Monthly Archive for May, 2003

Pickering Your Battles

Published
by
Frank
on May 27, 2003
in Probably Old
. 0 Comments

Today’s Washington Post article on the nomination of Charles Pickering is interesting in the context of my own personal attempt to figure out where I stand on this particularl nomination. As a whole, I find the Democrats’ behavior on nominees reprehensible and counterproductive. The notion that the President is attempting to “pack the court” with conservatives “extremists” is ludicrous. He is filling vacancies with judges that share his beliefs. This is plainly one of the privileges of office, and not a particularly egregious spoil. It’s one more reason for folks to care about who is elected president. Having lost the election, you are not then entitled to question the winner’s right to do so.

That said, I can recall (though not with great clarity) that Rpublicans busted Slick Willie’s chops on this issue quite a bit as well. It is, like Congressional redistricting, one of these issues where one party is going to have to say, “Enough. We know the system has been abused by both sides and, in the interest of the nation as a whole, we’re calling a cease fire.” That should happen right around the time we have real peace in the Middle East.

Now, back to Justice Pickering. The meat of the Democrats’ opposition to Pickering appears to be that he weighed in on behalf of a drunk redneck kid who burnt a cross on the lawn of an interracial couple. Pickering pushed the Justice Department to drop one of the major counts on which the defendant was actually convicted in order to allow him to lessen the sentence from 7 years to 27 months. The judge claimed that he felt the mandatory sentence was an intrusion of federal authority on the states and that such a harsh sentence would actually harm race relations.

I don’t know how to read this one. Pickering did condemn what the defendant did as “reprehensible.” But I’d be a lot less suspicious if he were standing up on the issue of mandatory sentencing when it came to drug crimes as well (to be fair, he may well have, but it was not mentioned in the article).

Good Luck Annika

Published
by
Matt
on May 22, 2003
in Probably Old
. 0 Comments

Here’s to Annika Sorenstam. Whatever you think of this issue, you have to give the woman credit. How many athletes have had to deal with this kind of pressure in recent years? Tiger during his first Masters? Not even close. Every swing she makes over the next two days will be scrutinized not only by the sports press but also by mainstream media. If she can even come close to par under these conditions, than she deserves widespread praise. Oh, and remember that 13-year-old girl who’s hitting 275-yard drives right now (sorry, I forget her name)? Wonder what Vijay will think of her when she’s 25 and driving 310?

Holy Cow, I’m Posting

Published
by
Frank
on May 21, 2003
in Probably Old
. 0 Comments

After hundreds of fits and starts, Harrison has finally unlocked the mystery of posting to me. So, here it is! Unfortunately, I have nothing much worth sharing, but I promise to be active in the future.

No Free Lunch, George

Published
by
Matt
on May 21, 2003
in Probably Old
. 0 Comments

Here is a fabulous article by Warren Buffett from yesterday’s Washington Post, in which he explains eloquently and simply why a dividend tax cut is, well, idiotic, for lack of a better word. The key points have been made many times: that people like Buffet benefit the most, that small investors are tax-protected by 401-K’s already, that lower income people will pay a higher portion of their incomes than the rich (which they already do, actually), that it will provide no stimulus because companies not paying out dividends are reinvesting that money in their companies, thus creating jobs, and finally that most basic of all finance and economic principles–there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If someone gets a break today, someone else pays for it tomorrow. What’s most interesting is it comes from someone of his stature, someone I think we can all agree knows what he’s talking about on these issues. Along that line, to a man every finance and economics professor I’ve had during my MBA program at UNC has said the exact same thing.