Flirting With Debt Disaster

Image by wallyg via FlickrThe divisive politics of Washington is creating a needless cliff hanger to America's debt crisis.  On the surface, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out that you need to raise the national debt ceiling (which is at $14 trillion right now) by August 2, or risk becoming a deadbeat nation with the world's economy tumbling in your wake.

Instead, like just about everything else these days, the Republicans and Democrats in Congress insist on acting like pouting children with the grownups banished to the sidelines, refusing to compromise even on what to put on a sandwich.  Is it really worth sabotaging the nation's economy just to score a few political points?

President Barack Obama has tried to calm the waters by having both Congressional leaders work out a deal at the White House behind closed doors.  But House Speaker John Boehner keeps storming out of there with no agreement in hand.

So both sides have their own plan to (temporarily) fix the problem.  Obama and the Democrats propose to raise the debt limit to $2.4 trillion while cutting government spending by $2 trillion, which would run past the 2012 presidential election.

The GOP, who would apparently rather see the deficit become a campaign issue, wants to increase the limit to only $1 trillion and cut spending by another trillion, then revisit the issue in six months.  Oh, and that includes cuts to Medicare, Social Security and other social programs that the Democrats would like to keep.  With no tax increases, the 'haves' aren't required to contribute a thing.

So many of these Republicans have become so loyal to their party (or to guys like Grover Norquist) that they're willing to sign pledges that binds them to vote against raising the debt ceiling or raising taxes, with a notable example being Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).  You wonder why these men and women who claim to represent the voters aren't singing "The Internationale", or addressing each other as "comrade".  If big business is supposed to influence what the GOP does in Congress, telling them to cut the comedy and get a deal done, then they don't seem to be getting through on this issue.

Nobody is faring well here if you believe the polls, which mark significant disapproval ratings for the President and Congress.  Everyone is angry and frustrated at the pace and the tone of the negotiations, but it doesn't really matter.  Whoever is doing the talking thinks all that public anger is just political spin, and they'll press on with what they're doing.  If the net result is a lower standard of living for American citizens, then it will be a job well done when the Treasury starts defaulting on its loans. 

Amy Winehouse (1983-2011): Fade to Black

Image via WikipediaRetro-soul singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London home Saturday.  She was 27.  That's the same age Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain were when they met their end.

No cause of death has been determined by the local authorities, but there's a good chance Winehouse was a victim of the "too much and too manys":  Too much drugs and alcohol.  Too many rehab stints (though her best-known song was about refusing to go into treatment).  Too many relapses.  Too many broken promises to family, friends and her fans around the world.

Winehouse didn't have much of a body of work, but she did have one great album called "Back to Black" (the last CD I ever bought that wasn't a greatest-hits collection), in which she wowed the pop audience with her blend of jazz and R&B, sung in the style of 1960s-era girl groups.  That is, if real girl groups like the Shirelles, the Ronettes and the Supremes had been allowed to express their sexuality like Winehouse did back then.

"Back to Black" and its lead single "Rehab" won several Grammy Awards for Winehouse in 2007, and that's been it.  Since then, reports of her substance abuse, legal problems, hospitalization and erratic concert performances have overtaken her music.

What happened to Amy Winehouse should serve as a cautionary tale to Young Hollywood stars and starlets who party up a storm, do something really stupid, and see their lives and careers go up in smoke.  Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan and others . . . consider this your wakeup call.

The Shutdown's Over. Is Everybody Happy?

Image via WikipediaThe longest state government shutdown in American history ended Wednesday, with Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signing a flurry of bills passed during a hastily called special legislative session.

The new budget is $35 billion.  Nobody's the least bit thrilled about it, even though it wipes out a $5 billion deficit.  It neither raises taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans (like Democrat Dayton wanted), nor adds new revenue streams.  Instead, the state will just be borrowing from school and tobacco funds to make ends meet, at least until the next budget crisis comes along in a couple of years.

Not that the Governor and Republican legislative leaders were all that transparent in what they were doing.  They took advantage of the State Capitol being closed to the public during the shutdown--in possible violation of open meeting laws--to craft those budget bills in private.  When they finally got to the floor of the Legislature during the special session, everyone else was seeing them for the first time.

Speaking of kicking the can down the road . . . a new Vikings stadium may now have to wait until the 2012 Legislature goes into session.  The NFL team had hoped to swoop in on the special session and piggyback on the budget with a bill of their own.  But that didn't happen because (A) there's no final agreement between the Vikings and Ramsey County on putting the stadium in Arden Hills, and (B) most everyone seemed to agree that this simply isn't the time right now.  So it looks like Minneapolis or Los Angeles might be back in this thing?

After 20 days of partisan squabbling, constituents fuming, services suspended, workers laid off and being the butt of jokes on late-night TV, is Minnesota ready to get back to what's considered normal?  You can buy and renew your licenses now.  State parks are or will soon be open.  Canterbury Park is racing again.  Construction projects will resume.  But no matter what service has been saved from the budget ax, they will have less money and fewer people to do it with.

To paraphrase Elton John, I guess that's why they call it a compromise.

Rupert Murdoch's Oil Spill

Image by World Economic Forum via FlickrThe career and reputation of Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation media empire stretches worldwide, is in jeopardy because one of his newspaper's reporters went rogue in reporting the facts.

Murdoch's London-based News Of The World tabloid was suddenly shut down after 148 years, and is the subject of a criminal investigation by British authorities.  The newspaper is charged with hacking the phone records and voice mails of politicians, celebrities, the royal family, and the victims of the terror bombings of July 7, 2005.

This has resulted not just in the newspaper shutting down, but also in the resignation (and later arrest) of Rebekah Brooks, who ran Murdoch's British operation.  The publisher of the Wall Street Journal and London's police chief also quit.

Murdoch and his son James, who heads News International and is his father's heir apparent, have been in full damage control mode ever since--not unlike what happened with BP after last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Murdochs took out full-page ads in London newspapers to say they're sorry.  They met with the family of a murdered 13-year old, whose voicemails were allegedly deleted by NOTW reporters.  And they apologized again to a committee of Parliament while denying responsibility for the whole affair in a dog-and-pony show reminiscent of congressional hearings in America, enlivened only by Rupert nearly getting a plateful of shaving cream in his face had his wife Wendi not intervened.

But give them credit.  The Murdochs have yet to state that they'd like their lives back.

That's not all.  In the United States, where News Corp. stock has plummeted since the scandal hit, federal authorities are investigating whether phone messages of 9/11 victims were also hacked.  And Congress wants to launch its own hearings, though Republicans who owe their careers to Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel might try to block them.

It will be interesting to see if Rupert and James Murdoch are still running News Corporation after this scandal subsides.  The alleged tactics employed by some of their reporters who work at their various media interests threaten to override the credibility of more mainstream journalists, resulting in crackdowns by governments who may or may not have First Amendment-type protections.  Whether the Murdochs allowed this kind of behavior or not doesn't matter.  They've given journalism a bad name, which is exactly what it doesn't need right now.

State of Shutdown, Week 2: It's Almost Over

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeGovernor Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Republican leaders who control the Legislature made a deal Thursday to end the longest state government shutdown in American history. 

The deal is this:  Democrat Dayton agreed to accept the GOP's budget offer that was made prior to the government closing its doors.  It would not involve any new taxes, but would borrow money from funding to schools that have been promised for years, and from the state's settlement with the tobacco companies.  In exchange, the Governor agreed to drop his "tax the rich" proposal that he campaigned on while the GOP gave up some of the social agendas they spent their time on in the regular Legislative session (such as voter ID) instead of working on the budget.

All of this is pending Legislative approval, so the Governor is expected to call a special session in the next few days.

The GOP should be high-fiving themselves.  They won a staring contest that resulted in Governor Dayton blinking.  With their uncompromising stance on no new taxes and their attitude toward their constituents, they brought an entire state to its knees.  Hope they're proud of themselves.

What's even better news for the Republicans is that this is not an election year.  With the shutdown apparently over, sixteen months will pass before they have to face the voters again.  That's time enough for people to move on to other things.

As for Governor Dayton, he has the next four years to live this down.  He was all that stood between a budget deal and a shutdown that has cost Minnesota millions of dollars, ruined lives, and damaged its reputation.  "Tax The Rich" was a nice thought in these days of economic malaise, but he ended up picking a fight with the wrong people.

What happened in Minnesota should be of interest to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders, who have a budget problem of their own to deal with.  One should hope there would be a better result.

Out of Space

Image via WikipediaWhen the space shuttle Atlantis took off last Friday, it was witnessed by nearly a million people on Cape Canaveral, Florida, and televised on several networks.  Just like in the good old days.

That's because it was also the last of its kind.  NASA is getting out of the space shuttle business after Atlantis is scheduled to land July 20, having spent its final mission hauling yet another load of supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station.  After this, Americans will be going into space via Russia, its onetime enemy.

To be honest, NASA peaked when men landed on the moon back in 1969.  It was the fulfillment of President John F. Kennedy's challenge to the nation to get this done by the end of the 1960s.  But politics has always trumped science in these matters.  Back then, it was all about beating the Soviet Union to the moon in the Cold War era while Vietnam and the civil rights movement sucked up money and attention.  Well, it was the Eagle that landed, and not the Hammer and Sickle.

When the moon landings ended, the space shuttle era began.  Once the Space Station was put up into orbit, it soon became apparent that all they were going to do with it was to conduct experiments in space and not do any more exploration.  The public yawned and government funding dried up.

When people did pay attention to the shuttle, it was usually because of a tragic event.  The Challenger blew up after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia met a similar fate in 2003, killing all aboard in both instances.  After that, people watched shuttle liftoffs with the same morbid curiosity as those who watched NASCAR races.

Also adding to the public's indifference was the relative anonymity of the space shuttle astronauts.  Back in the 60s, you knew their names:  Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, Alan Shepard and many others.  Now the best known astronaut is Mark Kelly.  That's only because he happens to be married to Gabrielle Giffords, the Democratic Congresswoman from Arizona who is still recovering from gunshot wounds after an assassination attempt.

Yes, taxpayer-funded manned space exploration is over for now.  Private companies will take over and charge thrill-seeking rich folks for the privilege of entering the Final Frontier, while the rest of us will just keep wishing on a star and wonder what's out there.

State of Shutdown--Week 1

Image via WikipediaOne week into Minnesota's budget shutdown, which has paralyzed government as we know it, there's no agreement between Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders on a way to end it.  Oh wait, they did agree on something.  And that's not to agree on anything.

After a break for the Fourth of July holiday, the two sides met behind closed doors without deciding anything of consequence.  Dayton did propose temporarily taxing Minnesotans who made over $1 million, as well as raising taxes on cigarettes by as much as $3 a pack.  The GOP leaders rejected both while offering no new proposals of their own.

The situation has become so dire that a commission to help solve the impasse has been formed, led by two old political pros.  They are former Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale and former Governor Arne Calrson.  But the Republicans are so knee-deep in the "no new taxes" mire, and ensconced in their own arrogance, that they won't listen to what Mondale (because he's a Democrat) or Carlson (who they never trusted anyway, even though he's also a Republican) have to say.  For the record, the commission pretty much endorsed the same things Dayton did.

Meanwhile, out here in the real world, more and more Minnesotans are getting pissed off at both parties as services are shut down or cut back.  Highway construction season has been halted.  You can't buy a fishing license or a lottery ticket.  Some of the state parks have been vandalized.  When nature calls and you're on the road, you'll have to find the nearest fast food joint instead of a rest stop.  Those who get paid to worry about where others' next meals are coming from now find themselves in that position.

On the bright side?  The Minnesota Zoo has reopened. (Insert your own joke here.)

For each day that there isn't a solution to Minnesota's budget crisis, the state gets a little more into the red.  We have overgrown grade schoolers standing their ground in thrall to their GOP masters, not caring one whit about the people who helped get them elected.  Governor Dayton is becoming a modern-day Don Quixote, keeping up the noble cause of taxing the richest two percent.  Sooner or later, both sides will have to face reality and come up with some kind of deal they can live with.  If they don't, Minnesotans are going to start seeking greener pastures elsewhere.

Michele Bachmann Grows No Moss

Image via WikipediaAnother Republican political figure from Minnesota has decided to join the many who want to defeat President Barack Obama in 2012.  And, unlike former Governor Tim Pawlenty, you've probably heard of this person if you watch enough of the cable news programs.

She's Michele Bachmann, Sixth District congresswoman.  Few people give her much of a chance because (A) she tends to speak before thinking, (B) she's on a mission from God, and (C) she's more of a political opportunist than a legislator.

Bachmann announced her candidacy in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.  That may have been a good strategic move to endear herself to Iowa voters a few months before the caucuses, but not so much to her Minnesota constituents who claim she hasn't done a damn thing for them.  (To be fair, Pawlenty did the same thing, announcing his intentions in Des Moines.)

Much has been made of Bachmann's erroneously stating that Hollywood legend John Wayne was a native of Waterloo, when it's actually Winterset.  The media has pointed out that John Wayne Gacy, who got the death penalty for murdering 23 boys back in the 1960s, actually hailed from there.  Just one problem:  Did Bachmann ever mention Gacy's name or know anything about his infamy?  If she did, it must have been after the fact.

If you read any of Matt Taibbi's article on Bachmann in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics), he gave the impression that the congresswoman is a force to be reckoned with in this campaign.  Taibbi paints a picture of Bachmann as the voice of God-fearing, tax-hating Middle Americans.  The more we laugh at her, he says, the stronger she gets at the polls, where she's now the second-best known GOP candidate next to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

(Of course, the article would have been more credible if it weren't for allegations that most of what Taibbi wrote was lifted from a 2006 City Pages story.  And if, according to the Minneapolis-based alternative weekly, Taibbi had bothered to visit Minnesota to do a little research . . . )

Bachmann might do well in Iowa and other states where voters share her positions when it comes to abortion, same-sex marriage and government spending.  Should she be fortunate enough to win the GOP nomination, however, she faces an uphill battle against an incumbent president who's on shaky ground because of the economy, and because of the relentless attacks Republicans like Bachmann have made against him since Day One.

As it stands, Michele Bachmann is the most interesting candidate out there.  At least until Sarah Palin decides to get into the race.