Visiting Iraq Has Made McCain Stupid

What will Obama prove by visiting Iraq at this point in time? McCain has been using Obama's lack of taxpayer funded campaign stops to Iraq as a critique on his readiness to be president. The McCain camp is trying to make the case that Obama hasn't been to see the mess we've created in Iraq firsthand so he isn't prepared to deal with the situation. McCain even went as far as to offer an invitation to his likely opponent to join him on a visit to Iraq and referred to Obama's subsequent rejection as "fundamental misunderstanding of the situation in Iraq". Obama was also criticized for not sitting down with General Petraeus in that same McCain harangue.

McCain as we recall has been to Iraq recently. In fact the more he goes the less he seems to know about the situation or its complexities. His last trip ended up looking like a taxpayer funded campaign photo op. It of course was highlighted with McCain repeatedly confusing the nature of Sunni Al Queda and Shia Iran to the dismay of Joe Lieberman. Just today McCain misstated the troop levels in Iraq as being at pre-surge levels when they are clearly not. Further devaluing McCain's Iraq wisdom was his insistence a couple of days ago that Mosul was very calm the very same day that a suicide bombing was carried out, in Mosul. I'm not even going to go into details on last year's staged Baghdad market place theatrics. Maybe McCain should just remain stateside and get briefed on Iraq by his campaign advisers or Lindsey Graham. They could start by learning him the difference between Sunni and Shia factions in Iraq. God knows the current president would have done himself and everyone a favor by figuring that out before invading Iraq. Better yet McCain could go to the internets and read a good Iraq related blog like Informed Comment.

Now the Obama campaign is signaling that a trip to Iraq is in the works. Obama doesn't need to go to Iraq right now or sit down with a politically slanted General to prove his mettle on Iraq. What he does need to do is keep Iraq in the spotlight during the campaign and continue being smart and informed on the subject. It will also be prudent to keep the pressure on McCain and jump on him whenever he makes one of his frequent gaffes or crazy statements on Iraq like the one offered up today.

Widowfield Really Needs a Job Now

State representatives facing term limits have to be able to find other elected offices to hold or transition into real jobs (with help from their friends). When John Widowfield failed to win the Cuyahoga Falls Clerk of Courts race the clock really started ticking. The man who touted his military service in a political add for an office that deals in courts records was very busy trying to stay relevant or at least employed. There were even rumors that friend and political ally Mayor Don Robart would find a well paying administrative position at the City of CF for his compatriot. Things certainly started looking better when Widowfield won the Republican primary for Summit County Council, beating out Loiuse Heydorn in what was a surprising outcome for that race.

Now it's all come crashing down with Widowfield resigning his seat in the Ohio House over ethical violations. What a way to go out. The ABJ has the story of how one man was tempted by the allure of using campaign cash to purchase OSU football tickets. He can't possibly stay in the County Council race now that he's caught up in such a stinging ethical lapse. This may be the end of Widowfield's political musings for now. I'm sure there's a soft landing waiting for him somewhere on the public payrolls.

Can't Wait For Firefox 3

The next incarnation of the open source browser Firefox is due out soon. Firefox 3 will should be a blessing to all those that have some respect for how they navigate the Internets. Mozilla has made the release candidate available for those daring souls that want to test it out before it is officially released as final.

Lifehacker has a good run down on the top new features in Firefox three. It looks like the new version will be much kinder on your PC's CPU's this go around.

Vote No On the Grendell Amendment

I was thrilled and even relieved when I learned Ohio would be moving quickly to approve the Great Lakes Compact. Thrilled because I feel strongly that we have to do everything to protect the most important resource this region has, fresh water. Sure we can build Medical Marts, stadiums and wind turbines and leverage these projects to stimulate economic development, that's a good thing. As promising as these ideas sound nothing is a sure thing as water is. They may not come for the biotech and alternative energy but they will eventually have to come for the water. Getting the eight state and two Canadian province region out ahead on preserving the precious resource that is the Great Lakes is key to our future. We ain't gonna let you stick a two thousand mile long straw in our damn lake.

I am also relieved that the compact is a go because I didn't want to see the thing get delayed or even derailed by one obstinate individual. Most of the hold up in Ohio has been over the reservation of state senator Tim Grendell. His reservations about the impact of the compact on private claims to groundwater and lake access (which are already addressed in the compact) had started to look like they were going to do damage or threaten the multi-state agreement. Grendell's insistence that the approval of the compact be tied to the prerequiste passage of his lovingly crafted property rights amendment by statewide vote seemed above and beyond his normal thirst for attention. I understand Grendell is a property rights extremist but I had trouble understanding how one guy was able to hold up the Ohio approval of the compact and thus endanger the whole process of approval.

Well last week something changed and Grendell was able to assuage his own fears (well founded I'm sure) and come to an agreement with the Ohio Environmental Council on terms within the compact. Tim was willing to forgo linking the passage of the compact with a vote first on his special ballot initiative. I'd like to think that some senior Republican figure like George Voinovich made a call or a drop in visit to Grendell and made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Maybe he'll get the nod to run for State Attorney General in the next election or something like that.

In the end the State of Ohio and its Great Lakes neighbors win by taking an important step in preserving the Great Lakes. What a refreshing outlook that is. Yes folks we don't have to convert resources into cash as quickly and irresponsibly as possible to thrive as a society. Grendell has gotten loads of publicity as a staunch advocate of property rights and that's good for him and his private legal practice. As for the amendment, I'm voting no on that one. Consider the source.

State AG Office Not Keen On Residency Requirements

The Attorney General's Office is putting it's weight behind the State law that prohibits residency requirements for municipal employees. The reasoning was laid out in a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court submitted in support of the defendants in the pending cases involving Akron and Lima. This latest move against municipalities comes as the Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the issue. I guess it's no surprise that the Attorney General's Office has decided to lay down a marker on this one. Monday's GONGWER Report details Solicitor General William Marshall's (who knew we had one of these) motivation for the filing on behalf of the State Law:

Solicitor General William Marshall told the court in a brief filed late Friday that the 6^th District Court of Appeals is the third to improperly interpret a section of the Ohio Constitution in concluding the law (SB82, 126^th General Assembly) should be voided.

Justices already have accepted appeals the state filed in the two earlier cases involving the cities of Lima and Akron. The 6^th District subsequently joined them in holding that Toledo's home rule powers allow it to impose a residency requirement on police, fire and other workers.

Mr. Marshall said the 6^th District's ruling invites challenges to other Ohio laws that govern the welfare of workers.

***
Mr. Marshall said the appellate decision also warrants review because it deals with a fundamental question of state and local governance that is being litigated statewide.

Sounds like the Attorney General's Office has to maintain its law and order appearances even it means defending an ill conceived State law that contradicts the home rule powers granted by the State Constitution.

Appeasing the Saudis

There are those who would say that groveling to the Saudi King to increase oil production is a job below the pay grade of the US President. The Prez was in Saudi Arabia Friday doing just that because he has always touted his good relationship with the Saudis as leverage when it comes to oil prices. The visit with King Abdullah turned out to be a showcase of how the current administration is appeasing the Saudis. He just wanted one small thing to hold up as a reason why he is not as irrelevant as the rest of the world believes him to be. After reading the headlines yesterday I can't tell what actually transpired. The Saudis announced that they had already boosted produciton after Bush left but that move was not in response to the President's request. The Financial Times reported on the visit as a success with this quote:

The move came as Mr Bush faced intense political pressure at home provide relief from soaring petrol prices ahead of the summer driving season, but he received little credit for the Saudi announcement on Friday.

There were other MSM sources taking that angle including the Washington Times (surprise) and Reuters. The other side of the petrodollar was that the Bush was actually rebuffed by the Saudis. The balance of the reporting I read was that he was blown off. The BBC reported this when it came to a new production increase:

Saudi officials said they were already meeting demand, and had
increased production by 300,000 barrels per day earlier this month.

We are in such a bad position when it comes to oil dependency and respect in the Middle East that having to depend on what mood a Saudi king is in has become a big foreign policy deal. Until things change we'll have less and less leverage. With that in mind your government did manage to reach a deal on allowing the Saudis to develop a nuclear program for energy production. I can't shake the feeling that this is a subtle way of allowing the Saudis to accidentally acquire a nuclear capability to counter the moves being attempted by Iran to do the same thing. In the end you'll still pay $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline.

In review Bush went to Saudi Arabia and was rebuffed on his oil production request but the Saudis got assurances from your government on its continued support of Saudi hegemony in the region. They ended up with US support of a nuclear program, more weapons sales and continued protection from Iranian influence on the backs of the US military. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. They may not be the our enemies but they're hardly our staunchest ally in the Middle East.

The McCain Conventional Wisdom Takes a Hit

The prevailing conventional wisdom on the McCain candidacy was fatally wounded today. The presumptive GOP nominee for president joined in on the political hit job that was telegraphed all the way from Israel today by the Prez. Any notion that the McCain of 2000 is running a clean and straight talking campaign in 2008 has all but burned up after today's harangue. You can see McCain's rejoinder to the Presidents intentional Nazi appeaser smear of Obama here. Good to see he got the memo and passed it on to Joe Leiberman.

The following bits of of the McCain campaign narrative can be thrown into the dustbin of history, they include but are not limited to:

1. McCain will run a clean campaign and condemn swiftboat style attacks from outside groups.
2. McCain will distance himself from Bush on the campaign trail.
3. McCain will attract disgruntled Hillary Democrats in the General Election.
4. McCain will be the maverick candidate he purported to be in 2000.
   

Using these points to benchmark the presidential campaign as it progresses will help you and your love ones avoid any inconvenient surprises.

Johnny Edwards and the Elusive Endorsement

John Edwards is on stage in Grand Rapid, MI endorsing Obama right now. This all happened rather quickly but the message it's sending to the Clinton campaign must be striking. He's even lending his "One America" speech material to Obama during the endorsement.

This is a definite watershed in the race for the nomination as well as the general election indeed. With Edwards lending his fire to Obama the momentum is surely building for the Dems. John McCain who?

Petroblogging: Greed's Oily Residue

Oil and all the woes it has been causing us seem to be ingrained in the collective conscious of America right now. I think the McClatchy news website will need to add a separate section just for oil stories the way things are going. Fighting for oil, crying about the price of gas and abject paranoia about speculative plots are just some of the noise we're getting inundated with lately. These things speak to the power of the petrodollar which leads to my attempt at petroblogging.

There Will Be Blood in Congress
Big Oil and steadily increasing gas prices have created all sorts of problems for the average minivan driver. On the legislative and policy side there are multiple "fixes" being thrown into the mix in Congress. The Dems are thinking of a multi-faceted approach that includes a windfall profits tax on oil companies (this makes no sense), capping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, taking away tax breaks and cracking down on energy market speculation. A windfall by definition is a one-time increase in profits. The profits Exxon and company are seeing are the normal thing now. So why would a windfall profits tax be applicable in today's situation?

The GOP is looking almost exclusively from the supply side with proposals that call for increased drilling (including in ANWR) and refinery building and the normal emphasis on converting resources to cash. The only proposal that will get widespread support is the cap on the strategic reserve. Politico has a really good run down on the various legislative proposals that are presented in a Factcheck.org fashion.

Is the Gas Tax Holiday Dead?
File this one under Panderer in Chief or When Economists Attack. The McCain/Clinton plan to lower gas prices for the summer driving season using voodoo economics has been fading in popularity, and that's not just my impression. Does it have to do with every economist in the world calling it a bad idea? It seems that the McCain advisers that hatched the plan ignored the cold hard facts of tax incidence theory and went straight for the lame gimmickry of the appeal of a tax holiday. Hillary of course glommed on to the gas tax holiday looking for anyway to get an edge on Obama. Now that she is all but cooked in the race for the nomination, her support of a holiday from gasoline reality doesn't mean much. Enough rational introspection from the media and even average citizens has appeared to relegate this one to the silly season column.

Bush Off to Visit His Saudi Overlords
While we are left to guess what the price at the Circle K station will hit tomorrow the Prez heads off to the Middle East to survey the damage of seven years of failed foreign policy. Every Bush or Cheney Mid East trip of course ends with the requisite stop in Saudi Arabia to engage in royal ass kissing. maybe this trip will be different. It would be nice to see someone going to bat for us and maybe ask the Saudis to increase oil production. Is it possible that W. will threaten to pull out of Iraq and let the crazy Iranians increase their influence even more? Will King Abdullah be scared shitless about growing Shia influence in the region stirring up unrest amongst the population of Shias that inhabit the oil rich eastern part of his kingdom? Maybe the King will choose to hold hands with W. and buy his allegiance with another shiny sword.

It's Not a Bubble
Professor Krugman takes the speculation on speculation to task in yesterday's NYT column. The theory that energy speculators are behind the rapid increase in oil and gas prices has taken hold recently and for good reason. The guys making all of the money on the oil boon are the ones closely connected to the markets and traders that seemingly create the frenzy that is pushing up the price of oil. Krugman refutes this notion with sound economic reasoning. His contention is that speculation requires hoarding of supply to be effective and currently the supplies of oil are at normal or below average levels. Sorry, the oil companies are easy to hate but our dilemma is driven by good ol' supply and demand principles. If we could only get that Iraq occupation thing to work maybe the price would go down.

We're Americans and we ain't drivin' 55 or taking the damn bus to work.

SCO Will Rule on Residency Law

I'm a few days behind on this one but I couldn't pass up on the post. The Ohio Supreme Court will weigh in on municipal residency requirements by ruling on the state law that was created to prohibit them. The court will review two of the past cases one of which the city of Akron's case. From Wednesday's GONGWER report:

City Residency: Separately, the court unanimously agreed to decide the constitutionality of a state law that prohibits municipalities from requiring any of their workers, as a condition of employment, to reside within city limits.

Justices accepted appeals involving the cities of Lima and Akron, and said they would hear oral arguments in both cases on the same day. At the same time, the court rejected Akron's motion to consolidate its case with the one from Lima.

The 3^rd District Court of Appeals struck down the state residency law (SB82, 126^th General Assembly) in a December 2007 case involving Lima.

Earlier this year, the 9^th District followed suit in a decision that also lets cities continue to impose residency requirements on employees. (See Gongwer Ohio Report, February 26, 2008).

Last month, the 6^th District became the third appeals court to rule that municipalities may require their police, fire and other employees to reside within city limits, notwithstanding the new state lawto the contrary.

The 6^th District panel said in a 2-1 opinion that the state law prohibiting residency requirements was "an obvious attempt to circumvent constitutional municipal home rule authority."

I don't have a sense how the court leans when it comes to that thingy in the state constitution called home rule. I do have a notion that they are somwhat supportive of police and fire union interests. I know residency laws have held up in the previous court rulings but past performance is no indicator of future earnings when it comes to Ohio's top court.

Demon Inflation

One thing the Pizza Riots of 2008 made clear is that times are tough. Crowds standing in line for hours for a 23 cent pizza demonstrates the squeeze rising food prices are having on ordinary people. It may also be that they are just suckers for a promotion.

Anyway the crunch at the grocery store and the gas pump and elsewhere is indicative of the strains inflation is placing on middle and working class folks. There seems to be a disconnect though between the pinch consumers are feeling and the haughty economic indicators that are released periodically. Despite the constant talk of recession and stimulus plans inflationary stress as divined from CPI and GDP doesn't appear to be echoing the hard facts we see on the ground. It has always seemed out of place that food and fuel prices are excluded from CPI when we are paying record prices at the pump and at the grocery store. The official definition of a recession has been described as two consecutive quarterly drops in GDP but that indicator actually increased by 0.6% at last release. So what is really going on?

The numbers are all based on lies is one answer being offered up. According to Kevin Phillips in an article published in this month's Harper's the CPI and other mainstream economic indicators are a numbers racket. In his piece titled Why the Economy Is Worse Than We Know Phillips puts forth a convincing case for what he terms the "Opacity" crisis in America. Basically over the past two decades the goal posts have been moved to make these key indicators more palatable for investors in the U.S dollar. The actual numbers if based on prior methods would look much more grim today:

The real numbers, to most economically minded Americans, would be a face full of cold water. Based on the criteria in place a quarter century ago, today's U.S. unemployment rate is somewhere between 9 percent and 12 percent; the inflation rate is as high as 7 or even 10 percent; economic growth since the recession of 2001 has been mediocre, despite a huge surge in the wealth and incomes of the superrich, and we are falling back into recession.

There hasn' t been a lot scary talk on inflation because it's kind of been swept under the rug. To the average person it's much more pervasive than the rigged numbers we keep seeing each month. The article is meant to serve as primer to his latest book, Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism. The title sounds kind of gloomy but I think it will be worth the read. The notion that our economic system and method of wealth creation is built on a house of cards is more apparent now than it has been in years.

Lest You Think I'm That Popular

My Site Meter reporting has shown a spike in views the past week. If one were to see this activity they may be lead to believe that the 260 views of BCR today were a sign of interest in what I have to write. Not Really.

What this blog is experiencing is like something out of a chapter of the Long Tail or The Wisdom of Crowds. Give people all the content that's out there and a good filter (Google) to find it and then look out.

Here's the story. I ran a post back in January titled "Where's My Stimulus Check" that outlined the progress of the economic stimulus plan as it wound its way through Congress. The title was a harmless poke at the impatience of the average citizen waiting around for the gov'ment to send out their damn check. Fast forward to last week when the actual checks started going out and now you see what's on peoples' minds - money. The links to BCR through Google searches are driving the links to the blog. Basically all those searches using the same phrase as the post title get referred to this humble little blog. I unintentionally Google bombed myself. I'm willing to rent out space in the side bar to those of you looking for exposure.

Marc Danngate: Crisis or Opportunity?

Ahhh nothing gets the attention of voters like a sex scandal. It looks like State AG Marc Dann has delivered one that comes with all of the requisite details that are needed to titillate (pun intended) those of us who are paying attention. The story of an elected official who likes to crusade against the machine during the day and party with his staff at night was a sure winner.

I gathered that Dann has always had detractors on both sides of the political isle and the steady stream of condemnations has shown that to be the case. They even penned this very important letter asking him to resign before he upsets the delicate balance the Dems have managed to maintain in statewide offices. I don't think anyone has defended the guy in the least but what would you expect from a state full of puritan wannabes. No, I'm not excusing his actions and yes I do think he has damaged the office of Attorney General and should step down. I think it should be done soon and a plan such as the one mentioned by Pho on Friday has legs. The sooner Dann is out and a new electable name is in all the better to salvage the office. It's the political equivalent of calling in the Wolf. The faster we put this behind us the faster we can stop giving sanctimonious republicans like the red gobbler-necked Bob Bennet a soap box to stand on.

One more thing I should mention. Marc Dann has garnered the moniker the "accidental AG" because he was a long shot to win the race against a better known opponent. That person was Betty Montgomery a one-time AG herself and State Auditor at the time of the election. Remember that Dann used her connection with Tom Noe to cast her in negative light and ride that negative tide against the Taft adminstration into office. This was the same Betty Montgomery that was the chief fiscal officer of the State and yet claimed to have no knowledge of an impending financial scandal of epic proportions at the Bureau of Worker's Comp. So maybe Dann winning the 2006 election wasn't all accident for some discerning voters. Let's make this right and deny the republican party an accidental way back into the AG's office.