For our own good: No rain, please

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Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
– C.S. Lewis

There are those who are so sure of the righteousness of their prescriptions for others’ behavior, they will torment themselves when good things happen.

Normally, we rejoice when it rains during dry conditions, even if it slows down the wheat harvest a bit. But if good fortune for others means it’s less likely your regulatory dream regime will pass — well, which is more important?

wichita-wanting-weather-sensorsTo a frequent comment writer on the Wichita Eagle online site, the choice is this: His regulatory urge, his conviction that he is absolutely certain he knows what others should do, is more important than our collective sigh of relief: “I have become so committed, to wanting weather sensors to be required on new lawn irrigation systems, that I’m upset when it rains. Because I know it means it’s less likely to get passed by the Council.”

It’s not enough, apparently, that the city is taking very expensive measures to save very little water. I speak, of course, of rebates for low-flush toilets, which force one person to pay for someone else’s appliance.

No, for this person, others have to suffer additional expense — and brown lawns — just so he can force his regulatory wishes on the rest of us.

Paul Ryan and the MD GOP on Medicare

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Tomorrow, Congressman Paul Ryan will be in Baltimore headlining a Maryland Republican Party fundraiser. The Maryland GOP wants to import Paul Ryan’s extreme ideas to our state, including ending Medicare as we know it. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut Medicare spending by $356 billion over the next ten years, affecting thousands of Marylanders. Ryan would [...]

Barred from Federal Programs, DREAMers May Qualify for Medi-Cal

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Viji SundaramBy Viji Sundaram

For years, DREAMer Rodrigo Perea, 18, lived under a threatening cloud of deportation. Now, Perea has legal permission to live and work in the U.S. – but until recently he was still in the dark about the low-income health programs he qualifies for.

He’s not alone. Thousands of immigrants, and even many health care advocates in California who work with young immigrants, are unaware that recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program may qualify for state-funded-only Medi-Cal, identical in every way to the full scope federal and state funded program that shares the name.

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David Young Begins to Hone His Message

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When David Young officially entered the race for the U.S. Senate, he made sure that people knew he was his own man and not merely a clone of his former boss, Sen. Chuck Grassley.  Having served as Grassley’s Chief of Staff for seven years, making that distinction was probably necessary, but there is little doubt that Young’s association with Grassley is what makes him a legitimate candidate to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin.

Young spoke to the Des Moines Conservative Breakfast meeting on Tuesday morning.  Unlike in his initial interviews as he entered the race, Young now seems to have honed a message that he will use across the state.  He also mentioned Grassley’s name no less than ten times during his 15-minute speech.  Being your own man is one thing, but distancing yourself from one of the most popular and respected politicians in the state was never a good idea.

There was still plenty of background information included in Young’s speech.  He talked about growing up in Van Meter a lot, and how his dream job had always been working for Grassley in Washington.  Young also hit on common themes that regularly turn up in candidate speeches like, jobs, the economy, and the debt and deficit.  He said that he favors a tax system that is flatter and fairer, although he admitted on WHO Radio that he wasn’t aware of the Fair Tax a couple of weeks ago.

Young wants permanent tax reform for individuals and corporations.    He also pushed for a balanced budget amendment by reminding those in attendance that 49 of the 50 states have some sort of balanced budget mechanism with which they must comply.  He then pointed out that Sen. Grassley is in line to be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee should Republicans gain control of the chamber after the 2014 election, which would have jurisdiction over a balanced budget amendment.

As a U.S. Senator, Young said that he would strive to be an “equal opportunity watchdog,” by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government.  Young stated that he learned first hand how to conduct oversight investigations from the master, Chuck Grassley.

Before concluding his remarks, Young said that we need to take an all-encompassing approach to stopping the implementation of Obamacare that includes repealing, slowing down, and defunding Obamacare.  He then lamented the fact that he remembers when you could count government scandals on one hand, now it takes two.  “In addition to a spending deficit, we also have a deficit of accountability and trust,” Young said.  He mentioned fast and furious, the IRS scandal, the AP scandal, and Benghazi.

Young concluded his remarks by saying that Republicans can beat Bruce Braley in November of 2014.  “Congressman Braley is beatable. He’s vulnerable. He’s not as well known, [or] as popular as folks think or even he thinks, even in his own district. He has a very liberal record that is out of step with everyday Iowans – even more liberal than Tom Harkin.”

For more information on Young’s campaign, go to YoungforIowa.com.

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“A Final, Crushing Defeat”

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June 18, 1815 literally was Napoleon Bonaparte’s Waterloo.

His last ditch effort to defeat the British and the Prussians, after losing to the British and being exiled on the island of Elba, became his final defeat.

After a three-day battle near Waterloo Village in Belgium, the emperor’s strategy of splitting his army to attack both the British and Prussians failed to divide them, allowing them to converge on Napoleon and defeat him..

An early morning rainstorm delayed Napoleon’s attack until the ground dried, giving the Prussians time to reinforce their positions.Unknown-4

The British and their allies, led by the Duke of Wellington, were slammed by the French but withstood the repeated assaults until the evening when the Prussians broke through Napoleon’s right flank.

Wellington then counter-attacked and drove the French army from the field.

The French casualties were 25,000 killed and wounded, 8,000 captured, and 15,000 missing.

Napoleon surrendered to the British, abdicated, and was exiled to Saint Helena, where he died in 1821.

Waterloo ended more than 20 years of warfare on the European continent. The word has come to mean a “final, crushing defeat.”

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First, “Pig-Roast-a-Palooza” and Now “Sausage Fest”

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Apparently, pork really is the other white meat. At least when it comes to legislative fundraisers.

Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Los Angeles Democrat, just hosted “Pig-Roast-a-Palooza on June 18.

On July 2, the legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Caucus holds its first fundraiser “celebrating freedom and equality.”

That would be “Sausage Fest 2013.”

The pig on the “Sausage Fest” invite is in better shape than the one on Lara’s invitation but, based on the event’s name, that’s merely the whole before the partitioned. 

A “Wild Boar” sponsorship costs $6,800. A “Hot Link” $3,400 and a Bratwurst sponsorship, $1,000. 

Sausage Fest

Pork isn’t fenced by political lines.

Although the invitation is silent on the exact culinary offerings, it seems next to impossible that Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen’s Third Annual Hawaiian Luau won’t be serving pork — at least in some form.

The only details provided by the invitation to the  June 24 event — other than its time. location and  $4,100 price tag to be a sponsor — is that the menu will feature “authentic Hawaiian cuisine provided by Chef John Surla of Surla’s restaurant” in Modesto.

Traditionally, at a luau “authentic Hawaiian cuisine” includes pork — and lots of it. Most commonly, a whole pig roasted on coals in a hole for the better part of a day. Even venerable  Sunset‘s “lighter, finger-food” luau includes glazed pork buns with pineapple.

Saveuer recommends pork ribs marinated with soy sauce as  an alternative to a full-fledged carcass of kalua pork. Ribs or buns, it’s pork nonetheless.

So pass the cashiers check and the poi please, brah. 

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