Racing in Carolina

          I’ve been asked by many gentle readers why I don’t comment on candidates or debates, as was the custom of my people in former times. Frankly, our political discourse is divisive and fraught with personal attacks, the wrong road and counterproductive to how we need to work together as a nation. Reluctantly, I agreed to watch a Republican debate and make comments. So steeled with popcorn and whiskey to pull me through the ordeal, I observed the fracas. I will attempt to frame my impressions in a constructive light and speak to larger issues of political discourse.

          Free market regulation- an extensive and popular theme. The case was made that you shouldn’t give Government credit for free market success. Previously Santorum stated that was like giving Al Gore credit for inventing the Internet. Cue the laugh track. I point out a couple of things. Al Gore was a Congressional visionary and helped fund the DARPA project that created the Internet. Secondly, it was a DARPA government project that created the Internet. Such private/ public partnerships used to be the rage in bygone years, giving us interstate highways, telecommunications, silicon valley and Tang.

          When asked their position on the SOPA bill regulating (censoring) the Internet, all the candidates opposed it. Santorum said the bill was poorly written but we need some protection against intellectual property piracy. “Where did we get the idea that anything goes on the Internet?”. Rick, we have copyright and patent law in this country. If your intellectual property is pirated, sue their butts. If other counties don’t care about our copyright laws, they won’t care about our SOPA laws either. Perhaps our Government should not proactively censor the internet to keep giant corporations from losing money. Are their lawyers working too hard?

          Hearing these guys talk, “anything goes” does seem to be the guiding principle in defending the sacred free market, which was created by Jesus. We’re a nation of law, but we don’t need no stinking regulations. The less the better. Turn the job creators loose. Hmmm….

          Why do we have regulations? Usually they are reactions to excess and abuse that allow politicians to express their “outrage” and cover their butts. Since our Government is a bureaucracy, little silos keep increasing in size and power and crank out more and more regulations. Since they come from little silos, regulations can be contradictory, redundant, or obsolete.

          Why else do we have regulations? They are to regulate how the game is played and protect people from rapacious avarice and predatory practices. It’s like a football game. Regulations boundary the field, but you can beat each other up trying to gain fiscal yardage all you want inside the boundaries. Do we need regulations? It is evident that when regulations are exceeded greed and creativity have babies. When fiscal football is played in the stands and out into the parking lot, a lot of innocent people get hurt. Sorry about your baby m’am…my bad. Because our financial regulatory boundaries were (and are) vastly outstripped, more than half our financial institutions are “shadow”, having NO regulation. Greed and predatory practices rained out the game for a season, but these practices still continue going their merry semi-legal way.

          Regulations are supposed to provide clarity and standards of conduct/ practice. There are many ways of producing useful regulations, and bureaucracies aren’t one of them. Regulations need to be streamlined, proactive, adaptive, and strategically aligned. England reformed and consolidated its regulations and is financially regulated by a guy. We need to consolidate and modernize how we create regulations. This will require leadership and vision. Good luck with that. But the role of government in the free market, as most things, is a tradeoff. Although it has a valuable and legitimate role to play, Government is often treated like the smelly vagrant at the party. What are you doing here? Can’t you see we’re having fun?

         

          Amidst all this market worship, the bottom line issue of connecting business profit with worker benefit is never discussed. This connection formed the Middle Class, the American Dream, and the post-war American Experience. Without this connection, all of these things are fading. Elephant in the room, anyone?

          Taxes- “I have a uncle who lives in Taxes.” “No, I’m talking dollars man.” “Yeh, that’s where he a’ lives…Dollars Taxes” –Marx Brothers

The candidates were asked to produce their tax returns. Morbid curiosity I guess. Newt posted his during the debate. He gets a gold star and a cookie. Ron Paul said he wouldn’t post his. He was embossed how low his income was. He said to look at the Congressional financial statements. That’s how much he makes since he doesn’t talk to lobbyists or take their money. I love Texas.

          I note that personal finance is a weakness for Mitt and he becomes very rattled when that area is explored. Recently, Mitt said he would release last years return. During the debate, this shifted from one report to “several”. Mitt’s daddy George once ran for office. He posted 12 years of returns. George said that a single year could be fluke, produced for show. I predict that Mitt will not post anything from his Bain days. I predict he paid much less than 15% taxes and since the word Cayman is already out there, that would be why. I had heard about that but wanted it to become a talking point before mentioning it. Anyway, Mitt said that since his opposition challenges what he releases drip by drip, he would release his returns all at once. I point out that Mitt has  never released his income, although asked to do so since 1994. So this will be a novel drippy experience for him. The Cayman is a lizard isn’t it?

          Aliens- A lady asked how we can keep Americans at the front of the line for jobs. There is plenty of produce in Alabama that needs picking and you can be first in line, darlin’. All want to create residency programs for established illegals except for Santorum, who believes in rule of law. Rick, there are too many to throw out. That’s called reality. Work with it. Newt said astutely “It’s too hard to come into the country legally and too easy to come in illegally.” So reverse that and you might be on to something, guys.

           Division- Mitt said that Obama separating us into 99% & 1% is dangerous. We are one nation under God. Mitt may have had to look at a dollar bill to get that quote. So economic divisions are bad….but political and partisan polarization is….? Check your money again.

          Social Issues- The consensus was that Obama wants to turn the US into a European Socialist Entitlement State. The word freedom was used a lot. Santorum stated that Obama wanted to cut military spending and not cut a penny of social programs. Both of these are “falsehoods”. Obama proposed millions of dollars of Medicare/ Medicaid spending cuts and military spending is being automatically cut due to the failings of an unusually incompetent Congress. Just setting the record straight.

          So freedom is good in the free market and not good helping struggling Americans because it just keeps them struggling. “They had better do it (die), and decrease the surplus population. – Scrooge” Gotta love the holidays.  The picture I get is….I don’t like a nanny state forcing economic redistribution and stinking clean air and water standards while killing jobs. We could manufacture more gas masks and be job creators. But the nanny state is great for regulating naughty behavior. We have to force people to love Jesus and unborn babies. While I personally love Jesus and unborn babies I don’t want to have to. There’s that freedom thing.

          I am unclear as to why lovers of freedom would want to regulate moral standards. The reason we have abortion is our national moral standards shifted and the law didn’t. Want to go back to Mayberry, Rick? What’s the end game look like? A ban on abortion? I refer you to the Prohibition to be informed by history. Forced abstinence? Hey, we could manufacture chastity belts and be job creators. So we don’t want a nanny for market behavior, environmental protections or civil liberties, but we do want to nanny our way back to the Cleavers. I would prefer to change hearts and minds on a moral position. Morality which runs against the cultural grain and enforced by cops and Homeland Security is so much sound and fury, signifying nothing.

          Well, out of grub, out of booze, out of patience. Signing off.