Last Action Hero

I keep finding more reasons to support the Governator. And this recent law might even make a fan out of my animal-loving friend in DC. It is clear that California is the state to look to for progressive policies on a very large scale. From solar panels and emissions standards, to laws protecting animals, Arnold has shown that he is willing to work with Democrats to make big changes for his state. I only wish there were more Republicans like him.

Thoughts on Containment

Peter Beinart's book obviously got me thinking. His main conclusions were solid, and I have found that I agree with them. Basically, we need to return to the liberal tradition of supporting containment while remaining strongly anti-terrorist. He backs this up by comparing it to the liberal tradition of anti-communism. What Beinart does acknowledge, but I don't know that he fully develops the thought, is that anti-communism didn't always make for clear policy decisions. His explanation for why Vietnam was such a failure was that the communist movement there was also a nationalist one. He also didn't spend enough time talking about the other communist or socialist movements that we surpressed during that time that also might have been nationalist in nature.

The reason I bring this up is that we are facing similar situations today when we look at Islamist (defined as groups desiring to spread extremist forms of Islam) governments, militias, or even political parties. In those situations, when do we decide to oppose them and when do we tolerate and possibly work with them. Free elections in Palestine, Iraq, and Egypt have shown that Islamist movements have some popular appeal. We have a history of interfering in free elections because we didn't like the outcome, and I wonder if that is truly wise.

But the spirit of Beinart's message is that containment works because in the long run, democracy will win out over repressive forms of government. This suggests that we need to tolerate these popular Islamist movements in some situations, although pressure to make them collpase or change (as we are trying to do Hamas) shouldn't be ruled out. But this also means that socialist governments like the ones springing forward in South America also should be tolerated because we are confident that in time, they will become more moderate and democracy will prevail. As an added benefit, toleration will take some of the wind from their sails, as people like Chavez from Venezuela get a lot of political points by attacking Bush.

So Touching

This story is very quaint and romantic. The small American farms in the mid-west are disappearing, and America's hard-working, traditional soul is going along with it. Or at least that is what we are meant to believe when we read about the loss of small agriculture in this country as a metaphor for the loss of American values. Unfortunately, this story tends to encourage the sort of protectionist policies that condradict the free trade spirit we force everyone else to get behind when it benefits us, at the expense of developing countires. The article comes to a perfect conclusion with the author suggesting that if Democrats could protect these dying farms, they might be able to steal these socially conservative voters from the Republicans.

This is something we cannot buy into. Compormising our principles to steal a few votes in unacceptable. Instead, we need to be willing to stand behind free trade even during the times when it doesn't benefit American workers. Our hypocricies are ruining the developing world, and articles like this one are putting phony sentiment ahead of sound policy.

Tax and Spend

This is why I hate Congress. You can imagine that this might get a budget analyst like myself really upset. When legislation is being passed not on its merits, but because it will bring money back to the district - and when that money going back to the district is not likely to be the most efficient use of the money but will help with reelection, it makes me furious. And this guy is thinking of running for Speaker of the House if the Democrats take over? John Murtha and his cronies need to go. Too bad our electoral system makes it impossible to behave in any other way.

I realize there are a few people who want to remind me of my comments mocking Ned Lamont for saying that he wants to get the pork out of politics. It isn't because I disagreed with his stance, but I am very pessimistic about the chances of him (or anyone) sticking to that promise and actually staying in office.

Rumsfeld Needed to Go

Apparently, everyone thought Rumsfeld needed to go except Bush - and Cheney (but that shouldn't surprise anyone). My only question is how Bob Woodward keeps getting sources inside the White House. However he does it, his articles are always interesting as they give a picture of what is (allegedly) going on behind the scenes. Trust me when I say you need to read this.

In the Arena

For anyone that is reading this, I want to point you to another blog, In the Arena. It is another smart, political blog started be some friends of mine. I am excited about it and hope everyone checks it out.

Really? Jay Gibbons?

This shouldn't surprise anyone, but there are more steroids accusations flying around baseball. Some of the names are not new to the accusation game, like Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada, but others are, like Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons. The funniest name on the list has to be Jay Gibbons, but I guess it just goes to show you that steroids can in fact make a mediocre player into, um, still just a mediocre player. I was suspicious of Brian Roberts though. His breakout performance in 2005 was great but a little hard to believe.

Unfortunately, their denials are unconvincing. Read the article and you will see that each of them point to the fact that they haven't ever failed a drug test. Now while that works for someone like Lance Armstrong (although I think we still have our doubts about him), it doesn't ring true for MLB players where testing has only been around for a year and doesn't go so far as to test for human growth hormone.

Mahdi Army for Hire

It is probably a bad sign that Moktada al-Sadr is losing control over parts of his militia. Although I guess it shouldn't be too surprising. But at least it makes it sound like Sadr wants a stable Iraq, which gives me some confidence that the country may remain relatively stable in the long run.

Islamic Militants in Somalia

We need to keep an eye on this situation. If we are serious about fighting the war on terrorism, we cannot let Islamist militants take over governments. Of course, if we weren't in Iraq, we might actually be able to do something about this. Instead, we can only watch another Taliban form.

Child Labor

It is stories like this one that make me support manufacturing jobs in developing countries. The article in the NY Times describes how child labor is decreasing all over the world with one exception, sub-Saharan Africa. In situations like the one described, families have to find any way they can to make enough money to eat. In this case a nine-year-old boy breaks rocks down to be sold for cement. My opinion is that if more manufacturing jobs, even those with questionable safety practices came in, scenerios like the one described would decrease. Granted, there are a lot of issues at play here. Deaths from HIV / AIDS play a huge part in breaking up families and leaving children orphaned. Also, conflicts in the region lead to displacement, famine, disease and restrict foreign investment and domestic growth.

As I see it, a number of things have to happen to improve this situation. One, which is probably the most important but that I find a little unlikely given the slow progress on Darfur, is to decide that peace and security in sub-Saharan Africa is a priority. The number of people killed or displaced in the region due to conflict is in the millions. No progress will be made until the conflicts end. Secondly, we need to take bigger strides in prenting the spread of HIV / AIDS as well as treating those that have it. Investment in this area has been going up, but much more needs to be done.

Lastly, and still very important, we need to encourage economic growth, which includes not being strict when it comes to labor practices. We have to realize that the working conditions in the jobs that are available in these countries (not just in Africa, but other developing countries) are similar if not worse than the conditions at the manufacturing jobs that come in. I would never advocate for boycotting agriculture products from developing countries if I found out that the workers are underpaid and overworked, and so I don't advocate similar actions when it comes to manufacturing. This is especially true because the boycotts often have the effect of closing down the factory or at least discouraging new ones from opening. Wages will never go up, and conditions will not improve, until these economies grow. So what we need to do is enourage the building of more factories, not less, and the consumption of more of their agriculture products, and less of ours if need be.