager, she paused for a few moments. Then she carefully responded: “Wherever I go, people are encouraging me to run.”
If I were Kathleen, and I’m not, I would run for Governor.
Business/Politics as usual is a real problem. I don’t see any new thinking (taxes, economic development, bright flight from the UW system, local education, broadband, government/public service efficiency) from the current regime, or from the Republicans for that matter. If not Governor, then why not challenge Kohl? I think it’s time for some new blood in that seat as well.
Hackworth: Desert One, a Watershed Event
April 24 and 25 marked the 25th anniversary of “Operation Eagle Claw,” Jimmy Carter’s ill-fated attempt to salvage his presidency by rescuing 53 Americans held hostage in Tehran by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. It’s also the date of one of the U.S. military’s worst self-inflicted public humiliations.
By the time the joint mission was canceled, eight American warriors – five from the Air Force, three from the Marines – had been killed, and dozens were wounded.
Hackworth also discloses the apparent “real” reason the mission was aborted.
Rutherford County, TN: Fastest growth in jobs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its figures for the fastest-growing large counties in terms of job growth last week, and Rutherford County, Tennessee came in on top at 9.2 percent.
Small businesses’ hiring habits played no small role in the number of jobs created and lost, according to Brian Headd, economist at the Small Business Administration.
“”hen a large company lays off thousands of employees it is national news, but in fact, the rise and fall of small businesses has a much greater effect on job growth than most people realize,” said Headd.
Pressthink: All Regimes are Founded on Opinion
Jay Rosen has a very useful post over at PressThink:
He says, “As a pastor I have a very real sense of the importance of local dailies and even crappy ol’ free weeklies to build community, or foment division if that’s what clarity brings. Some regular platform for cueing the 20 percent of any town, village, or city that actually get things done as to what needs doing, or stopping, is incredibly important. I can’t figure out what that would look like in Midwestern communities without a newspaper, but I’m afraid that folks who are concerned about big-C Community had better start imagining, fast.”
Minneapolis named top “Technopolis”
Some interesting tidbits on Minneapolis in the latest eprairie newsletter, including Popular Science’s proclamation as the top “Technopolis”.
UW-Whitewater’s Literate Cities Study ranked Minneapolis #1… (Madison was #4). Take a look at their data sources, here. (I wonder what the yellow pages tells them, exactly. I never use it, frankly. The web is much faster).
I also have my doubts on the value of newspaper circulation data, now.
Baldwin on Election Reform
Citizens of the Dane County area gathered at the Senior Center in Madison Saturday morning as U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, and Congressman Rush Holt, D-New Jersey, discussed the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005.
?[Promotion of voter security is] personal and something that I feel very strongly about,? Baldwin said.
Ralph Reed’s Casino Lobbying
David Kirkpatrick & Philip Shenon take a fascinating look at former Christian Coalition head, current lobbyist and lietenant governor (Georgia) candidate Ralph Reed:
In Washington, federal investigations of Mr. Abramoff, a close ally of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have revealed that Mr. Abramoff paid Mr. Reed’s consulting firm more than $4 million to help organize Christian opposition to Indian casinos in Texas and Louisiana – money that came from other Indians with rival casinos.
Mr. Reed declined to comment for this article; he has said publicly that he did not know that casino owners were paying for his services and that he has never deviated from his moral opposition to gambling. But the episode is a new blemish on the boyish face that once personified the rise of evangelical Christians to political power in America.