Oregon State Budget

Today, the Oregon legislature tentatively has agreed to a budget for the 2006-2007 biennium. Of course, as most states do, more than 50% of the state budget goes towards funding public education.

One statement, however, caught my ear. This was that the Hillsboro, Oregon school district was going to have to suffer with a teacher to student ratio of 30 to 1. In reality, this probably means 35 to 40 students per classroom, with administration filling out the rest.

If I recall correctly, as a youngster in a private school (you know, the independently wealthy), every single year, each class I was in (2nd through 8th grade), started with 40 students. We didn't have teacher's aides. We never had a parent volunteer in the classroom.

I am not sure what the answer to the nation's school funding problems are. I don't claim to be an expert. But I know, that the more money that is spent on schools, the more money that is wasted. Kids don't need lower teacher to student ratios. They need more discipline and less lawyers involved in their education. They need parents who care about their kids succeeding in education and are willing to sacrifice everything in order to make sure this happens.

Until then, you can reduce the classroom size to 3 students per teacher, and it won't make a difference. Education costs will rise (read that taxes will rise) and students will be less and less successful.

The Coming Hyperflation?

One of the reasons I am such a proponent of studying history (now that I am no longer in school) is that I believe if we don't know our history, we will most certainly repeat our mistakes. While this is an oft-used cliche, it is most certainly a truism.

Recently, Hawaiian legislators have decided to put a "price-cap" on gasoline prices. They have attempted to do this by capping wholesale sale prices. Have people forgotten why we had hyperinflation and gas lines in the 1970's? Apparently so.

It is quite simple, folks. If you put a cap on the price of an item in demand, shortages will occur. Hawaiian gas stations will need to begin rationing gas so that they can somewhat match supply with demand. When people get sick of the rationing, legislators will remove caps and cause prices to spike upward.

This example is not isolated. The same thing occurs because of rent-control in apartments, food in the former Soviet Union, etc. It is a very simple cause-and-effect and legislators in Hawaii are preparing to see it happen again. Hopefully, this virus will not spread.

From the provocative to the mundane....

Today is the first day of my first vacation of the year. I will be at home through July 31 and am very much looking forward to it. The weather appears to be cooperating and my Father will be in town.

Additionally, one week from today will be my fourth wedding anniversary. While it is not much compared with my Grandparents of more than 60 years, it is a start.

Hope you have a great weekend and you may hear from me before this weekend is yet out.

Troubling Statements from Democratic Lawmakers

Yes, I am a public policy junkie. I was watching C-Span today and at the hearing were several former intelligence officers. The topic of the hearing was the release of Valerie Plame Wilson's identity to the press, which had no problem then disseminating this information far and wide.

The statement came from Rep Henry Waxman (D-CA), who mentioned that the Congress had authorized the President to take this country to war on some snappy metaphors that the White House staff came up with.

In other news, Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY), in a press conference with Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT), stated that it was important to ask Supreme Court nominee, Judge John Roberts, questions about his legal philosophy because here is a man who will be helping to create law for at least 25 to 30 years.

What are our representatives doing? Rewriting the Constitution? I believe it is important for the American people to understand our law enough to be repulsed by these comments. First, Congress cannot authorize the President to take us to war; only Congress can declare war. I believe that every member of Congress who did in fact authorize the President to take us to war should be impeached. It is a clear violation of our beloved Constitution.

Second, the Supreme Court does not create law. Only the legislative branch can create law. Senator Schumer should and does know this. Perhaps it was a Freudian slip, but I highly doubt it. I am sure it was Senator Schumer suggesting what other Democratic legislators and many Republican legislators hope for, which is the Supreme Court creating laws for them (without the political blowback).

I for one am not amused.

Recent Reading....again

I just finished Robert Kaplan's, "Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, Middle East and the Caucasus." I found the book very enjoyable, but unusual in that Mr. Kaplan seems to drink an awful lot of plum brandy and chai tea.

Seriously, though, I found the discussion of the regions very interesting. Most of the history of the regions date back to within the last 50 or so years, but Mr. Kaplan sure has quite a grasp of the history of these diverse regions.

All in all, I found Nicholas Griffin's, "Caucasus: Mountain Men Holy Warriors" more interesting in that the study was much more geographically isolated and it took a deeper look at the history of the region (going back around 200 years). Both of these journeys have caused me to check out yet another book on the region which I will report on shortly.

All of this reading will hopefully increase my enjoyment of an Oregon World Affairs Council event I will be attending this Thursday regarding Georgian (the country) wine and political issues at a local Russian restaurant. As with the event with Dr. Saltzel, I will report back after this event.

London Bombing

I have a couple of very controversial thoughts regarding the recent terrorist attacks in London last Thursday. The first is that this bombing is an example of two things: first, international jihadism in the developed world is losing. Frankly, I am surprised that we aren't seeing this kind of thing every week! Despite the alleged complexity of the bombs themselves, this kind of activity doesn't require massive planning. I believe it shows that the movement is running out of people in developed countries who want to kill themselves (at this time, the bombing is not believed to have been carried out by suicide bombers).

The second comment I have is by far the more controversial: were it not for Spain's reaction to the Madrid bombings, this London attack may not have ocurred.

My thesis about the appeal of jihadism has been that these groups are emboldened by success, and they wain by defeat. Osama bin Laden said as much in his 1996 fatwa declaring war on the United States:

"...when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu."

This leads me to another unpopular statement which is that fighting against these groups will require many more thousands of American lives over maybe several decades. And while we should not allow ourselves to enter joyously into war, we must realize that this fight is far from over. And despite what some might believe (including former CIA Bin Laden chief, Michael Scheuer, whom I respect tremendously), if we were to withdraw our troops from the Middle East and stop supporting Israel, this will not end.

Summer in Portland

They say that summer in Portland begins around July 5th every year. While this hasn't been my experience in the past 9 years I have lived here, it is certainly acting that way now. Actually, yesterday was a beautiful day. Mat came over around noon and we barbecued some steaks, creating a masterpiece food item called a Whiz-wit. In short, it is like a Philly cheese steak, only slightly different. We grill the steak, after it has been marinating, heat of some Cheeze Whiz, lightly toast the buns, saute some onions and put it all together. It is quite tasty.

After Mat left, Kari and I watched the movie, "Shag," which is kind of a lady's version of "Animal House."

Finally, I finished the evening by reading a little from my book, "Eastward to Tartary." I have finally gotten to the last section, that of Tartary (or central Asian former USSR republics), like Georgia, Armenia, Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, etc.). Good thing, too, because it is due back to the library on Wednesday.

Hope your 4th goes well and take the time to read the Declaration of Independece. It is well worth it.

I am an extremist!

Since the announced retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the polticos are bantering using typical political dialogue. The Democrats suggest that the President should be advised by their troupe. They warn that the President not select an extremist (under their breath they mention people like Antonin Scalia). Rather, he should seek middle ground on this issue, like President Clinton had done.

I have a very big problem with this for two reasons: first, the term "extremist" has come to mean someone who is ideolocially consistent. Unless you are willing to compromise your integrity, you are an extremist. I am truly SHOCKED that the people are willing to accept this assinign definition by such un-ideologically driven representatives, such as Senator Charles Schumer (D - NY) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D - MA). Are you kidding me? Have people gone crazy. Of course we want justices who are ideologically consistent. We don't need weak minded people who are willing to compromise the wisdom of our founding documents for political expediency.

Second, Presidents will always (and should always) select those individuals whom they believe will see cases through their own ideological framework. I don't care what anyone will try to tell me, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not a moderate. In fact, for conservatives, she is the antithesis. As an abortion advocate, no conservative Senator would have advised support for her candidacy. However, despite this, she was selected and confirmed by a vote of 97 to 3. This is despite the fact that she has consistently voted in a manner diametrically opposed to by conservatives. Hell, they knew she would.

So Senators Kennedy and Schumer, while you are expert politicians, please don't mislead the American public into believing that it is people like President Bush who are inflaming the partisianship in government these days. In fact it is people exactly like you and your Republican counterparts.

Weekend of Independence Day

Don't forget to watch C-Span and the History Channel this weekend to watch some truly excellent programming surrounding the independence of this nation.

World Affairs Council: Dr Michael Haltzel

Last night, I attended an event sponsored by the Oregon World Affairs Coucil and the Portland Committee on Foreign Relations. It featured the speaker Dr Michael Haltzel, former foreign policy advisor to Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del). I found his speech most interesting. His stipulation was that the 5 most important foreign policy challenges over the forseeable future include 1) Islamic Fundamentalism, 2) WMD (particularly nuclear) proliferation, 3) the US economy, 4) an Avian flu pandemic, and 5) climate change (or more in reality the environment).

While largely partisan arguments, I found his perspective to be very moderate. Amazingly, these are five challenges that most Republicans would agree upon. What I have yet to see is representatives from both sides confront these challenges together. For most, it seems that absolute power is most important. This is a tragic mistake for the American people who will continue to run into difficulty because otherwise reasonable men have been reduced to name calling.