Sunday, September 26, 2010
China's rare earth power
We talk a lot about the power China could exercise over our policies thanks to the massive amounts of U.S. debt that nation holds. But there's another, less publicized, power that China holds, and one it's more likely to exercise, as Japan found out in a dispute with the Middle Kingdom last week. China controls some 98 percent of the world's rare earth minerals--which are essential to just about every gadget that makes our modern economy go, from cell phones to wind turbines. It would be wise for us to start digging for those minerals ourselves unless we want to be as beholden to China in the emerging new economy as we are to the Middle East for oil.
A First Amendment Right for Pastors
I consider myself pretty much a First Amendment absolutist--meaning basically that I believe in maximum freedom for both religious practice or nonpractice, and that unless you're shouting "fire" in a crowded movie theater, you should be able to say pretty much what you want to say, where you want to say it.
That's why I applaud the 100 or so conservative pastors who plan to defy a 1950s-era law today and endorse candidates from the pulpit. I would probably disagree with their picks, and would say so in any forum available to me. But I do think they have the right to make their political beliefs known in a religious setting. If their parishioners are such sheep that they follow blindly their pastors' political recommendations, then so be it.
That's why I applaud the 100 or so conservative pastors who plan to defy a 1950s-era law today and endorse candidates from the pulpit. I would probably disagree with their picks, and would say so in any forum available to me. But I do think they have the right to make their political beliefs known in a religious setting. If their parishioners are such sheep that they follow blindly their pastors' political recommendations, then so be it.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The ugly face of discrimination
Well, the hatemongers who send emails trashing Islam and their allies--that's right, allies--among Islamic hatemongers like Al Qaeda should be overjoyed by the news coming out this week.
The New York Times reports that complaints about workplace discrimination against Muslims are up. Muslims have been called "Osama" and "Camel Jockey," at their places of work. There are actually more complaints now than there were in 2001, after the attacks of 9/11.
It points to the same ugliness that has been abroad in the land since the 2008 election, when fools questioned Barack Obama's citizenship, and his religion, as if his religion should matter. By the way, he's a Christian, which makes him different from the author of our Declaration of Independence and Virginia's Statute For Religious Freedom, upon which or First Amendment is based, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, by the way, went through an intense study of the Gospels, cutting out all the miracles that struck him as nonsense. He also called priests and ministers "soothsayers and necromancers."
And the nonsense of today is that the U.S. is and always has been a Christian nation. That's simply not true. We don't tolerate our Muslim or Jewish or Hindu fellow citizens, we embrace them as Americans, with the same rights as all other Americans. At least if we have a grain of sense and decency. Unfortunately, both seem to be in short supply right now.
The New York Times reports that complaints about workplace discrimination against Muslims are up. Muslims have been called "Osama" and "Camel Jockey," at their places of work. There are actually more complaints now than there were in 2001, after the attacks of 9/11.
It points to the same ugliness that has been abroad in the land since the 2008 election, when fools questioned Barack Obama's citizenship, and his religion, as if his religion should matter. By the way, he's a Christian, which makes him different from the author of our Declaration of Independence and Virginia's Statute For Religious Freedom, upon which or First Amendment is based, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, by the way, went through an intense study of the Gospels, cutting out all the miracles that struck him as nonsense. He also called priests and ministers "soothsayers and necromancers."
And the nonsense of today is that the U.S. is and always has been a Christian nation. That's simply not true. We don't tolerate our Muslim or Jewish or Hindu fellow citizens, we embrace them as Americans, with the same rights as all other Americans. At least if we have a grain of sense and decency. Unfortunately, both seem to be in short supply right now.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
LSU Prof: Obama's oil tax proposals jeopardize thousands of jobs
It's easy to beat up on the oil companies and let's face it, for the past hundred years or so, oil companies have certainly made themselves odious enough to deserve any beating they get.
So it's not surprising that, after just such an oil company just spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama would choose oil companies as the target for tax hikes to pay for his plans to help small business out.
But now along comes LSU economist Joseph Mason, who says Obama's plans for closing oil company tax loopholes could cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the economy. Mason came out with estimates this morning that those costs would outweigh any benefits the tax hikes would bring.
Here's what I wrote about it this morning in Portfolio.com:
So it's not surprising that, after just such an oil company just spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama would choose oil companies as the target for tax hikes to pay for his plans to help small business out.
But now along comes LSU economist Joseph Mason, who says Obama's plans for closing oil company tax loopholes could cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars to the economy. Mason came out with estimates this morning that those costs would outweigh any benefits the tax hikes would bring.
Here's what I wrote about it this morning in Portfolio.com:
Sunday, September 12, 2010
China's cheating on renewables, steelworkers claim
It didn't get a huge amount of play last week when the United Steelworkers filed a complaint thousands of pages long that alleges China is cheating to build the industries of the future. But it's a hugely important issue.
The steelworkers claim China, through subsidies and protectionist tariffs, has created its suddenly formidable renewable energy industries and locked out competitors. In the past two years, China has created the largest solar industry in the world, and has torqued up its creation of a wind turbine industry. For the most part, those industries have been aimed at export markets mainly in the United States and Europe. But China's domestic market for energy of all kinds is going to be the largest in the world by far as the country rapidly industrializes.
And the jobs it's creating by building its solar and wind industries are exactly the green jobs President Barack Obama has touted as part of the future for the United States. Of course, international trade is never a zero sum game, and it's entirely possible that both China and the U.S. workers could benefit from the development of renewable energies, some of them still in their infancy. But if China's cheating to undercut the world in these key industries, as the steelworkers claim, the U.S. needs to play tough.
These energy jobs are too important to the future to cede to competitors. The nation must insist on a level playing field.
“Green jobs are key to our future,” said Leo Gerard, International President of the union. “Right now, China is taking every possible step – many of them illegal under international trade laws – to ensure that it will control that sector. America can’t afford to cede more of its manufacturing base to China. It’s a national priority to reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies. But if all we do is exchange our dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Chinese alternative and renewable energy production equipment, we will have traded away our nation’s energy, economic and job security.”
The steelworkers claim China, through subsidies and protectionist tariffs, has created its suddenly formidable renewable energy industries and locked out competitors. In the past two years, China has created the largest solar industry in the world, and has torqued up its creation of a wind turbine industry. For the most part, those industries have been aimed at export markets mainly in the United States and Europe. But China's domestic market for energy of all kinds is going to be the largest in the world by far as the country rapidly industrializes.
And the jobs it's creating by building its solar and wind industries are exactly the green jobs President Barack Obama has touted as part of the future for the United States. Of course, international trade is never a zero sum game, and it's entirely possible that both China and the U.S. workers could benefit from the development of renewable energies, some of them still in their infancy. But if China's cheating to undercut the world in these key industries, as the steelworkers claim, the U.S. needs to play tough.
These energy jobs are too important to the future to cede to competitors. The nation must insist on a level playing field.
“Green jobs are key to our future,” said Leo Gerard, International President of the union. “Right now, China is taking every possible step – many of them illegal under international trade laws – to ensure that it will control that sector. America can’t afford to cede more of its manufacturing base to China. It’s a national priority to reduce our dependence on foreign energy supplies. But if all we do is exchange our dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Chinese alternative and renewable energy production equipment, we will have traded away our nation’s energy, economic and job security.”
Go down swinging
Frank Rich has a great column today arguing that Obama may not be in the awful shape described by the "Cliff's Notes" versions of polls touted on cable news and the internet. He also argues that Obama should spend the next two months taking on the rich and well connected as the midterm elections approach. If the president does choose to speak directly to the real fears and anger of the American people, he could well pull off another victory.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Obama chooses the perfect foil
President Barack Obama is nothing if not smart, and those who are counting Democrats out during the mid-term elections at this early date may want to think again.
During a speech in Ohio, Obama picked John Boehner, the Minority leader who would like to be Speaker of the House, as his foil. He couldn’t have chosen better.
First, Boehner is a classic example of a politician without a fresh idea whose only contributions to the national debate for the past two years have been negative. Secondly, he looks like a two-legged rat. And finally, he is indeed the face of the Congressional Republican party, a group that, let’s remember, has done nothing constructive for two years; when they could have come up with common-sense alternatives to Obama’s agenda, or contributed ideas, the simply answered “No.”
As Obama said: “Some Republican leaders figured it was smart politics to sit on the sidelines and let Democrats solve the mess.” That’s Boehner, a cynical creature of Washington if ever one walked the earth.
During a speech in Ohio, Obama picked John Boehner, the Minority leader who would like to be Speaker of the House, as his foil. He couldn’t have chosen better.
First, Boehner is a classic example of a politician without a fresh idea whose only contributions to the national debate for the past two years have been negative. Secondly, he looks like a two-legged rat. And finally, he is indeed the face of the Congressional Republican party, a group that, let’s remember, has done nothing constructive for two years; when they could have come up with common-sense alternatives to Obama’s agenda, or contributed ideas, the simply answered “No.”
As Obama said: “Some Republican leaders figured it was smart politics to sit on the sidelines and let Democrats solve the mess.” That’s Boehner, a cynical creature of Washington if ever one walked the earth.
A sad day remembered
Hard to believe it's been nine years since the attacks of 9/11/2001. I remember a few days later, our family driving through the countryside and as I looked at September fields of cotton, I thought outside forces could not bring us down, no matter how hard they tried or what atrocities they committed. I feel that way today. Only we can destroy America and what it stands for, and we can only do so if we forget our public spirit, and if we forget our great capacity to compromise with each other and get along as Americans, always moving to something better and bigger than our individual interests and opinions. Josh Moss has an excellent essay in Portfolio.com about some of the recent controversies--the pastor who wants to burn the Quran, the Islamic Center near Ground Zero. It's well worth checking out.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
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